I do enjoy them, but to be honest, breakfast tacos are almost never great.  At best, these are good but very welcome on a slower, foggier weekend morning.  Though a guilty, easily greatly caloric morning pleasure, these really aren’t the breakfast of champions, unless you’re aiming for champion-size sumo proportions.  And breakfast tacos don’t get the recognition that the more familiar ones – pastor, carne asada, etc. – receive, nor do these deserve it.  These are generally not as interesting nor tasty.  More care is usually put into the daytime tacos by the taqueros.  But, sometimes nothing is better on a lazy weekend morning, or very early in the morning as the night has wound done.  For this kind of weekend food, often for those with a mild hangover or worse, a drive-thru is a big benefit for which a couple recommendable spots can oblige so that Taco Cabana and Chacho’s can be avoided.
 
Breakfast tacos: moist scrambled eggs and most often a protein or potatoes wrapped in a study-enough flour tortilla – recently made in house by experienced hands, ideally – and aided by a flavorful salsa that complements and ties together the components.  Flour tortillas are the standard, as the staffer at Hugo Ortega’s new Urbe confirmed emphatically when I asked which type of tortilla works best for the tacos I was ordering.  But corn tortillas are becoming a more familiar as an option at more than a few places now.  The universe of breakfast tacos is expanding. 

Breakfast tacos are an American thing, as far as I can tell and originally a Texas thing, though the breakfast burrito and similar items are probably from points further west.  These seemingly don’t exist in Mexico other than for barbacoa – that eggless, heart-endangering, usually weekend pleasure – for which I received some more recent confirmation from current and former residents.  Scrambled eggs stuck into a tortilla with salsa seems like such a natural thing, but this combination hasn’t been around forever.  Breakfast tacos might have had their start in San Antonio, and Texas Monthly claimed to have found an ad from a paper there in the 1950s mentioning those.  I began to notice them in Houston in the 1990s, though maybe these existed before then.  I don’t remember them in my earlier time in Austin, though.

To note, I’ve mostly included places where it’s easy to get them, not the places serving breakfast as part of a large morning ensemble meant most for dining in.  Some of these can be good, but not terribly convenient nor quick, and that’s usually part of the attraction of breakfast tacos.
 
Listed in order of preference.
 
The Best
 
Tacos A Go Go – You’ll have to wait at least a short while for these cooked-to-order morning sensations that are necessarily customized, two items from a choice of a dozen quality options – bacon, sausage, refried beans, etc. – to complement the scrambled eggs, which means shredded cheese can be added for no additional cost, usually a significant benefit.  The number of possible creations are generally welcome, but can require some additional thinking during those much slower weekend mornings.  Along with tacos with the expected fillings, for a little more there are eggs with lamb barbacoa, a really tasty pork guisada, carne guisada, and smoked brisket.  A variety of delicious, mostly piquant salsas can complement any creation, which are available on either flour or corn tortillas, and also whole wheat, for some reason.  Wrapped just in aluminum foil, these tacos travel well, too.  Midtown, Heights, Garden Oaks, Downtown
 
The Second Best
 
La Carreta – This low-volume spot set unassumingly on 20th Street in the Heights for nearly fifty years serves up some terrific straightforward breakfast tacos that are more than the sum of its parts led by tasty house-made flour tortillas and a different, watery salsa with a subtle spicy flavor that seems to improve everything.  Made to order and travels well.  Heights,
El Charro – The fairly spiffy location on Harrisburg is quite cheap and convenient – if you live in or not too far from the East End – and with a drive-thru.  It does a more than commendable job with these basic renditions, as with it does with most its offerings, and for a terrific value.  Excellent salsas and machacado and eggs, too.  East End, Alief
Urbe – Opened in the summer of 2021, this attractive and inviting outpost featuring street food from top toque Hugo Ortega and team (Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi) in Uptown Park is necessarily more ambitious, wide-ranging and accomplished than just about any taco purveyor around.  Tacos here include more items, and likely of higher quality, than elsewhere and are available with either flour or corn tortillas; the former should be the choice, of course.  Uptown Park
The Taco Stand – Far from a taco stand, this slick operations on Shepherd in the Heights – a sibling of The Burger Joint next door – offers plump and usually delectable breakfast tacos that can be had in fresh flour tortillas, or corn for about thirty cents less.  Tortillas are made in house, though the flour ones are vegan; no tasty manteca de cerdo in the mix.  These tacos aren’t the cheapest around, but worth it, and these are nicely available until 11 each morning, and with a drive-thru, which is at least as nice.  It’s better to arrive before then because the breakfast versions are much tastier than the later-day ones.  Also, the viscous Taqueria Arandas-style green salsa significantly aids any of the morning offerings.  Heights
La Chingada – Assembled to order with a fair number of fillings stuffed inside house-made flour tortillas for a plump, satisfying result that’s wrapped in aluminum foil to go and served with a trio of commendable salsas: a fiery orange, a piquant serrano-based whipped green, and a fairly mild tomatillo one.  A fine value at around $3 each, the breakfast tacos are served daily, and that includes the barbacoa at this friendly, slightly funky spot not far west of I-45 and close to the Heights.  Near Northside
Laredo Taqueria – Four locations, including the seemingly-always-line-out-the-door original on Washington.  Available with either flour or corn tortillas, and $3 each for the standard two-item versions – mostly egg and something else, of course, but barbacoa daily – that are straightforward and satisfying, especially with aid from the spicy viscous green salsa or the piquant, thin red one.  From a steam table that is replenished more often than most anywhere else, a smear of refried beans provides a base on the tortilla of choice, with the flour tortillas noticeably fresh and flavorful and the fluffy scrambled eggs plentiful; the proteins are used much more judiciously than elsewhere, but you will get pleasantly stuffed for less than $10 here. Washington Corridor and Near Northside (3)
Revival Market – Only one option, as a plate with a side, featuring supermarket aisle-quality flour tortillas and without any additional salsa that is kind of pricey for what it is, but very tasty and definitely worth an order.  Other than the tortillas, the ingredients are as good or better than anywhere else, which is what you would expect from this restaurant cum artisanal butcher and food shop. Heights
Cantina Barba – Cooked to order, and solid and sensibly-sized, these are served all day and with the option for corn tortillas. And, it is open until 2 AM, in case taste matters that late.  Near Northside
 
Bueno Enough
 
El Rey – Wrapped in paper then aluminum foil, these plump tacos are available in enough varieties to satisfy most including a Cuban version with black beans providing the protein. The drive-thrus are an important consider. Like The Taco Stand, just go for breakfast not for the afternoon tacos.  Washington Corridor, Garden Oaks, Spring Branch, Katy
La Mexicana – A solid choice featuring items dished from steam trays piled into large flour tortillas toasted on the plancha; not helped by two of the lamest salsas to be found, especially a slightly sweet green one, but these are served all day. Montrose
Henderson and Kane – Low-volume with service that’s always slow, but the breakfast tacos are well-done, made to order featuring pretty tasty flour tortillas made in house and thick slices of bacon that is much higher quality than you’ll find in most other versions around, and the it offers the chance to enjoy beef brisket in the AM.  For this, and all the morning tacos, skip the forgettable green salsa and pour on the piquant, flavorful reddish one.  Sixth Ward
La Vibra – This modern taco stop serves some different types of notably artisanal tacos rooted in Mexico City. The morning versions are more local and less interesting, but are cooked to order and can be satisfying.  Heights
La Guadalupana – The breakfast tacos at this quaint and popular café aren’t as good as they once were, and one of the other breakfast choices is a better option these days. Smaller-sized and utilizing commercial tortillas, the salsas are tasty and an order of the morning tacos can still usually satiate.  Montrose
​Brothers Taco House – A value provider as generous portions are scooped from the trays in the steam table beginning with a smear of refried beans into pretty good flour tortillas in an efficient fashion as the every-present line moves quickly.  Its versions are solid even if the salsas don’t add too much, with the barbacoa being one of the better choices here.  EaDo
El Sol Mejicano – Across from the police headquarters, these very no-frills versions – well-cooked scrambled eggs and another thing – are hefty and generally satisfying, cooked to order and with quality salsas for some necessary extra flavor.  Downtown
El Topo – The near-polar opposite of El Sol Mejicano and Brothers Taco, this offers a chef-y, pricey version of the breakfast taco set in the heart of an upscale, largely white neighborhood.  There are only a couple of breakfast taco options – a solid, not-so-value-oriented rendition of beef barbacoa and a loaded bacon, potato, egg and cheese one – and only open at 9:00; a big breakfast is not needed is these parts.  The loaded option is the largest breakfast taco to be found in town, a true one’s-a-meal for most, which can be complemented with some of the least spicy salsas in all of Houston.  West U
The Pit Room – Only recommendable for dine-in, as these travel poorly.  House-made flour tortillas anchors these very big and bold versions with eggs that are cooked upon order and slathered with a very healthy amount of well creamed refried beans.  The brisket tacos are a wonder, but are not enjoyable too many minutes past ordering even though well-wrapped in paper and aluminum foil; but maybe that’s part of the problem, as there’s just too much moisture in the meat and the eggs that are cooked to a wet consistency.  Actually, nothing travels well at all, with or without the refried beans on the bottom.  Montrose
​Chilosos –  Though not nearly in the same league as the tacos from nearby La Carreta or La Chingada, this spot has been popular for years with Heights residents. The breakfast tacos are huge, and so a fine value.  Otherwise, the straightforward tacos feature house-made flour tortillas that are little thicker and gummier and less tasty than typical – corn is an option, too – and salsas that are also less flavorful, even as the green one packs some heat.  Made to order, the orders can be quite slow to fulfill on weekends and the setting is rather cramped and charmless as you wait.  Heights

​A few years ago at a family reunion in the Chicago area, my cousin Nancy surprised me saying that maybe she and her husband Brian would come down to Houston for a weekend in the future to enjoy the restaurants.  They’ve never been, but I believe that my frequent blathering about the dining scene in Houston piqued their interest.  They enjoy wine and good food and frequent and savvy restaurant-goers.  Longtime fans of Rick Bayless’s restaurants, and I seem to remember that their favorite restaurant, at least one of their favorites, is a Chicagoland branch of Roka Akor.
 
So, I thought it would be a good idea – and something fun to do as a thought exercise at the very least – to create a list of possible restaurants to recommend here for them.  My tact was to highlight cuisines that aren’t found in the Chicago area, or not found in much quality.  Barbecue, Creole and Cajun, Gulf seafood, Tex-Mex, Vietnamese come quickly to mind.  But, I won’t suggest any places for chicken fried steak, as enjoyable as I occasionally find it.
 
And they won’t want pizza – it’s far better in Chicago to be sure, and not just deep-dish – nor Italian.  My cousin is Italian-American and they seem to go out for it a lot.  I don’t believe that there are any better Italian chefs in Chicago than Maurizio Ferrarese at the new Alba in the Hotel Granduca or Giancarlo Ferrara at Amalfi here, though.
 
There are only so many calories that can be ingested in a weekend, even a long weekend, but below is a list to work from, listed alphabetically.

• Barbecue – As extraordinary as Houston barbecue can be now, I had thought that this might not be an option given the inherent heaviness, but then I realized that if you show some restraint – something I can have a hard time doing, myself – like just having a sandwich or splitting a plate, a visit to a barbecue joint doesn’t have to be a one-meal day. – The Pit Room, Piper’s, Pinkerton’s, Blood Bros., Truth
  
• Breakfast – If they want breakfast, there are some excellent, casual and fun choices that are different from what is found near where they live. – The Breakfast Klub, Goode Co. Taqueria, El Tiempo
  
• Breakfast Tacos – For a quick and even more casual breakfast that can be picked up, and something that isn’t much of a thing at all in Chicago, breakfast tacos can be a piquant and tasty morning start when time is a consideration. –  Tacos A Go Go are clearly the top stop for these and there a few locations to from which to choose.  La Carreta in the Heights is a close second. – Tacos A Go Go, La Carreta
  
• Brunch – If they desire a brunch day, three of the Hugo Ortega-Tracy Vaught restaurants do a great job with brunch and in different ways, then there is the grand Creole brunch at Brennan’s, a high-calorie and necessarily alcohol-laden morning feast. – Hugo’s, Xochi, Brennan’s, Backstreet Café
  
• Cocktails – I think that they are into cocktails or maybe at least before dinner and several of Bobby Heugel’s spots can do the trick terrifically well, led by the trend-setting Anvil. – Anvil, Tongue Cut Sparrow, The Pastry War, BCN (for the Spanish gin and tonics)
  
• Creole / Cajun – Creole as practiced in New Orleans doesn’t exist in Chicago today though there have been some Cajun-themed eateries for while most prominently with Heaven On Seven that was popular when I was traveling frequently there decades ago; it’s all much better here, of course. –Eunice, Brennan’s, Ragin’ Cajun
  
• Gulf Seafood – Restaurants specializing in Gulf seafood will be something unique for them, and a few spots excel with it. – Goode Co. Seafood, Eugene’s, 1751 Sea and Bar
  
• Mexican – Hugo Ortega is our answer to Rick Bayless, except he is from Mexico.  He and Tracy Vaught’s trio of upscale Mexican restaurants are the best Mexican restaurants here and called the best in the state.  And the new, more casual Urbe looks like it will be an enjoyable asset to the dining landscape. – Hugo’s, Caracol, Xochi, Urbe
  
• Steak – The Great American Steakhouse template doesn’t vary too much across the country even as it has evolved over the years.  There is something to be said for top-quality, well-marbled steak from grain-fed Midwest beef seared over a very high heat with fatty sides and a plush atmosphere.  Georgia James does something different and is also fantastic while Pappas Bros. excels at the more familiar with a wine list that is a enophile’s dream, well, a well-heeled one. – Georgia James, Pappas Bros. Steakhouse
  
• Sushi – I think that Manabu Horiuchi at Kata Robata is not only a terrific sushi chef and for Japanese cuisine in general, but he is one of the very best chefs in Houston regardless of cuisine. – Kata Robata, MF Sushi, Uchi
  
• Tex-Mex – There’s not quality Tex-Mex there and this is always well liked by relatives from Illinois when traveling to Houston. – El Tiempo, Goode Co. Kitchen & Cantina
  
• Viet-Cajun (during crawfish season) – A recently developed cuisine that has drawn considerable attention with its leading light an especially fun dining experience, and one that’s quite regional. – Crawfish & Noodles
  
• Vietnamese – A Houston staple, certainly for me.  My favorite place for Vietnamese food is still probably Jasmine then its sibling Saigon Pagaloc, both along Bellaire Boulevard.  A more modern, accessible and fun, and geographically easy location is probably better, unless they want to experience Seven Courses of Beef.  That can be fun. – Xin Chao, The Blind Goat
  
• Wine – Houston has some really good wine bars, both in terms of selection and comfort, one can be a fine way to began an evening or to be the evening. – 13 Celsius, Camerata, How to Survive on Land and Sea, Montrose Cheese & Wine, Vinology
  
• Other – A few other places to note mostly for their quality, as MAD and BCN are two of the best restaurants in Houston, and UB Preserv is also a proudly Houston-centric establishment that is worth showing off. – UB Preserv, MAD, BCN
  

 
Whittling this down for an itinerary for a weekend, even a long weekend, will take some additional work.  I think there will be some time before they actually make it here.

A medley of dishes at Eunice

​Mixing Southern Italian foodways – mostly Southern Italian foodways – with the ingredients and abundance of meats on hand and the need to make money, restaurants created dishes that are as much or more American than Italian, with some going on to become well-loved regional specialties over the decades, specialties that might seem a little odd to outsiders, at least to an outsider like me.  Even if seeming unusual, I do enjoy some of these.
 
Chicken Riggies – Utica, New York – This odd name doesn’t immediately signal any connection to an Italian-themed preparation, and doesn’t seem very appetizing, regardless. “Riggies” here means rigatoni.  It’s a heaty pasta dish featuring sauteed chicken breast, sweet and hot peppers, onion, heavy cream and tomatoes over rigatoni.  A chef named Bobby Hazelton is credited with creating the dish at the Clinton House restaurant in the village of Clinton, which was taken by one of his cooks to the Chesterfield in nearby Utica where it first appeared on a menu in 1982.  It’s popularity in area where Italian-American flavors are a mainstay ensured it became a specialty of that part of upstate New York.

Cincinnati Chili, Two-Way (to Five-Way) – Cincinnati – It's not the chili that's Italian but the spaghetti here.  Invented by immigrant restaurateurs from Macedonia in the early 1920s incorporating a regional love of chili along with the Americans’ affection for spaghetti, this is take on chili can include a bazaar’s worth of spices in addition to cumin and chili powder: cinnamon, allspice, cloves, paprika, turmeric, coriander, nutmeg, and oregano. And also Worcestershire sauce and unsweetened chocolate, all mixed into ground beef that has not been browned.  As someone who grew up with Texas chili, I find the slightly sweet and certainly very different-tasting Cincinnati chili rather unappealing; pouring a lot of it over spaghetti, even more so.  That’s called two-way.  It goes all the way to five-way with warmed red kidney beans taken from a can, diced onions, and then topped with thinly shredded cheddar cheese with the chili and spaghetti at the bottom.
 
Joe’s Special – San Francisco – The famed, nearly namesake dish of Original Joe’s restaurant in San Francisco’s North Beach – not New Joe’s – can be thought of an Italian-American take on the frittata.  At least my father and his father called it the frittata when he lived in San Francisco in the 1960s and frequented the restaurant.  It is actually a mess of scrambled eggs with garlic, sauteed onions, mushrooms, ground beef, chopped spinach.  The popularity of this dish has remained very regional, just the Bay Area for some reason though it is quite versatile, working well for breakfast, lunch and dinner and reputedly is welcome when suffering from a hangover, plus pairing well with a cold light beer for any of those meals.  It’s easy to make at home, too, and quite tasty, if one of the ugliest Italian-American dishes around.

Johnny Marzetti – Columbus, Ohio – This is a hearty baked casserole of ground beef, cheese, tomato sauce, and pasta dish that is probably as much middle American as it is Italian-rooted.  It’s seemingly disappeared entirely from restaurants in the city associated with it, though.  The name has been associated with a long-shuttered restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, Marzetti’s, with Johnny Marzetti, being the brother-in-law of the owner.  But, the connection between the dish and the restaurant might have only started after the proprietor Teresa Marzetti’s death in 1972.  No menu from the Marzetti’s restaurants over many decades has the dish.  A recipe for a broadly similar preparation and the name Johnny Marzetti appeared in a Columbus newspaper in 1916.  And there are comparable dishes in nearby states bearing different names, as those in the Mideast and Midwest love their casseroles.  Teresa Marzetti’s restaurant has received some actual renown that you might have noticed in the supermarket aisles: the T. Marzetti salad dressings that began with a Marzetti restaurant in the 1950s.

Pepperoni Roll – West Virginia – A yeasted and shelf-stable roll filled with sticks of pepperoni sausage that was probably first made by the wives of Italian coal miners looking to provide a food that could be easily carried to and eaten in cramped worksites, the pepperoni roll had its commercial start with Giuseppe Argiro at the Country Club Bakery in the town of Fairmount in the 1920s or 1930s.  There are versions filled with peperoni slices and ground pepperoni, too.

Spiedies – Taking its name from the Italian word for skewer, this sandwich specialty of Binghamton, New York features marinated cubes of meat – usually chicken or pork these days for the traditional versions – grilled over an open flame to develop a nice caramelization on the exterior that are then placed into a big, crusty Italian-style roll.  Spiedies have been around since the 1920s, when the meat was just lamb, and the popular Italian dressing-like marinade has been available commercially since 1951.  An example of a hyper-local item, these were completely unknown in Ithaca just fifty miles away when I lived for a couple of years.

Toasted Ravioli – St. Louis – Deep-fried ravioli that is sprinkled with grated Parmesan cheese and served with a side of marinara sauce for dipping is a St. Louis specialty that has slowly grown in popularity beyond the Gateway Arch and that works well at casual Italian-American restaurants and for a bar snack.  It was the result of an accident in the 1950s at a restaurant called Angelo Oldani's on the Hill, the Italian neighborhood in St. Louis, when a new cook, a German, thought that the boiling oil was meant for the ravioli and dropped in the pasta.  The deep-frying made for a different, if still enjoyable dish, especially when paired with some grated cheese and a tomato sauce.

Utica Greens – Utica, New York – This is the second dish from Utica, which is only about 60,000 folks, but a large number of Italian-Americans, and the basis for this was a commonly planted vegetable in the gardens of the southern Italian immigrants and their descendants, escarole.  This is even from the same restaurant that put Chicken Riggies on the menu, Chesterfield.  Called Greens Morrelle there and its successor establishment, it was named for the chef who invented them in 1988.  It’s Utica Greens elsewhere: escarole with fried prosciutto, hot cherry peppers, grated Romano cheese and seasoned bread crumbs, a regional favorite that hasn’t spread very far.

Pepperoni rolls from Barney's Bakery in Weirton, West Virginia

One of the main attractions of wine bars for me is the opportunity to discover new wines, especially new wines that I can comfortably afford.  Thankfully, there are a handful of wine bars in Houston that do an excellent job in selecting wines and in introducing new wines to their offerings on a regular basis.

The best value of these is the relaxed and comfortable, and amusingly named, How to Survive on Land and Sea in the East End on Harrisburg.  This is because every day from 4:00 to 8:00, every day, it offers a red, white rosé and sparkling wine for just $5.50 a glass, with a regular-sized pour.  Amazingly, it’s been my experience that each of the four happy hour wines is very knowingly selected and often delicious.  I’ve about a dozen of these happy hour wines in the course of more than a few visits.

​The happy hour wines and the selections overall have a strong Old World tilt – restrained fruit notes, evident acidity, and more earthiness or minerality, generally – which I enjoy.  A few of the highlights have been:

Domaine Jean Royer Le Petit Roy 2020, Rhone, France – A blend of Mourvedre Grenache, Syrah and some Alicante, along with a bit of Chateauneuf du Pape wine that didn't make it into those bottles. This is essentially a Cotes du Rhone without the name, with maybe some more heft.  With more fruit than can be expected for a Cotes du Rhone, this is nicely balanced and quite easy to drink by itself. And typical of the area these days, it registers at 14.5% alcohol, hardly petit, but it doesn’t seem overly hardy.

Heger Pinot Noir 2015, Baden, Germany – More straightforward and not quite as interesting, but very enjoyable is this juicy and lively medium-bodied, well-rounded red wine from Germany.  One of the benefits of global warming is that there is more and more good Pinot Noir coming from Germany, and this is an affordable example.

Weszeli Zweigelt Rosé 2020, Kamptal, Austria – It’s tough for me not to look toward a rosé during these long summer months and this unusual one from Austria is easy to like.  It is made with 80% Zweigelt and 20% Cabernet Franc, all from older vines.  With nice fruit like some peach and raspberry, evident minerality, and tartness from the Zweigelt, it has some more structure than most rosés at this price point that might be welcome.

Weingut Schlossmuhlenhof 'Boden Funk' Riesling, Rheinhessen, Germany – This very dry, unfiltered Riesling is not-at-all funky despite the label and would likely appeal to those white wine drinkers who shy away from the varietal. Lots of acidity and citrus notes highlight this very well-made wine that I found terribly refreshing on a hot, humid day.

Zull Grüner Veltliner 2020, Weinviertel, Austria – More flavorful than the typical inexpensive 1-liter sized Grüner Veltliner, this is decidedly crisp, with some pear and minerals on the palate and that is easy to consume.

I would have, and have, readily paid the full price – two or two-and-half times the happy hour tariff – for each of these wines and a few others.  As far I can tell, most of the happy hour wines retail between $15 and $25 if you can find them elsewhere.  Most importantly, these have been very well chosen.

​Houston to Survive on Land and Sea
3401 Harrisburg (at Sampson), 77003, (346) 320-2926
howtosurvivehtx.com