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The central San Joaquin Valley city of Merced, California, is known world wide as "The Gateway to Yosemite," however the much larger city of Fresno, 60 miles to the south disputes that claim, since Fresno has the nearest major airport with access to the world-famous national park, but nobody can really dispute Merced's claim to fame, as from Merced, its less than a 2-hour drive to beautiful Yosemite National Park, but I'm getting a bit off the subject of this article... Anyway, if you're a connoisseur of fine dining, Paul's Place should be considered a destination of choice, if you're visiting Merced, as Paul's Place is a home-grown, Merced classic restaurant.
Photo: Paul's Place is located in a busy shopping centers that offers abundant parking. Paul's Place is owned and operated by Paul and Teresa Ybarra, and has been in the same location, of North "G" St. and Alexander Ave. for the past 20 years or so. Paul's Place is unique, as it's not a chain restaurant, and the place features cuisine catered to the taste of Merced locals, which had made the restaurant very popular. You won't find the restaurant listed on "destination" brochures, as they don't serve tour-bus fare, and their food isn't the institution-grade stuff, freshly unloaded from the Sysco truck, such as is served at many national restaurant chain. Paul's Place serves fresh, in-house made food, prepared and served by real, local people, to real, local, residents of Merced. If you've lived in Merced for maybe a week or so, chances are when you visit Paul's Place you'll run into somebody you know. I spent my first 21 years in Merced, and although that's been over 30 years ago, during our visit to Paul's Place on Wednesday, December 26, 2007, I ran into a fellow classmate from Merced High School Class of 1970, and a former mayor of Merced that I happen to know through my brother. Paul's Place truly reflects the taste and cuisine favored by the local residents of Merced.
Photo: The friendly confines of Paul's Place's dining room offers plenty of comfortable seating in family-friendly surrounding. Paul's Place isn't just a great restaurant, as it's a place where friends gather. Like just about any restaurant, as white board greets you with daily specials as you enter the restaurant. Near the cashier's station, you'll notice a signpost that points you to many destinations near Merced, including places such as El Nido and Snelling, which are places that only a local is familiar with. The decor of the restaurant could be described as comfortable, "homey," or maybe even patriotic, as American flags adorn the restaurant. The attractive dining room also features framed photos of historic Merced, not to mention a huge mural of nearby Yosemite National Park. Hmmmm... then you're greeted by a friendly girl who seats you at a table, produces menus, and within seconds your waitress will appear to take your drink menu. Small talk, banter, smiles and courteous, friendly service are standard-operating-procedure at Paul's Place, as the staff will make you feel like a member of a large, extended family. Not to mention that if you glance around the comfortable dining room, you're bound to see a friend or acquaintance.
Photo: Our friendly waitress, Christina, brings our delicious breakfasts to our table. Emily, to the right of the photo, seems to be more interested in the picture she's drawing than her breakfast of strawberry pancakes with whipped cream. The menu at Paul's Place isn't fancy, but it is both varied and extensive, and reflects on upon local tastes. The central San Joaquin Valley is home to many generations of Portuguese dairy farmers, and Paul's breakfast menu features an entrée composed of linguica and eggs, which is quite common in central California, biscuits and gravy, again, very common, but, Paul's Place goes the extra step for a breakfast side dish, as in addition to hash brown potatoes or homestyle potatoes, they offer Portugee Beans as a breakfast side dish! When I saw that item on the menu, I thought that I'd died and gone to Portugee Heaven! If your taste runs to the more middle-of-the-road, Paul's menu features just about any breakfast combination that you can imagine. Naturally, you can also order individual items from the menu, a la carte. We had the pleasure to be served by a friendly, attractive young waitress by the name of Christina, who happily took or orders and kept our coffee cups full. Service at Paul's Place is efficient and friendly, and Christina was never intrusive, nor did she ever attempt to "rush" us, as some servers do. I love a server that you can actually talk to, and gives you the impression that she enjoys her job, but doesn't "hover" ... that's a fine line between good service and not-so-good service, but Christina, and according to my brother, all the staff at Paul's Place seem to know where the line in the sand is drawn.
Photo: Left to right, Eric, your author, with wife Sharlene, sister-in-law Margie, brother Michael, and niece Emily. We're all family, and all share the same last name. Our orders arrived in a timely manner, exactly the way as we had ordered them, with no surprises. We had five in our breakfast party, and all of ordered very different entrées, but we all agreed that our breakfasts were delicious. My wife and I had the pleasure to dine with my brother Michael, his charming wife, Margie, and their youngest daughter Emily, all of whom are lifelong residents of Merced, and frequent patrons of Paul's Place. According to my family members, Paul's Place is recommended for any meal. As Christina brought our meals to us, I pulled out my trusty digital camera and started taking photos of, well... everything. Most restaurant patrons really look amazed when there is a geek in their midst taking photos, but I look at it as capturing a moment of history. Anyway, I let Christina know what I was up to, and gave a plug for eRench Productions, Inc, planted a business card on her, and was rewarded by a dazzling smile and additional friendly service.
Photo: What a delicious breakfast! Eggs over easy, juicy linguica, and a bowl of Portugee beans, with a plate of biscuits and sausage gravy on the side. Check out the delicious coffee, and the mug never runs below half full. As previously mentioned, everybody enjoyed their breakfasts, and my brother and his family are local residents and frequent customers of Paul's Place. My breakfast arrived on a warm platter, with the eggs-over-easy cooked as ordered, with the yokes glazed over and not hard or broken. Yeah!!! The linguica was cooked perfectly, as it was juicy, tender, and easy to cut and just about melted in my mouth. The Portugee Beans were placed in a dish on the platter, but I quickly removed the beans from the dish and poured them on the platter to mix with the linguica and eggs... yummmmmm.... and my side order of biscuits and sausage gravy, was placed to the side of the main platter. Where do you start? Take another gulp of coffee, and just dig in and enjoy!
Photo: Sharlene pays the bill to the friendly cashier. Note that our wonderful waitress, Christina is in the middle of the photo, and the famous sign that sports all of the nearby places, both obscure and famous, is to the right of the photo. The restaurant still adorns Christmas decorations, as we visited it the day after Christmas... If
you want to enjoy the cuisine, spirit and the pulse of Merced,
take a visit to Paul's Place, as you can't go wrong.
You'll enjoy delicious food in a very comfortable surrounding,
served by some of the friendliest people that you'll ever meet.
The food is fresh and delicious, the presentation is attractive,
the staff are efficient and friendly, and the portions are generous,
and the prices are very reasonable, and family-friendly. Paul's
Place is highly recommended by the author of this article, and
my entire family. Paul's
Place Restaurant and Bakery Copyright(c) 2007 eRench Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. This site has been on the web since December 22, 2002. Web page design has been created by eRench Productions, Inc., custom photography for any occasion...
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