I'm in love with breakfast, not brunch. Brunch is for pounding Bloody Marys while waiting with the hordes for tables. Brunch is for people watching and drag shows. Brunch is for pancakes and fruit with syrup, or eggs benedict. It's for packing on a day's worth of calories and downing enough booze that you're hungover by dinner.

Breakfast is leaner, more utilitarian. It's

fuel, a humble meal: steel cut oatmeal with butter and brown sugar and

raisins. A fried egg on rye with bacon. Or a breakfast taco.

In the months before I left DC, I noticed that breakfast burritos and

tacos were a given in every Salvadorean taqueria in the neighborhood

where I lived. Little holes in the wall would open at 6 or 7 to prep for

the workaday meal, and a brisk one at that. Guys in work boots,

teachers, and mail carriers would line up for take out, or grab a table

to scarf something down.

My favorite breakfast was a scrambled egg taco in a soft taco, with

fresh avocado,onion, salsa, jalapeno, green chilis, tomatillo sauce, and

cilantro with a dash of lime. Granted, the shop isn't making their own tortillas and the cheese isn't Cotija. But for a $2.50 breakfast at 7 in the morning, I'll take it.

I see El Guanaco serves breakfast, and of course Tacos al Carbon. Will these serve as delicious breakfast stops or are there other choices you'd suggest?

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