Monday, March 28, 2011

Coco's Bakery Restaurant in Redlands

Foodie Baby

Coco's was one of the first restaurants that I ate in. I remember getting nibbles of sweet potato fries from Mommy, slurps of milk and a lot of attention from the other people in the restaurant since I was on my best behavior.
Daddy usually gets pretty good-looking food, and so does my uncle. They share the good, greasy, man-breakfast food with me like nibbles of bacon, ham and hash browns and let me pick out pancakes and stuff.

Mommy

Coco's Bakery Restaurant has been our stop of choice for pie for years (especially when I was pregnant) and the other option besides IHOP for breakfasts on a Sunday morning as a family. In fact, no matter what time of day there's a good chance someone is at least considering the breakfast menu in our crowd.If you go early enough, it is only a few minutes wait, otherwise, the place fills up with the after-church crowd.
The servers are usually very sweet but busy, so sometimes you need to flag someone down, but they will help you out very quickly. My coffee mug is never empty there.
Coco's has a variety of food for anyone and not only good dessert (I'm craving pie as I write this) but a good breakfast menu as well. I've eaten the huge bowl of oatmeal, berries and nuts more than once and really like it. (Oatmeal is only served until 11 a.m.)
If you order a coup, salad, bakery item or a side of something at your meal, be prepared to either fight off a hungry toddler, share, or have packed some fruit snacks. or, try ordering for your little one as fast as possibles they have food then as well.
Their kid's menu has a good variety of sides to go along with their breakfast and lunch/dinner offerings, including rice, veggies and fruit.
The kid's cup is pretty much a paper coffee cup with a hot beverage lid that they give you with  straw. Since the straw is not a perfect fit after you shove it through, I would recommend bringing a sippy cup or a straw cup for a little one with developing cup-and-straw skills- I could see Foodie Baby tilting that sucker back and juice coming out of the hole.
We've been twice for breakfast the last two weeks, and Foodie Baby has gotten the eggs, fruit and toast (or a pancake) both times. The toast comes buttered, which I often forget to ask about when I'm dead tired from tending to a sick kid and a partying (literally, I was cool for a little while) weekend and sit looking dazed into my big mug of coffee. Mmm... pie and coffee...
The pancake is a pretty big one for a toddler, and comes with butter on the top and syrup on the side.
Both times the fruit for Foodie Baby's meal has been cut-up cantaloupe and honeydew, and both times there has been pieces with the rind still on. The pieces have been manageable for Foodie Baby, who likes to shove entire chunks in his mouth, but we still cut up a few to get rid of rinds and have better portion control.
For breakfast, the choices really depend on what you are willing to let your child eat- a treat of pancakes or french toast sticks (with or without the delicious but sticky syrup) look pretty good. There is also an oatmeal and fruit option. I know Foodie baby would love the oatmeal, since he eats it often at home, but I also know what kind of mess he leaves behind in the high chair.
Perhaps spoon feeding some oatmeal and letting a beginner pick up pieces of fruit could be an option? Or waiting till they can eat oatmeal without a bath afterwards (yeah, it can be that bad around here).
 Since Foodie Baby has not had a lunch or dinner at Coco's, I'm not sure what it all looks like. As usual grilled cheese could be a good option. There is also grilled chicken, macaroni and cheese (Kraft) or crunchy chicken strips, that could go well with any side on the menu including mashed potatoes, fries or cinnamon apples.
You could also order off the a la carte menu and stick with toast (including whole wheat and sourdough) and jam, breakfast potatoes or just fruit for breakfast, or veggies, sweet potato and the like for dinner.
They also have bowls of fruit with whipped cream for dessert, so you won't feel as guilty eating your pie.
I wish I had pie.

P.S. Kid's 10 and under eat free at Coco's after 4 pm.m on Tuesdays and Wednesdays! One free kid's meal with each adult meal.
Checklist
Changing table available
leave the stroller at home, no room- booths and tables
Wood highchairs available
Kid's Meals available
Kid's drinks available- apple and orange juices, milk and soda

2 comments:

  1. Dined today at the University Ave. Coco's in Riverside- they had large slices of canteloupe and piapple for their side of fruit. And it was delicious! Our waitress had a young son too so she was very good at serving us instead of putting everything in the boys' way.

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