A wrap is a sort of sandwich

Sandwich

A sandwich is a food item, typically consisting of two or more slices of :bread with one or more fillings between them, or one slice of bread with a topping or toppings, commonly called an open sandwich. Sandwiches are a widely popular type of lunch food, typically taken to work or school, or...

 made of a soft flatbread

Flatbread

A flatbread is a simple bread made with flour, water, and salt and then thoroughly rolled into flattened dough. Many flatbreads are unleavened: made without yeast or sourdough culture: although some flatbread is made with yeast, such as pita bread....

 rolled around a filling. The usual flatbreads are wheat-flour tortilla

Tortilla

In Mexico and Central America, a tortilla is a type of thin, unleavened flat bread, made from finely ground maize...

s, lavash

Lavash

Lavash is a soft, thin flatbread popular in several countries of the northern parts of the Middle-East and the southern parts of the Caucasus.Traditionally the dough is rolled out flat and slapped against the hot walls of a clay oven....

, or pita

Pita

Pita or pitta is a round pocket bread widely consumed in many Middle Eastern, Mediterranean, and Balkan cuisines. It is prevalent in Greece, the Balkans the Levant, the Arabian Peninsula and Turkey. The "pocket" in pita bread is created by steam, which puffs up the dough...

; the filling usually consists of cold sliced meat, poultry, or fish accompanied by shredded lettuce

Lettuce

Lettuce is a temperate annual or biennial plant of the daisy family Asteraceae. It is most often grown as a leaf vegetable. It is eaten either raw, notably in salads, sandwiches, hamburgers, tacos, and many other dishes, or cooked, as in Chinese cuisine in which the stem becomes just as important...

, diced tomato or pico de gallo

Pico de gallo

In Mexican cuisine, pico de gallo , also called salsa fresca, is a fresh, uncooked condiment made from chopped tomato, white onion, and chilis...

, guacamole

Guacamole

Guacamole , is an avocado-based dip that originated in Mexico. It is traditionally made by mashing ripe avocados with a molcajete with sea salt. Some recipes call for limited tomato, spicy Asian spices such as white onion, lime juice, and/or additional seasonings.-History:Guacamole was made by...

, sauteed mushrooms, bacon

Bacon

Bacon is a cured meat prepared from a pig. It is first cured using large quantities of salt, either in a brine or in a dry packing; the result is fresh bacon . Fresh bacon may then be further dried for weeks or months in cold air, boiled, or smoked. Fresh and dried bacon must be cooked before eating...

, grilled onions, cheese

Cheese

Cheese is a generic term for a diverse group of milk-based food products. Cheese is produced throughout the world in wide-ranging flavors, textures, and forms....

, and a sauce

Sauce

In cooking, a sauce is liquid, creaming or semi-solid food served on or used in preparing other foods. Sauces are not normally consumed by themselves; they add flavor, moisture, and visual appeal to another dish. Sauce is a French word taken from the Latin salsus, meaning salted...

, such as ranch

Ranch dressing

Ranch dressing is a condiment made of some combination of buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce. Ranch dressing has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian dressing...

 or honey mustard.

History

The wrap probably comes from California, as a generalization of the Tex-Mex burrito

Burrito

A burrito , or taco de harina, is a type of Mexican food. It consists of a wheat flour tortilla wrapped or folded around a filling. The flour tortilla is usually lightly grilled or steamed, to soften it and make it more pliable. In Mexico, refried beans or meat are sometimes the only fillings...

, and became popular in the 1990s. It may have been invented and named at a southern California chain called "I Love Juicy" in the early 1980s. The Bobby Valentine

Bobby Valentine

Robert John "Bobby V" Valentine is an American professional baseball manager and former player who is currently the manager of the Boston Red Sox. He previously managed the Texas Rangers and New York Mets as well as the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan...

 Sports Gallery Cafe in Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford, Connecticut

Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...

 is sometimes claimed to have invented the wrap at about the same time, but Valentine himself is rather diffident about it: "Well, that's legend and folklore, but until somebody disputes me or comes up with a better story, I'll say I invented the wrap." Beth Dolan of Stamford, Connecticut is the waitress credited for serving the first wrap after the restaurant had ran out of bread. Moreover, Valentine's own story dates his use of the name 'wrap' to the mid-1990's, after it is documented in California.

A wrap and a sandwich are different. A sandwich has two distinct layers, which are the top and bottom buns or pieces of bread. A wrap, on the other hand, is one piece that completely surrounds the content of the wrap.

Wraps in public eating places

Restaurants such as Camille's Sidewalk Cafe

Camille's Sidewalk Cafe

Camille's Sidewalk Cafe is a restaurant franchise headquartered in Tulsa, Oklahoma, specializing in healthful, "fast casual" cuisine. Camille's has 33 locations as of 2011 in the United States.-Overview:...

, Sonic Drive-In

Sonic Drive-In

Sonic Drive-In is an American drive-in fast-food restaurant chain based in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, complete with carhops who sometimes wear rollerskates. As of August 31, 2010, there were 3,500 restaurants in 43 U.S. states. Sonic serves approximately 3 million customers daily.-1950s:Following...

, Jason's Deli

Jason's Deli

Jason's Deli is a fast casual deli restaurant chain headquartered in Beaumont, Texas, United States.-History:Jason's Deli was founded in Beaumont, Texas in 1976 by Joe Tortorice Jr. and his partners Rusty Coco, Pete Verde and Pat Broussard....

, Buffalo Wild Wings

Buffalo Wild Wings

Buffalo Wild Wings Grill & Bar is a casual dining restaurant and sports bar franchise in the United States that is known for its Buffalo wings.-History:...

, Subway

Subway (restaurant)

Subway is an American restaurant franchise that primarily sells submarine sandwiches and salads. It is owned and operated by Doctor's Associates, Inc. . Subway is one of the fastest growing franchises in the world with 35,519 restaurants in 98 countries and territories as of October 25th, 2011...

, Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A

Chick-fil-A |"fillet"]]) is a quick service restaurant chain headquartered in College Park, Georgia, United States, specializing in chicken entrées and is known for promoting the company founder's claims of Christian values. Long associated with the southern United States, where it has been a...

, and McAlister's Deli

McAlister's Deli

McAlister's Deli is a chain of fast casual restaurants founded in 1989 in Oxford, Mississippi by retired dentist Dr. Don Newcomb. There are currently over 300 locations in 23 states, ranging from Virginia in the East to Florida in the South to New Mexico in West to Indiana in the Midwest...

 serve wraps. KFC

KFC

KFC, founded and also known as Kentucky Fried Chicken, is a chain of fast food restaurants based in Louisville, Kentucky, in the United States. KFC has been a brand and operating segment, termed a concept of Yum! Brands since 1997 when that company was spun off from PepsiCo as Tricon Global...

 now serves its chicken in a wrap as menu choice, with lettuce, mayonnaise

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise, , often abbreviated as mayo, is a sauce. It is a stable emulsion of oil, egg yolk and either vinegar or lemon juice, with many options for embellishment with other herbs and spices. Lecithin in the egg yolk is the emulsifier. Mayonnaise varies in color but is often white, cream, or pale...

 and salsa

Salsa (sauce)

Salsa may refer to any type of sauce. In American English, it usually refers to the spicy, often tomato based, hot sauces typical of Mexican and Central American cuisine, particularly those used as dips. In British English, the word typically refers to salsa cruda, which is common in Mexican ,...

. McDonald's

McDonald's

McDonald's Corporation is the world's largest chain of hamburger fast food restaurants, serving around 64 million customers daily in 119 countries. Headquartered in the United States, the company began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by the eponymous Richard and Maurice McDonald; in 1948...

 has recently introduced a snack wrap, with a fried chicken strip, lettuce, Cheddar, and ranch dressing

Ranch dressing

Ranch dressing is a condiment made of some combination of buttermilk, sour cream, yogurt, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce. Ranch dressing has been the best-selling salad dressing in the United States since 1992, when it overtook Italian dressing...

. Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill

Smokey Bones Barbeque and Grill

Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill is a chain of casual dining restaurants. An affiliate of Sun Capital Partners, Smokey Bones is headquartered in Orlando, Florida, United States. The first Smokey Bones restaurant opened in Orlando, Florida, in 1999 under its then owners, Darden Restaurants...

 has recently introduced a Portobello Chicken Wrap to broaden their selection of grilled menu items. Wraps are also very popular in Australia and New Zealand with chains such as Oporto

Oporto (restaurant)

Oporto is an Australian-based fast-food franchise with a Portuguese-theme.Oporto specialises in Portuguese style chicken , burgers, chips and spicy chilli sauce...

 and Burger Fuel

Burger Fuel

BurgerFuel is a New Zealand owned chain of gourmet Burger Restaurants with 27 locations. BurgerFuel sells Spud fries, Beer Battered Fries , Kumara fries, burgers , bottled soft drinks, maltshakes and its own branded ice cream .- Menu :BurgerFuel burgers are famous for their special Aioli...

amongst others serving them.

The UK wrap market has grown substantially since 2004 with all major sandwich and fast food stores now selling wraps.