Rico's Fast Food Colombian Cuisine, a business getting its start as a food truck in Bothell, recently took over Mis Antojitos (currently for 3 days a week according to Google), and started serving Colombian dishes as part of their soft opening. While they still have all the Mexican food served as part of the Mis Antojitos menu, the real treat (and what 90% of customers were ordering), are the Colombian items. These specials currently are not displayed anywhere in the store and instead are hidden, available only to people in the know. We weren't among that crowd, but we essentially went in and ordered what other people were getting. The food took about 25 minutes to come out since everything was made fresh to order (and due to some soft opening woes, I suppose). I've only eaten Colombian food once or twice before, so take my thoughts with a grain of salt: Bandeja Paisa ($20) - Starting with the beans - very home-style, like the type of beans to eat when sick. Not salted too much and not spiced too much, but tender and easy to eat. There's an arepa, thin and crisp on the exterior, tender and fluffy on the interior. Similar to a senbei rice cracker until bit into, revealing the tender, fluffy, and starchy interior. It's not seasoned so there isn't much taste, but it's a nice vessel to dip into the beans and eat with the meat. There are a couple of pieces of sweet yellow plantain that seem to be deep fried, resulting in a harder crust spread evenly throughout the exterior. The interior, of course, is tender and creamy. They are served hot and steaming and almost burned my mouth while eating! There's a bit of rice served in the center with good texture and fragrance, not mushy and not too hard. It's coated in oil and seasoned with salt. In terms of protein, there's a sunny side up egg that has a mostly jammy yolk, tender whites and a lacy, crispy brown edge, a half Colombian sausage that's snappy and very flavorful, bursting with juices with each bite, and finally two pieces of beef (skirt steak?). I was going to give this dish a 5 before I got to the beef. Unfortunately, the steak seems to be deep fried and perhaps forgotten in the fryer for an inordinate amount of time, resulting in the meat becoming exceptionally dry, super tendinous, chewy, and generally very difficult to eat. This is one of the very few times I wished there were some kind of steak sauce or other condiment on the side to breathe life into the beef. I don't know if this is how it's supposed to be, but the beef was the only thing I did not enjoy. (4/5) Buñuelos (Complimentary) - We didn't realize they were serving Buñuelos until we saw basically every table receive a tray with a couple of them. This was only after we had placed our order, and when I asked if I could order one, the owner gave us one on the house! This is the first time I've eaten this, thinking it would be similar to a pao de queijo, but it's completely different. The exterior crust is amazing, and the interior is dense yet fluffy and only somewhat cheesy, instead of being mochi-like in consistency. It's different, but really good in it's own way. (5/5) Tosti Escquites ($9.50) - Since we were here, we decided to try something off the Mis Antojitos menu as well. This dish is really simple, with basically chile and lime round tostitos topped with corn, slightly sweet and creamy mayonnaise, and lots of crumbled cojita. Very simple, but very filling. (4/5) We also tried a can of Colombiana Soda ($2.50) that tastes very similar to a cream soda. Overall the food I ate was very good, except the beef, but that might be intentional and just not my preference. I can't wait for their grand opening so I can try some more good Colombian food. Note: Rico's charges a 3% credit card fee Bathrooms - It was locked, so it might require a key from the front? read more