Vines Italian Restaurant, 107 W 2nd St, Portales NM – (575) 356-4525
“What this town needs is an Italian restaurant.” I’ve heard this repeatedly from my wife in the years that we moved back to Clovis. Sure you can get some Italian dishes at the various chain restaurants in town, but It really isn’t the same thing as having a real Italian food restaurant in town. Now the Vines Italian Restaurant is located in Portales not Clovis, but it was close enough for us to drive the whole family over to check it out on a recent Saturday evening. I took photos of our meal. We ordered a variety of entrees and appetizers so that you could get a good idea of their menu.
We arrived at 5 p.m. on a Saturday night. The manager was our host. We were seated promptly, perhaps because we called ahead or maybe because we beat the rush. Our waitress was knowledgable and courteous.
I love this building. The owners have maintained its architecture character and kept what appears to be the original tin ceiling, wood bar, and period chandeliers. The walls, seats and tables have been recently updated.
Salad
The adult meals came with a salad. We had a choice of a garden salad or a chef salad. I had the garden salad with ranch dressing, as seen here. This was one of the smallest salads I’ve had in my life. For comparison purposes, if my hand were in the picture it would cover the plate and the salad was definitely not piled high. The salad–what there was of it–was good. I had a problem with the portion size and my wife didn’t like that it used only iceberg lettuce.
Appetizer: Stuffed Zucchetto
Stuffed Zucchetto: Fresh sliced zucchini stems stuffed with ricotta spinach and topped with a basil pesto sauce and drizzled with a balsamic reduction. I thought it looked great but my current diet restricts dairy so I had to watch my wife eat it. She reports that it was good.
Appetizer: Fried Cheese Ravioli
Fried Cheese Ravioli: Crispy fried cheese ravioli with a bold arrabiata sauce for dipping.
Again, no luck for the visiting vegan. The kids weren’t impressed with the “white” cheese, but my wife found them tasty.
Bambino’s Corner: Cheese Pizza
The kids both picked the cheese pizza. The other choices were Macaroni & Cheese, Spaghetti & Meatballs, Pig In A Blanket, and Grilled Cheese. Both kids are picky eaters and can be skeptical of different sauces, etc. but both gave the pizza their highest grade. I used two scales in my poll and it scored both an “A” and a “5″ on a scale of 1-5. They chose milk for their drinks. The waitress was thoughtful enough to ask if we wanted plastic cups with lids and a straw.
My Entree: Spaghetti & Basil Marinara Sauce
I had the Spaghetti & Basil Marinara Sauce, one of the few vegan-friendly menu items. I’m also trying to avoid gluten from wheat, but no luck there. It was delicious, but there was one problem: if you look closely you can see that it floats on a bed of water. The spaghetti wasn’t drained well enough.
My wife’s entree: Manicotti Florentine
My wife had the Manicotti Florentine: Baked manicotti stuffed with spinach, ricotta and parmesan cheeses topped with a basil marinara sauce. Her verdict: “Mmm.”
Desserts: Italian Love Cake, Tiramisu, Cheesecake
The dessert tray. From left to right:
Italian Love Cake, a two-layer chocolate cake separated by mousse and covered with white frosting. We didn’t get the chance to try this, but I’d like to.
Homemade Tiramisu. Tthe description says “a special blend of Coffee and Sponge Cake, but it was served like a sorbet in a cup with a ladyfinger-like sponge cake. My wife thought that was clever, and that it is important to try to try things that are different, but she would have preferred a more traditional version.
Homemade Cheescake. New York style topped with cherry or strawberry and whipped cream topping. I had it with the strawberry and dripped with chocolate and conveniently ignored any ingredients in it that I should have avoided. It was outstanding. Cheesecake is usually too rich for me to eat it all, but this dessert was perfect. I thought the serving size was a bit small: it is two fingers wide at the thick end.
Fountain
Throwing coins in the fountain on the way out. I would give it a 3 out of 5 if the Vines had any competition. I’d give it a 4 for the Clovis / Portales area. The remaining three members of my family each gave it a 5, so I guess I am clearly the picky eater.
The appetizers range from $6-8. The salads cost $4-6. Pizza’s $8-9 (individual). Kid’s meals $6. Entrees $10-22. Desserts $4-6. A bit pricey for a family of four to handle too often, but a nice occasional break from the norm.
Have you eaten at the Vines? If so, please share your experience in the comments section below.
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{ 16 comments… read them below or add one }
This is a lovely and very detailed article on Vines! Properly made Tiramisu is very hard to find, and it doesn’t surprise me that the Vine’s version is not a traditional Tiramisu.
Of all the delectable dishes above, I think that I find the Stuffed Zuchetto the most appealing. The salad admittedly looks a bit sorry. Too much dressing for such a small iceberg lettuce based salad.
Somebody got lucky with the love cake. It’s the biggest dessert on the tray!
I hope to try this restaurant very soon. I also very much LOVE the industrial look of it.
How did the furnishings and building taste because the food’s texture and taste was terrible. I don’t think we ate at the same restaurant though you are describing it to the tee. You must be working on commision or are you related to the owners? ?Why lie, if you lie about the food there won’t be improvement. The only people that could say the the food was good are those who have never tasted an italian meal and when served they would think it should taste that way….
Yesterday all hypped up with the hopes of a good meal but once again, disapointment. I wish the carpets, booths, service and chandeliers were eatable because they were more scrumptioust to the eye than the food to my palate. Why insist on fountains decorated with lions and black and white uniforms for the servers when all we want is spaguetti that is not overcooked, a simple but rich olive oil that doesnt taste like Wesson when dipping an overweight piece of so called Grissini.
The salad was fresh but it was served in a dish so small that every time I went for a bite the romaine lettuce found the way to the table.
Prior to my visit I had 3 independent group of people tell me it was not a place that they would consider visiting again but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. I was utterly dissapointed with the meal, not the service or the premises.
A rosemary branch impaling every dish is not cosidered garnish it looks more that it wants to end the torture of the meal served and if you were trying to make it look refined you missed the whole class.
Be more than welcome to e-mail me at the provided address if you think you need help improving, deleting and introducing changes to the exixting entrees. I do not offer help often.
Yesterday I was all hypped up with the hopes of a good Italian meal but once again, disapointment. I wish the carpets, booths, service and chandeliers were eatable because they were more scrumptioust to the eye than the food to my palate. Why insist on fountains decorated with lions and black and white uniforms for the servers when all we want is pasta that is not overcooked, a simple but rich olive oil that doesnt taste like Wesson when dipping an overweight piece of so called Grissini.
The salad was fresh but it was served in a dish so small that every time I went for a bite the romaine lettuce found the way to the table.
Prior to my visit I had 3 independent group of people tell me it was not a place that they would consider visiting again but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt. I was utterly dissapointed with the meal, not the service or the premises.
A rosemary branch impaling every dish is not cosidered garnish it looks more that it wants to end the torture of the meal served and if you were trying to make it look refined you missed the whole class.
Be more than welcome to e-mail me at the provided address if you think you need help improving, deleting and introducing changes to the existing entrees. I do not offer help often.
What a lucky break for Vines, that you are offering your help. It is a most pleasant restaurant, and no doubt impacting the business at one you are affiliated with.
None of us are working on commision nor are we related to the owners? I didn’t lie about the food. I gave my opinion, stated what facts I could and took pictures. Opinions vary. You rendered your opinion, which we included here, despite it not being polite nor respectful to our site.
You complained about the serving size for the salad. So did I, “This was one of the smallest salads I’ve had in my life. For comparison purposes, if my hand were in the picture it would cover the plate and the salad was definitely not piled high. The salad–what there was of it–was good. I had a problem with the portion size and my wife didn’t like that it used only iceberg lettuce.”
You complained about the spagetti. So did I, “but there was one problem: if you look closely you can see that it floats on a bed of water. The spaghetti wasn’t drained well enough.”
We recommend that you contact the management and render your offer of help to them directly.
My boyfriend and I went to Vine’s even after reading fairly poor reviews about it. We had a very nice time and the food was pretty good. Something I think these reviews fail to admit or understand, you are in Portalas NM. This isn’t the city. We do not have a fantastic farmers market for a business like this to visit. We do not have the ability to get a lot of wine or beer imported here. Second, this business just started. They are just trying to pay off the loans right now. So for this location, this was a great dining experience. The setting is very pretty and the portions were plenty. I don’t think I will crave the food, but I do like that there is some place I can wear something other than jeans and feel like I am actually going out for a nice meal. It was intimate and cozy enough to enjoy the company of my boyfriend vs people watching the whole time.
I also enjoyed the detailed article and descriptions of the food, but please be a lover of FOOD when you are a food critic. Try and at least sample it all, one bite would give us the full “taste” of the food. Albeit well written and I thank you for your insight.
I ate at Vines this evening and I would rate the experience as a C+, which is to say average to slightly above. My server (Melisa) was attentive; I was graced with a visit from the chef, wherein we discussed pesto sauces and variations on the same; the wine (a pinot noir) was adequate, and the food was well-prepared. I had a house salad with raspberry vinaigrette, a New York strip steak for my entree, and the “house” tiramisu and coffee (strong and fresh!) for dessert. The bread sticks were excellent, as was the olive oil with herbs for dipping. One of the best things about Vines is the fact they serve Chimay… I had a Blue along with my salad and loved it.
I’ll go back. My impressions may be skewed with a “good for this part of the world” outlook, but all that aside? Worthy, and well above the run of the mill in the Clovis-Portales area.
Who owns this restaurant anyways?
The chef has recently been replaced! Thank God. The food was good when they first opened. Through investigation I found that the original chef left for health reasons. The succeeding chef left something….ok, a lot to be desired. It is my understanding that the new chef is extremely good. I will soon know.
My family and I went into Vines last weekend, we are a party of 6 which consists of 2 adults and 4 children, one of the children, my baby was sleeping, and continued to sleep throughout the entire meal. We did not order him a meal, only a water if he woke up. The policy at Vines is a mandatory 18% gratuity for parties 6 and over. The server happily charged us the 18% gratuity, despite only serving 5 people. Her name was Jami. I did appreciate this, at all. She did an alright job, but I knew something was up when we asked for a glass of water instead of another glass of wine… she acted like we were cheap. I prefer not to get smashed with my 4 kids that I have to drive back to Clovis. Our pasta sat underneath the heating lamps for too long, and there was a bit of a film on the surface of the pasta sauce. This was our second time dining there. This was our last due to this experience as a whole. I could go on about the frozen bread sticks, they’re not home made… and even more… but I’ll end it there. We were there on Saturday night, and I would think that’s when they should be making their money… the place was dead; perhaps for a legitimate reason. Why, oh why is there not quality, good food in this town?
We go to Vines when we visit our son at ENMU and have always had a positive experience. It’s beautiful inside, and the food was very enjoyable. With large cheesy pasta dishes, I didn’t mind a smaller salad at all. Honestly, I hope they thrive because I feel like this is the only nice restaurant in Portales. We even bought our son a gift certificate here for his birthday so that he could have a nice meal while he’s away at college. The zucchini appetizer is one of my favorites. I have 2 younger children (8 and 10) and they enjoy the food as well.
The people were friendly and it was a nice environment but The Vines failed at serving good italian food and it is overpriced. I just don’t understand what is the point of having an “italian restaurant” when you don’t serve good italian cuisine. They need a new chef because he is lazy and imcompetent. I say this because we asked to speak to the chef and he gave excuses as to why the food sucked (short staffed, unexpected amound of people…)! We didn’t want an excuse, we wanted him to get a clue and do his job properly! We will definitely not return EVER!
We have eaten at Vines, one time and it was definately our first and last. The service was horrible and the food was worse. They need to go to Roosevelt General Hospital and ask the chef there how to make Tiramisu, this is the only advice I can give them. Thank you have a wonderful day.
Obviously, you need to dine more often at Roosevelt General Hospital. After all, it sets the standard by which you judge other restaurants.