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Name Of Establishment	Españas
Address:	1460 East Pacheco Blvd. Los Banos Ca
Phone Number:	209-826-4041
Website:	http://espanas.com/
Prices:	High
Date Of Review:	May 2006
Check out the Official Merced County Health Inspection of this Restaurant - If that link isn't working try this link (note: these links are slow to load)
Our Overall Numeric Rating
Summation Opinion:

In early May 2006 we took our daughter to a special dinner at Espana's Restaurant in Los Banos. Espanas is located in the Historical Canal Farm Inn. España's has a reputation as being one of the "nicest" places in town, and that reputation is well deserved. Both the decor and the food are outstanding.

When you first enter Espanas, there is a gift shop to the left and further back you can see dining areas in which there is a salad bar and a fountain with gently splashing water in the very center. Arches and square columns surround the fountain, along with plants and potted trees. The décor is tasteful and relaxing with deep maroons, cream-colored walls and beamed ceilings. There are mirrors that surround the dining area which make it appear much larger than it really is and on each table is a softly glowing candle-lantern. Soft music plays in the background and is totally non-obtrusive. The atmosphere is friendly and cozy.

Españas also has an outdoor eating area enclosed by tile topped walls with umbrella shaded tables that give patrons a nice a view of the huge, old trees that help make the entire property quite pleasant. For this visit we opted to eat inside.

We were seated quickly in a booth and immediately served a basket of chips with an accompaniment of salsa. The chips were adequate and the salsa was good. We poured over our large menus which have quite a number of Mexican food choices and had a hard time choosing because so many things sounded great. Espanas serves limited selections other types of food as well, but we have never ordered anything but the Mexican food when we have dined at España's.

I decided on the seafood chimichanga, my daughter on a chicken chimichanga with a side salad and my husband ordered an enchilada plate. Our server playfully remarked to our daughter how huge the chimichangas are and that an added salad might be "too much", but our daughter insisted she would manage.

Our food came after a reasonable amount of time (about the time it took to aggressively polish off nearly two full baskets of chips between us and for our daughter to eat her side salad as well). Our server was right, the chimichangas were huge! Mine spanned almost entire (large) plate and I couldn't wait to dive in!

The exterior of the chimichanga was flaky and crisp with a bit of softness underneath. Inside there were loads of shrimp and crab. There was a huge dollop of sour cream on top of it along with guacamole, tomato, lettuce and a bit of rojo sauce. On the side there were beans and rice, both of which were very good.

My husband's enchiladas were just as good (I know, since I took a bite)! They were smothered in cheese and sauce and also came with beans and Spanish rice. The meat was cooked to tender perfection and the sauce was tasty without being overpowering.

Service was excellent. Our server was friendly and professional and kept our sodas refilled quickly and consistently. At the end we didn't have room for any dessert. As it was, I was taking home about half of my dinner. Amazingly my daughter polished all of hers off!

España's is expensive, but worth it. For the three of us, we spent fifty dollars with a tip. The food was excellent, the service great, and the atmosphere at Espana's is fitting for a special occasion. We don't think you can go wrong with España's if you are looking for a high quality place to go and you might enjoy some of the history surrounding the building and location as well.

Because of the prices España's will a have to be a place that our family visits when we want to have a "fancy" dinner. It is certainly not an every weekend alternative. However for those special times, we know that Espanas will not disappoint us and we will be back!

Specific Opinions By Reviewer One
Overall Rating:	Simply the best place in town - especially for 'atmosphere'.
Food:
Service:
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:
Romance Factor:
Family Friendliness:	Not for very small children

Specific Opinions By Reviewer Two
Overall Rating:
Food:
Service:
Decor:
Price/Value:
Bathroom Cleanliness:		Not Observed
Romance Factor:	So far the best place for a special dinner
Family Friendliness:

Brief addendum May 2007. Since our original review we have had the opportunity to have several more meals at Espana's. We continue to be impressed with their food and service and in our opinion it remains the best restaurant in town. We have tried several other dishes that were obviously not covered in the original review and each time have been very pleased.

Of special note to reviewer number one are the steak selections. Each has been very good but we have yet to get there on a Friday or Saturday to try the prime rib. One very special treat comes with the steak dishes and that is Espana's mashed potatoes. This has become one of reviewer 1's "rave about" subjects. They are THAT good. With special seasoning and cooking methods these are most assuredly NOT Betty Crocker Potato buds!

We appreciate businesses in Los Banos that have their own websites. You can visit España's Website for a complete menu, directions, gift cards, history information and more!

Please feel free to post your respectful opinions of this review and this restaurant on our forum.

Reviews in this section are simply personal opinions. We are sharing these, our experiences and opinions as a means to further discussion in our Los Banos Forums section not to promote or discommend any particular business. In fact we absolutely encourage our readers to make a personal visit to each of the restaurants we review and form your own opinion which (if it is respectful and honest) you are encouraged to post on the Los Banos Bulletin Boards where you are also welcome to discus OUR reviews.

More About Our Los Banos Restaurant Reviews

In this section, the staff of Our Los Banos .com shares our personal opinions on the restaurants that we patronize in the City of Los Banos. We would like to stress that we are not professional reviewers, that we have had little or no training in the food arts, and that we are simply expressing our own personal views and opinions on particular visits that we made to the establishments under consideration.

Subjectivity. We make no pretense of the fact that we are not objective. As with art, food is a subjective experience subject to personal opinion and even whim. Some people love a particular artist's work while others can not stand what is put on canvas. Picasso comes to mind. Similarly people's appreciation for a particular chef's abilities are uniquely their own. While our tastes are very eclectic and we enjoy a tremendous variety of different types of food, we do not expect our readers will agree with all of our opinions and views. We DO encourage our readers to try each of the places that we have reviewed and then you can discuss (politely and in a positive fashion) your experiences and opinion of our review in the Los Banos Forum section.

Merced County Health Food Facility Inspections Site

Finally, we strongly encourage our readers to make use of a truly wonderful online resource we discovered last year. Merced County has put together a very cool Food Facility Inspection website which discloses the results of the County Health Department's last few inspections of each restaurant. The results are sometimes quite fascinating and are always interesting. Beware however you may not want to eat at certain places once you read some of the more dramatic entries. We at Our Los Banos .com very much appreciate and support the county of Merced putting these Department of Health food facility inspections online for the public to see.

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