Have you ever been stuck in a food rut? You find yourself going to the same restaurant over and over-- not necessarily because you know it has the best food, but because you don’t have the energy to try another place and risk having a bad meal. This was the same tired routine that led to us making this list. We would drive to the same breakfast taco spot on any given Saturday, while passing two or three other places that we had never tried. When we couldn’t find a comprehensive list online to tell us Waco’s best breakfast tacos, we decided to make our own.
While making this list, we never actually had a “bad” breakfast taco. Even those at the bottom of this list had merit and we could say were generally good tacos. While the differences in the tacos were slight, some tacos were obviously better than others. We would also like to add, a taco could vary from visit to visit depending on who is making the taco that day. We do hope this list still provides consistency no matter the day you decide to visit.
We based our rankings on four elements of the taco: filling taste, filling amount, tortilla, and overall size. Each visit, both of us kept our order the same: an egg, bacon, and cheese taco and an egg, sausage, beans, and cheese taco. We would also like to note that we stuck with local Waco Mexican restaurants and did not rank any chains- Torchy’s, Fuego, Rosa’s, etc.
We hope you enjoy our list and find your new favorite!
1. The Ranchito #5 (2310 W Waco Drive)
These are the breakfast tacos we dream about! Everything is right on the mark and when we didn’t feel like trying a new place for the list, we would come back to these. It looks like we have found our go-to breakfast taco spot.
- Filling Taste: A+
- Filling Amount: A+
- Tortilla: A+
- Overall size: A
- Price: $1.30/taco with eggs and 1 ingredient- $0.30/per extra ingredient
- **Drive-through special: 3 tacos (2 ingredients) for $2.99!
2. El Charro Tapatio (1615 W Waco Drive)
This was the first place we tried for our list and we had thought no one would beat it. It still remains at a top spot because we liked it so much.
- Filling Taste: A+
- Filling Amount: A
- Tortilla: A+
- Overall size: A
- Price: $1.40/taco with 2 ingredients- $0.40/per extra ingredient
3. Mi Jalisco Grill Taqueria (1000 S New Road)
In a random location across from the VA hospital, this one caught us off guard with how great it was. This taco is a bigger breakfast taco and has a great taste.
- Filling Taste: A
- Filling Amount: A+
- Tortilla: A
- Overall size: A+
- Price: $1.99/taco with 2 ingredients- $0.49/per extra ingredient
- **Morning Special: 3 tacos with the same 2 ingredients for $5
(They recently opened a second location, Mi Jalisco Grill #2, by campus at 800 7th Street. While the taco was adequate, they did not compare taste-wise to the original location. We would recommend going to the New Road location for a better experience. )
4. Lolita’s Restaurante (1911 Franklin Avenue)
When thinking about breakfast tacos in Waco, most people think of Lolita’s. We aren’t going to disagree- they make a great taco.
- Filling Taste: A+
- Filling Amount: A
- Tortilla: A
- Overall size: A
- Price: $2.25/taco with 2 ingredients- $1.00 for extra meat and $0.50/per ingredient
5. El Norteno Mexican Restaurant (7896 Highway 6)
If you’re ever driving down Highway 6 in the morning, this is a must stop for good breakfast tacos.
- Filling Taste: A+
- Filling Amount: A
- Tortilla: A
- Overall size: B+
- Price: $1.79/taco with 2 ingredients- $0.49/per extra ingredient
6. Jarritos Restaurant (2000-2098 Bethard Boulevard)
These tacos were slightly smaller than the others, but they were filled to the brim. (On a side note, they had some of the best creamy green salsa to put on top.)
- Filling Taste: A-
- Filling Amount: A+
- Tortilla: A-
- Overall size: B+
- Price: $3.99 for 3 tacos with 2 ingredients- $0.50/per extra ingredient
7. Taqueria Mexicana (1500 N Interstate 35 Frontage Road)
This taco had a slightly smaller, thinner tortilla, but they used a different kind of cheese that made for a good-tasting taco. The taco with bacon was slightly greasy, while the sausage in the other taco was cooked in a different way that made it very tasty. The mixed reviews landed these tacos in the middle of our list.
- Filling Taste: A
- Filling Amount: A
- Tortilla: B+
- Overall size: B+
- Price: $1.50 per taco
8. Valle’s Mexican Restaurant (900 N Valley Mills Drive)
This was crowded on the Saturday morning when we went. Not a completely full taco, but the tortilla was very good.
- Filling Taste: B+
- Filling Amount: B+
- Tortilla: A
- Overall size: A
- Price: $1.30/taco with 2 ingredients- $0.25/per extra ingredient
- **Morning Special: 3 tacos with the same 2 ingredients for $2.50
9. Leal’s Mexican Restaurant (9000 Panther Drive)
Many people told us to add this to our list of places to try. It’s popularity was definitely shown by a full parking lot and a long line. The tacos were small, but they had an authentic, homemade taste.
- Filling Taste: A
- Filling Amount: B+
- Tortilla: B+
- Overall size: B+
- Price: $2.79/ taco with 3 ingredients
10. Mi Casita (1520 Hewitt Drive B)
For the people in Hewitt/Woodway, this is another good place for a morning taco run. They make a good taco for a good price.
- Filling Taste: B+
- Filling Amount: B+
- Tortilla: B+
- Overall size: A
- Price: $1.75/taco with two ingredients- $0.35/per extra ingredient
- **Morning Special: 3 tacos with the same 2 ingredients for $3.49
Here are some others we tried:
- Taco Zacatecas aka Taco Z (2311 La Salle Avenue)
- Taqueria Altos de Jalisco (719 N Hewitt Drive)
- El Charro Cafe (2303 La Salle Avenue)
- Rene’s Restaurant (1912 Speight Ave)
- Rufi’s Cocina (1801 N 25th Street)
- Sergio’s Food Truck (Downtown Waco)
- Taqueria El Crucero (2505 N Robinson Drive)
- Pablo’s Taqueria (2624 N 18th Street)
We hope this allows you feel a little more adventurous with your morning breakfast options. Perhaps our favorite will not be your own, or maybe within this list you will find your new favorite place to go when you’re wanting a breakfast taco. Leave a comment below with your favorite from this list, or if you have your own favorite that we might have left out!
Editor's Note: This post was contributed by 2 of our readers. If you'd like to contribute a post to the WacoFork blog, contact us and let us know!
