Owner of the historic Mission Inn

Duane Roberts made millions off a food he was initially wholly ignorant of: the humble burrito.

- SUHAUNA HUSSAIN

REPUBLICAN DONOR IRFAN KHAN Los Angeles Times Roberts made his fortune in frozen food, later buying the inn, above, where in 2003 he hosted an event for then-President George W. Bush.

It was the 1950s, and his family owned a small meat wholesaler called the Butcher Boy that sold patties to local restaurants, including one of the first operating McDonald's, a location in San Bernardino.

As the fast-food chain and other burger joints grew in popularity, the family brainstormed other products they could manufacture, Roberts recalled in a 2007 interview with the Orange County Register.

A butcher who worked at the company, whom Roberts described as having Hispanic heritage, made a suggestion: "Why don't you make a burrito?" "I loved Mexican food, but I had no idea what a burrito was," Roberts told the Register, saying he was more familiar with enchiladas and tacos.

But the entrepreneurial Roberts went on to turn that seed of an idea into a bean-and-beef burrito that could be sold frozen and then deep-fried.