Renowned, flashy restaurants with hundreds of high ratings can look enticing to someone visiting a new place. However, I have found that the best food comes from places you may only be able to see through a tiny ordering window. This was the case for me while I vacationed in San Diego this past summer.

After biking for miles on a boardwalk by the beach, my family and I wanted to get some California burritos. A burrito with carne asada, typical burrito ingredients and french fries. There were plenty of places advertising with big signs and lines of people waiting. Some locals had mentioned that a block down the beach there was a place better than any other shoreside shop. We biked onto a little sketchy street and soon found ourselves in front of a taco and burrito shop.

It was a little building with the restaurant’s menu plastered on the outside wall and a small window cut out. The place had no dining tables or inside seating. Most people sat on the curb with a burrito in one hand and a napkin in the other. It was a hole-in-the-wall of a weird little street.

I ordered a burrito and it came in no time. I joined the others on the curb becoming one of the burrito-napkin people. I stained my shirt with some salsa, but it was so worth it. That was the best California burrito I have ever eaten in San Diego.

This window restaurant with good food is not my only encounter with this type of restaurant. It seems like everywhere I go my family stops at some small, unknown shop. The food always becomes a highlight of the trip, has a story to go with it or sticks out as the best meal of the trip.