While I was waiting for my bacon and egg taco, a gentleman innocently asked the cashier, “Excuse me, but what is a breakfast taco?”
Shock.
Horror.
Disbelief.
Suffice it to say, the kind woman working the counter hurriedly offered him a free taco complimented with suggestions of her favorite taquerías.
I was reminded of this conversation when a friend recently asked where to get good, reasonably priced tacos around campus. Seeing as every UT student should know where to get this food staple, we have done the not-so-terrible research of finding the best breakfast tacos around—for every budget. Check out this round up of top notch breakfast tacos to see where your next breakfast should come from.
1. The “As long as it’s Mexican food and I get a lot of it” Budget
For seriously cheap tacos head over to Tyson’s on 51st for 0.99 cent Migas tacos. Please note: we are skipping over the 0.50 cent tacos from Jack-In-The-Box because who really counts those as tacos?
Location: 4905 Airport Blvd
Hours of Operation: Mon-Sat 6am-8:30pm, Sunday 8am-2pm
2. The “It’s Saturday morning so let’s go somewhere” Budget
You have time for a sit down meal, but you do not want to blow your week’s worth of taco allowance on one meal. Just $4.60+tax will buy you Juan-In-A-Million’s gigantic “Don Juan.” Either you need an Adam Richmond sized stomach to finish this goliath taco, or a friend to split the meal with.
Location: 2300 E Cesar Chavez St
Hours of Operation: Mon-Sun 7am-3pm
Photo by Karina Rao
3. The “I want to try something new for not a lot of money” Budget
If you want something entirely different like ingredients of black beans, spinach and grilled corn, check out Taco Deli at the Republic Square Farmers Market every Saturday morning. Tacos start at $2 but are on the small side, so plan on getting another farmers market treat to supplement your morning meal.
Location: 422 W. Guadalupe (Farmers’ Market), multiple other main locations seen on their website
Hours of Operation: Saturday 9am-1pm (Farmers’ Market)
Photo by Karina Rao
4. The “Why the heck not, I’m going to splurge” Budget
We can’t have a breakfast taco round-up without mentioning Torchy’s. For $3.50 a pop you can get the Ranch Hand that boasts grilled beef fajita with scrambled eggs, cheese, and Diablo sauce for those up for the challenge. For more on Torchy’s check out this article on their secret menu.
Location: 2801 Guadalupe St.
Hours of Operation: Mon-Thurs 7am-10pm, Fri 7am-10pm, Sat 8am-11pm, Sun 8am-10pm
Photo by Karina Rao
5. “Mom and Dad are in Town!” Budget
Okay, technically not a taco shop but you can certainly find them here with options such as carnitas or roasted chicken. La Condesa is the crème-de-la-crème of Mexican breakfast flare with plates like the “Chilangos” which has wild boar chorizo, poached eggs and a quinoa croquette for $13.
Location: 400A West 2nd Street
Hours of Operation: See webpage here for their complicated schedule.
No matter what your budget, there’s a breakfast taco out there with your name on it.