The Alameda-Weehawken Burrito Tunnel

Who can imagine New York City without the Mission
burrito? Like the Yankees, the Brooklyn Bridge or the bagel, the
oversize burritos have become a New York institution. And yet it wasn't
long ago that it was impossible to find a good burrito of any kind in
the city. As the 30th anniversary of the Alameda-Weehawken burrito
tunnel approaches, it's worth taking a look at the remarkable sequence
of events that takes place between the time we click "deliver" on the burrito.nyc.us.gov website and the moment that our hot El Farolito burrito arrives in the lunchroom with its satisfying pneumatic hiss.
The story begins in any of the three dozen taquerias
supplying
the Bay Area Feeder Network, an expansive spiderweb of tubes running
through San Francisco's Mission district as far south as the "Burrito
Bordeaux" region of Palo Alto and Mountain View. Electronic displays
in each taqueria light up in real time with orders placed on the East
Coast, and within minutes a fresh burrito has been assembled, rolled in
foil, marked and dropped down one of the small vertical tubes that rise
like organ pipes in restaurant kitchens throughout the city.

Once in the tubes, it's a quick dash for the burritos
across San Francisco Bay. Propelled by powerful bursts of compressed
air, the burritos speed along the same tunnel as the BART commuter
train, whose passengers remain oblivious to the hundreds of delicious
cylinders whizzing along overhead. Within twelve minutes, even the
remotest burrito has arrived at its final destination, the Alameda
Transfer Station, where it will be prepared for its transcontinental
journey.
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