The dining room overlooks a lake, surrounded by the all-too-perfect Colorado mountains. Brunch in this eatery means buffalo carpaccio (thinly sliced raw meat, vinaigrette), crab and avocado omelet and a classic brunch item, eggs benedict. The chefs are locals, promising locally sourced fare and even the town's name sends you painting a perfect winter piece of artwork in your mind: Evergreen.
They were even kind enough to call us to confirm our reservation, but we took a detour...
We stopped at Santiago's instead.
Homemade green chile sauce is the specialty, a recipe of roasted and peeled jalapeños crafted by founder Carmen Morales' mother, though the $2 burritos which get smothered by this sauce are equally as famous.
{breakfast burrito, smothered, mild}
And how much heat can you take? They've got a mild, hot and half-n-half option (what others might call "medium"?) We ordered a little of everything, all smothered in chile sauce, some smothered in additional cheese, some mild, some half-n-half.
{smothered, plus cheese on top (it's already stuffed w/cheese!), half-n-half}
Flavor? Excellent. Stuffed with potatoes, onions, cheese, and today's burritos, with ham (this changes: sometimes you get chorizo, bacon or breakfast sausage).
Speed? To our table in a flash. When you have a small breakfast menu (and they do) with a long line out the door (and they do), you can make items fresh and speedy! Perfect combo, especially when you're eager to make a steep climb onto the slopes of Copper Mountain.
Value? C'mon, you saw the the pictures of these $2 burritos. Need we say more?
Today, we ate at Santiago's. And we declared that it was good!
{the coffee is lacking, but hey, we didn't come here for the joe!}
