The Chilaquiles Burrito at Cafe Calacas Is Breakfast Perfection

When it comes to breakfast, chilaquiles are essential. The classic Mexican breakfast is the perfect Saturday brunch or Sunday morning hangover cure, made of corn tortilla chips covered in red or green salsa, and usually topped with cotija cheese and a fried egg. And while the rest of us are stuck in 2018, one Santa Ana restaurant is living in the future by making a handheld version of chilaquiles to take on the road.

“Our chilaquiles are already very popular,” Cafe Calacas owner Sam Ruiz told Thrillist, “so we wanted to take that and make something more unique” -- so, sticking with the trend of wrapping things up in burritos, Ruiz decided to roll his chilaquiles up inside a tortilla. “Burritos are a big seller here, big seller everywhere, and we had never really seen it done before.” said Ruiz. “We tried it out, and the texture was there, flavor was there, so we just ran with it.”

Cafe Calacas’ chilaquiles burrito starts by heating up corn tortilla chips, cracking in fresh eggs, piling on red and green salsa, cotija cheese, and crema. A fresh tortilla is then covered in refried beans before adding the hot chilaquiles, another layer of cheese and crema, and the rolling the whole thing up tight to create the perfect burrito.

If the chilaquiles burrito doesn’t quite hit the spot (somehow), Cafe Calacas also serves queso-stuffed churros that are made by piping potato batter into hot oil, frying it golden brown, and then coating the churros in cayenne cotija cheese, and filling them with queso. Another clever take on breakfast, the churro waffle transforms a classic Belgian waffle into a cinnamon-sugar churro topped with strawberries, blueberries, and creamy cajeta sauce.

Check out the video above to learn more about this new take on chilaquiles, and why you need to start the new year off with a trip to Santa Ana.

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Tanner Saunders is writer at Thrillist who is also smothered in red and green salsa.
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