Step into Mexico through the door of Hacienda Tequila’s

Guests slipping into the booths at Hacienda Tequila’s will notice the restaurant’s name carved on the high backs of the bench seats. It’s a nice touch.

Owner Carlos Patino special ordered the carved seats and all of the restaurant’s furniture from near Guadalajara, in his native Mexico.

Patino also carefully chose the colors for the walls, door frames and accents. Red, blue and yellow.

“They’re my lucky colors,” Patino said.

After soaking up the inviting atmosphere of the restaurant at 1320 Clovis Ave., guests might begin to peruse the menu choices. There are more than 65.

“I like the big menu so people have big choices,” Patino said. And, he added, “It brings people back.”

The strategy appears to be working.

Since Hacienda Tequila’s opened in January 2014, business has steadily improved, Patino said. Social media and positive word of mouth have spread the word about the restaurant.

Patino believes the freshness of his meat, rice and beans also keeps customers happy.

That brings us back to the big menu, which features lunch and dinner selections, plus cocktails and domestic and imported beers. With a name like Hacienda Tequila’s, margaritas are, of course, available. (Patino said he orders all of his tequila from Mexico because of the smooth taste.)

The lunch menu features 22 combination plates served with rice and refried or boiled beans. Tostadas, enchiladas, taco salads and egg dishes also are available. Prices range from $4.75 to $8.90.

A number of dishes feature beef, chicken, pork or seafood, and guests who want another option can order spinach enchiladas.

The dinner menu includes combinations with one, two or three items served with rice and beans. Guests can substitute salad and fries for the rice and beans.

Burritos on the dinner menu include a seafood burrito (baby shrimp and real crab meat cooked in butter and chopped salsa) and Hacienda’s Burrito (flour tortilla filled with rice, beans, diner’s choice of meat — pork, chicken, shredded beef or ground beef — with guacamole, tomatoes and parmesan cheese).

Three other of the many dinner choices are:

▪  Tacos Pastor with marinated pork loin cooked with onion and pineapple.

▪  Tampiqueña, a skirt steak grilled over charcoal and topped with baby shrimp, cream sauce and melted cheese.

▪  Chicken Poblano, a chicken breast cooked in butter sauce with onions and poblano pepper, and topped with cheese.

Prices for the beef, chicken and pork dinners range from $10.25 to $15.25.

The restaurant uses recipes passed down through generations of Patino’s family. He said credit goes to his mother, Maria, and his grandmother, Ingracia.

Patino’s wife, Maria, works at the restaurant, and their children — 16-year-old Valeria and 14-year-old Cesar — also help out. The children attend Buchanan High School.

Before coming to Clovis, Patino lived in Colorado, where he owned a restaurant in Steamboat Springs. He had previously worked at his brother-in-law’s restaurant in Colorado and at his brother’s meat company in the San Fernando Valley.

“I was in Colorado for 10 years — so maybe I’ll stay here for a long time,” Patino said.

He discovered Clovis while driving to visit friends in Modesto. Research followed.

“I checked on the Internet,” Patino said. “Clovis is a good city, and the people here are very special.”

Clovis resident J.R. Murillo is a regular customer who said he can vouch for the “authenticity” of the Mexican cuisine. His favorite entree is a half order of carne asada and half of pollo ranchero (chicken leg meat cooked over charcoal). Murillo also praises the hospitality of the Patinos.

Carlos Patino is a hands-on owner.

“When my chefs go on vacation, I go in the kitchen and do everything,” he said.

He normally starts his day in the kitchen, checking on the freshness of his produce and attending to details that go with running a restaurant (are the salt and pepper shakers full?). On some days, Patino pitches in as a server or helps his servers by filling their drink orders.

Meeting and serving people are the reasons he enjoys the restaurant business.

Said Patino: “I put my style out there, and everybody is very happy.”

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 5:45 PM with the headline "Step into Mexico through the door of Hacienda Tequila’s."