Vines Italian E - Portales

Great place to open a bottle of wine from their fantastic selection and take it easy with friends. Good selection of quality appetizers and entrees.

A fancier Italian restaurant located in the heart of Portales, across the street from the Brewery and Do Drop In. I've been here several times, and it's always been quite empty despite my friends and I coming by on a Friday night. Not sure if it's because of the price or the food quality, but I'm not the biggest fan of the food here at Vines. Vines serves up burgers, pasta, and a variety of meat entrees (including ribs, steak, chicken, and salmon). They also have a decent selection of dessert although I've never given it a try. I think the best thing from Vines is their endless breadsticks. Super soft and fluffy, the breadsticks are like little pillows that taste amazing once you bite into one. With the slightly tangy olive oil vinaigrette dipping sauce, the breadsticks can fill you up! Fettucini Alfredo: $12.95 for a simple pasta dish; an additional $2 if you want to add chicken. I thought the pasta was very plain and bland. No taste, and easily something I could make myself (and probably have it taste better). The Caesar salad that came with it was great, though. Green Chile Cheeseburger: $9.95 I wanted to taste something more unique and traditional to New Mexico, but really regretted it once I took a bite. The green chile made the overall burger a bit too salty, and didn't add anything to the burger at all. I'd recommend just going with the Old Fashion Burger if you want to get a burger. Burger was a bit overcooked, couldn't really taste the pepper jack cheese just not a fan of this. Old Fashion Burger: Traditional hamburger with pickle, tomato, lettuce, onion. My friend ended up only finishing about half, so I don't think it's that great. But a safer choice than the Green Chile. Green Chile Chicken Lasagna: Meh, it's pretty pricey at $13.95, and the taste of the lasagna is not on par with the price. Not a fan. Pecan Smoked Baby Back Ribs: 1/2 rack is $14.95 ribs were quite dry. Taste was decent, but the texture was a turn off. Rib Eye: My friend was a big fan of the rib eye a better steak than most other places, and she said that $21.95 was a pretty good price. Compared to some of the steak dishes we've had at restaurants in Clovis, I definitely think you won't go wrong if you order this, but just be prepared to shell out a few extra dollars. It comes with a baked potato or vegetable as well. Service was a bit slow; had to remind our waiter several times that we wanted a refill of the breadsticks. tl;dr An a ok place to go if you're craving some Italian food or quality breadsticks, but I'm not a big fan. The best dish out of everything we ordered was the rib eye.

Have eaten here a few times ordering new things each time, salty pasta and basic taste

The service was great and I have no complaints there, but the food and the menu are so basic and don't fit the restaurants look at all. Wouldn't recommend.

We have an office across the street, and we eat there regularly. The food is consistently good, the restaurant is always very clean, the atmosphere is calm and relaxing. The staff is great and the owners are there quite a bit. Everyone is always friendly and welcoming. I highly recommend it.