Last night we went to one of our favorite restaurants in the area. It's called Pantrucas. It's a Chilean restaurant with delicious food and drinks. It's 3.5 minutes up the road. We go there sometimes once a week. Definitely three times a month. They know us by name.

When D suggested it to me months ago I thought, "Blah, more Mexican food?? Another Costa Vida or Cafe Rio? No thanks."

Boy was I ever wrong. They don't have refried beans and cheese. No salsa in sight. Instead it's avocados and steak and tomatos and onions served on fresh baked bread. It's fresh made empenadas and fresh blended pineapple juice. It's amazing. Since our favorite dumpling place closed, Pantrucas has become our go-to place for food.

Utah Valley is the home of Chain Restaurants. If you've ever eaten in a chain, we probably have it here. Sometimes that's nice, to have familiar food, but our favorite places to eat are unique ones. Pantrucas is run by an older husband and wife from Chile. They speak English reasonably well and they are the Matire'D, the waiter, the cook, the cashier, and the busboy. The shop is only open certain hours and there is seating for about 30 people at 7 tables. It's one of those fantastic little out-of-the-way places that you want to tell your friends about and keep a secret at the same time.

The kids love the food there, too.
Princess's favorite? A ham and cheese empenada.
Pumpkin's favorite? Cheese empenada, pineapple juice, and some of my Churrasco Palta.


So when we went to dinner last night it was totally empty. Strange for a Saturday night. The owners, Ricardo and Margarita, told us that just 30 minutes prior the place was hoppin'. Apparently David Archuleta came in to have dinner with his entourage. They were very proud to have a celebrity in the place.


For some reason celebrity sightings have never interested me. Seeing someone in person who I've seen or read about in the news is ho-hum. Getting my picture taken with a celebrity is not on my bucket list. There are a few celebrities I wouldn't mind hanging out with, but just because I think it'd be fun. I don't want to ask Nathan Fillion why his character Mal, in Firefly, was holding a mug in one shot, but it was on the table in the next shot. I just want to get a bite to eat with him and chat.

So, instead of wishing we'd come into Pantrucas 30 minutes earlier, I was glad we came later so we didn't have to compete with other customers for food service. 'Cause the food is just that good.