Coming up Smelling Like a Breakfast Burrito?

 Rose Cafe

20672 Lake Forest Drive, Suite B 

Lake Forest, CA 92630

It's been a hot minute since I reviewed a breakfast burrito. It's not that I've grown tired of them. However, since football started, Katie and I have become lazy on our only day off together. We usually just get one of our favorites from a nearby place and sit in front of the TV watching grown men tackle each other from 10am til almost 8 at night. It's gotten a little ridiculous, and I feel guilty about wasting the day. 

Our team had a bye week this Sunday, so we decided to get up earlier than usual, walk one of our favorite trails in Irvine, go to Costco, and then grab breakfast somewhere. I had been obsessed with an Instagram account belonging to Rose Cafe in Lake Forest. Their breakfast burritos looked so good, and they had been active on that photo-sharing platform for a while. They have since cooled off a bit with their posting, but that sometimes happens. 

We arrived at Rose Cafe just before noon on a Sunday and were met with a line of about four people deep waiting at the register to place their orders. They opened in June 2020 near the Weinerschnitzel, Fuji Grill, and Los Cabos Bar and Grill on Lake Forest Drive. I wonder if there's any connection to the other Rose Cafes in Corona Del Mar or San Clemente. Their burritos look similar and are wrapped in the same red and white paper. 

Their breakfast menu features 13 breakfast burritos, bagel sandwiches, omelets, breakfast sandwiches, and pastries and donuts, which are only offered on weekends. Rose Cafe has a lunch menu for late risers, including burgers, grilled and deli sandwiches, and wraps. Be advised that they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays and only open until 3pm the rest of the week. We quickly ordered at the counter, grabbed our number, and found a table. Let's see if the burritos tasted as good as they look on their Instagram feed. 

I promised breakfast burritos, but we started with this Pecan Roll ($4). This was fresh and not overly sweet. Lots of chopped pecans on top, with a limited amount of the sugary sauce pooled on top. It could have been heated a bit more, but an excellent way to start things off while we waited for our breakfast burritos. 

Katie has an affinity for breakfast burritos, and she went straightforward with her pick here at Rose Cafe with their Classic Burrito ($9.75 + $4.75 to make it a combo with a side and drink). This burrito comes with egg, hashbrowns, cheddar cheese, and your choice of protein. She selected bacon. Katie liked the balanced nature of this burrito and that it was well crafted. She could get elements of each part of this burrito in each bite. Not her favorite breakfast burrito, but she'd get this one again. It could have had a bit more cheese for her taste, but still good. She chose the hashbrowns patty as her side, which was very reminiscent of the one served at McDonald's. 

I went a bit more complex with my breakfast burrito this early afternoon, with the Supreme Breakfast Burrito ($11.50 + $3 adding avocado). This burrito included the trinity of breakfast meats; ham, bacon, and sausage. It also came with egg, cheese, and hashbrowns. This is one of the most photogenic breakfast burritos, but how did it taste? The first half of the burrito was excellent, but it was a little too greasy as I got to the end. I liked how they crafted this burrito, allowing each bite to include a little bit of everything. However, there needed to be more cheese included to make this more balanced. Not a bad burrito, but not as great as it looks. 

I liked Rose Cafe, but their breakfast burritos are not drive-worthy like the ones from Nate's Corner, LJ's Lil Cafe (review coming soon), Glee Donuts, and Pepe's, to name a few off the top of my head. However, Rose Cafe will satisfy your craving if you are in the area and feel like a breakfast burrito. The price of these burritos is reasonable, considering you will not be hungry until right before dinner or later after eating one. The service was good, as they quickly got the food to us even though they were busy when we arrived. I'm glad we could tear ourselves away from the NFL for at least this Sunday. 

Out of five parade floats (because this is the time of the year when people line the streets of Pasadena for their famous Rose Parade to see all the floats decorated with roses), five being best to zero being worst, Rose Cafe gets 3 parade floats. 

For more information about Rose Cafe, head to their website by clicking here: https://rose-cafe-be7e9d.webflow.io/