Have A Good Morning with the Santana 'Buenos Dias' Burrito

In this week's Burrito Blotter, I take just a bit of a break from the norm. To this point, I have not reviewed any breakfast style burritos. And since it's been said that it's the most important meal of the day, I thought it was high time to give a little cred to the AM.

For my breakfast burrito fix, I hit up Santana Mexican Grill, in the heart of Casa de Oro and ordered the "Buenos Dias"  burrito ($4.29), which features potatoes, eggs, cheese, salsa, and bacon. Now granted, this was at noon, so maybe it wasn't technically breakfast. But thankfully, Santana will whip you up a breakfast burrito any time of day.

Let's rise and shine to break it down:

Tortilla
Like prior burritos that I've had from Santana, the tortilla was warm and soft. Very nicely prepared with a little bit of time on the flat top grill, which produced nice grill spots. Good texture.

Eggs
Fluffy and not overly heavy. Maybe a touch more of salt could have improved them, but they were good enough.

Cheese
I was almost tempted to classify the cheese and the eggs together as one ingredient in the burrito, as they were seemingly melted together as only they can be. Great blend of cheese, with a very sharp kick. Very tasty.  But I found myself wanting a little bit more cheese. There was a fair amount mixed in, but adding more definitely wouldn't hurt.

Potatoes
The potatoes had the perfect balance of texture, as they were crunchy on the outside, yet soft and moist on the inside. They were fried well and didn't overwhelm you with their size, as some breakfast burritos can do.

Salsa
The fresh Mexican salsa kind  of got lost a little bit. I didn't really taste all that much of it until near the very end, but I found it to be flavorful and cool.

Bacon
And here's where the burrito earns its marks. Now, naturally as a connoisseur of bacon, having more than less is always a good idea. Like the cheese, there was a fair amount of bacon in this burrito. But, again, more would have been better. However, that's where my nitpicking ends. The ultimate debate, when discussing bacon inevitably becomes: crispy or chewy? No matter which side of the pork party lines you align, you have strong opinions about this. For me, chewy bacon is definitely the way to go, and Santana apparently agrees, as their bacon was cooked perfectly. It had a great chewiness to it that contrasted the smooth textures of the cheese and eggs. As a special bonus, my last bite contained a giant chunk of bacon, which I would venture to say was the size of one die (dice). A recommendation to Santana's: DO THIS EVERY TIME! It was quite possibly the best part of my day – whether it was intentional or not.

Overall
As far as an overall burrito, it was a touch smaller than some other burritos that you may eat at lunch or dinner, simply based on the ingredients used. But for a change of pace and for flavor, it was excellent. Although the chunk o' bacon may be creating a little bias. It's a great way to spend your morning. Or afternoon. Or evening.

Note: Santana Mexican Grill does have a minimum charge of $10 for ATM card or credit card purchases, so try to have cash.

Rating: (4.0 out of 5)