Angry Kid was out of preschool last week, so it’s been quite hectic around here. I was looking for things to do with him. I was on the phone with Kelly, and she said, “Cafe Rio is open now, do you want to go?” Kelly has been telling me about Cafe Rio forever. Seriously, since I met Kelly this Spring she kept telling me about how awesome it is. A few months ago, we both saw that they were opening a Cafe Rio in Lake Forest. We had no clue on when it was opening, but we knew that they were building one.
I made plans with Kelly and we met up in the parking lot of Cafe Rio. I didn’t know that it was supposed to rain that day, but the sky was falling. People seem to totally freak when it rains in California. I circled around and finally found a parking spot. It was lunch time and the new hot restaurant in town was quite packed. We ran around and took some quick pictures. The boys were quite crazy and excited to see each other. They even posed for this picture. Well, I took about five pictures of the same pose, but this was the best one.
We headed into the restaurant and got in line. I had no clue on what to get. Kelly had to tutor me in Cafe Rio. I expected an expert would know what to order, right? She told me to order the sweet pork barbacoa salad. She said that’s her favorite. I’m easy to please, and we have similar tastes, so I ordered that. Cafe Rio has free quesadillas for kids 6 and under, so I ordered a quesadilla for Angry Kid. We then had the wild children find us a table. They did a great job finding a table, and even sat down to wait. Awesome! Before completely sitting down, we filled up our drinks. Kelly reminded me that they have the best ice ever. Kelly is an ice fanatic and well, I love pebble-style ice. Yum, my Dr. Pepper never tasted better!
Even between chasing Angry Kid around and multiple demands for beans, then rice, then chicken…I finally got to eat my salad. It was delicious. Yes, I’m sold. I’m a total Cafe Rio fan now. Where do I sign-up for the Fan Club? Is there one?
Kelly and I are awesome bloggers and stuff like that…so we captured the dining experience on Whrrl. Have you tried Whrrl yet? It’s quite awesome. Click on this link for the story.
I can’t wait to go back to Cafe Rio soon. Oh wait, silly me. I went back with Angry Husband on Saturday night.
Can’t wait to check it out! Did you or Kelly also say that there is one opening in Costa Mesa? From your review, I’m pretty sure this could be a new favorite spot! Thx!
Yes, they are building one on 17th and Santa Ana in Costa Mesa. It’s on the south side of the street.
Yumm! We have a to die for Mexican place around my area called Santana’s. It’s amazing. I live in San Bernadino County and we’re crawling with them, if you ever end up over here, try it!
I don’t know how it is in OC, but here we have nasty creosote bushes and on the not-too-frequent days it does decide to rain here it smells awful.
YUMMO! I wonder if I can make it there for lunch one day during the week… pebble ice!!!
Stopping by from SITS and wishing you a Happy Tuesday!
Very nice blog!
We don’t have one of those here…and after this post I feel like I’m missing out…and I’m hungry…sigh!!
~WM
I am SO freaking excited.
That is the BEST pork salad EVER.
I feel like 2010 is going to be a great year, now that I can enjoy Cafe Rio without driving to St. George, UT!
It appears they DO have a fan club. Also? Coconut shrimp tacos. Between that, the good ice and the free quesadillas, I’m sold! Even if it is a little bit out of my cruising radius.
Yea, it’s a few minutes from my house…ohh Fan Club yay!!! And they even have an iPhone app too….
That looks sooooo good! And free for under 6? Sign me up!
OH Im gonna have to try it out i live not to far from there!