Your Next Favorite Breakfast Bar, But Not the Kind You Think

Welcome to The Essentials, our catalog of indispensable and quintessential Phoenix food and drink. From now until May, we'll be sharing 50 dishes, drinks, and food experiences that make up the culinary backbone (and personality) of metro Phoenix. This list is highly eclectic, mixing classics with newer and lesser-known favorites. But all The Essentials have one thing in common: We think they're required eating (and drinking) in metro Phoenix.

Up next, the Breakfast Burrito at Yucca Tap Room.

12: Breakfast Burrito at Yucca Tap Room

At certain times when sitting within the wood-paneled walls of the Yucca Tap Room, you can’t tell if it’s 12 noon or 12 midnight. That is, unless your bartender lets you order a breakfast burrito.

A little basket will arrive lined with a piece of blue-and-white checkered wax paper – weighed down by your new favorite breakfast burrito. A warm tortilla is packed with hot scrambled eggs stuck to crispy hash browns with melted cheddar cheese. One of the biggest decisions you’ll make that morning: whether to have that tortilla also stuffed with bacon or sausage.

The bacon is crunchy, the perfect texture for the accompanying soft eggs and hash browns. The sausage is salty – like little nuggets of meat adding just the right amount of juiciness and heat. Speaking of heat, each serving comes with a little cup of chunky salsa. If that’s not enough, there are condiment stations throughout the bar, so you can bet there’s some Cholula around.

Your next biggest decision of the morning? Do you also go for a Bloody Mary, mimosa, or just stick to the same beer from the night before?

The Yucca Tap Room breakfast burrito is served from 8 a.m. (a soft start time, it really depends on who’s in the kitchen) till 3 p.m. But as you probably already know, you can show up as early as 6 a.m. and hope for the best, when a friendly if not boisterous crowd has already posted up at the large square bar. However, the breakfast burrito is found on the brunch menu, which states Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. All we can advise is show up before that 3 p.m. cut-off on the weekends.

The breakfast burrito will run you $6, but we’re not promising that’s all your bar tab will reflect after a morning at the Yucca.

The Essentials so far:
50: Tequila Sunrise at the Arizona Biltmore.
49: "Dragon" Dumpling Burger at Bitter & Twisted Cocktail Parlour.
48: Dizzy Fig Empanada at Republica Empanada.
47: Linguine Carbonara at Avanti.
46: The Food Court at Mercado de los Cielos.
45: Chicken Feta Salad at George’s Kitchen.
44: Spinach & Cheese Chimi Burro at Mi Patio Mexican Restaurant.
43: Dinner at Rustler's Rooste.
42: Gyro Omelet at Mel's Diner.
41: Zipps Wings at Zipps Sports Grill.
40: Organ Stop Pizza in Mesa.
39: Asian Nachos at Moto.
38: Olive Oil Tasting at Queen Creek Olive Oil Mill.
37: Baby Back Ribs at Don & Charlie's.
36: Limoncello at Cibo.
35: Chili Salt Chicken Wings at Asian Café Express.
34: Smoked Prime Rib at Texaz.
33: Steak Salad at Feeney's.
32: Tasting Menu at Kai Restaurant.
31: Toffee Banofi Sundae at Sweet Republic.
30: Big Jim at Welcome Diner.
29: Sonoran Hot Dog at El Caprichoso.
28: Sashimi at Nobuo at Teeter House.
27: Oysters at Casey Moore's Oyster House.
26: Spring rolls at Da Vang.
25: Bruschetta and wine at Postino.
24: Hot green chili fry bread at Fry Bread House.
23: The Big One at The Chuckbox.
22: Cahuamanta Stew at Cahuamanta El Yaqui.
21: Dim Sum at Great Wall Cuisine.
20: Fried chicken at The Horny Toad.
19: George & Dragon’s Famous Fish & Chips.
18: Macaron Ice Cream Sandwiches at Pho 43rd Express.
17: Cerreta Candy Co. Factory Tour & Candy Sampling in Downtown Glendale.
16: Steak Dinner at The Stockyards.
15: Margarita + Guacamole del Barrio at Barrio Cafe.
14: BBQ Plate at Joe's Real BBQ.
13: Fried Chicken & Pork Chops from Mrs. White's Golden Rule Cafe.