09-27-2010 Eating in Torrey

When Mo and I traveled through Torrey in 2007, we discovered a great restaurant just across the street from our RV Campground west of town.  Cafe Diablo (update in 2021 now closed) boasts “southwestern cuisine”, and the first time we went there, it was a quiet place, fairly new, and nearly empty.  Our meal was a fabulous treat, completely unexpected in a place like Torrey, and we were excited about eating there again on this trip.

Cafe Diablo is open seven days a week, and since we wanted to eat in the patio, I called for reservations just after five.  Even that early, on a Sunday night, the place filled up before we even placed our order.  The gardens were gorgeous, the menu was filled with fabulous creations, and the wine list was huge. 

A special treat included complimentary tapas, fresh vegetables from the garden, marinated in various delectable flavors, presented beautifully.  As the evening wore on, however, and the place filled to capacity, our server was too busy with larger tables of four to pay attention to us. 

Our meal took forever to arrive, behind other diners who arrived much later than we did. When it did arrive, it was great, actually a fascinating piece of edible art, but then again, we were ignored for much too long. Considering the price range for entrees, we did expect better service.  It took more than an hour to get our after dinner coffee, and when Mo asked for the check, the waitress basically ignored her. 

We had looked forward to this particular dinner, so were pretty disappointed with the service.  We won’t go back.

In contrast, another place in Torrey, just a half mile or so down the road, is the Capital Reef Inn and Cafe.  I first found this place in the early 90’s, and always manage to stop in at least once when I am in Capital Reef.  There is a small motel adjacent to the restaurant, and beautiful stone paved gardens filled with native and non native plants.  The small store in the restaurant has canyon stuff, including maps, guidebooks, tee shirts and sweat shirts, the usual, but it is all so much fun to look through.  In the dining room is a large mural of red canyons, and my favorite little treat is a display of dozens of vials of various colored sands collected from throughout canyon country.

What makes all this even more worthwhile is the fabulous, fresh, healthy tasty food, all at completely reasonable prices.  I have had breakfast and lunch at this great inn, and last night I wished I had tried dinner there as well! The service was fast and efficient, and usually friendly. 

There are other restaurants cropping up in Torrey, and some smaller establishments associated with newer hotels are appearing. But for me, the Capital Reef Inn is the perfect compliment to my time in Torrey.