The Mexican breakfast Lake Elsinore wakes up early for.

Don Meres Restaurant at 202 N Main St in Downtown Lake Elsinore runs a full Mexican breakfast menu — huevos rancheros, huevos al gusto, chilaquiles, and ham or machaca breakfast burritos — and it has been named among Yelp's best Mexican restaurants for breakfast in Lake Elsinore. On weekends the doors open at 8 AM, so breakfast and menudo run from the first hour of the day. Everything comes with the house signatures: hand-pressed tortillas, Cajun-seasoned potatoes, and scratch salsas. Reviewers have called breakfast there an incredible experience, with omelettes singled out as impressively prepared. Start your morning at Main Street, or call (951) 228-5224.

The Don Meres huevos rancheros ($8.25) are built the traditional way: eggs any style on a fried corn tortilla, with chorizo, mixed cheese, beans, and Cajun potatoes. You choose the egg preparation — scrambled, fried, over easy, or sunny side up — and reviewers call the result amazing. If you prefer to build your own plate, the huevos al gusto ($7.50) gives you eggs any style with Cajun potatoes and your choice of hand-pressed corn or flour tortillas. Both are honest, generous breakfast plates at well under $10. Have them at 202 N Main St in Historic Downtown Lake Elsinore, or call ahead at (951) 228-5224.

Don Meres' breakfast burritos have historically been among the cheapest hot breakfasts in Lake Elsinore — listed at $5.99 — and they don't eat cheap. Choose the jamón con huevos (ham and eggs) or the machaca con huevos (shredded dried beef and eggs), both loaded with beans, pico de gallo, and queso in a fresh flour tortilla. Machaca is the sleeper pick: a Northern-Mexico classic you rarely find done right at this price anywhere in Southwest Riverside County. Grab one at 202 N Main St in Downtown Lake Elsinore — dine-in or takeout — or call (951) 228-5224 to have it ready when you pull up.

Yes — chilaquiles are one of the most-liked items at Don Meres ($10.90), ranking #2 on the restaurant's delivery-platform favorites list. The house-fried tortilla chips are simmered in salsa and finished the traditional way, and because the chips, salsa, and tortillas are all made in house, these are scratch chilaquiles rather than the assembled kind. They pair naturally with the rest of the morning menu — eggs any style, Cajun potatoes, and fresh hand-pressed tortillas. Chilaquiles disappear fast on weekend mornings when the restaurant opens at 8 AM, so come early or call ahead: (951) 228-5224, 202 N Main St, Lake Elsinore.

On Saturdays and Sundays, Don Meres opens at 8 AM — prime time for huevos rancheros, chilaquiles, breakfast burritos, and weekend menudo. On weekdays the restaurant typically opens between 10 and 11 AM, and breakfast items remain a popular late-morning order. Because small family-owned restaurants occasionally adjust hours seasonally or for holidays, a quick call to (951) 228-5224 is the most reliable confirmation before an early run. The restaurant is at 202 N Main St in Historic Downtown Lake Elsinore, just off the I-15 at the Main Street exit — an easy first stop before a day at the lake.

Machaca is a Northern-Mexico specialty of dried, seasoned, shredded beef, traditionally rehydrated and scrambled with eggs — smoky, savory, and one of the great underrated Mexican breakfasts. It's increasingly hard to find done properly in chain-dominated areas, which makes Don Meres a local standout: the machaca con huevos burrito ($5.99) wraps machaca and eggs with beans, pico de gallo, and queso in a fresh flour tortilla. If you've never had machaca, this is the lowest-risk, highest-reward $6 you'll spend on breakfast in Lake Elsinore. Find it at Don Meres, 202 N Main St — call (951) 228-5224.