#218: Short Stuff Cafe

You might wonder why the top photo on this post has a Chevron station.  A reader recently tipped me off of a little cafe inside.  They don’t have any web presence.  Their Yelp entry has some pretty glowing reviews though so I decided I should check it out.  I figured if I was going out early on a Saturday morning for a breakfast burrito that I had better look the part, so I skipped shaving, grabbed my favorite hoodie and headed out into the fog.

This is a great example of the type of place I was looking for when I started this blog.  Little places hidden in plain sight that you’ve probably been driving past for years without even noticing.  I certainly never would have found this one on my own.  Unless you get gas here there wouldn’t be any way you would know it existed without someone telling you, as Cheryl did for me.  This is the Chevron located on Eureka at Rocky Ridge.

By the pumps they have a sign which is the only exterior evidence of the Cafe.  It says “Voted Best Breakfast Burritos Anywhere,” a dubious claim for sure, but lets move along.  I headed into the Food Mart sometime after 7:30.  It’s a pretty typical gas station convenience store, except at the back theres an opening past the counter.  There, a woman had several pans with eggs, meats and veggies cooking up.  It smelled great.  I took some time to go over the menu (scanned menu here), which is mostly breakfast burritos and a few sandwiches.  For lunch they have burgers as well as hot & cold sandwiches.  They are only open for breakfast and lunch.

I eventually settled on the Freddy (scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, green onion and pepper jack in a grilled flour tortilla)[$4.99].  There was a guy waiting for whatever she was making.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to order here or how it worked.  She noticed me standing there and said hi, and I asked for a Freddy.  She then pointed me to a warmer to the right where she had a bunch of pre-made burritos labeled and ready to go.  She looked in it with me to see if there was a Freddy.  There didn’t appear to be, but she had another place to check behind the counter where she found one and handed it to me.  I was pretty much all set.  There are a ton of condiments and a huge collection of different hot sauces to choose from, but I decided to have it as it was and took it to the main counter to pay.

There are a couple little tables both inside as well as out.  I ate in my car instead.  Unwrapping it I noticed that the green onions part of the label was crossed out, so I guess they must have run out.  This burrito was crazy hot.  I couldn’t even hold it for more than a dozen seconds.  I let it cool off for a bit, not that it helped, and started to go to town.  It was absolutely packed on the inside, and even hotter.  I ended up burning part of my tongue.  The inside was heavy on eggs, but there was quote a bit of mushrooms and sausage.  I encountered chopped bacon a little less frequently.  The pepper jack was minimal but added some flavor here and there.  It was blazing hot all the way to the last bite.

For five bucks this was a pretty good burrito.  I think Carolina’s would beat it out, but that’s nearly double the cost.  This is a nice, quick, flavorful option.  If this were on my way to work it could be a problem.

Website: (none)

(Scanned) Menu: Click Here