Hollister restaurant serves up specialty seafood dishes
In a town with an abundance of Mexican restaurants, it takes
something different to keep regulars and new diners coming in each
day.
Hollister restaurant serves up specialty seafood dishes
In a town with an abundance of Mexican restaurants, it takes something different to keep regulars and new diners coming in each day.
El Michoacano, located at 1296 San Juan Road in Hollister, isn’t the average Mexican restaurant. The menu features seafood dishes that include octopus, prawns, oysters, clams and whitefish.
While they do offer the traditional assortment of tacos, burritos, tostados, enchiladas and taquitos, it is the fish dishes that keep bringing people back. Other typcial dishes include chile verde and fajitas.
What sets El Michoacano apart from the other top-notch Mexican restaurants in Hollister is the unusual assortment of dishes and a specialized cocktail. It is also one of a handful of Mexican restaurants that serves chavela, a cocktail made with beer, Clamato juice and shrimp. It works as both a drink and an appetizer.
Another specialty includes a dish called campechana, which looks more like a cocktail than a meal. In a huge cocktail glass mixed with tomato juice, diners can taste a hodgepodge of all the fish options in the restaurant – including the octopus, oysters and whitefish mentioned above – all in one dish, along with a few other seafood items thrown in for good measure. The “bowl” of food is topped off with chunks of avocado, cilantro and a bit of chile. Not for the faint of heart, the cocktail should be ordered only by seafood aficionados.
From the outside, the restaurant is non-descript as it is set in a strip mall on the outskirts of town. But inside it is reminiscent of Mexican fishing villages. The decor is muted, with dark-stained woods around the walls and tables. One wall features a mural with a romantic scene of a man and a woman on a bridge, while the next features fishermen at work.
Lunch and dinner entrees are both priced $6.99 to $14, with most of the fish dishes running a bit more. Entrees including salad, beans and rice or French-fries.
Like traditional taquerias, diners on the go can order things such as burritos or tacos at a back register. The fillings range from typical to exotic fillings – think rice and beans with a side of cabeza (beef brain).
For those who would like to have a more leisurely lunch or dinner, the restaurant has rounded chairs and wooden tables. The woman who works the cashier doubles as a waitress for those who prefer sit-down service. Table service allows diners to order from a menu that includes some options not listed on the takeout menu such as enchiladas and taquitos.
Monday through Friday, the restaurant is open from 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., but during the weekends the restaurant opens at 8 a.m. with a variety of breakfast options.
