Let's assume you've had a wild night of drinking, or just happen to wake up with a voracious appetite ... Sounds like a taco tour is in order. When it comes to San Antonio, the options are plenty and there's no way we can cover the plethora of choices in 500 words, but here's our most valiant effort concentrated around the Hildebrand area. Kick off the tour with a stop at El Rafa's Café (1535 W. Hildebrand Ave.), a house-turned-eatery that serves up hand-rolled tortillas to hundreds of guests that crowd the tiny parking lot, waiting for their turn inside. A quick jaunt down Hildebrand to Blanco will land you squarely between two more fine taco establishments. Owned by Rolando Rodarte, Rolando's Super Taco (919 W. Hildebrand Ave.) is known for its massive tacos. Get there early or risk a pretty intense wait as folks try to get their hands on the namesake taco with refried beans, cheese, egg and guacamole. If you're not ready for a taco-induced nap, then head right across the street to Fina's Kitchen (914 W. Hildebrand Ave.), where the friendly staff will hook you up with a cafecito and damn good breakfast tacos. Make a pit stop at Taco Taco (145 E. Hildebrand), once considered the source of the best tacos in America by Bon Appetit. While that is still wildly contested, we'll agree Taco Taco's got a fun setup nestled just outside Monte Vista. Take a slight detour on McCullough and land at Mary Lou's Café (4405 McCullough Ave.) where some of the city's best flour tortillas await (the pork chop taco is a staff fave) along with posh digs that mean you can stay a while and chat over a bacon, egg and cheese taco. The breakfast taco action continues at Tobin Hill's El Milagrito Mexican Restaurant (521 E. Woodlawn Ave.), where you'll find sleepy Trinity students and neighbors nursing hangovers on weekends. Breakfast is served all day so choose from any sort of combination with tacos rarely breaking the $2 mark (that's saved for barbacoa, machacado, fajita and lengua guisada). Taqueria Chapala Jalisco (1819 McCullough Ave.) ditched its former shabby-chic digs for a new hacienda-style building with a drive-thru that makes grabbing a thick chilaquiles taco to-go easier than ever. Try it on their corn tortillas. A breakfast taco tour wouldn't be complete without a nod to Southtown's Cascabel Mexican Patio (1000 S. St. Mary's St.) where breakfast starts at 10 a.m. and the menu features hand-rolled corn tortillas along with a vibrant chori-queso and savory machado a la Mexicana. Or visit one of the three Thousand Oaks Café locations around town, found off Jones Maltsberger, Austin Highway and Thousand Oaks Drive, where each nails the art of the breakfast taco with great tortillas and flavorful fillings. You'll leave ready to conquer the day ... or sleep off that hangover. That's up to you.
