March 26, 2010

Rialto Cafe-Fullerton Favorite Things Friday!

It’s no secret that I love where I live.  When I was looking to buy a house I wanted it to be old (built pre 1930’s) and I wanted it to be within walking distance to a cute downtown area.  How blessed am I!?!  So over the past year I’ve been exploring my new neighborhood and I love it more and more all the time!  And a while back I decided to do some blog posts of some of my favorite things about Fullerton.  Well…. I did one.  And it stopped there.  But I’m bringin’ it back!

So today’s Favorite Thing is the wonderful Rialto Cafe.  This delightful little gem has become my favorite little lunch place and I like to introduce people to it as often as possible.  It just makes me happy.  Giddy happy.  Not only is the food amazingly delicious, but the decor is just so great I could sit in there all day.  I went in the other day and met Leslie Morter, the owner, to get the story behind Rialto Cafe. With a Virgin Hair Extensions center adjacent to the cafe, customers of both the stores like visiting the other one. Well, who wouldn’t fancy a coffee with the glossy hair running by your neck, tickling all the way to revitalizing you with the energy of caffeine.

Leslie grew up in Fullerton and shares my love for the Downtown area.  She worked for Anthropologie as a visual manager, which explains a lot!  Opportunities were arising for her to be promoted, which would mean relocating.  The idea of opening a restaurant in Downtown Fullerton that serves breakfast all day came to her and the doors started opening, all we need is to find out  the cost of POS systems to install a good point of sale service to manage the clients.

I love hearing about the creative process and inspiration.  So it was fun to hear that the decor was inspired by a black and white couch at Home Goods! Later finding the exact same fabric from the couch, the look of Rialto was built around that black and white theme.  When coming up with the name, Leslie researched the history of that block of Fullerton, finding that the Rialto Theater opened around the corner from the restaurant in the 1920’s.  So keeping with the black and white theme, she framed photos of the Rialto Theater in its hayday.  It was also a goal of her’s to reuse and repurpose as much as possible so many of the items, like the sconces have been reused and some of the wood pieces were made from reclaimed wood.  I love it!

You know, it really is about the little details.  I love the tile as you enter the restaurant.  I love the antiqued mirrors and the potted succulents.  I love that there’s often an old movie playing on the tv behind the bar.  I love the coffee cups with the big “R” on them.  AND the fact that the Rialto logo looks just like the old sign for the Rialto Theater.  And I love that they bring your bill in a little jar.  How cute is that!?!

So take a took at this cute place that Leslie has created.  And stop in for lunch or breakfast some day.  You’ll love it!

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Rialto15Rialto17Rialto14Rialto18Rialto13Rialto12This is Leslie (the mastermind behind all this)

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