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February 29th is a once-in-every-four-years occasion, so the members of The Sacramento Breakfast Club decided to celebrate the unusual date in style, by calling a breakfast club meeting to sample Rosie's Country Kitchen, in the nearby city of Rancho Cordoba, a fine restaurant that we'd been drooling over, and had been wanting to visit for quite some time. We were not to be disappointed...
Photo: The heritage of Rosie's is apparent, but the restaurant has risen from the ashes of it's former owner, like a phoenix, and has achieves greatness, as Dan and Weldon clown up for my digital camera. You know, some restaurant articles are hard to write, as many restaurant just don't make an impression. This article is different, as I could write a college thesis about Rosie's Country Kitchen, right on! No... read on... Caveat: This article is being written by your author on a full stomach, burp... after enjoying a delicious breakfast at Rosie's, on the unusual day of February 29, 2008. You will not walk away from Rosie's with an empty stomach! Your stomach will be full, but your wallet will be empty, as you get a whole lot of quality food for your bucks, exceptionally efficient and friendly service, and a whole lot more at Rosie's Country Kitchen.
Photo: Does the decor look like corporate-Amerrica-heartland-restaurant? Maybe... but subtile changes have happened, but the fake wood paneling and the vynal seats remain from the Denny's-era. If you're a regular reader of the chronicles of The Sacramento Breakfast Club, you'll recall that we visited Rosie's a couple of weeks ago, at their Citrus Heights location. Today, it was David's turn to pick a restaurant, and he suggested that it would be "cool" to visit Rosie's other location, in Rancho Cordova, and since it was his turn to pick the restaurant, and most importantly, his turn to pay for our meal, we readily agreed. Now these two "Rosie's" are owned by the same folks, but the only thing they have in common is the menu, outside of that, they are completely different, separated not only by location, but by decor, staff, and almost anything that comes to mind. May I introduce Weldon Lee, a friend, nice guy, and a fellow night shift co-worker, and the newest member of our breakfast club? Dan and Weldon work closely together on the night shift, and Dan discovered that Weldon is a breakfast fanatic, and when Dan invited him to join our club, he readily agreed. Collectively, we felt that Rosie's Country Kitchen would make a good boot-camp experience for Weldon, and we have to admit that he passed basic training, at Rosie's, with full military honors.
Photo: Our wonderful, and friendly waitress Amy takes or breakfast orders, as members of our club look on, with dazzled amazement. The Sacramento Breakfast Club avoids restaurant chains, however technically speaking, Rosie's is a chain, comprising of exactly two restaurants in the greater Sacramento area. Chain, what chain? ... as both Rosie's locations are owned and operated by the same family and reflect local tastes, especially when it comes to breakfast. The family that owns the "chain" originally hail from the country of India, and their dinner menu features many Indian dishes, which is not a bad thing, as we love Indian cuisine... heck, we love every cuisine! Indian food aside, the breakfast menu is pure down-home, southern-style cookin' and if Elvis was alive today, he'd be right at home as Rosie's serves a chicken fried steak so tender that you don't need a knife to cut it, just as my fellow breakfast guru David, who ordered a chicken fried steak, with all of the trimmings.
Photo: Looking directly into the kitchen of the restaurant. Savannah, who kept our coffee cups full, appears to the right of the photo; she doesn't realize that her photo is being taken. I'm one sneaky dude! We didn't vote for Al Gore, but the "Green Guys" would be proud of as, as I met Dan and Weldon at work, and they piled into my car, so you could say that we carpooled to Rosie's Country Kitchen, in fine style, while listening to traditional country music, Willie's Place, via XM satellite radio, which I have in my car, along with a custom audio system. David and Bruce were already seated at a table near the rear of the restaurant, and David had his traditional coffee cup in hand, and Bruce was enjoying a glass of "bug juice," by the way, that's military talk for cranberry juice, or any drink that is red.
Photo: Amy bends over backwards to provide Weldon with his order of biscuits and gravy. Meanwhile, Dan and David are speachless, in a rare moment, as they dig into their delicous breakfasts. Darn! My breafast is in the front of this photo, but since I'm taking this photo, I can't dig in. Hey Bruce! Where's the tabasco sauce? Dan, Weldon and I walked into the restaurant and saw Bruce and David sitting at a table towards the rear of the restaurant. In keeping with the "green theme," did you know that Rosie's is a recycle of dead restaurants? In our case, Rosie's occupies a dead restaurant of the Denny's cult; five years ago, Denny's died and Rosie's rose from the ashes, just like a phoenix. Denny's loss is Rosie's gain, as Rosie's doesn't serve the same grub as it's former chain restaurant did, as the former restaurant specialized in frozen, institutional-quality food, loaded frozen from the Sysco truck the night before and thawed in a microwave oven... geeez!! ... Noooo! Rosie's Country Kitchen specializes in fresh food, prepared in-house by some of the friendliest people you'll ever meet. As you walk into the restaurant, it's easy to guess the restaurant's past, after you open the double, glass, doors, which is a trademark of the restaurant's heritage, you'll notice the kitchen and breakfast counter are to your right, the decor is plain, and the place is carpeted with carpet that would make any two-star motel in this country proud. Modest decor aside, check out the white board located by the check-out counter that advertises the daily special, in our case, it was a hamburger patty, eggs, potatoes and toast for $4.95... cheap, cheap and cheap, and enjoy the friendly smiles that you'll receive from the staff. Since David and Bruce had already set up shop at a table, Dan, Weldon and I simply sat down at the table, and The Sacramento Breakfast Club began the session of the morning.
Photo: Core breakfast club member, Bruce, is in breakfast heaven, as I snap his photo with our friendly waitress, Amy. Amy is an efficient, friendly waitress, and she's really easy on the eyes: Gee if I was 30 years younger and single, I'd probably ask her to have dinner with me... errr.... breakfast? Menus were waiting for us at our table, and we were seated for about 30 seconds before friendly Savannah came around with mugs, and a coffee pot. Yeah coffee! The breakfast menu is almost daunting, as it features a full three pages of breakfast choices, enough choices to flat-line a breakfast guru. Funny that issue should be mentioned, as when we approached Rosie's, Weldon spotted the $6.99 steak and eggs special painted on the outside of the restaurant, and he made up his mind that was what he wanted, without even looking at the menu. Funny, that was my choice at the Citrus Heights location at Rosies, at a breakfast club meeting, two weeks ago. Great minds think alike...
Photo: Rosie's Breakfast Club members, from left to right: Eric Rench, your author, Bruce Coutler, Dan MacLeod, Weldon Lee, and David DeMario. We're five guys who love breakfast! Photo taken by our wonderful waitress, Amy. We love you, girl! The old real estate slogan reads, "location, location, location," so Rosie's menu could read, "choices, choices, choices." Their breakfast choices specialize in southern cuisine, yet they have many healthy and lightweight breakfast choices, such as vegetarian dishes, and many breakfast dishes priced under the glass ceiling rate of $4.00. However hungry folks should not bypass Rosie's, as the restaurant's menu offers a platter featuring a 16-oz New York steak, three eggs, and hash brown potatoes! Geeeeez! Not even Dan or David, who are senior members of our club, are up to the challenge of enjoying a breakfast steak of that size. Rosie's breakfast offers choices from diet to fabulous, and everything in between, so anybody who enjoys breakfast will find something to-die-for on Rosie's breakfast menu. What sets a restaurant apart from the crowded pack? Price? Service? Decor? Quality of food? Presentation? Undecided factor? Hillary Clinton's choice of breakfast fare? The Sacramento Breakfast Club prefers the following: Good food, friendly service, large portions, reasonable prices, and the make-you-feel-like-family comfort-food, feeling. During our visit to Rosie's Country Kitchen, we enjoyed the company of Amy as our waitress, and Savannah, who kept our coffee cups full.
Photo: Weldon to the left of the photo, is very seious about his breakfast; as he'd just the kind of guy that our club likes to have as a member. David to the right of the photo, digs into his wonderful breakfast, served at Rosie's Country Kitchen. Nirvana! Heaven! When it comes to breakfast, these guys take no prisoners... Whatever... these guys enjoy breakfast! Oh yes, it was David's turn to pay for the meal, and pick the restaurant. Thanks, David! Rosie's menu has no less than three pages devoted to breakfast; although they serve lunch and dinner, the restaurant's real focus is in breakfast, which is what we're looking for. Besides reflecting upon the local, Sacramento area favorites, the menu features southern favorites such as chili omelets, southern scrambles and a hearty emphasis on biscuits and gravy... our choice... Oh boy! You couldn't ask for a better waitress then Amy, as she's easy on the eyes, especially for us over-the-hill-guys, but besides her photo-model looks, she's an outstanding waitress, very friendly, and a true professional at what she does for a living. Not to mention, she's friendly, very attractive, very attentive, but not intrusive, and she makes you feel like you're a member of Rosie's family. We like that! Savannah keeps your coffee cup full, with a smile on your face as she fills your cup.
Photo: Delicous? Wonderful presentation? Hot coffee? Forget my words, just check out the photo of my wonderful breakfast. Note the the extra onions and peppers on the homestyle potatoes were custom ordered at no extra charge. Can you beat that? Anywhere? Rosie's rules! Food! Oh baby! After delivering our orders to us, Amy came by to check on us and remarked how quiet we were. Prior to our breakfast entrées being delivered to us, we the hoodlums of the place, as we were loud, joking and rough-housing; the sort of tactics that we adhere to at work. However after our delicious breakfast were delivered to us, we set into the serious business of enjoying a delicious breakfast, and enjoying the intoxicating mixture of good food, good friends, an outstanding restaurant, and... well... everything good. Savannah kept the coffee flowing, and Amy delivered our wonderful breakfasst, with a smile and a very warm, professional attitude. Boy, if I was single and 30 years younger... Combine delicious food, very reasonable prices, efficient, professional, and, to say the least outstanding service, Rosie's Country Kitchen in Rancho Cordova can't be beat. If you're a lover of breakfast, you just can't pass by this restaurant. Highly, did I say highly recommended by us? Highly recommended by The Sacramento Breakfast Club.
Rosie's
Country Kitchen Copyright(c) 2008 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...
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