San Diego man invents the BurriTote, a bag to keep your burrito warm

If you’ve ever taken your burrito home and dismayed that you now have to microwave it, you understand the plight of the burrito connoisseur.

There’s sometimes an arguably even worse problem: the burrito was transported vertically and one end is soggy. The horror!

Enter — The BurriTote. Travis Dahl, Owner and Operator of BurriTote, is a San Diego native who invented a bag specifically designed to eliminate the problems plaguing those who transport burritos.

What’s more, April 2 is National Burrito Day, and this year, the San Diego Tourism Authority is recognizing San Diego as the birthplace of the California Burrito, known for its fries wedged between carne asada, pico de gallo and guacamole.

The idea of the BurriTote originated through a friendly argument between Dahl, a Ramona resident, and Cole, his coast-dwelling friend. Whose side of San Diego County has the best burritos — Ramona or Leucadia? It was another iteration of the classic east versus west debate.

“We were like, if we’re going to compare them, we need a way to get one from point A to point B. So we thought, the pizza guys have a pizza bag to get their pizzas delivered hot. So we decided we need something like that for a burrito,” Dahl explained.

NBC 7 San Diego

NBC 7 San Diego

It was running joke for a couple years between the two until one day, Dahl decided to go for it. He found a manufacturer who made something similar to soft coolers and sent them dimensions.

“Before we even got the first thousand, we did a preorder and they were sold out,” Dahl said.

Made from the same material as a cooler bag, the BurriTote is a bag that keeps your burrito warm horizontally, for easy and soggy-tortilla-free transportation. A zipper closure on one end keeps salsa to-go cups cold, Dahl said.

For years, Dahl has been working as a software engineer.

“This is kind of a side hustle, so I don’t put a lot of time into promoting the business, but even so, we’ve sold close to 10,000 BurriTotes, which is pretty good for not putting a whole lot of effort into it,” Dahl said.

The BurriTotes are made in China, then shipped to Dahl. He packs them and ships them all to customers himself.

The bags are emblazoned with a Mexican sarape design in colors the website lists as “California Dreamin”, “Tequila Sunrise”, “Sonora Sunset” and the limited edition “San Diego Slammer” in Padres’ brown and gold.

San Diego’s high military population (who also like burritos) may find themselves gravitating toward BurriTote’s tactical gear designs, which even have a Velcro strip for a morale patch. Those designs are coming this summer, Dahl said.

NBC 7 San Diego

NBC 7 San Diego

NBC 7 San Diego

NBC 7 San Diego

California burritos are known for their wide girth. BurriTotes easily fit those fat burritos, but sometimes your burrito may not be so large. Dahl has also designed a smaller, mini version of the BurriTote.

“This one I call the BurriTotito,” Dahl said, referring to the smaller design. The Spanish suffix “-ito” is often used for smaller, miniature things.

That size is not only aimed at small burritos.

“But it also fits a tall boy,” Dahl said, taking a tall-canned-beverage out of the mini-tote.

“And then if you got cerveza, you could put a lime in there,” Dahl said, unzipping a lime wedge from the salsa compartment.

For the past three years, BurriTote has collaborated with San Diego Comic-Con for special designs that can only be found at the summer convention. For this year’s Comic-Con, BurriTotes will feature Peanuts comic designs, Dahl said.

“The thing that I really enjoy about doing this is that anytime I tell anybody about it, they have a smile on their face and it seems to bring joy wherever I bring it,” Dahl said, smiling himself ear to ear.