Joliet's Sunshine Mexican Cafe Opens For Breakfast, Lunch

JOLIET, IL — Downtown Joliet's new Sunshine Mexican Cafe located at 406 North Scott Street across from the former St. Joseph Grade School is now open for business. Last week marked the first week of customers for Ruben and Jessi Rodriguez, also the owners of Party Time RJ.

I dropped by for lunch on Friday during the noon hour and guests were seated at three of the tables. One of the owners recognized me and stopped by to chat. "You should have stopped an hour earlier, every table was packed," Jessi Rodriguez told me.

It didn't matter. Within 15 minutes of my arrival, another decent crowd filled up the establishment. I also recognized two members of the Joliet Police Department's Supervisors Association, Lt. Bob Desiderio and Sgt. Larry Collins. They were meeting up for lunch as I was finishing my meal and squaring up with my cashier.

Police officers tend to have a good pulse on the local restaurants in their community.

Sunshine Mexican Cafe is open from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Friday for breakfast and lunch only.

"We've been busy," Jessi Rodriguez told me Friday. "We've had a lot of people come out and try it."

A number of her first-time customers, she said, have included city of Joliet employees as well as workers from the Will County Government Office less than two blocks away.

The Mexican breakfast menu was also popular during the week of business, she added.