Comments on: Restaurant Review: Vines Italian Restaurant, Portales, New Mexico

By: Victor Deutchman

Victor Deutchman — Sat, 21 May 2011 13:39:28 +0000

Obviously, you need to dine more often at Roosevelt General Hospital. After all, it sets the standard by which you judge other restaurants.

By: Jamey

Jamey — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 20:49:21 +0000

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.

By: JoGim Vely

JoGim Vely — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 05:42:35 +0000

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!

By: jennifer

jennifer — Tue, 01 Mar 2011 13:27:41 +0000

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.

By: LISA

LISA — Tue, 30 Nov 2010 20:48:31 +0000

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?

By: Glenn

Glenn — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 16:33:34 +0000

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.

By: Victor Deutchman

Victor Deutchman — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:02:28 +0000

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.

By: Fabian

Fabian — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:38:51 +0000

Who owns this restaurant anyways?

By: Buck

Buck — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 02:54:24 +0000

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.

By: David

David — Wed, 19 May 2010 21:54:15 +0000

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.