Welcome to the Out & About blog! This blog is dedicated to finding and reviewing great places for Biolans to visit. If you or your friends need ideas for cool places to hang out on the weekend, this is the perfect place to find them.

The first destination for this blog is Cafe Mochilato in Fullerton. Mochilato has been open for three years and is located in the Amerige Heights Town Center.

Friendly staff and quality menu

When we walked into Cafe Mochilato, we were greeted by Emily, a friendly barista who has worked at Mochilato for eight months. The first thing we noticed upon entering the cafe, was the sleek but warm Asian-inspired furniture. Next we noticed the large display of mochilato and gelato flavors.

The menu is largely displayed and there are pictures to show the different menu items.

Speaking of the menu, Mochilato offers a variety of Japanese and Korean items. There are numerous lattes, teas and blended drinks to choose from. If you want a sweat treat, be sure to try the waffles, gelato, crepes or mochilato. We had the strawberry banana waffle; the fresh fruit atop the warm waffle was delicious, especially with the cold strawberry gelato on top. Emily told us the strawberries and cream, green tea and mango flavored mochilatos are the cafe’s best sellers. In fact, the mango was completely sold out the day we visited the cafe. We tried both the strawberries and cream and raspberry flavored mochilatos; both were good. This was our first time ever tasting mochilato and If you’ve never had it, its an interesting texture of chewiness mixed with the smoothness of gelato. The cafe defines mochilato as, “traditional Japanese mochi made from rice startch and gelato instead of an ice milk for the filings.”

If you’re not in the mood for sweets, Mochilato also serves ramen, undon, fried rice and dumplings.

Some pricey items

The down side to Mochilato is the price. Our cup’s worth of mint chip gelato was $3.25, and even though it was very good, we felt it was a little overpriced. The entrees range from $6 to $9 and drinks are between $3 to $5. The mochilato itself is $1.25 for one rice ball.

Perfect for a study session

Other than being a bit overpriced, Mochilato is a perfect place to hang out with friends or to do homework during the week. The cafe offers free Wi-Fi and is only five minutes away from the Biola campus. Emily let us know that their busiest times are on the weekend, but don’t worry about that because the cafe has a large patio area with plenty of tables. They don’t offer a student discount but from time to time they hand out 10 percent off coupons.

Overall, we enjoyed Cafe Mochilato. The cafe makes up for its prices in friendly service, quality sweets and relaxing atmosphere. We give the cafe a 3.5 out of 5 stars.