Breakfast Burrito Battle Sac 2019

I think there is a special place in every native Angelino’s heart for breakfast burritos. Some people may say that avocado toast is the state food, but I’d say it’s these delicious, cheesy, potatoey egg filled wraps of goodness. Now it’s been many years since I lived in LA, but when I look back at my time there I find myself missing that 3-minute drive to my favorite burrito joint, Amigos Tacos. Anyway, having lived here in Sac for quite a while now I have finally decided it’s about damn time I find the best breakfast burrito Sacramento has to offer. Here’s where I get to my criteria…

Criteria:

Well, technically a breakfast burrito is just your typical savory breakfast items wrapped up in a tortilla. But it’s so much more than that.

So what separates an okay breakfast burrito from a great one?

Tortilla:

The tortilla for a burrito is very different from that of a taco. It must have some give, hold up to the grease of your favorite chorizo, and be large enough to withstand the weight of glory that most people would call filling. My personal favorite – a Sonoran tortilla. Now I could go into a lot of detail about this amazing tortilla, but to keep it short, it’s a flour tortilla made with water and has a very interesting name you can read more about here. It has just enough stretch and doesn’t flake too much. In other words: perfect.

Eggs:

It’s simple. They must be seasoned. Salt will do, but bland will not. Fluffy is great. Not too dry or they turn into sponge. Not too wet or your burrito will get soggy.

Cheese:

A crucial element in the breakfast burrito. It can be mild or strong. Tangy or salty. But most of all it should complement the other ingredients.

Potatoes:

Whether it’s hashbrowns, french fries, home fries, or tater tots this ingredient is crucial. They can make or break the burrito and must be cooked properly for maximum enjoyment. Potatoes are notoriously easy to undersalt and we hope to see properly seasoned spuds in this competition.

Meat:

Breakfast burritos often include bacon, ham, sausage, or chorizo and occasionally the Triple Swine. The Triple Swine consists of ham, bacon, and sausage together. While it may sound over the top, I promise you it can, in fact, be quite delicious. Unfortunately, I discovered no Triple Swine burritos on this quest, but regardless of the type of meat, it’s important it has the right texture and plays nice with the rest of the filling.

Condiments & Additions:

Whether it be smoky housemade salsa or grilled peppers, additions like these can enhance the dish. I love a bit of sour cream and salsa to really pull the meal together.

So before we dive into this list, let me breakdown how and why I am doing things. I’ve heard people talk about certain breakfast burritos as being a better value than others. So in order to level the playing field, I’ve weighed all of them and included the price per ounce. I’ve also decided to include all prices with tax. As for the rating, a group of five of us tried the burritos, discussed, and independently rated them. The average of which is the rating you will see below, a number one out of ten, with ten being the best.

The following list is from worst to best. Here we go:

10. La Garnacha

Price: $9.78 Weight: 31.24 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.31/oz

Rating: 3.9/10

Okay, I’ll admit I threw this one in for fun. It’s such a controversial choice, many people love it, many people hate it. None of them seem to be sober when they’ve tried it, so I thought I would find out for myself. Well guys… it was every bit as bad as you might have expected.

The egg is really spongy, it’s overcooked, yep super spongy. My biggest problem is that the potato, the pieces are either small or really large, which means they didn’t cook properly. So there’s undercooked potato and overcooked potato in it. It’s incredibly underseasoned. The tortilla was so dry it ripped, which may not be the worst thing because there is so much grease it may have helped to absorb some. And while it has chorizo, it doesn’t do much for the flavor.

So, as the only people to have had La Garnacha while sober I can safely recommend that you skip it.

9. Bacon and Butter

Price: $11.91 Weight: 16.12 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.74/oz

Rating: 4.2/10

First of all, fucking chewy.

Tastes like it’s the cheapest one to put together.

How can anyone be hungry after all the grease and disappointment?

It has not converted me into loving this cheese collar.

I would actually never buy that. I would never get that burrito again. I would get literally any of the other burritos.

So needless to say the B & B burrito missed the mark. No one really enjoyed it, and we all agreed it was the worst bang for your buck. I think I’ll stick to the pancakes next time.

8. Oscar’s Very Mexican Food

Price: $6.44 Weight: 19.23 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.33/oz

Rating: 4.6/10

You know… you get that burrito and if you didn’t spend a whole lot of money on it, you couldn’t complain too terribly. But you also wouldn’t, you know, recommend it to anybody. It’s a five, that’s generous.

The potatoes are underdone. Every bite is kind of chewy. It could use some variety to change up the texture.

While a lot of people in Sacramento talk about this being a great breakfast burrito, I think the consensus here is that it’s subpar. In our blind taste test, we found that everyone agreed that the potatoes were underdone, boring, and bland. It was, however, very cheap, so if you’re feeling frugal, Oscar’s could be the place for you. (We ordered the bacon burrito as many people suggested.)

7. Beto’s Taqueria

Price: $6.51 Weight: 14.85 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.44/oz

Rating: 5/10

This burrito was just – eh. Everything’s cut up really finely so it all kind of meshes into one. When you look at the ingredients it really didn’t have much chorizo, egg, or even spice. The only thing it had a lot of was potato.

It tastes like dry french fries wrapped in a tortilla that needs moisture.

The filling was certainly undersalted and a bit dry, same goes for the tortilla. This burrito would have benefitted greatly from some sour cream or salsa. Or as one reviewer summed it up:

Alright, I’m giving that a five and that’s generous. That was a very average, extremely average breakfast burrito. Too dry. Not enough seasoning for me and just a little boring. I don’t know. I can taste the potatoes and some meat, a little egg, and cheese. Not exciting at all. Five is generous.

Uh, eh. Eh is the score. Feels like you’re just eating old potatoes.

6. Gold Rush Grille

Price: $6.08 Weight: 19.45 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.31/oz

Rating: 5.3/10

With all the cheese, it feels like a heart attack in a tortilla.

Tastes like frozen, salty Jimmy Dean patties.

The potatoes have a nice kind of fried flavor on the outside, but then they’re not as soft as they should be on the inside- it tastes a little underdone. It has a good amount of cheese, but could really use some sour cream or salsa to brighten up the flavor.

5. Taqueria Los Compadres

Price: $9.68 Weight: 19.19 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.50/oz

Rating: 5.8/10

It has a classic Mexican flavor, but it doesn’t necessarily taste like a breakfast burrito.

If you can’t decide between breakfast and lunch, go here.

Even though I’ve been lied to, it’s a delicious lie.

This was probably the hardest burrito to rate in the bunch. We all agreed we enjoyed it, especially for its authentic Mexican taste, but didn’t feel that it quite qualified as a breakfast burrito. It had just small flecks of egg, some carnitas (not really a b-fast meat), and no potatoes that I’m aware of. We even considered removing it from the running. In the end, I feel it deserves a spot in this post, though the ratings were docked for the lack of true breakfast flavor. Regardless, I would recommend checking out the restaurant for their excellent salsa bar and their other dishes (maybe leave the breakfast burrito ordering for the next place).

4. Gordito Burrito

Price: $6.73 Weight: 17.79 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.38/oz

Rating: 6.1/10

I wouldn’t pay a ton of money for it, but if it came in at a decent price I’d be plenty happy.

I’d say it was a moist burrito, much moister than I expected with eggs, everything really. You can taste the meat. Pretty flavorful.

Ultimately this burrito was a pretty good value. The first thing I thought when tasting it was PURE BREAKFAST. It has a strong smoky ham flavor that one of our tasters disliked. It doesn’t have much Mexican flavor, but if you’re into a cheap, California breakfast burrito that’s cooked well, then check it out. Not my personal favorite, but a good option.

3. La Favorita Taqueria

Price: $8.03 Weight: 24 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.33/oz

Rating: 6.3/10

Has a nice level of spice to it, the chorizo has lots of flavor and the whole thing is well seasoned. While I wish there was potato instead of rice to give it more of a breakfast burrito flavor, it was very tasty. I will definitely go back.

It is very good, a bit on the mushy side, but tasty.

Really good burrito, but it doesn’t taste like a breakfast burrito. I enjoyed it though.

There is no doubt that La Favorita Taqueria is delicious. It may not be the best choice if you like a more American-style burrito, but it’s very tasty none-the-less.

2. Nopalito’s Southwestern Café

Price: $9.73 Weight: 17.92 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.54/oz

Rating: 6.8/10

The eggs are nice and fluffy and moist. They’re not overcooked and there’s a really good amount of everything. I’d say the only thing I think that could make it better is if it just had a little bit more meat. But I feel like the overall flavor is really nice and I like that it has little red peppers in it too.

Nopalito’s is straight-up most flavorful. Distinct flavor.

Everything I want in a breakfast burrito.

We decided to try out the machaca for this burrito, but they have plenty of meat and vegetarian options as well. At the counter, you’ll likely be asked if you want to add sour cream and cheese for a dollar. Because they recommended it, we decided to go for it and reflected that price in this post. While you’re there, give their green salsa a try. Though we didn’t include it in our rating, it’s absolutely delicious and complements the food nicely.

1. Taqueria Maya’s

Price: $9.73 Weight: 20.75 oz

Price Breakdown: $0.47/oz

Rating: 7.5/10

Mmm mmmm. We finally get to a tasty breakfast burrito. This is the best tasting burrito. Some spice in there, salsa. It’s breakfasty with egg and potato. That’s a good, solid breakfast burrito. It’s just good stuff. It’s good.

That’s a damn fine burrito. Definitely my first choice.

This burrito is simply well done. It’s properly seasoned. The egg is cooked just right. The meat adds nice flavor. Has great texture. It’s just moist enough from the slightly smoky salsa. It’s without a doubt a winner.

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Who made the list & why: You may be wondering why we picked the restaurants we did and why we left certain ones out. Well, we looked at different lists of “best burritos in Sac”. This included ones from multiple Reddit threads, Yelp, Foursquare, and good ole’ Google. We put together all the top, most popular ones. Then checked out the health scores for them, and removed all the ones with bad health scores (remember this? disgusting). We also disqualified any with weird or limited hours/days to pick up burritos. Is there a place we missed? Do you disagree with our rankings? Let us know in the comments below and maybe we’ll make a Burrito Post 2.0.

Highlights:

• Highest Rating: Taqueria Maya’s
• Lowest Rating: La Garnacha
• Cheapest: La Garnacha / Gold Rush Grille
• Best value: Taqueria Maya’s
• Best salsa bar: Los Compadres Taqueria
• Want to try their other food: La Favorita Taqueria
• Most expensive: Bacon & Butter
• Greasiest: La Garnacha
• Most disappointing: Bacon & Butter

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Bonus footage of this guy begging for a burrito…