There are some combinations that just work. Peanut butter and jelly. Netflix and Chill. My physics exam and procrastination.
The Daily Grind Espresso Cafe, nestled in the corner of UNC Student Stores, shares with us yet another quintessential combination: breakfast food and tacos.
My first physics test and the descent of my grade point average were both approaching quickly, but little did I know, these would not be my only new adventures on Wednesday.
In order to fully experience the breakfast taco, I woke up early in the morning to try one. Needless to say, immersing myself in the breakfast taco culture came with a good bit of uncertainty. But later, I would discover, it was worth it.
My hesitancy peaked when ordering. I planned on ordering quietly and then whispering to the Daily Grind cashier, “We never had this conversation.”
The uneasiness was tempered when I heard the person in front of me ordering the same thing.
“I heard something about breakfast tacos?” Celeste Kendrick, a junior chemistry major, asked the employee at the register.
She said she saw a sign and had to try them out. She was heading out for her chemistry exam and needed strength — the kind you get from an early morning fiesta.
The tacos are placed in what looked like a taco incubator. You reach in and grab your pick. There is something surprising about how warm it is. It’s the perfect way to start the morning.
Once you unwrap this little gift from Dios you may find that the initial sight of a breakfast taco isn’t that appealing. But like fried pies, your grandmother and all things precious, it’s what’s on the inside that matters.
“Pretty good,” Kendrick said with a grin as she took her first few chews. She was losing her breakfast taco virginity as well.
“If you like tacos, this is right up your alley. I would definitely try another one.”
She wasn’t wrong. Breakfast tacos at the Daily Grind are surprising well done. The mix of flavors—sausage, egg, cheese, onions and peppers—will make you want to sing morning mariachi in the Pit. Chicken and veggie options are also available.
The tacos are delivered fresh each morning from a Raleigh-based outfitter called Taco Revolution, said George Cleland, a UNC graduate and Daily Grind cashier.
“I was a student here for four years and I can’t say that I’ve ever had a breakfast taco on campus,” he said.
That was before breakfast tacos came to the Daily Grind. He is now a well-versed breakfast taco connoisseur.
“They get taken in at 11 o'clock every day and then the employees get to eat them because they’re not serviceable for the consumer,” he said. “So I survive off of that for lunch most times.”
Nothing like non-breakfast food turned into breakfast food for lunch.
“I think they’re really great actually. I’m like semi-vegetarian— I don’t buy meat but if someone else is paying for it I’ll eat it,” Cleland said.
George, your dedication inspires us all.
Others are not up for a taco revolution at breakfast.
“I’m not feeling the taco for breakfast kind of thing,” said Savannah Gillespie, a sophomore journalism major.
“I just think tacos are more of a lunch or dinner item. Something about a tortilla for breakfast and taco meat doesn’t sit well with me."
Gillespie has a point — the concept at first doesn’t seem inviting, but I hope she gives them a try.
It’s a fundamental law that opposites can attract. Science tells us this through physics; Shakespeare tells us this through Othello and Desdemona; and then there’s heterosexuality. The Daily Grind, as it folds together eggs, sausage and cheese into one taco, marries two seemingly impossible concepts.
What does this mean? It means there’s hope that opposing combinations can indeed live in tandem. It means you English majors can pass that physics exam on Friday. It means you tone-deaf students can make the ClefHangers. It means you awkward introverts can win the hot outgoing jocks.
Thank you, breakfast taco. Thank you.
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