Coco Bolos – Again
Posted on July 4, 2016 by Ching under Food and Drink.
Some of my coworkers and I were in Manhattan, Kansas for a leadership conference last week. We normally just walk down the street to Old Chicago but we wanted to try something different this time so I gave them a couple of choices based on restaurants in Manhattan that I’d tried before and liked: Wahoo or Coco Bolos. It’s been a long time since I’d dined at either restaurants but I recalled that I liked them both so it didn’t really matter to me which one they picked.
They picked Coco Bolos, which is also where everyone else in Manhattan wanted to have dinner that night. There was a 45 minute wait when we got there. Although, the host conveniently forgot to tell us this when we first arrived. I only found out because I heard him tell the length of the wait to some of the groups that came in after us.
I’m thinking the $5 sangria carafes might have had something to do with how busy they were that night. Because the sangrias were so cheap and it took a while to drink an entire carafe, diners tended to linger. It took quite a long time to get a table. There’s not really a good place to wait so the five of us (Mike, Gwen, Alicia, Alex, and I) were huddled just in front of the door, trying to stay out of people’s way.
I guess since we were waiting a while, host guy decided he should take drink requests. Because I live in la-la land and I always think something fantastic is happening in the world, I thought he was buying us all free drinks for the inconvenience. Little did I know that he was keeping track of everything. I didn’t realize this until the check came. Silly me. This reminded me of the time that I walked back to my car after work and saw a card on the windshield and my first thought was that someone was inviting me to a party or rave of some sort, rather than “I’m getting a ticket,” which is what the card actually was. There were actually three “cards” so they must have really wanted me to go to that party but who’s counting?
You know how some people are so negative and they always assume the worst? Well, I am the exact opposite. I always assume the best. It’s kind of ridiculous. I try not to be overly optimistic but I can’t help it. It’s just the way my brain is wired, I guess.
So there we were, waiting. Trying not to get in the way but waiting and waiting. It had been several years since my last dining experience at Coco Bolos so then I started thinking “the food better be good to make the wait worthwhile.”
I could feel my eternal optimism starting to wane. That happens when you’re starving and you have to wait almost an hour to eat. It was specially hard seeing plates of food go by with regular frequency. LOL.
Host guy was smart, though. He kept the drinks flowing so we were all pretty mellow and, despite having to wait a super long time, we remained considerably patient.
I could tell my coworkers’ patience was wearing thin. We were all quite relieved when our table was finally ready. I’m not sure how much longer we could have waited.
We were all hungry so it didn’t take us long to decide what we wanted. We had chips and queso to start. No picture because we annihilated it before I could grab my phone. We were starving, remember?
Alicia and Alex both had the carnitas special. It was quite popular that night. We saw several plates of it go by while we were waiting. The both agreed it was very good.
Gwen got the Key West chicken special. She said it was delicious as well.
Mike and I both had the Thai Pan BBQ pork except he got his unadulterated. Naturally, I had to make modifications to meal. It was a pretty minor change, though. I asked for plain rice instead of the rice noodles that normally come with the dish.
Our server was nice enough to warn me that the peanut/chile sauce they coat all over the rice noodles is spicy so I asked for mine to be served on the side rather than over the rice. The skewered pork loins had more than enough flavor. I’m glad I got the sauce on the side because I didn’t need any of it. Dinner was delicious and was completely worth the wait. I also had a nice time visiting with my coworkers.
I really like Coco Bolos and I still highly recommend it despite the lengthy wait. It seems to be very popular with the locals, $5 sangria carafe night or otherwise. I’m pretty sure they’re busy regardless of what day of the week it is. Next time you’re in Manhattan, you have to go check it out.
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