Smashing Breakfast at Chacho's Tacos

I long ago wrote off Chacho’s Tacos on Westheimer in the Galleria as a Tex-Mex fast food joint housed in a garishly painted, drafty-looking garage. Then I stopped by the 24-hour hash house for breakfast. Refried beans flavored with bacon grease, hand-cut hash browns, thick bacon, and perfect over-easy eggs on heated, oversize china plates — all served with thick, hot flour tortillas made to order by hand with a rolling pin. This is a fast food breakfast?

I have since sampled some amazing breakfast fare at Chacho’s, including a machacado taco, a chorizo-and-egg taco and a decent stack of pancakes. There is a salsa bar with four kinds of salsas, fresh and pickled jalapeños and chopped onions. The coffee is so-so, but the orange juice is fresh-squeezed. It ain’t exactly a warm and cozy little place to eat breakfast, but it’s hard to complain about the quality of the food.