Eggcelente
The greatest egg sandwich shop in California may be South of the Border
In my line of work, it’s extremely rare to be “blown away” by a restaurant. But sometimes, eggcelence appears where you least expect it. That’s exactly what happened to me in Tijuana over the holiday.
Allow me to set the scene.
This past Friday afternoon, I drove across the San Ysidro border with my partner and their mom who was spending Christmas with us in Los Angeles. Crammed alongside her in the backseat was a bearded wizard called Lord Blobbie, a friend of ours. The plan was to rendezvous with a larger group of friends at a beach house in Ensenada to ring in the New Year. But first, we had to drop off Mama at the airport in Tijuana. A perfect excuse to spend the night in this legendary border town, famous for raucous partying and twilight tequila-fueled adventures.
Having never before set foot in Tijuana, I was thrilled at the prospect of staying the night. On Friday evening, after consuming some incredibly spicy carne asada tacos, we said goodnight to Mama at the hotel and hit the town not knowing what to expect.
The downtown strip was quieter than I imagined it would be on New Year’s weekend, but our night accelerated when a young woman dressed in clownish attire stopped us on the street to take a photo of our wizard friend’s extravagantly colored robe. “We’ve been following you for blocks!” she exclaimed.
This chance encounter led to the recommendation of a wonderful mezcal bar, where we met another kind stranger who absconded with our group to a fantastic drag performance culminating in a long stretch of dancing that lasted until about 4am.
The following morning, we awoke with a hangover and a hunger that could only be satiated with a very hearty brunch. That’s when Blobbie was struck with an epiphany. He recalled the name of a breakfast joint whose name and logo were emblazoned on dozens of stickers plastered all over the door of a big white convertible limo that was retrofitted into a couch, upon which we sat in the back patio of the mezcal bar last night.
The establishment in question was named “Eggcelente.”
We arrived around noon on Saturday and were the only people in the place. I was immediately drawn to the bright yellow walls and playful egg-themed interior. Kurt Cobain on MTV Unplugged was playing on a small TV in the corner.
Our server bought out some coffees in tall styrofoam cups. Cheap coffee necessitating lots of cream and sugar - a promising start. But it wasn’t until I glanced at the menu that I began to understand just how unique this experience was about to be. Check it out.
These weren’t just breakfast sandwiches - these were super over-the-top breakfast creations, loosely themed around the idea of a sandwich but containing a whole lot more.
I decided to go with something on the tamer side, to have good reference point for review. I chose the Double Cheesy Egg Muffin. My partner went for the Chilaquil Bagel (chilaquiles on a bagel?! Preposterous!!!). And Blobbie went full bore, selecting the most outrageous menu item of all: the Bacon Jelly Chicken Biscuit.
Boy, were we in for a treat. About 10 minutes later, the food appeared. And it was every bit as insane as I imagined.
The Bacon Jelly Chicken Biscuit ($130 Pesos/ $7.64 USD) measured a full eight inches tall, with not one but two enormous fried chicken breasts. This thing was topped with an egg, American cheese, and a thick spread of house-made bacon marmalade. You gotta be kidding me!
The chicken was phenomenally fried and absolutely delicious. The sweetness of the bacon marmalade creates a sweet/salty combo reminiscent of chicken and waffles. Everything about this sandwich pushes the boundaries of the egg sandwich concept to the limits. My only complaint is that two fried chicken breasts are honestly so much meat, you really only need one. But this reviewer will never deduct points for being served too much food, so we’ll leave it there.
Next, let’s talk about my Double Cheesy Egg Muffin ($130 Pesos/ $7.64 USD). Take a gander at this beauty.
We’re talking three English muffins stacked up like a Big Mac, complete with two eggs, a delicious sausage patty, two slices of American cheese, ham, and bacon. This thing tasted incredible. The English muffins were pillowy soft and smothered in butter. The sausage was rich and herb-forward. The eggs were creamy and tender. The ham tasted fresh and crispy, and the bacon brought the whole thing home with a salty/smoky kick that left me wishing this moment would last forever.
Damn… what a sandwich.
Okay, let’s check out what might be the most original invention of them all: the Chilaquil Bagel ($120 Pesos/ $7.05 USD).
This sandwich was literally exploding with ingredients like brightly-colored piñata. Fresh tortilla chips drenched in green salsa, crema, cilantro, white onions, and shredded cheese topped with two eggs over easy served on a jalapeño-cheddar bagel.
Just like the chicken biscuit, this monster was a challenge just to hold in your hands. But the flavor/texture combo truly hit. Sweet, sour, salty, spicy, creamy, melty, and crunchy are all invited to the same roaring New Year’s Eve party in your mouth, and you better believe when I tell you… this crowd gets pretty lit.
I will say the bagel itself was pretty mid and could have been softer. But we’re in Mexico, where the bar for bagels is extremely low, possibly even lower than in Alto California.
Eggcelente is the kind of restaurant that is honestly really hard to leave. The fact that we enjoyed such creative and unique menu items with incredible portions for the bargain price of less than $30 USD for breakfast and coffee for three is nothing short of incredible.
When we finally arrived at the beach house later that day, it was not the road trip or the drag shows or the Mezcal limo or the numerous friendly interactions we had in Tijuana that I wanted to share with my friends. No, the first thing out of my mouth was a gushing reenactment of our breakfast at Eggcelente, phone in hand, forcing my audience to look at pictures of the meal like a grandpa pulling photos of his grandchildren out of his wallet. Over the course of the weekend I brought up Eggcelente so many times it became a running joke.
Suffice it to say, this restaurant actually blew my mind with its boldly innovative approach to the traditional egg sandwich combined with super cheap prices and fantastic service.
I can now say with certainty that the very best egg sandwich in California that I have personally tried is not in Los Angeles or the Bay Area. It’s in Baja. So the next time you’re in Tijuana, stop on by to Eggcelente. You can thank me later.
West Coast: 10
East Coast: 10
