According to LA Times restaurant critic Bill Addison, eggs are the key component of any good breakfast burrito (or a scrambled tofu for a vegan version). Angelenos love their morning wrap, and in his month-long search to find the best, Addison steps into the line of fire, naming the city’s top five places to get breakfast burritos.
- Macheen at Milpa Grille — Jonathan Perez scrambles cheese into the eggs that creates a beautiful creaminess and nuttiness. There are spiced tater tots and the addition of birria, pork belly, or longaniza. If you ask Addison where he wants to grab a breakfast burrito, you have your answer.
- Angry Egret Dinette — Hometown hero Wes Avila makes a burrito that is reminiscent of the first Guerilla Taco Addison ever ate. With fried eggs, asparagus, Parmesan, potatoes, and a red pepper sauce with an almond salsa, Addison says, “It tastes like no other breakfast burrito in town.” The Monte Verde is no longer on the menu since Avila switches the menu up so frequently, but any creation is worth the trip to Chinatown.
- All Day Baby — Lien Ta and Jonathan Whitner’s corner diner in Silver Lake serves an amalgamation of flavor in their breakfast burrito, where every component connects in the right ways. There are refried pinto beans, crumbled longaniza, and jack cheese. “It’s kinda molten,” says Addison. It’s a tough choice between their burrito and popular biscuit sandwich.
- Lily’s - Taking a tip from Los Angeles Times colleague Stephanie Breijo, this surprise entry to Addison hails from the Malibu institution, which fills their breakfast burrito with machaca, the jerky-like dried beef of northern Mexico. Fun fact: Machaca was Evan Kleiman’s filling of choice as a teenager.
- Guerilla Cafecito — A new operation and sister to Guerilla Tacos, recently taken over by Brittany Valles, they “nail it” with the hashbrowns in their two variations of a breakfast burrito, one which doesn’t include eggs and still “tastes like breakfast.”