View from the Street: Riverside restaurant offers candlelight dining
December 2, 2014 by admin
Filed under Choosing Lingerie
SAN ANGELO, Texas – Chef and restaurateur Carlos Estrada is hoping to provide San Angelo a fine-dining experience with RiverView Restaurant, currently operating as Bentwood by the River.
The restaurant, at 800 W. Avenue D, is open for a lunch buffet 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and offers fine dining by candlelight 6-9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays. A breakfast bar will be hosted from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. and a Champagne brunch from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
RiverView, named for its location along the banks of the Concho River, officially opened Nov. 18, but Estrada began helping Bentwood Country Club with the business last February.
“They were going to close it down but offered it to me, and I took over the lead,” Estrada said. “We’re in the process of changing the name. Right now we’re still operating as Bentwood by the River … to serve alcohol through the holidays.”
Estrada said the restaurant will be a standout among San Angelo eateries because of the ambient atmosphere.
“It’s just great food, presented nice,” he said. “It’s a different dining experience than anywhere else with the view and the lunch buffets being (top-notch). We change the menu to keep it fresh and different.”
Current menu items include fillets, lamb chops and gourmet burgers, he said.
Though the venture is Estrada’s first as a restaurateur, he has worked in kitchens the past six years and served as chef for two to three of those.
“Since I started cooking it was a dream of mine to one day own a restaurant,” he said.
Vegas lingerie at downtown boutique
Darlakay Cardenas opened her downtown boutique Pure at the end of 2013, but it has received more attention since she expanded billboard and radio advertising.
“It’s been really good because we’ve gotten a lot of people (coming into the store) from it,” she said.
Cardenas’ husband worked for Lithia before switching jobs to a local RV company, and Cardenas took over his billboard contract.
Business at Pure, a women’s clothing and lingerie boutique, has always been steady, Cardenas said.
“We’ve always had good business, but usually it’s not (from) locals,” she said. “It ranges from military to oil field. We get a ton (of customers) from Houston.”
Cardenas attended Wall schools, so she felt at home moving her business to 21 E. Concho Ave., near J. Wilde’s, which is owned by Wall native Joyce Wilde.
Downtown also has the trendy boutique atmosphere for which Cardenas was searching: Music filters from outdoor speakers, and customers are treated to a glass of wine or beverage of their choosing.
“My lingerie is mainly from Las Vegas, and most of our clothes are all from Los Angeles,” Cardenas said. “We’re striving for a different feel. We don’t go to market.”
Pure’s clothing ranges from sizes extra small to 3-4X, Cardenas said, and its lingerie runs from extra-small to 5X.
“I love to shop,” Cardenas said. “Shopping always has been one of my bad addictions. I still get to shop — just not for myself.”
As a boutique owner, fair pricing was important, she said.
“Here, you’re not going to buy anything over $40,” she said. “I want to bring something for every budget range. I think that’s where a lot of our business comes from.”
Becca Nelson Sankey writes about local business for the Standard-Times. To publicize a construction or renovation project, contact her at rnsankey@gmail.com.
