Our 5 Favorite Breakfast Tacos in NYC

Address and phone: 69 1st Ave (212-254-1757) Website: downtownbakerycocinamexicana.com Taco availability: Available all hours, every day It's been almost two decades since Downtown Bakery opened its doors in the East Village. Patrons come here to dabble in hangover-curing taqueria items like oversized pork burritos and enchiladas drowning in mole. The Southwestern breakfast options are stellar, including burritos stuffed with eggs and four types of breakfast tacos. The impressive chorizo breakfast taco consists of fluffy eggs, spicy chorizo, jack cheese, and black refried beans wrapped in a griddled corn tortilla. A super spicy, vibrant salsa made from dried guajillo chiles ties everything together. On a recent visit, the manager of the shop dropped this piece of wisdom: "Some people dress up for work, others dress up their work." We don't know what this means, but we know that the breakfast tacos are what's up.—Liz Barclay

Address and phone: 600 11th Ave (212-582-7944) Website: chozataqueria.com Taco availability: Mon–Fri 8-11am; Sat, Sun 9-11am Choza, the fast-expanding taco chainlet, now has an outpost in Gotham West Market that serves a full Mexican breakfast menu, including a standout breakfast taco. Chef/co-owner Akhtar Nawab (formerly of La Esquina and La Cenita) builds his version on two lightly crisped corn tortillas, filled with your choice of bacon, sausage, pulled pork, or chorizo. Even breakfast taco diehards who scoff at using a corn tortillas over a flour variety will find comfort in the soft-scrambled eggs blanketed with tender chorizo (best option, always), cilantro, tomato, and slightly melted jack cheese. Corn tortilla haters gonna hate—meanwhile, we'll be ordering these by the half-dozen. Pro tip: After you're done, walk through the market to Blue Bottle for a post-meal New Orleans iced coffee.—Shanté Cosme

Address and phone: 30 W 24th St (212-242-3491) Website: cafeelpresidente.com Taco availability: Mon–Fri 7-11am; Sat, Sun 9-11am The Tacombi team proves that its breakfast-taco prowess was no fluke at this Flatiron follow-up, which combines a juice bar, tortilleria, and restaurant all under one roof. The newly launched morning menu includes options like huevos rancheros and jalapeño-and-cotija biscuits, but you're here for the tacos. The main twist on the Tacombi template is that you can swap out flour tortillas for house-made corn wrappers, which taste of fresh masa and retain the heat of the comal. The "Con Carne" option is a carnivore crapshoot, featuring scrambled eggs, chihauhua cheese, and the chef's choice of meat, such as al pastor or carne asada. You've hit the jackpot if you get slow-roasted Berkshire-pork carnitas, with crunchy odds and ends that add some texture to the whole package. For a vegetarian option, go with the queso fresco-laced A La Mexicana, which combines tender eggs with pico de gallo for the perfect amount of pre-noon heat. There's a café serving real-deal cafe con leche, as well as virtuous fresh juices like the Purpura (beets, strawberries, ginger, and orange).—Chris Schonberger

Address and phone: Essex Street Market, 120 Essex St (646-820-8226) Website: brooklyntaco.com Taco availability: Sundays 11:30am-6pm This pint-sized taqueria is tucked away in the back of Essex Street Market. On Sundays only, you'll find owners Erica Molina and Maialino vet Jesse Kramer heating fresh flour tortillas from Corona on the flattop until nice and toasty, then stuffing the warm tortillas with creamy soft-scrambled eggs, poblano peppers, big hunks of chorizo, potato, crumbly cotija cheese, and a generous drizzling of crema. Order one, then wash it down with Blue Bottle New Orleans iced coffee, aguas frescas in flavors like watermelon and cantaloupe, or Austin's favorite Mexican mineral water, Topo Chico. (Note: Molina and Kramer are planning to sell a late-night breakfast taco—with a poached egg—at their "permanent pop-up" inside Williamsburg's Donna.)—Erin Mosbaugh  

Address and phone: 267 Elizabeth St (917-727-0179) Website: tacombi.com Taco availability: Available all hours, every day Chorizo is a powerful meat product. At this expansive Nolita taco garage, the chorizo—made from pork, guajillo, and arbol chiles—is shipped in from Toluca, Mexico. Hunks of the chili-laced sausage find their way into one of two stellar breakfast tacos at Tacombi, where they're married with fluffy eggs and pico de gallo. Tacombi follows the Southwestern breakfast taco tradition of using flour tortillas; they're made at Tacombi's sister restaurant, Cafe el Presidente, then delivered multiple times a day to ensure freshness. After feasting on chorizo-and-egg tacos, consider ordering a beef barbacoa taco and crispy Baja-style fish taco for round two, and make sure to work in multiple micheladas throughout your meal.—Erin Mosbaugh