Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ is a fusion of Austin’s greatest cuisines: Tex-Mex and barbecue. The foundation of their breakfast tacos are the phenomenal flour tortillas that you’ll beg and plead and offer to trade in your car for a stack to take home (until you learn you can buy them by the dozen). Those get topped with exceptional brisket or pulled pork, scrambled or fried eggs, and tomato serrano salsa, to make some of the greatest breakfast tacos in the entire known universe.

There's often a wait at Joe’s Bakery & Coffee Shop, and that’s because of the exceptional Tex-Mex/Mexican diner food (and the pan dulce, too), especially the breakfast tacos made with fluffy house-made flour tortillas. Get the miga taco con todo, with still-crispy tortilla chips, as well as the super-crispy bacon that defies the laws of pork belly physics.

Migas tacos usually follow a basic formula that involves a ratio of eggs and tortilla chips to cheese and beans that all leads to an inevitably delicious outcome. Nixta uses the same formula, but with little enhancements along the way, leading to a breakfast taco that’s both familiar and entirely new at the same time. The beans are refried in duck fat, the tortilla chips are made from nixtamalized corn, and the addition of chorizo adds a savory pop.

It’s hard to miss Taqueria Anyeli, parked outside of a gas station on the corner of North Lamar and 32nd Street, right by all the medical offices. It’s very pink. There will inevitably be a line, or a crowd of people waiting for their order at the picnic tables out front, because the breakfast tacos here are dependable, quickly made, and affordable ($2 each at the time of this writing). These are not fancy cheffed-up tacos. No, these are the tacos for the people.

At Pueblo Viejo, you have options. You can order a simple, excellent breakfast taco like a bacon, egg, and cheese - or if you’re paralyzed by choice, there’s a set menu of more elaborate options. And while most breakfast taco places have two salsas (red and green), Pueblo Viejo has five: pico, tomatillo, creamy jalapeno, roasted habanero, and habanero and ghost chili. So when you’re ordering, just stay calm, follow your heart, and know you really can’t go wrong.

Popular with construction workers, manual laborers, or just generally hungry people, Ken's Subs, Tacos, & More is known best perhaps for their enormous and affordable breakfast tacos. While it can get busy here during peak breakfast hours, it’s a very efficiently-run operation with multiple cash registers and a kitchen that turns out food fast. We like the migas tacos here the best. What to get: Migas; Chorizo, egg, and cheese; Carne guisada

Sabor Tapatio in South Austin might serve some of our favorite birria tacos, but they're also very good at making breakfast tacos. We're especially big fans of the migas taco that comes absolutely loaded with eggs and chunky, crispy tortilla chips. What to get: Migas taco

The UT students who have clearly just rolled out of bed and stumbled over to Vaquero Taquero’s brick-and mortar have no idea how good they have it. The al pastor tacos on handmade corn tortillas and the quesadillas are what put this place on the map. But it’s the insanely good breakfast tacos - especially the bacon, egg, and cheese (with the cheese crisped up on the griddle first) - that make us consider going back to school. We’d study for a PhD just to get that machacado.

Unless you’ve been to Granny’s—or have your own grandmother with a family recipe for excellent mole and chilaquiles—there’s a good chance you haven’t had a breakfast taco quite like their chilaquil taco. Here crispy corn chips in a fluffy flour tortilla get topped with a spicy and earthy house-made mole, cotija cheese, onion, and pickled jalapeno. Unlike its more popular breakfast cousin—migas—this is an eggless taco. What to get: Chilaquil taco

Tamale House is an Austin institution that’s existed in various forms and locations since 1958. The soul of this place is the breakfast menu, filled with dishes like chilaquiles, huevos rancheros, and breakfast tacos made with outstanding homemade flour tortillas. The real standout is the phenomenal chipotle migas taco, with scrambled eggs and crispy corn tortilla chips that get tossed in queso with a smoky chipotle salsa.

Waiting in lines for food is basically a sport in Austin. There’s often a very good reason for the line - and at El Primo’s it’s the fantastic breakfast tacos. Like moths to a light, people are powerless to the migas tacos (the default version is made with deli ham, which is pretty unique to this place) and the homemade chorizo and egg. You’ll see crowds waiting patiently for their orders while traffic whizzes by on South First.

The breakfast tacos at El Tacorrido won’t change the world, but they’re consistent, dependable, and very affordable. In contrast to every other place on this list however, El Tacorrido conveniently has drive thrus at all their locations around town, so you won’t even have to get out of your car. Inconveniently, sometimes the drive thru lines can be a little long in the morning. What to get: Chorizo, egg, and cheese; Bacon, egg, beans, and avocado.

The East Side all-day restaurant Sour Duck Market might be best known for its excellent pastries and its large outdoor patio, but it should also be known for its very delicious breakfast taco. A playful riff on the traditional fillings of a potato, egg, and cheese breakfast taco, here the potatoes are swapped out for fries, the eggs are expertly scrambled, and the cheese is queso fresco. It’s topped with a rich and spicy red chili sauce, and served in a fluffy, house-made flour tortilla.

Sometimes you just know. The first time we went to Tacos Guerrero, we opened the foil and had one of those holy sh*t moments. The breakfast tacos coming out of this tiny, orange, one-woman trailer on the East Side are spectacular - like the migas, with still-crispy tortilla strips, that by default come with refried beans (which is not typical at all). There’s a standard red and green salsa, but make sure to get the molcajete salsa made from roasted tomatoes and chiles.

The migas taco at Veracruz All-Natural sets the bar for all other migas tacos. Like Super Mario Bros. 3 or the brisket at Franklin Barbecue, they’re best-in-class - a legend. What makes these migas tacos so much better than all the other ones out there? The ingredients (they make their own tortilla chips), the execution, and the attention to detail (they take their time cooking things). What to get: Migas originales (add the molcajete salsa); Migas poblanas

Mi Trailita Y Mas on Manor Road makes consistently outstanding breakfast tacos, filled with things like their herby breakfast sausage, all with a generous shower of cheese. While their very good corn tortillas are handmade, the flour tortillas are store-bought—but they spend the right amount of time on the griddle. During peak hours there can be a wait, so it’s best to call ahead or you might end up waiting a bit.

At Marcelino’s on the East Side, the tacos are scoop-and-serve - made assembly-line right in front of you. You can get a basic bacon, egg, and cheese breakfast taco, and it’ll be far superior to most you can get around town - but Marcellino’s system allows them to have many more options that you don’t see often, like repollo asado (grilled cabbage), calabacitas (squash), rajas (poblanos in cream), smoked Elgin sausage, and the incredible papa ranchera (French fries tossed in salsas).

Bouldin Creek Cafe serves glorious breakfast tacos so enormous that you’ll need to use a fork before even trying to pick one up. The vegetable chorizo is homemade and delicious, and you can get it with free-range eggs and cheese, or go vegan with the chorizo-tofu scramble that’s tender and spicy, almost like a mapo tofu. You can’t say you’ve really experienced this city’s breadth of talents in the world of Breakfast Tacos until you’ve tried these at Bouldin.

On a sunny Sunday, you’ll most likely find us at Mi Madre’s during brunch on the patio double-fisting a couple of their enormous breakfast tacos. While they clock in around $4 or $5 each, two are more than enough (unless you just finished running a marathon, then okay maybe get three). The menu has 18 pre-set breakfast tacos, and our favorites are the #9 with homemade machacado and eggs (add cheese) and the #4 with black bean, egg, and cheese (add avocado).

Ñoño’s Tacos is a rather lo-fi operation, and their claim to fame might be their chicken al carbon. But we’re also big fans of the affordable yet hefty breakfast tacos served on fluffy homemade flour tortillas, slightly toasty after spending a little time on the griddle. While there are the standard options for fillings, the migas taco—with the still crispy tortilla chips—is one of our favorites. There’s also a somewhat uncommon steak and eggs breakfast taco. What to get: Migas; steak and eggs

With multiple locations around town (even at the airport) Tacodeli’s breakfast tacos have saved us from dizzied hunger dazes more often than we’d like to admit. The Jess Special—combining migas, jack cheese, and avocado—is possibly one of the more iconic (and tasty) breakfast tacos in town. They also do a killer sirloin, egg, and cheese taco, and their doña salsa will light your mouth on fire in the best way. Just expect a line—or be smart and order ahead online.

We often go to Tex Mex Joe’s for brunch because of the shady deck out back, the frozen margaritas, and breakfast plates like chilaquiles and the huevos rancheros. We also like the infinitely customizable breakfast tacos with a wide variety of ingredients, all served on homemade corn, flour, or spinach tortillas (corn tortillas with spinach mixed in so they’re bright green). What to get: Carne guisada, scrambled eggs, and cheddar cheese; Hashbrowns, egg, and pico de gallo.

Rosita’s specializes in al pastor tacos, but the breakfast tacos are actually where this place really shines. What makes them stand out is the incredible house-made flour tortillas, pillowy and slightly thicker than you might find elsewhere. They’re the perfect foundation for breakfast tacos filled with eggs briskly scrambled on a flattop. Order a chorizo, egg, and cheese, and it all turns a fiery bright red.