I think we’ve all gotten a little sloppy with our fast food naming conventions. Put something inside a tortilla shell and we’ll call it a taco. That’s pretty much what I was expecting from Dunkin’s new “Spring” item, the Breakfast Taco. I figured it would just be some eggs, cheese, maybe a little bacon, and…wait, Dunkin’ already makes that. It’s called the Wake-up Wrap, and it’s been on the menu for ages.
I was concerned: Was it possible that Dunkin’ was relaunching almost the exact same product under a different name? Who do they think they are, Taco Bell?
But no, Dunkin’ made something that’s not only different from its other offerings but hard to find anywhere in fast food breakfast land: a taco with a flavor profile that bespeaks its Mexican origins.
First, there are two versions: plain or with a bacon topping. I wanted to actually taste all of the subtle flavors without having to deal with that overbearing bacon flavor, so I went with the first option.
The taco starts with corn. Dunkin’ calls it “fire-roasted corn,” but it didn’t taste particularly roasted to me; it was just a pleasant, sweet flavor. Not overly sweet or syrupy, but just the natural sweetness of the vegetable. At first, the corn was so dominant that it was hard to discern the other flavors, but it’s a dish with surprising depth. I noticed more subtle flavor notes as I ate, which is an experience I don’t often get with breakfast food.
One of those subtle flavors is from the jalapenos. I need to be clear that this is not a very spicy item; the heat is mild and just quietly adds depth. Sometimes, when I make curry for dinner, I make it with only a smidgen of spices so that my spice-timid 7-year-old will eat it. That’s the kind of heat level this is: you know it’s there, and that’s enough.
I also picked out the herbaceous bite of cilantro, which adds a lot of brightness. More prominent is the melted sharp white cheddar cheese, which adds a dairy tang to the proceedings. It isn’t noticeable in every bite but offers a nice, salty contrast when it pops up.
Lastly, there is a “tangy” lime crema, but I only really tasted it at the very end of the taco, when all I had left was crema and a little tortilla. It could have just been my taco, or maybe the crema is another ingredient that is meant to be subtle.
Dunkin’ could have bunted the ball here and just made glorified scrambled eggs in a tortilla shell, but it went the extra mile and is offering customers a novel experience, not just different from other Dunkin’ menu items but different, period. Will it win out over more cheesy, eggy, bready foods in my personal breakfast rotation? Maybe. While I may not order it every time I go to Dunkin’, I’m really glad the option is there. I take my hat off to Dunkin’ for trying something new.
Purchased Price: $2.59
Rating: 9 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: 180 calories, 9 grams of fat, 4 grams of saturated fat, 100 milligrams of cholesterol, 500 milligrams of sodium, 17 grams of carbohydrates, 1 gram of fiber, 2 grams of sugar, and 8 grams of protein.
That looks disgusting!
That sounds pretty tasty. Looks really shy on egg though and seems a bit expensive for what it is?
I never really have Dunkin’ and I do appreciate that they don’t stick to run of the mill items or knock-offs of other brands’ popular items.
Breakfast Tacos are a thing in many parts of the country. My workplace was visited by a “taco truck” every morning and did a huge business in breakfast tacos. It’s not some sort of funky naming thing like the authoress seems to think it is.
for $3.79 for 1. I expected it to be a bit more filling, you cannot have one of this taco for breakfast and be satisfied
maybe dunkin should have offered 2 for that price, its somewhat rip off if you ask me.
It says $2.59, in the review.
Low in calories, especially for a breakfast taco. Now I can add a few donut balls.
Oh my gosh. I don’t know why and love that you call them “donut balls.”
Got one of each this morning, there was not much of anything inside of the tortilla. I would not recommend these new tacos to anyone. Not for the price. For two of them I paid almost $7. For how small they were and little to nothing inside I would have maybe paid .50 cents for each of them. I wouldn’t even say they put one full egg in both of the tacos. I went to the location on NW 39th St.
Not to be mean, but, where? As in, what city/state/province/country? I’m fairly sure there are a few 39th Streets in the world. Well, at least two or more.
Why yes, I have heard of Google (and Bing, Alta Vista, Web Crawler, Meta Crawler, Duck Duck Go, Ask, Dogpile,Gigablast, etc), thank you for asking.
Googling “NW 39th Street” does bring up Oklahoma City, but it also brings up Lauderdale Lakes in Florida; Oakland Park in Florida; Boca Raton, Florida; Gainsvile, Florida; Coral Springs, Florida; Bethany, Oklahoma… And more locations which I don’t feel the need to type out, which proves my point of there being more than two NW 39th Streets in the world.
And yes, the OKC is the first bunch of responses, but if I put in Dunkin as a qualifier in my search query, there is actually a store in Gainsville as well.
Since you don’t seem to be Megan (the person who commented in the first place), who I was asking politely for clarification, how do you know Megan doesn’t live in Florida?
Have a wonderful day!
Why yes, I have heard of Google (and Bing, Alta Vista, Web Crawler, Meta Crawler, Duck Duck Go, Ask, Dogpile,Gigablast, etc), thank you for asking.
Googling “NW 39th Street” does bring up Oklahoma City, but it also brings up Lauderdale Lakes in Florida; Oakland Park in Florida; Boca Raton, Florida; Gainsvile, Florida; Coral Springs, Florida; Bethany, Oklahoma… And more locations which I don’t feel the need to type out, which proves my point of there being more than two NW 39th Streets in the world.
And yes, the OKC is the first bunch of responses, but if I put in Dunkin as a qualifier in my search query, there is actually a store in Gainsville as well.
Since you don’t seem to be Megan (the person who commented in the first place), who I was asking politely for clarification, how do you know Megan doesn’t live in Florida?
Have a wonderful day!
(Reposted with double spacing to make more readable)