These are the best breakfast burritos in LA

The best breakfast burritos in LA - @thedashanddine

Breakfast burritos are glorious – and LA has almost too many of them.  Someone has to sacrifice their health for the incredibly important Breakfast Burrito Quest, so once again, I’ve sorted the great ones from not-as-great ones (because, let’s be honest, all breakfast burritos are pretty good). You’re welcome.

Here are my obvious and inarguable criteria for the perfect breakfast burrito:

  • It needs to taste breakfast-y, which means eggs. A top tier breakfast burrito can’t taste like lunch – that would be anarchy.
  • It needs proper ingredient distribution. The first bite is crucial – don’t give me a mouthful of just beans or guac.
  • The corollary to this rule is that the flavors need to work in harmony. Seventeen separate tastes is equally disqualifying.
  • The texture should have a little variation. Hashbrowns, bacon, something to give it a little crunch. Which leads to…
  • The tortilla shouldn’t be an afterthought. My favorites have usually taken a trip back to the griddle for crunch and heat. Ideally, I’m losing my fingerprints trying to hold it. And unlike most breakfast options, a breakfast burrito gets better with a slight delay (looking at you, breakfast sandwich)
  • It shouldn’t cost too much. I have loved breakfast burritos that are over ten bucks – but deep down, I judge them for not being egalitarian. Breakfast burritos should be for everyone.
  • Finally, it needs to be a guilty pleasure. You can’t eat an entire breakfast burrito and feel like you made a good decision for your body. (Although one time, a trainer told me that the best time to eat something unhealthy is early in the morning, so #healthychoices. Enjoy one of these carb/calorie bombs for breakfast and sacrifice on later meals. It’s worth it!)

I’ve really tried to find my favorite in the city, or at least a top three, but it’s too hard… there are too many good choices.

Here’s my list of the best breakfast burritos in LA broken down into Gold, Silver, and Bronze categories:
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Take a day trip to the Elephant Nature Park in Chang Mai

Years ago, Mike went to visit the Elephant Nature Park during his trip through Thailand. Here’s why you should go there too…

There are about twenty different elephant experiences within an hour or so of Chiang Mai. They run the spectrum from very-elephant-friendly to downright cruel. The worst feature circus shows and pile clumps of tourists on the over-worked elephants (even the Frommer’s guide has a photo of people riding elephants) — and the nicest of concierges have no idea why visitors would even have an issue about this.

I’m no PETA activist, but I couldn’t have enjoyed myself if I thought I was helping mistreat elephants. So after some research, I settled on the Elephant Nature Park in Chang Mai, and I’m really glad I did… Continue reading “Take a day trip to the Elephant Nature Park in Chang Mai”

From sobremesas to so much cheese: The 12 things I learned about Buenos Aires

Mike traveled to Buenos Aires a little while back. These are excerpts from
the journal he kept while there…

It’s 9:45 on a Sunday morning in November, and Buenos Aires is a ghost town. Guess this can be expected when everyone stays out until 5 am, which apparently is the norm on a Saturday night.

I’m sitting a cafe right out of what I imagined Buenos Aires to be… and when the friendly waitress walks over, I’m reminded for the fifth time in five straight encounters: I don’t speak Spanish. (It’s as if 15 minutes of Rosetta Stone for a single month isn’t enough to master a language!) I order a combination plate without understanding the components.

It’s ridiculously comfortable out. A touch more humid than Los Angeles. Blue skies. A slight breeze ruffling through the trees overhead. My cafe con leche arrives… and it’s fantastic. Same goes for the orange juice. And then… a ham and cheese sandwich (tostado). I will come to find out that many orders result in a sandwich — Buenos Aires loves sandwiches. It was just okay.

Here are some other things I learned during my time in Buenos Aires:

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The awesome hotels and best restaurants in Cartagena (that we discovered by accident)

We took a last-minute trip to Cartagena when we found out we couldn’t fly from Bogota to Costa Rica without a yellow fever vaccine. No worries, we re-routed ourselves to the gorgeous town of Cartagena, Colombia and found some amazing places to stay, and sampled from some of the best restaurants in Cartagena!

Keep reading if you want to know more about where to stay and where to eat…
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#Morocstars: Our quick and mind-blowing Marrakech food tour

Marrakech food tour
Full and happy, in the middle of the Jemaa el-Fnaa

After our seven hour flight from New York to Casablanca, Megan slept on a couch in the lounge with her head in my lap, as I balanced my laptop on one leg and looked up the pronunciation of “Djemaa el-Fna.” Then we took a quick flight to Marrakech.

For those curious, neither of us slept much on our flights, but now we can relax a bit in our hotel, before Megan gets dental work at Djemaa el-Fna square!! Time to look up how to pronounce “can that monkey drill a cavity out?”

Because we all know how much I love dentists.
Because we all know how much Megan loves dentists.

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