Rico’s World Kitchen comes up on your left as you travel north on South Lee Street, a converted garage (what isn’t these days) much larger than the four table spot Rico used to have near the Mall of Georgia. Parking is a mess. We found a spot between a sign and a van and squeezed in, and were glad for the bit of luck. It was a chilly evening and one where we were glad to be inside.
The staff was, well, surprisingly Caucasian for a place where I expected a bit of an ethnic influence. In fact, you could have dropped it all into Decatur and no one would have known the difference. When we asked about the lumpia – my wife is Chamorro, and lumpia, Filipino eggrolls, have become a big part of the fiesta culture of Guam – we were told that Rico and his mom were gone. So, no lumpia, and not even a chance to ask if they ever have pancit on special.
I wasn’t sure what I could eat from the entrees at Rico’s, so I ordered an appetizer as an entree, their New Orleans shrimp and mussels. My daughter had a habanero chicken sandwich. My wife had the shrimp po boy. We also ordered one large salad.
This was good, but not mind blowing food. The best of the meal was the po boy, well cooked and flavored shrimp on chewy tender bread. The fried green tomatoes were fine sides, and often shared. The habanero chicken had no spice to speak of, my daughter thought. She ate it quickly, so it was still pretty good. Her hash brown casserole was deliciously cheesy to my taste. The shrimp and mussels were decent. The mussels were a smaller variety, and to be honest I thought there was better flavor in my bite of the po boy. It was hard to add bulk to the menu as presented (no grilled vegetables, for example), and my wife eventually had us get her buffalo wings after we dined here. Rico’s is far better suited to a lunch crowd.
Rico’s left us with mixed emotions, ones that might have been less mixed had Rico and his mom been there. It had taken an age to get my family here, and I’m not sure if wanting to roll the dice and find this owner is going to be worth it. As the small owner run shops become successful, the owners turn their attention to different things. Rico’s has an excellent reputation, but if it loses those elements that make it unique, it just becomes a sandwich shop on the way to the Mall of Georgia. A couple other spots, such as Gourmandises, can also fill that role.
Verdict: Light menu, well suited to lunch, perhaps losing its ethnic touch. Recommended.
Rico’s World Kitchen
306 West Main Street
Buford, GA 30518
(678) 765-7518
December 6, 2010 at 11:27 pm
Good Evening,
Katie here, Rico’s wife. I am so happy you and your family were able to visit us here in Buford. Unfortunately, the only reason Rico and his mother were not at the Restaurant during your visit, was because of the passing of Rico’s Grandmother. We hope you will visit again soon, and have some Lumpia (we do have Pancit as a special quite often as well). It has been a goal of ours to expand our dinner menu and we have been offering a wide array of different specials in the evening as entree choices to see what our customers respond to the most. We are all looking foward to Rico and his mother returning soon. We are very greatful to have such a wonderful staff that has handled things so graciously for us in this difficult time. Again, thank you for visiting and we hope to see you and your family soon.
Sincerely,
Katie Cunnington