Masa y Taza Brings Chihuahua-Style Breakfast Burritos to Long Beach

A former fine-dining executive chef has traded white tablecloths for foil-wrapped breakfast burritos in Long Beach, drawing lines out the door by midmorning with a recipe rooted in northern Mexican tradition rather than standard Southern California diner fare.

Masa y Taza, located at 1538 E. 4th St. on the western edge of Long Beach’s 4th Street Corridor, operates daily from 7 a.m. until 2 or 3 p.m. The cafe has quickly become a fixture for local run clubs, families and early-morning commuters seeking oversized burritos built on Chihuahua-style flour tortillas — thin enough to reveal the color of the chorizo inside, yet dense and pliable enough to prevent structural failure.

Chef-owner Gabriel Pulido spent years working in high-end kitchens, most recently serving as the executive chef at Bourbon Steak in Glendale. He partnered with a childhood friend to open Masa y Taza, choosing to focus entirely on the breakfast burritos he grew up eating across Whittier, Seal Beach, Huntington Beach and Long Beach. His formative influences include old-school staples like Nick’s Deli, alongside the Greek hamburger spots scattered throughout North Hollywood and Burbank, such as Corner Cottage, which helped shape his understanding of casual, fast-paced neighborhood dining.

The foundation of every burrito at Masa y Taza is a specific style of flour tortilla rarely found in Los Angeles-area breakfast spots, which typically default to thicker, puffier Mission-style wraps or generic commercial rounds. Chihuahua-style tortillas are characterized by their delicate flakiness and distinct wheat flavor, a product of the region’s historical status as one of Mexico’s primary wheat-growing areas. Pulido based the recipe on mornings spent visiting family in Chihuahua, where the smell of fresh tortillas cooking on a plancha routinely filled the air.

Inside the tortillas, Pulido layers soft scrambled eggs, refried beans, potatoes and melted cheese before adding one of two house-made chorizos. The red pork version relies on cinnamon, clove, garlic, multiple chile powders and guajillo paste to produce a fruity, earthy and mildly smoky profile. Its deep red pigment aggressively stains anything it touches. The green chicken chorizo, made with chicken thigh and skin, leans heavily into parsley, cilantro, poblano and jalapeño for an intensely herbaceous finish.

For diners willing to embrace maximum density, the El Ranchero burrito incorporates sour cream and guacamole alongside the chosen protein. When stuffed with the red chorizo, the center turns molten, structurally echoing the famous chile relleno burritos historically associated with East Los Angeles institutions like La Azteca.

Beyond the burritos, Masa y Taza distinguishes itself through a specialized condiment program that reflects broader shifts in how Los Angeles approaches salsa. Rather than offering standard pico de gallo or basic hot sauce, the kitchen produces a creamy chipotle sauce fortified with garlic confit, lime and vinegar, alongside a crema jalapeño that functions similarly to a jalapeño-cilantro ranch. A house-made salsa macha — chunky with dried chiles and a touch of fennel — doubles as both a dipping sauce and a topping poured directly over the kitchen’s fried potato tiles. Salsa macha, an oil-based condiment originating from Veracruz, has surged in popularity across U.S. restaurants over the last several years, moving from specialty import shelves to mainstream menus.

The restaurant arrives amid a broader expansion of dedicated breakfast burrito operations across Los Angeles County. Earlier this summer, a curated list of the 16 best breakfast burritos in Los Angeles highlighted the depth of the regional market, which ranges from decades-old drive-throughs to modern pop-ups. Masa y Taza now occupies a distinct lane within that landscape, bridging fine-dining technique with working-class morning staples.

Masa y Taza maintains its current operating hours from 7 a.m. to 2 or 3 p.m. at its 4th Street Corridor location.