Every morning, I have the same routine: I leave my house at 6 a.m., I drink a protein shake, I listen to “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey and take Southern to get to work.

And every morning, I see a long line of cars coming from Stripes Burrito Co.

I had never heard of this place, and my coworkers told me they have the best breakfast burritos.

Not good, not great, the best! That’s coming from a New Mexican, and New Mexicans know breakfast burritos. It’s in our DNA. So, this week I decided to stop by.

Like most spring days in Rio Rancho, it was annoyingly windy and dusty.

I left my car at Jiffy Lube for an oil change and ventured to Stripes Burrito Co. (it was a five-minute walk).

Stripes Burrito Co. in Rio Rancho does not have inside seating; they have a drive-thru, an ordering window and an outside table. I liked the vibe and loved the service.

The staff was very, very friendly. I decided to order their number-one item, the bacon breakfast burrito.

“We make everything fresh; we make everything in-house,” said Managing Partner Victor Sanchez. “We don’t have frozen potatoes or liquid eggs; everything is in-house!”

The bacon breakfast burrito comes with bacon, scrambled eggs, fresh-cut papitas, cheese, and your choice of red or green chile. FYI, I am a Christmas type of New Mexican.

The burrito came out fast, and it was the bomb.com!

The tortilla was homemade, the eggs were soft and warm, the papitas were fresh, the chile was hot but not extremely hot, and the carne adovada was very tender.

That’s right! I said carne adovada. They gave me the wrong burrito. I got a carne adovada breakfast burrito instead of the bacon breakfast burrito.

I did not care. My taste buds were flying. I finished the burrito and jokingly told them about it when I was done. They were amazing and offered to correct the mistake.

However, this was no mistake but destiny.

My improv teacher Billy Merritt always says, “There are no mistakes; only gifts.” I live by these words, and they have served me well.

Once you bite into a carne adovada breakfast burrito, you don’t look back. Especially if it’s a Stripes Burrito Co. breakfast burrito.

“A big, fat thank you [to all of our customers],” Sanhez said. “That’s what I love about Rio Rancho and Albuquerque; they rather do local.”

Stripes Burrito Co. offers many different breakfast burritos, lunch burritos, chicken finger baskets, street tacos, brownies, their three-time award winning fried chicken sandwich and more.

Also, according to their website, a portion of all net proceeds are donated to the VA hospital.

Stripes Burrito Co. has six locations: five in Albuquerque and one in Rio Rancho.

The Rio Rancho location is open from 5:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 5:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sundays. It is located at 2510 Southern Blvd. NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87124.

Where should I go next? Email me: [email protected]