Breakfast burritos are possibly the ultimate in morning grab ‘n’ go perfection. A warm portable meal that can easily be held in one hand, you really can’t go wrong with this tortilla-wrapped breakfast option.
That’s why I was pretty psyched to be invited try out the breakfast burritos at Santo and Blackbelly, alongside Jimena from Comino Food Stories, at Chef Hosea Rosenberg’s two restaurants.
This is also a great way to try out a little something from these two restaurants on the cheap. Blackbelly is consistently rated as one of the top restaurants in the Denver-Boulder area, and Santo is still a popular dinner spot and sometimes difficult to get a table.
Please note: I was invited by the folks doing PR for Blackbelly and Santo to try the burritos free of charge. No additional financial compensation was received for this post. Opinions expressed here are my own.
Ultimate fans will want to double up on the burritos – hitting both restaurants in one morning. Here are my tips on how to rock this breakfast burrito challenge:
1. Plan your route
Blackbelly and Santo serve their burritos Monday – Friday, 7 – 11 am, and the restaurants are about 10 minutes away from each other in Boulder (see map). Santo is nearer to the downtown Boulder/Pearl Street area and Blackbelly is past CU Boulder’s East Campus and close to the office parks of east Boulder. To complete the challenge, you have to hit both restaurants, so plan your route accordingly to avoid doubling back on your drive, especially if you’re on your way to work.
2. Bring at least a Hamilton (and some Washingtons)
Each breakfast burrito is going to cost you $5 – 6 , for a total of $10 – 12 (plus tax and tip) to complete the challenge. Paper your wallets accordingly. And yes, they do take credit cards.
3. Do an equal comparison
At both Blackbelly and Santo you have your choice of a vegetarian burrito or meat burrito. I think it’s only fair that you compare apples to apples as part of the challenge.
During my visit, I went with the Veggie Burrito at Blackbelly, so I did the same at Santo.
Also note that the ingredients in the Blackbelly meat burrito changes daily, so you can probably do a sub-burrito challenge, comparing all the meat burritos at Blackbelly. Woah, Inception-level food games!
4. Bite into your burrito at each restaurant
In order to compare the two burritos, I think you should take at least a few bites of the first one right after getting it. It’s going to take you at least 10 minutes between each restaurant and you simply cannot compare a cold burrito to a warm burrito, after all, we are not SAVAGES!
This means you’re gonna have to remember how those bites tasted at the first restaurant and bring those memories over to the second stop. Write down notes if you have to!
5. Get the perfect shot for Instagram
And of course you’ll want to post a photo of your burrito(s) to Instagram. Lucky for you folks, both restaurants have very nice morning light.
Blackbelly has a little atrium right when you walk in that lets in a ton of light. I found a nice white brick wall section and took a shot of my burrito in front of that. The Blackbelly burrito also comes with some hot sauce, so drizzle a little of it on top of your burrito for a more colorful shot (compare the before and after photos below).
At Santo, if the weather is nice, they’ll be selling the burritos outside. There’s a great patio with ristras hanging that makes for a nice shot – or if they are serving inside (like they were when I took the challenge) take a shot up against one of the nice white walls they have in the front, or with the saint sculpture in the background! (Is there a patron saint of burritos? There should be…)
6. Plan on eating leftover burritos for lunch or pair up with a buddy
Unless you’re crazy hungry, you probably can’t finish both burritos for breakfast. Plan on eating half of one at each restaurant. Save the remaining halves for lunch.
Another great idea is going halfsies with a buddy.
Bonus: My pick for best burrito
The veggie burrito category was fierce, but I did pick a winner. My favorite of the two was the Blackbelly Veggie Burrito. Reason? The Blackbelly burrito has a lot more egg in it plus I love the tater tots. In fact, the very first bite I took of the Blackbelly burrito was full of the crunchy, crispy fried tot skin, which is just so tasty.
The Santo burrito leans more towards a lunch burrito due to all the veggies and the sprinkling of rice. The Santo burrito also has roasted potatoes rather than the fried tater tots, and I just simply prefer tots over other types of potato products in the morning. I could see my preferences switching, for example, if I was headed later in the day, the Santo burrito could be more up my alley since it’s closer to lunchtime.
Want to challenge my opinion? Well, there’s only one way to figure out which one is your favorite! 😉