San Pancho Burritos opens Saturday in Takoma Park

Shop featuring San Francisco-style burritos, tortas and quesadillas is latest from Cielo Rojo owners

July 12, 2024 7:15 p.m.

San Pancho Burritos, the long-awaited shop from the owners of Takoma Park’s popular Mexican eatery Cielo Rojo, will open Saturday to the public.

The San Francisco- and Mission-style burrito shop moved into Cielo Rojo’s former location at 7056 Carroll Ave. after Cielo Rojo outgrew the 980-square-foot space it had called home since January 2019. Cielo Rojo opened at its new location nearby at 7211 Carroll Ave. in January.

Mission-style refers to the type of burrito made popular in the Mission District of San Francisco.

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San Pancho is owned by wife-and-husband duo Carolina McCandless and David Perez. The shop announced the opening on Instagram Friday afternoon after sharing an anticipatory post on July 3 that offered the shop’s followers an opportunity to grab a slot to visit during its soft opening.

For those who live in the neighborhood, San Pancho officially opened Friday, McCandless told MoCo360. She said the eatery was holding a “silent opening” for those who live nearby, and the rest of the public would be welcomed Saturday.

“It’s going pretty smooth,” McCandless said. “We did invite-only [and] we got good feedback about the food and we’re excited to get the general population’s opinion.”

San Pancho’s concept was inspired by the burritos that McCandless and Perez ate when they lived in San Francisco for many years. The couple moved to Takoma Park from the West Coast city six years ago.

“There’s a huge burrito culture in San Francisco that’s not as much here,” McCandless said. “In San Francisco, you can find a burrito shop every block or every couple of blocks and we wanted to bring more of the Mission-style burritos … to the D.C. area because we saw that there was not really anywhere to get those.”

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McCandless says Mission-style burritos have a “very simple” combination of ingredients with “lots of onions and cilantro,” Mexican rice, pinto beans, melted cheese and a choice of filling. The fillings are also more “Mexican-style,” with barbacoa, carnitas, carne asada, chicken mole and vegan chorizo among the options, she said.

“We’re not using white rice, we’re not using black beans, we’re not using nacho cheese sauce,” she said.

McCandless said one special aspect of San Pancho’s burritos is the Sonoran-style flour tortillas that are made in Mexico. “They’re very moist and tender and they’re not your typical dry tortilla,” she said.

From 11:30 a.m. to close daily, San Pancho will serve a variety of burritos such as its California Burrito ($19)–with carne asada and shoestring fries inside–and Vegan Burrito ($14) with cashew cream and chorizo made from tofu and mushroom. Customers can add guacamole and sour cream for $3.

Aside from the typical burrito, San Pancho also serves breakfast burritos from 8 to 11:30 a.m. on weekdays and 10 to 11:30 a.m. on weekends, with options for vegetarians and vegans.

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On weekdays, the shop also serves tortas, a Mexican sandwich, from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Other menu options include a Caesar salad, quesadillas and chocoflan (a chocolate cake and flan dessert).

San Pancho Burritos is open 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays. On the weekend, the shop is open from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays.

For now, patrons can dine in or order take-out in person. Online ordering and delivery will launch soon, according to the San Pancho website.

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