First impressions.\u00a0 They can make or break deals or friendships, and in the case of the Dining Divas, they hugely affect our opinions and our decision to revisit a restaurant.\u00a0 This month\u2019s restaurant of choice was Rosalita\u2019s Cantina, and there were many first impressions that impressed upon us.<\/p>\n Rosalita\u2019s is a Mexican restaurant in downtown on Washington Avenue.\u00a0 This night, upon entering, we noticed a group of women gathered together to eat, drink, and jewelry shop!\u00a0 Three of our favorite activities.\u00a0 What a great idea!\u00a0 Combine good food and fun drinks with shopping, and you have a winning combination.\u00a0 Our group wasn\u2019t a part of that group, but the idea of a jewelry party did resonate.\u00a0 So far so good on making a first impression.<\/p>\n Of course, Rosalita\u2019s menu only offers Mexican food, not jewelry, but it was still fun to take a look.\u00a0 The next step to making a good impression was our seating location.\u00a0 They put us in a large booth.\u00a0 It was good for conversation, but we felt isolated from the rest of the restaurant.\u00a0 This place was hopping with activity.\u00a0 People gathered outside on the patio or at a street table to enjoy happy hour.\u00a0 Dates, groups, and girlfriends dined inside while the energy of Rosalita\u2019s (and Washington Avenue) vibrated.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to see downtown succeeding, and it was great to be able to enjoy a beautiful spring evening.<\/p>\n Regardless of our waiter\u2019s given name, \u201cDelicious\u201d is what came to mind for a few Divas.\u00a0 With all due respect, his attractive qualities brought smiles to many of us, but he wasn\u2019t overly friendly.\u00a0 The Aggressive Diva didn\u2019t mind.\u00a0 She had no issues with requesting him back to our table to answer a multitude of questions or to deliver additional side items.<\/p>\n The \u201calmost\u201d hands-free restroom made another good impression on us.\u00a0 The flush.\u00a0 The soap.\u00a0 The water.\u00a0 The paper towels.\u00a0 The door to leave the restroom.\u00a0 Practically all of the basics are hands-free.\u00a0 We debated how you tackle a hands-free method of what you actually use the restroom for.\u00a0 No surprise.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t have a solution.<\/p>\n We were concerned with the first impression we made on the Guest Diva.\u00a0 Had the \u201cdinner knife and cleavage trick\u201d scared her off?\u00a0 Or the talk of the Aggressive Diva\u2019s peeling skin due to her sunburn?\u00a0 Or the harassment of our innocent waiter?\u00a0 Perhaps.\u00a0 But there\u2019s no denying the entertainment of it all and especially the entertainment from our \u201cBlonde\u201d Diva.\u00a0 First she asked our waiter about margaritas.\u00a0 \u201cAre all margaritas made with tequila?\u201d\u00a0 His blank stare made us laugh.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure he thought she was seriously asking the question.\u00a0 Then she asked if they had any specialty sodas.\u00a0 His response, \u201cLike Diet Pepsi?\u201d\u00a0 Her response, \u201cNo, like root beer.\u201d\u00a0 Not sure I\u2019d consider either a specialty.<\/p>\n The conversation turned serious when the Teaching Divas discussed education.\u00a0 Both women shared sad stories of the struggles their students go through just to get to school.\u00a0 The Grade School Diva rejoices when her students make it to school everyday.\u00a0 Having a home to go to, running water, or electricity shouldn\u2019t weigh on the minds of these kids.<\/p>\n The Community College Diva is thrilled when her students can find daycare for their children or nursing care for their ailing parents so that they can get their education.\u00a0 For these teachers, their jobs aren\u2019t isolated in the classrooms.\u00a0 Many times, they are involved in their students\u2019 home lives, and unfortunately, many times the home lives aren\u2019t good.<\/p>\n The chips and salsa make a first impression, and after adding a little salt, Rosalita\u2019s was doing well.\u00a0 But we ate too many.\u00a0 Probably because we ordered the Guacamole, and it was a hit.\u00a0 And we ordered Rose\u2019s Favorite dip.\u00a0 It\u2019s layered with cheese, carne asada, avocado, and sour cream.\u00a0 We asked our waiter if what we got was what we ordered because the dip did not come out layered.\u00a0 It was runny, but we all enjoyed it.<\/p>\n We should have stopped there, but we ordered the Jalapeno Corn Muffins at the recommendation of a \u201cregular\u201d.\u00a0 They were disappointing and dry.\u00a0 Had we added some butter, they probably would have been okay.<\/p>\n The Part-time Diva suggested the Taco Salad.\u00a0 Disregarding her recommendation to order it without the cayenne tortilla chips, the salad was tasty but too spicy.\u00a0 Next time, the Taco Salad with plain tortilla chips will be perfect.<\/p>\n The Picky Diva ordered the Tingo Chicken Chimichanga served with rice.\u00a0 The Chimichanga was moist and delicious.\u00a0 Skip the rice.\u00a0 It was on the bland side.<\/p>\n Try another side.\u00a0 The Italian Diva tried the Carne Sabana which was a flat iron steak with shrimp and cheese and served with squash, zucchini, and rice.\u00a0 She can\u2019t wait to go back for more.<\/p>\n Even though our stomachs were about to bust we couldn\u2019t resist the Mini-Churros with chocolate.\u00a0 With or without the chocolate, they were delicious and served piping hot.<\/p>\n Overall, our first impression of Rosalita\u2019s convinced us that\u2019s it\u2019s worthy of another visit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Now regarding the first impression we made on our waiter, the restaurant, or even the Guest Diva, that\u2019s still to be determined.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" June 28, 2011 By Lisa Kampeter First impressions.\u00a0 They can make or break deals or friendships, and in the case of the Dining Divas, they hugely affect our opinions and our decision to revisit a restaurant.\u00a0 This month\u2019s restaurant of choice was Rosalita\u2019s Cantina, and there were many first impressions that impressed upon us. Rosalita\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ocean_post_layout":"","ocean_both_sidebars_style":"","ocean_both_sidebars_content_width":0,"ocean_both_sidebars_sidebars_width":0,"ocean_sidebar":"","ocean_second_sidebar":"","ocean_disable_margins":"enable","ocean_add_body_class":"","ocean_shortcode_before_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_after_top_bar":"","ocean_shortcode_before_header":"","ocean_shortcode_after_header":"","ocean_has_shortcode":"","ocean_shortcode_after_title":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_widgets":"","ocean_shortcode_before_footer_bottom":"","ocean_shortcode_after_footer_bottom":"","ocean_display_top_bar":"default","ocean_display_header":"default","ocean_header_style":"","ocean_center_header_left_menu":"","ocean_custom_header_template":"","ocean_custom_logo":0,"ocean_custom_retina_logo":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_width":0,"ocean_custom_logo_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_tablet_max_height":0,"ocean_custom_logo_mobile_max_height":0,"ocean_header_custom_menu":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_family":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_subset":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_size":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_font_size_unit":"px","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_font_weight_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_tablet":"","ocean_menu_typo_transform_mobile":"","ocean_menu_typo_line_height":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_line_height_unit":"","ocean_menu_typo_spacing":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_tablet":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_mobile":0,"ocean_menu_typo_spacing_unit":"","ocean_menu_link_color":"","ocean_menu_link_color_hover":"","ocean_menu_link_color_active":"","ocean_menu_link_background":"","ocean_menu_link_hover_background":"","ocean_menu_link_active_background":"","ocean_menu_social_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_bg":"","ocean_menu_social_links_color":"","ocean_menu_social_hover_links_color":"","ocean_disable_title":"default","ocean_disable_heading":"default","ocean_post_title":"","ocean_post_subheading":"","ocean_post_title_style":"","ocean_post_title_background_color":"","ocean_post_title_background":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_image_position":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_attachment":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_repeat":"","ocean_post_title_bg_image_size":"","ocean_post_title_height":0,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay":0.5,"ocean_post_title_bg_overlay_color":"","ocean_disable_breadcrumbs":"default","ocean_breadcrumbs_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_separator_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_color":"","ocean_breadcrumbs_links_hover_color":"","ocean_display_footer_widgets":"default","ocean_display_footer_bottom":"default","ocean_custom_footer_template":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"ocean_post_oembed":"","ocean_post_self_hosted_media":"","ocean_post_video_embed":"","ocean_link_format":"","ocean_link_format_target":"self","ocean_quote_format":"","ocean_quote_format_link":"post","ocean_gallery_link_images":"on","ocean_gallery_id":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-columnists","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"**Lisa](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.flovalleynews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/Lisa-Kampeter-photo-99x150.jpg?resize=99%2C150\" "\\"**Lisa")
<\/strong><\/p>\n