As we approached Cafe Trio, I'm guessing that Scrunch, Wingnut, Brady and I all were thinking the same thing: how long is it going to take us to park this time?
You see, about a year ago, we visited Cafe Trio. Scrunch was driving. And driving. And driving. Around and around the parking lot, looking for a spot. The rest of us were laughing. And guffawing. And chortling. We eventually had to park quite far away, and the entire incident lives on in our memories as an "epic" start to that particular lunch.
Unfortunately, I remember the parking incident more than the food from that day. I remember that the food was good. But that's about it.
So as we entered Wingnut's big-rig and Brady suggested that Cafe Trio serve as our lunch destination, I couldn't really remember what to expect. But when we were able to pull into an open parking spot right next to the restaurant, I knew we weren't going to be disappointed.
We ate al fresco, and even though it was a scorching hot day and we were not near any misters (sigh), the awnings kept us cool. Well, except for Scrunch's left arm, which got a bit of sun. But we all decided he's young and is sure to recover.
For lunch, I chose the pasta carbonara, because, well, it has bacon. I love bacon. (For more on bacon, go here.)
For the non-food-educated among you, carbonara is a sauce for pasta that contains eggs and bacon or ham and grated cheese. And Trio does its carbonara right. The dish was big enough to be filling, but didn't leave me feeling stuffed. The sauce was substantial, but not too heavy. The bacon was flavorful, the peas were firm (nothing worse than mushy peas) and the noodles were cooked al dente, as they should be.
The service was excellent (servers were present, but weren't hovering). The Coke was a bit flat, and a few flies were buzzing about, but otherwise I have no complaints about Trio.
Of course, you really ought to get a good lunch at Trio, because it costs more than we in the GPaK Crew usually pay. For my lunch, with tip, I shelled out $18. Yikes! That means Trio is not an every-week place. But considering the quality of the food and the chance of an epic parking experience, it definitely IS a once in a while place that the Crew will visit again.
— GPaK
Sound clip of the week
Man-up possibilities: 8 (Wingnut's pizza was huge!)
Food quality: 9
Fizz-o-meter of Coke: 7
Service: 8
Overall: 8.5
