Shane Schaibly

Catching the quesabirria trend early on, Shane Schaibly, SVP Culinary Strategy at breakfast/lunch spot First Watch, applied the brand’s brunch expertise to create a distinctive new take. The resulting Barbacoa Quesadilla Benedict sees two tortillas pan fried in a rich ranchero sauce and then filled with cheese and barbacoa. They’re topped with poached eggs and finished with a house Vera Cruz sauce (hollandaise-based with pico de gallo) and more ranchero. “The result yields crispy-edged quesadillas with runny yolk from the eggs and rich creaminess from the hollandaise,” Schaibly says. By starting with two familiar menu items—the quesadilla and the Benedict—and pairing them with the trending quesabirria profile, First Watch tempted its customers with a craveable combo. The innovation paid off: The dish ranks in the top 10 percent of all First Watch LTOs. “There’s a lot of pride in the way we take a classic, create something unique while giving an authentic nod to the original,” Schaibly says. “We want to stay true to the dish and not ‘chain-wash’ or dumb it down.”