Rosa’s Cafe carries the mantra ‘small place, big flavor’
The chile colorado plate at Rosa's Cafe in Ogden features shredded pork in red sauce with rice and beans. Amy Nicholson
The top-selling menu item at Rosa's Cafe in Ogden is the chile verde, shredded pork in green sauce. Amy Nicholson
Ida Hernandez serves chile verde plates to customers at Rosa's Cafe in Ogden. Amy Nicholson
Bread pudding with strawberry ice cream and fresh strawberries has customers talking at Rosa's Cafe. Amy Nicholson
An exterior shot of Rosa's Cafe in Ogden. Amy Nicholson
Rosa’s Café opened in May this year, fulfilling a dream the Hernandez family has held for 15 years.
Rosa Hernandez is the owner, but she feels ownership should belong to the entire family.
While they were still considering starting a restaurant, her husband, Luis Hernandez, went looking and picked out the small location without telling anyone.
“It was very ugly and run down at first,” she said, “but the building owner remodeled and painted the interior.” After the remodel, Hernandez and her family put on the final touches, decorating in bold colors against a red and white backdrop.
Daughters Ida and Itzel work at the restaurant. Ida prefers serving customers while Itzel enjoys preparing food.
The recipes come from Hernandez’s grandmother, who lived in Jalisco, Mexico.
Hernandez remembers being served from gigantic, steaming pots of posole at grandmother’s house on Sundays while growing up. Her grandmother is the person who taught her how to cook.
She honors her childhood tradition by serving posole to her customers as the Sunday special. Daily specials are between $8-$9. Posole ($8) is a traditional stew made with hominy, meat and chili peppers.
For years, friends and family raved about Hernandez’s cooking and encouraged her to open a restaurant. Now her customers do the raving.
T.R. Morgan, a resident of Washington Terrace, works in Ogden and has become one of Hernandez’s regulars. “I always order the quesadilla with rice and beans. It’s very genuine and tastes homemade. The staff is pleasant. They remember what I like to order. It’s nice to have such good food right next door,” he said. A quesadilla costs $3.
The most popular dish on the menu is the chile verde burrito, shredded pork and green sauce in a flour tortilla. “Many people say it is the best chile verde they’ve tasted. The secret is lots of love and patience,” Hernandez said. Burritos are $3.85 a la carte. Entrees are $8.50, larger portions served with rice, beans and a homemade tortilla on the side.
Chile Colorado features shredded pork in red sauce and chicharron is pork rinds in chile sauce. All sauces are made from scratch.
For breakfast, diners can choose between a breakfast burrito with potatoes, ham or bacon and salsa or “eggs your way” served with a side of beans. The daily menu is very simple with rotating daily specials.
On Fridays, the special is a chile relleno burrito ($9) with rice and beans. After roasting a poblano chile pepper, Hernandez removes the shell and seeds, wraps it with Muenster cheese, batters and deep fries it.
The restaurant is celebrating Fiesta Mexicana on Wednesday, Sept. 16 in honor of Mexican Independence Day with a variety of specials and foods that are not normally offered.
One of the biggest sensations among diners is the bread pudding topped with ice cream and strawberries. The dish is a variation of a traditional Mexican dish served after Lent during Holy Week called capirotada.
The café is very small with seats at a bar and a few tables. Hernandez’s motto is “Small place, big flavor.”
- ROSA’S CAFE
- Address: 2660 Washington Blvd., Ogden
- Phone: 801-648-8640
- Hours: 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, until 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday, until 3 p.m. Sunday
