The Best Breakfast Burrito in OC That No One’s Talking About

 3rd Place Coffee

26741 Portola Parkway

Foothill Ranch, CA 92610

In case I have not mentioned it before, we moved near the end of last year, our first move in over ten years. It's not a big relocation, although any move can feel like it's across the country, especially when your wife is a pack rat. We migrated from Mission Viejo to Rancho Santa Margarita for a six-month stint. We will then return to what feels like civilization when we move to Laguna Hills. 

I decided to make the most of this change of residence by trying some of the local restaurants and eateries I would not typically have known about. Most people, including myself, are not too keen on the restaurants in this part of OC, but I wanted to dispel that notion by highlighting a few that I found to be worth visiting, starting with 3rd Place Coffee. 

Those of you who know me probably know that I'm one of six people in the country who is not a fan of coffee. I always joke that Katie drinks enough for both of us, and she visits Starbucks twice daily. 3rd Place is not usually a spot I would veer towards, but they also get glowing reviews for their breakfast burritos, so after a hike to nearby Red Rock Canyon, I gave them a try. 

3rd Place opened a year and a half ago in the Foothill Ranch Marketplace, which also features Ralph's Supermarket, Arby's, Avila's El Ranchito, and a Waba Grill at the corner of Portola and Bake Parkways. This is strictly a morning and mid-afternoon business, as they open their doors at 6:30 and close at 3pm, with the lone exception being Wednesdays, when they open back up from 6 to 9pm for an open mike night. 

Their short, concise breakfast menu features seven bagel sandwich options on the six varieties of bagels they offer daily. There's a yogurt parfait and a Hawaiian fruit bowl, but I had my eye on one of their three breakfast burrito options, which range in price between $8.99 to $10.99. I was a little early for lunch but noted their wraps and sandwiches, most notably the Classic TBA, a turkey, avocado, and bacon sandwich on sourdough bread. That would have to wait for next time, as I had a breakfast burrito in my sights. 

As I'm almost always conditioned to do when eating breakfast out, I like to pair my savory item with something sweet. I had heard good things about their cinnamon coffee cake, but they were out. This Blueberry Crumble ($3.50) stood in nicely. They offered to heat it, which allowed the provided butter to melt nicely over the moist cake. The crumble added a little sweetness, and the blueberries were fresh. I saw pictures online where this had an icing drizzle over the top of it, but it was still good even though mine did not have it. I'll have to get up earlier to try the coffee cake. 

At 3rd Place Coffee, they have five kinds of breakfast burritos offered; Bacon, Sausage, Vegetarian, Vegan, and the Brochacho Burrito ($10.99), which provides both sausage and bacon encased in the wrapped flour tortilla. I know, it's a big surprise that I would opt for the one with bacon and sausage. This one also features other things that the other burritos do not, avocado and a delicious ancho chipotle sauce, which gives this burrito a jolt from the usual red or green salsa other breakfast burritos have to make do with.  Add crispy hashbrowns for texture and light and fluffy eggs, and you get one of the better breakfast burritos in OC. My one complaint about this would be that they were a bit light in the amount of breakfast meats they utilized in this burrito. The bacon and sausage were absent in some bites, which was not as noticeable because the eggs, avocado, and hashbrowns helped to pick up the slack. I suggest asking for extra meat next time. 

It's not the most massive breakfast burrito, and it's not going to keep you from eating dinner eight hours later, but it's one you should definitely consider trying if you're on a quest to find all the great breakfast burritos that the OC has to offer. On my first visit here on a Thursday past 10am, it took 25 minutes for my burrito to appear at our table, while my friends' burritos had come out ten minutes prior. Maybe a miscommunication between the kitchen and the front counter staff. They made it up to me without prompting by giving me a gift card for a later visit, which I gladly used the next month with no further issues. 3rd Place Coffee is definitely one of the places I'll miss when our six-month exile in RSM is over, but I'll still find a reason to make it out this way for their breakfast burrito. 

Out of five bronze medals (because that's the medal that someone who finishes behind the leader and second place traditionally receives), 3rd Place Coffee gets 3.5 bronze medals.  

For more information about 3rd Place Coffee, head to their website by clicking here: https://3rdplacecoffee.com/