Nino’s Grill to open in Templeton
-By Jackie Iddings
Chef Alfredo Martinez. Photos by Jackie Iddings.
New restaurant adds a vision for area youth to the menu
– Nino’s Grill, a soon to open restaurant in Templeton, is offering more than fresh locally sourced food. Still under construction and scheduled to open in early October, Nino’s Grill is the next step in community support for Steven and Angela Nino and their restaurant crew.
A long-time friendship with restaurant manager Jeff White and a shared dream of creating a place that combines great food, a social venue for local sports, and a unique mentoring platform for youth is coming together at Nino’s Grill. There are more than 100 youth and adult recreational sports leagues in North County that will now have a locally-owned restaurant centered on them, their families, and fans.
Formerly with Senor Sancho’s, White brings 15 years of restaurant management experience to the vision he shares with the Ninos. Along with providing a place for team and family celebrations, White says that he expects half of the grill’s employees to be local youth. “We want to provide a work environment where we mentor young people not only in job skills but in how they can apply what they learn here to their lives and education,” he said. “We expect to employ around 30 people. Our key staff is already in place and we are hiring now for all positions.”
The restaurant has been slowly taking shape since February, evolving from a gutted building into a well planned restaurant. Every planning and development aspect of the restaurant is local from contractors and interior designer to the menu. When opened, there will be four seating areas including the main dining room, a year around patio featuring live music, the bar, and a back dining area that can be screened off for private parties. The patio is also available for private parties. The wall of the hallway facing the kitchen is reserved for photographs of local sports teams. Local and worldwide televised sports events can be viewed on any of the many screens. Local teams can bring their own DVDs for viewing on a large screen in the private dining area.
Food will be served in the bar area, counter style, from noon until 4 p.m. and seated dinner served from 4 until closing. Full food service will also be available the bar until closing. The full service bar features eight local wines on draft and local beer on tap and in bottles. “Our food is simple comfort food,” says Jeff. The head chef is Alfredo Martinez, who says he is dedicated to satisfying the appetites of everyone from toddlers on up. A preliminary menu is available on the web site, www.ninosgrill.com.
According to White, the pride and joy of their kitchen is their own smoker where they will custom smoking all of the meat they serve. Soon after opening, they will also be offering full catering.
Nino’s Grill is hiring for all positions. Job seekers can apply by sending a resume to [email protected].
The grill is located at 509 S. Main Street, Templeton. Phone number is (805) 434-5500.
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