Cheap Breakfast: El Rey Taqueria

By Amber Ambrose Fri., Jun. 11 2010 at 3:14 PM

Categories: Breakfast

All the chatter from the Top 10 Places to Eat in Oak Forest (and Inwood Forest) list made me realize that I'd never tried the breakfast at El Rey. What blasphemy. Time to remedy that in the name of blogging (and hunger).

I ordered a simple Mexican egg taco -- a hearty helping of eggs scrambled with tomatoes, onions and chilis, with a schmear of beans (available on request), stuffed inside a normal-size corn or flour tortilla, and a cafe latte (single). I didn't pay much attention to the prices in my haze of hunger, and when the cashier told me the total was $3.68, I was happily surprised. Hoping there was no "catch," like a tiny taco or a latte that tasted like dirt, I imagined the negative possibilities as I stirred a bit of sugar into my lava-hot coffee.

It wasn't a "the-heavens-open-and-the-Hallelujah-chorus-is-sung-by-angels" kinda moment when I bit into the taco, but the soft flour tortilla, fluffy scrambled eggs and savory beans topped with their red salsa pretty much kicks ass. And by kicking ass, I mean it kicks all the asses of every fast food breakfast on the market in price, taste and freshness. Paired with a creamy, well-made cafe latte, it feels decadent, but without the Starbucks price tag. Stuff yourself to your wallet's content, because it's not going to cost you much at El Rey, which has four locations.