100 Favorite Dishes: Breakfast burrito from the Taco Wagon in Lafayette

Lori Midson

No. 92: Breakfast burrito from the Taco Wagon in Lafayette

Way back in April, I was summoned to Lafayette on unofficial business, when, what to my wondering eyes should appear but a taco wagon pimping all the foods that add bulk to my rear.

There were street tacos surfaced with marinated Mexican meats, onions and cilantro; tortas stacked with refritos, lengua, pickled jalapenos, avocado, queso and lettuce; and, as it turned out, handheld breakfast burritos, served morning, noon and night from the wagon's window, behind which are a man and a woman: he who takes your money, she who creates Mexican magic. The breakfast burritos at Santiago's can't hold a tortilla to these irresistible, hot green-chile-intensive wonderments bursting with soft scrambled eggs, nubs of spicy chorizo and slightly charred, crisp-edged potatoes assembled by hands that take this kind of thing really, really seriously. They take their salsas seriously, too, offering two housemade creations, one green, the other red, both of which are worthy of an ode to greatness. The wagon, located in the parking lot of El Mercado, 503 South Public Road, is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5, 6 or 7 p.m., depending on the day -- and the weather.

Hungry for more? All the dishes in our countdown are linked below:

No. 100: Italian wedding soup from the Squeaky Bean
No. 99: American Classic Burger (and fries) from Tarbell's
No. 98: E's clam linguini from Mangiamo Pronto
No. 97: Queso a la plancha taco from the Pinche Tacos wagon
No. 96: Prosciutto-wrapped jalapeño poppers from Tony's Market
No. 95: Fried chicken from the Pinyon
No. 94: Seafood soup from Farro
No. 93: Posole from The Porker

In late 2009, we embarked on a culinary journey that took us through our favorite dishes in the Mile High City -- one hundred, to be exact -- as a precursor to the Best of Denver issue. Now we're back with round two, counting down (in no particular order) a hundred more of our favorite Denver dishes in a list that, by our imperfect calculations, should be wrapped up by the time the Best of Denver 2011 hits the streets on March 31. In the meantime, if there's a dish you think we need to try, tell us about it in the comments section below, or shoot us an e-mail at lori.midson@westword.com.