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If you are a brunchy type of person you might have heard of Mario's Early Toast. There is one in Roseville, another in Folsom, and another soon to open in Granite Bay. Obviously they are doing well enough for expansion.
I decided to check them out this Sunday and offer you my quick, one visit review.
Arriving around noon I knew there would be a wait. There were quite a few people outside waiting, but the quote time for two was only 20-25 minutes. A wait was expected so we took a seat and luckily were seated in about 15.
Inside we found the restaurant to be quite large, with a bar and two seating areas that can handle large parties. We sat in a booth and were offered drinks, of which I asked for a hot chocolate. Mistake.
The hot chocolate here definitely tasted instant from a machine or Swiss Miss. It was definitely not hot milk mixed with a quality cocoa or chocolate syrup. I'm very picky with hot chocolate and was still remembering my excellent hot chocolate from Tower Cafe when I was so disappointed by this one.
The menu contains both brunch and lunch items. It's definitely heavy on omelettes, benedicts, and other breakfast favorites. The lunch menu has typical burgers, sandwiches, salads, some seafood and some Mexican.
My friend ordered the Rooster salad: grilled chicken breast, Romaine lettuce, corn, avocado, black beans, corn tortilla strips, topped with cheddar cheese, cumin & cilantro cream dressing. She was told the dressing was spicy so she ordered vinaigrette to the side. Her assessment? It's a salad.
I ordered a savory crepe, something called North of the Border? It had avocado, chorizo, onions, peppers, spices and a crema zag on top. It was like a breakfast quesadilla made with a crepe instead of a tortilla. While the filling was good, I did feel it needed hot sauce which I added. That's my taste, wanting more zing. The disappointment though, was in the country potatoes. They were undercooked so that I couldn't eat them.
If I were a star rater, I'd give them 3. The service was good, but the food was not memorable. Not enough to encourage me to come back when there are other brunch places closer to home. Keep in mind this is a one-time review for the Roseville location.
