El Vino: Spanish for ‘the wine.’ Comida delicioso: Spanish for
‘delicious food.’ At recently opened Paso Robles restaurant El Vino,
you’ll be sure to find both.
Located on 1510 Park Street, El Vino opened its doors on Aug. 28, 2009
when 23 year restaurant worker Juan Plasencia of Cholito in San Simeon
decided to try his hand at a restaurant of his own.
So what’s unique about this Mexican restaurant?
“It’s just great food,” Plasencia said. “Everything is fresh and it’s
all homemade cooking.”
Simple yet elegant décor, including quaint decorative wine racks and oak
tables, greets customers as they walk in, creating an inviting
atmosphere, somewhere between a Mexican hacienda and Italian villa.
And the food — well, the food speaks for itself.
A bowl of warm crisp tortilla chips is found on each table accompanied
by exceptional Pico do Gallo. But be warned; like the Chronicle staff,
you may find you’ve devoured four or five bowls of these delicious chips
before your meal arrives, so be sure to save some room.
Entrées, moderately priced between $5 and $18, range from traditional
menudo, served specially on Saturday and Sunday, to fresh new items like
the tofu fajitas, just part of an extensive vegetarian and vegan menu.
Take the Chronicle’s word for it:
“El Vino knows how to cook a lively and
scrumptious vegetarian dish, something Plasencia is proud of.”
“Most Mexican restaurants don’t offer a vegetarian menu. Ours does and
it’s very popular,” said Plasencia, continuing to cite the spinach wrap
as one of his favorite entrées, though he admits with a smile that he
loves them all.”
