A restaurant with a long history of success, the Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill in Trabuco Canyon, California, has been attracting loyal patrons for over half a century. First opened in 1956 as the Beardslee Chuck House Café, the restaurant gained a reputation for hamburgers and fried chicken. It then experienced went through several transformations that turned it into a local landmark and later have allowedhelped the eatery to win Best Mexican Restaurant in Orange County and other awards. Founded by the Beardslee family, the original restaurant was renamed the Hideout in the late 1960s. Frequented in those days by bikers, the location became famous for a donkey that drank beer and that would sing along to psychedelic rock bands such as the Grateful Dead. At the end of the 1970s, two restaurateurs, Federico “Lico” Miranda and Gary O’Neal, took over the operations of the Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill and introduced the Mexican cuisine served today. Known at the time as Senor Señor Lico’s, the remote restaurant received a publicity boost when firefighters used the location to while fighting a fire in the Cleveland National Forest. A reporter who was covering the blaze came back to review the restaurant, offering an enthusiastic endorsement. Soon after, the Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill’s popularity experienced an exploded, andsion it’s been fashionable in popularity that has continued ever since. The current owners of the Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill, John and Melanie Cox, took over when the Beardslee sisters were no longer able to maintain the establishment themselves. The Coxes undertook full ownership starting in February 2005, paying respect to both culinary traditions that made the Rose Canyon Cantina famous. Today, the Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill serves some of the classics of the original Beardslee Chuck House Café, including its signature hamburger. The restaurant also serves a wide assortment of high-quality Mexican food, drawn from Baja traditions as well as the American Southwest. The Rose Canyon Cantina & Grill maintains a popular Taco Tuesday and continues toregularly caters to packed houses on a regular basis. To make reservations, call (949) 766-6939.
