If you haven’t noticed yet, there is a new restaurant in downtown Yakima: Casa VittoRe Cafe and Bistro. It opened all of seven days ago at 212 E. Yakima Ave — that’s between the SportsCenter and the tattoo parlor, in the former Tuxedo Place space.
According to an early report by business reporter Mai Hoang, Casa VittoRe is owned by Victor Renteria. Renteria runs a similar cafe by the same name in the Mexican city of Colima and decided to open a second location in downtown Yakima because he has family in the area.
You can check out a review of the restaurant in next week’s On magazine, in the On the Menu column. But here are some highlights:
Casa VittoRe is open 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. They are in the process of getting their liquor license, and then they will offer wine, beer and liquor. But right now you can get a full array of espresso, smoothies, milkshakes, soda and a light lunch or dinner in the form of grilled paninis and crepes.
I don’t have a ton of experience with crepes, so I ordered a veggie crepe — green peppers, mushrooms and two types of cheese. It was delicious. My husband got what amounted to a three-pork ham and cheese panini and it was also awesome. Sandwiches come with a small green salad, and everything is artfully prepared. You can also get a sweeter crepe, such as nutella, strawberry, etc.
That’s the biggest thing about the bistro: It is gorgeous. Dark woods complement the brick walls, tables are spaciously arranged and intersperced with love seats, pillows on benches and a row of bean bag chairs. It really evokes a “come hang out here” feel. It has a really great atmosphere. I can just imagine laying back against a bolster and enjoying a glass of wine and some great conversation. And bonus for the coffee-house types: Free WiFi.
The prices are also great. Our two sandwich lunch with drinks came to just under $20. The most expensive panini is under $9. Service right now is a titch slow as they get into the swing of things and work out the kinks, but honestly I didn’t mind just kind of hanging out in the space. We had our food within 30 minutes.
I hope this place lasts, as I think its luxurious coffee shop feel is something lacking downtown right now. And a really yummy lunch that’s not a sub and costs less than $10 per person? Sign me up. Hopefully as the business catches on they’ll be able to expand their menu — I’d like to see some soups available for those paninis, and a nice array of pastries for the espresso crowd.
Look for great things to come from Casa VittoRe.