All Entries in the "Dining" Category
Restaurant Review | Rio Rio, Santa Clarita
So we finally went to Rio Rio. Honestly, if I do go back, it won’t be for a while. The food was just okay. The tri-tip was a bit dry. The service was slow, but that’s par for the course for a new restaurant.
The pricing was very high for the ambiance they offer. For a family of four our check came to $141.00. The only options are the $33.00 all you can eat (kids were $17) or the all you can eat salad bar (which didn’t look to thrilling). We had two cocktails and one dessert. We did leave there full, but not really satisfied. The sides are rather plain. They offer white jasmine rice, black beans, carrots and fried plantains.
The bonus is that there was no wait what so ever and they have dancing there as well, so that might be worth the extra money you’d pay for a mediocre meal.
Like I said before, I think I’ll wait a few months if we do go back.
Rio Rio Brazilian Churrascaria Coming to Santa Clarita
Rio Rio Brazilian Churrascaria is now open in Valencia. Rio Rio has taken over the space where Hamburger Hamlet was on the Old Road by El Torito.
If you’ve never been to a Brazilian Churrascaria I highly recommend it. The way the ones that I’ve been to work is that the waiters come around with all this great meat on big skewers and they carve it for you right at the table. There is usually meat, chicken, pork, you name it. I can only assume that Rio Rio will be the same. I am really looking forward to checking out this new restaurant. It’s been awhile since we’ve had something different added to our area restaurants.
By the way, I had posted previously about how ugly the blue Hamburger Hamlet was after the building had been painted this icky royal blue color. I still don’t know why that had happened. Regardless, Rio Rio has really done a nice job classing the place up with a very nice neutral color to blend in with the area.
Hamburger Hamlet Eye Sore
I drove by Hamburger Hamlet yesterday and couldn’t believe what I saw. They painted the building blue. If puke were blue, I think it’d be this color. I mean it is so ugly and not fitting with anything I’ve seen in Santa Clarita. Not only that, but the awnings are still green. Okay, so maybe they’ll change it, maybe it’s in transition? What were they thinking? If you can stand it, here’s a photo. I hope you’re sitting down.
This is located on The Old Rd off Magic Mountain Pkwy. It’s sort of reminiscent of the old blue Scientology Building in Hollywood. I hope they don’t hand out pamphlets before walking in to the Hamlet. Ugh what an atrocity.
Rosie’s BBQ and Grillery
Rosie’s BBQ and Grillery is coming to the Westfield Town Center sometime in January. I’ve been to the Rosie’s in Northridge and it was pretty good. This is a fun trendy BBQ joint, great for families. Definitely worth a try. The cool thing also is that they offer free delivery within their boundaries. They have not posted the boundaries yet. If you don’t take my word for it, check out these reviews.
Anyway, Rosie’s will be located across from Brookstone at the mall. I think this location will attract more traffic than the Café Melisse. Let’s see if this eatery can last longer than the other two restaurants that were there.
Check out their website…Rosie’s
Grand Panda Chinese Restaurant
Best Chinese food in Santa Clarita in my opinion is Grand Panda. Yum! We went to the one located at the corner of Seco and Copperhill. Not only was there no wait on a Friday night, but the food was great.
They have a great special for $14.95 per person that includes won ton soup, a few appetizers and your choice of two entrees. We had the Imperial Shrimp which is shrimp in garlic sauce and Moo Shi Pork.
The service was good, the food was great and we even had leftovers.
Grand Panda has another location on Lyons in Newhall that we have eaten at before, but from my recollection it was usually pretty crowded.
Tikka Grill
There’s fairly new restaurant on Copperhill and Newhall Ranch Rd called Tikka Grill. I think it has kind of a Greek/Indian flare to it. Their dishes include saffron rice with black beans, gyros, chicken, steak, etc. They have a pretty nice selection of plates to choose from. This isn’t a fancy go out to dinner on a Friday night type restaurant. It’s more of a pick it up to go, or eat there casually. There are no waiters, you order your food at the counter.
My favorite dish there is the Chicken Party Wrap. It is seasoned chicken with saffron rice, tomatoes and lettuce wrapped in a tortilla. Very fresh and healthy.
Tikka Grill is located right next to Starbucks, Juice Stop, and Panda Express.
Labor Day at the Valencia Town Center
We spent the day at the mall today, mainly at the movies. We started out watching Invincible. That’s the football movie with Mark Wahlberg. Great movie. It is a feel good tear jerker kinda flick. Good for everyone boy or girl, mom or dad. It was a good choice for us since our son has his first football game next Saturday.
After Invincible, we walked over to BJ’s and had some appetizers with a few cocktails. We had the Artichoke dip and the Cilantro Pesto thin crust pizza. The patio at BJ’s was really nice place to relax for a bit (except for the flies). Even though it was over 100 degrees outside it wasn’t too bad on the patio.
After the break we went back to the movies to see Talladega Nights with Will Ferrell. Talladega Nights was hysterical, but most of the funny scenes we had already seen in the previews. Except for the surprise man/man kissing scene at the end. They probably could have left that part out, but I guess same sex kissing is in these days, so maybe Will wanted to compete with Madonna and Brittany. Hopefully this won’t be a new trend in the NASCAR scene. Regardless, you can’t go wrong with Will Ferrell running around in his underwear.
Anyway, the Edwards Cinema was not too crowded today, it was really an enjoyable afternoon.
