Loco Cafe-Denton

[iluvtennis]

Anyone in the Denton area know what this Loco Cafe is? They've been renovating an old building across the street from the Greenhouse for a while and they recently put up a Cafe Loco sign...anyone know what it is or when it is opening? Denton's been getting a lot of new places recently and i've been hoping for more non-chain options.

[gwenky]

I just tried it this weekend, and it was worth the wait!! I love breakfast, and Denton does not have very many good breakfast places. This place was great, and their biscuits were so awesome. We tried the fried egg/cheese on a jalapeño biscuit, and the loco moco. Very fresh. Coffee was from a local place in Austin, and even the chilled chocolate milk was awesome. Very excited that Denton has a place like this. They serve breakfast and lunch through like 2 or 3. I have found a new favorite.

[iluvtennis]

Thanks for the report...Is it counter service? Did you notice if they had any healthy options?

[gwenky]

If by counter service you mean, you go up and order and they bring the food. Set up a lot like Pei-Wei. They did have home made granola, honestly I did not notice much else other than the biscuits and eggs (I am more of a fan of unhealthy breakfast!!). It seems like it would be a place that would have some healthy options though.

[LewisvilleHounder]

I commend the owners of Greenhouse for venturing off into breakfast but why open a separate space when you already have an existing building? Couldn't they just change their menu to include breakfast? Seems a bit odd to me.

[iluvtennis]

My husband and i were discussing that last night...we thought it was kind of strange, too. I'm excited to try it out, but it does seem they could have just expanded their hours at the current Greenhouse location?

[gwenky]

They seem to be very different places. In fact, (because I've been to the Greenhouse for Jazz on Thursday nights) it is dark and can be smoky because of the big wood bar they have. Loco Cafe is bright and light. Seems like a different place altogether. Actually nice for a breakfast joint.

[LewisvilleHounder]

I went on Sunday morning adn was quite impressed by the food but the service (would rather say restaurant layout) was not up to snuff. The owners need to realize a few things and it is common here in America, not so much in Europe, people enjoy their private space.

This is just a preview and I plan on going back, and that is saying somethign because I tend to avoid breakfast places because I can make it all at home.

Here is the bad:
The ordering system has too many options (at least for the Loco Moco - see attached) and was backing up the line. Maybe an ordering checklist like at say Mooyah would be ideal?

The juice bar concept is confusing when ordering. I believe there is a register at the juice bar also? I don't believe we were questioned on our drink option and they are not prominently displayed at the main register. They need to figure out are all drinks and payment for such handled at the drink bar or at the main register.

There was a large crowd of people some standing waiting on tables and there was an empty room just off the bathroom and on the other side of the juice bar. Why is it separated? Why was it not opened when people were standing waiting on a table?

Why are there no single and double seats? They need to put this in immediately. It is a college town and not everyone knows their neighbors so you will have a lot of single or double diners. While the concept of eating at a four top with a stranger is a good idea in theory it doesn't work.

The gravy...come on really packaged gravy mix when the hashbrowns, eggs and biscuits and breakfast meats all have the TLC in them. Bacon grease + flour + milk = great gravy.

The butter options...what? I am not sure what butter I got as it certainly was not the honey butter or jalapeno butter we ordered. Can it be offered on the side/butter bar solely for the people to choose. I like a good buttered biscuit and need a pat or two more.

The good:
Hashbrowns whoever dices these up each morning is a genius. I am so tired of huge chuncks of bland potatoes, raw potatoes or potato wedges. They are prefectly tender and seasoned with a trained hand (not heavy on the salt) with a bit more time on the grill (special request next time) could get a nice crispiness to them.

Bacon not sure what brand they use but it was prefectly cooked and had a ton of flavor. Many restaurant like to serve the paper thin bacon and don't even take the time to cook it. Nothing worse than raw or limp bacon

Sausage while masked by the terrible gravy I could tell it was at least of fairly good quality. It was not as greasy as most and was not burnt. It was also not crumbled into the gravy to make it "seem" better.

Bsicuit while I thought it could have used a bit more baking powder to get a towering fluffy biscuit it was still moist on the inside and had a nice crust on the outside. Some might say they were cooked about a minute or two too long. Not going to split hairs over it. The biscuit was massive and not sure why anyone would want to buy a dozen of them? A good half dozen cut in half would suffice at any party or gathering. I am just glad someone is makign biscuits these days!

Salsa option was a nice touch and rather lightened up a heavy breakfast for me. It had a real nice balance to it and was not overly spicy (I wouldn't have mineded if it was).

Eggs were prefectly cooked, somewhat. The battered poached egg option was an interesting concept and it could have used about 5 seconds less in the fryer as mine was not as oozy as I like on a poached egg. Overall for the crowd I could tell the eggs were coming out consistent to how people ordered. Nice job for a place open only a week.

Juice and coffee. My wife raved about the pecan coffee. I can't help much in that department as caffeine gives me the serious shakes even in small amounts. The orange juice while somewhat pricey for a "short" was actually a tall in most breakfast places and actualyl had real oranges in it! I was also surprised they use sweet and less acidic juicing oranges. I also liekd the added touche of serving it in an ice cocktail shaker.

The decor was nice bright and not smokey. I am not sure but most breakfast places I think have a free reign for chain smokers to puff away at breakfast, I avoid those. No carpet is always a nice touch too, but can be loud at times. Nothing worse than having coffee stains and the old 80's print on the floor when you roll out of bed after a late night of drinking. The booths are also not ripped and duct taped together either

All in all it was a very good meal and look forward to going back maybe for lunch this next time. There are a few major issues that need to be corrected but overall I think Loco Cafe is a real homerun and it is good it will get its legs before next semester starts. I wish the owners a long and prosperous run at this place, no Star Trek pun intended.

[iluvtennis]

I’ve been to Loco a few times now, but still haven’t ventured over to the juice bar, café register or whatever that is over in the corner. The biscuits were not what I was expecting…they were actually better. You aren’t kidding about ordering a dozen. They’re massive. I also wasn’t sure about the butter. I guess they gave me the flavor I asked for? I chose honey butter, and my biscuit definitely had butter on it, I just didn’t get a real honey butter taste. I wish I could have buttered my own biscuit because I probably would have used more.

The breakfast tacos are really good. They come on soft corn tortillas (the only kind I like). I had mine filled with egg, cheese, hashbrowns, salsa and avocado. I don’t usually like potatoes in my breakfast tacos, but these blended nicely. I’m addicted to the salsa now.

I don’t like the Johnny cakes or the syrup that comes with them. I’ve never had Johnny cakes, so I’ve got nothing to compare them to. They were way too heavy and dry for my taste. That might just be Johnny cakes in general…also, the syrup is maple flavored which has never been a favorite of mine, so these items may be really good to those that really like Johnny cakes and maple syrup…apparently, I don’t.

The coffee cakes are moist and delicious.

During the week, when I try to eat healthier, I think the avocado taco is a pretty good option. Because of the calories, I could probably only have one, but with the egg, avocado, cheese and salsa, it definitely has the fuel and flavor I’m looking for.

[aemanuel]

Rumor has it...free food tomorrow at loco cafe tomorrow at some time...

[iluvtennis]

Oh, thanks all for the info! Here's a facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Loco...

[pumptech]

The Loco Cafe is owned by the people that have The Greenhouse across the street. It will be serving breakfast til 2:00. I think it opens May 14th, 2011.