Venue name: Café Kacao, 3325 N. Classen
Kid reviewer’s name: Samuel Roldán
Age: 9
What made the experience stand out?
It’s not similar to other restaurants we visit here in Oklahoma. I wasn’t sure about this place at first because the menu isn’t really what I’m used to; my Dad is from Costa Rica, so I know about that food but I don’t know about Guatemalan food. I thought it would be like Mexican food, with cheese sauce on the table and chips, but it isn’t that way at all. My Mom traveled to Peru a lot before I was born and she takes me to eat food that’s from there, like Inca Trail or La Brasa. What they serve isn’t any of those exactly but it is very close to Costa Rican food: rice, beans, eggs, fried plantains and tropical fruit drinks. You could eat lunch there but I haven’t done that yet. The cool thing, though, is that there’s brunch, which means omelets and potatoes or waffles served with the fruits I love from my other country, like pineapple, mango, papaya and passion fruit. It’s such a happy place to eat!
What was the best part?
Everyone orders a different plate and shares. The air smells like coffee and powdered sugar and the food looks pretty on the plate. My parents smile the whole time we’re there because the food reminds them of when they lived in Costa Rica. The fruit drinks are my favorite. They’re like what my grandparents make in their blender.
What was the worst part?
The restaurant is very busy and we always have to wait for a table. Waiting isn’t fun when you’re a kid because you get to the restaurant hungry already.
Will other kids like the restaurant and why?
Definitely! I don’t like the same thing over and over again on kids' menus. It’s always macaroni and cheese, corn dogs or sandwiches, the foods people think kids want to eat. This menu is much more colorful and interesting. Kids will like it because there’s a lot of fruit. I would recommend the mosh, which is oatmeal served with milk and passion fruit sauce (ED: Mosh is oatmeal slow-cooked in whole milk, condensed milk and evaporated milk). Every plate comes with more than one food. A lot of kids might think the food will be spicy but it isn’t. My advice is to try everything. The food might not be familiar to other kids but that’s okay. How will you know what you like if you don’t try it?
Would this restaurant be enjoyed by your siblings? Why or why not?
I almost always share a waffle with blackberries or the French toast with my brother, Isaac (age 4). We try a different fruit drink each time or horchata. My baby brother, Gabriel (age 1), surprised everyone at our table with how much he ate the last time we were there. That’s a lot to say, because he doesn’t always like to eat, but he ate so much of my Mom’s scrambled eggs with mushroom and tomato that she had to order something else for herself. I really think he ate more than I did.
If you could do this again knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
I would try something new from the menu that wasn’t familiar to me already. I visit my grandparents once or twice a year in Costa Rica and the food is delicious; I miss it a lot and I always try to order something similar. I would also go with a bigger appetite. I haven’t tried any desserts there yet because I’m always too full from the meal.
What do you think you'll remember most about having done this activity?
I’ll remember that I didn’t have to get in a plane and travel all day to eat some of the foods I love. The food tastes like love and happiness because I know that the people who made it for me when I first tried it as a little kid wanted me to be with them and to share the foods my Dad ate when he was small too.
[Note from Sam's mom: Café Kacao has a nostalgic kind of appeal to my family. Ours is a bilingual/dual-nationality household and although the food does remind us of happy times, it’s delicious on its own. The coffee menu is what I look forward to most at each visit. I would recommend sharing a plate between your children, as the entrée portions are generally large. Call ahead to verify hours, as the restaurant is often at capacity and closes early.]
