Recently in Rialto Category

The Tillamook Loaf Love tour rolled into town Friday, bringing cheesy goodness to the Inland Empire.

One of three simultaneous I.E. stops for the tour took place at the Fiesta Food Warehouse in Fontana. Other stops Friday were at Stater Bros. markets in Rancho Cucamonga and Ontario.

Today (March 20), the tour is scheduled to hit the following locations from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.:

• Chino: Stater Bros., 4721 Riverside Drive
• Claremont: Sprouts, 835 W. Foothill Blvd.
• Ontario: Stater Bros., 1105 W. Philadelphia St.

If you're running in the L.A. Marathon on Sunday, you might see them there!

A third wave will hit Monday from noon to 7 p.m. at the following locations:

• Rialto: Stater Bros., 571 E. Foothill Blvd. and 168 E. Baseline.
• San Bernardino: Fiesta Food Warehouse, 1578 W. Baseline.

A relatively small affair, the crew made up for it in enthusiasm.

Along with samples of the medium and sharp Cheddar Baby Loaf cheeses, they handed out recipes and $1 off coupons for Tillamook cheese. Yum!

They also showed off their modified VW Microbus, Yum 2.

Oh...and they graciously posed for pictures. See them after the jump!

Usually when fresh & easy opens a store, they send out a press release about it.

Their stores are eagerly anticipated. People want to know when they're opening.

Earlier today, fresh & easy sent out a Twitter message: So excited about our 3 store openings tomorrow! Northridge, CA, Ventura, CA & Phoenix, AZ (on Ray & 48th)

Then, just moments ago, another Twitter message: CORRECTION: 4 stores opening tomorrow! For all store grand opening event info http://bit.ly/dAKOdR stop by say hello, pick up some treats!

So, I looked. The store they left out was Rialto! Oops!

Um...thanks a lot, fresh & easy.

After discovering that Corky's Kitchen and Bakery is open 24 hours, I wanted to give it a try.

I'm often a late night eater, so tracking down decent restaurants (besides the usual suspects) that are open past 10 p.m. is an ongoing quest.

So last night, I went to the new Corky's at 2019 N. Riverside Ave., #11 (just north of the 210) in Rialto.

There are older Corky's locations at 6403 Haven Ave., #106 (also just north of the 210) in Rancho Cucamonga, and in Orange County at 27522 Antonio Parkway, #P-1, in Ladera Ranch.

I'm happy to report that both the food and service were excellent.

I ordered the chorizo and eggs ($7.49), which comes with hash browns or home fries and corn or flour tortilla (or biscuits and gravy!). I opted for the hash browns and flour tortilla.

The hash browns were buttery and plentiful, with the perfect amount of crispiness on the outside. The generous portion of chorizo and eggs was also delicious and well-done. Three flour tortillas and a side of salsa (which delivered a surprising kick) rounded out my meal.

One of my dining companions had a large-enough-for-two Cobb salad ($9.89, seen at right), which came with the chunkiest blue cheese dressing I think I've ever seen.

The other had a delicious-looking chicken pot pie ($8.79), which includes soup or salad and a dinner roll. My friend chose the chicken noodle soup.

It's time to catch up on a handful of new restaurants I've noticed while tooling around the Inland Empire...

Late last year, a little bit of Norco moved into Colton as Norco's Famous Sixth Street Deli and Grill took spot occupied briefly by Submarina at 1231 E. Washington St., Suite C.

I haven't been to either the Norco or the Colton location yet, but according to their Web site, the May special is a chicken fried steak or chicken fried chicken sandwich, chips and a small fountain drink for $5.99.

That's either a lot late or a little early.

Also, another branch of Corky's Kitchen and Bakery opened up recently at 2019 N. Riverside Ave., Suite 11, in Rialto, just north of the 210 freeway.

I've noticed the Rancho Cucamonga Corky's while driving on the 210 and have been wanting to try it, but I didn't realize the most important part...Corky's is open 24 hours a day!

I'm always on the lookout for decent late night food, and Corky's is pretty well-reviewed on Yelp. I'm looking forward to giving the Rialto restaurant a try.

From the Ontario Now blog today, we learned that an Ontario fresh & easy has an opening date: Wednesday, December 2.

The store at 2645 E. Riverside Drive (at Archibald Avenue) is now accepting, as per usual, nominations for their grand opening $1,000 charity donation.

If you have a local charity you'd like to nominate to receive the money, click here to do so, but hurry! You've only got until next week to put in your nomination. Employees at the new store will select which charity will receive the donation.

Click here to read the original post at Ontario Now.

So I was poking around the Dine 909 Twitter account, seeing who was following us, and ended up wandering over to fresh & easy's Web site.

I went, as I usually do, to their Inland Empire locations page to check on the status of their long-delayed stores in Loma Linda, Rancho Cucamonga and Rialto.

Nothing new on those sites: The Loma Linda store is completed and is basically a fresh & easy-sized advertisement for fresh & easy. The Rancho Cucamonga store is hiring, but I know for a fact that they're still working on the interior of the store. The Rialto store is also complete and it looks like the nearby Walgreens is ready to open.

The surprise? They're opening a store at Highland and Del Rosa avenues right here in San Bernardino. The actual address is 1631 E. Highland Ave.

Apparently, it's going in the same center as dd's discounts, another lower-cased corporate entity.

As with the Rancho Cucamonga store, they're hiring.

Normally, I don't like surprises. This one I was all in favor of.

I drove past the Rancho Cucamonga fresh & easy (at Day Creek and Foothill boulevards) today and noticed they have a "Now Hiring" banner up.

Does this mean they'll soon be opening?

Don't get your hopes up.

Just as the opening of the Loma Linda fresh & easy has been in a holding pattern (see Steve Wall's story here) since last year, the Rancho store also has no opening date.

In fact, in speaking with one of the employees at the Fontana store, I was told that the Rancho store's opening -- originally slated for this month -- has been pushed back to July.

Also, I was told the also-completed-but-waiting-to-open store just north of the 210 at Riverside Avenue in Rialto wasn't opening until October.

We'll see.

But even if I didn't pick up some solid information on new fresh & easy stores, I did pick up a good deal on some Activia yogurt. Only $1.50 for a four-pack. You should get some.

Let's add two more stores to the slowly growing list of completed Inland Empire fresh & easy stores that have yet to have an opening date set.

• 2015 N. Riverside Ave. in Rialto
• 22985 Cottonwood Ave. in Moreno Valley

These two join the previously-discussed Loma Linda store, which has been ready for about, oh, three months now.

So basically, these stores are now fresh & easy-sized advertisements for...fresh & easy.

Look to Dine 909 for updates. We'll keep you posted.