Mono Loco

We took a big group of friends who were visiting from DC to Mono Loco for brunch. I was a little suspicious when we walked onto the patio and sat down – the patio is not the cleanest looking place. My hope – a hole in the wall (which, when they’re good are my favorites). Service was a little slow but when we got our food – worth it! The breakfast burritos were delicious and huge. Everyone’s food looked awesome. The chips and salsa and guacamole were definitely worth adding to the bill. While the food doesn’t quite live up to the breakfasts we had in Austin (I dream about them) it is definitely going to be added into our catalogue of breakfast spots… We’ll have to try another meal there in the very near future.

Cocina del Sol

I love going out to dinner with a group of people. Don’t get me wrong, I also love entertaining at home, but when you go out, no one has to clean up and everyone pays their own way. People are able to eat and drink whatever they want… it’s mostly the clean up factor. I feel like group dinners are such a rarity that I started a monthly dinner club for Charlie’s Econ friends.

Our first victim – Cocina del Sol.

I ran into it quite by accident as it’s next door to a teacher’s supply store – Teacher’s Edition. After I saw it, I remembered that there is a Cocina del Sol in Crozet that Charlie and I had spotted when we went to a fair and the line had been out the door. The Charlottesville branch is on the corner of Hydraulic and Commonwealth (not visible from 29).

9 of us met this week (UVA’s spring break helped with the low numbers) and everyone really enjoyed their food. Charlie had some pineapple adobo taco that he wolfed down. Jeff had the red snapper tacos. I think there were a couple salads ordered and I had the beef burrito. I can’t vouch for the margheritas as Charlie’s friends have trouble unwinding during the semester but I liked the Corona! The prices are reasonable – I think Charlie and I paid $30 for 2 dinners and drinks.

Cocina del Sol is smaller than I thought it would be but the atmosphere is fun, a little funky, and comfortable. There was only one waiter working as there weren’t too many people on a Wednesday night. I would love to see if/how the place fills up on a weekend night. I’m sure it will be fun to try again.

Stay tuned for the next adventures of the Econ dinner club 🙂