El Manantial Restaurant

After reading some positive reviews about El Manantial I decided to book this restaurant for Valentine's Day. I ended Valentine's Day with profusely apologizing to my wife. Walking into the restuarant, the greeting was impersonal. We were seated promptly and then waited 10 minutes for a wine menu. When the waiter filled our glasses with water, he wrapped his hand around the top of the glass. He did the same with the wine bottle, holding the bottle at the very top. I get better service and attention to hygene at a fast food restuarant. The food was absolutly horrible and cold and the wine was worse. I asked for the check between apologies to my wife and we bolted. more

From the outside, El Manatial looks completely unremarkable, as it's in a typical suburban strip shopping center. However, once you step inside, you'll be glad you took a leap of faith. El Manatial is housed in the same location as the former St. Basil restaurant; the new owners (OK, not so new any more) kept the brick oven and trompe l'oeil artwork. El Manatial is family owned and run, and it shows. The staff is outstanding -- from the host to the servers to the chef. The kitchen uses fresh, in-season ingredients and simple preparations rather than heavy sauces or ill-conceived fusion combinations to show off their cooking skills. The food is continental, with a skew toward Mediterranean. I see from their web site that they now have tapas, which I look forward to trying out soon. If you can, try one of their brick-oven pizzas, even as a shared appetizer in a larger group. I have sent various colleagues and friends to El Manatial. They all say the same thing, "I was worried when I drove up -- it's not exactly impressive from the outside. But the dinner was wonderful!" more