If there’s a line out the door at Breakfast Little on 22nd Street, you can rest assured it will move swiftly, thanks to Jenny Reyes.
The 39-year-old, who appears a good 15 years younger, greets customers with both a friendly demeanor and rapid-fire menu questions. Many of the items on Breakfast Little’s menu are customizable: Burritos, sandwiches, toasts.
“It’s spicy, OK?” she warns a customer before they commit to ordering a burrito, before listing out no fewer than five hot sauce options. “Cholula, jalapeño, sriracha, red salsa, green salsa … ” It’s a sequence she repeats with each customer.
Reyes always lists every ingredient in Spanish or English; she is perfectly comfortable in both. Just in case a customer remembers that they don’t want something, she said.
“Cheese is fine for you?” she asks one Breakfast Little customer. “It comes with two eggs. You like it with three?”
Reyes can be spotted wearing a green cap and gold hoops, dashing around Breakfast Little. She is a deft multitasker. When she is not at the cash register, she is running around, phone propped neatly against her cheek, taking orders and pouring glasses of agua fresca. At other times, she’s cleaning up the dining area.
Breakfast Little moved to 3275 22nd St. near Valencia Street last year from a small space across the street. It became a quick hit; nowadays, loyal customers come from the neighborhood and elsewhere in the city. Reyes says they even have a regular customer from San Jose who comes once a week just to eat a burrito.
Reyes has been working with Andrew Perez, the cafe’s owner, for more than eight years. “We’re like a family, and that’s how he makes us feel,” she said. The staff care about the food, she says, and make it “con mucho amor.”
Breakfast Little is located in the Mission at 3275 22nd Street at Valencia, and is open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on the weekends.
