You’ve arrived in El Dorado County and you’ve stopped at a few wineries to taste and buy some wine. Now you’re feeling a little peckish. Where can you grab a bite to eat?

When we first started going up to Gold Country for the wine, finding a place to eat was the biggest challenge for the weekend. Over the last few years, however, the situation has improved. There are quite a few places to grab a good meal.

The El Dorado County Visitors Authority has compiled a handy list of places to eat in the County. The list is not complete. It also includes restaurants in towns as far west as El Dorado Hills and as far east as South Lake Tahoe. Most of the restaurants are located in Placerville and Shingle Springs. My suggestion is to review this list before you head up there with an idea of what parts of the county you’ll be visiting.

Here is what we do: we eat a hearty breakfast at home before we get in the car, around 9am, to head up there. We will have packed a picnic lunch or serious snacks to take with us. Depending on traffic and how far off the highway our first stop is, we arrive at the first winery around 11:30 or so. We will have a relaxing picnic at either the first or second winery. After 4pm or so, we’ll head down to El Dorado Hills, where we usually stay, check into our hotel and take a nap. After we wake up, we’ll walk from our hotel in the Town Center to one of several possible great places to eat.

Our current favorites are the Bamiyan Afghan Restaurant (1121 White Rock Road) and the Chantara Thai Cuisine (4361 Town Center Blvd.). There are several other good choices in the Town Center.

If you are staying in or near Placerville, you will be spoiled for choice for places to eat. There are too many nice places right in town within an easy walk of most any hotel or motel on the main street.

If you are out and about and didn’t pack a lunch, Fitzpatrick winery, in the Fairplay area, has a really good deli on site. There is a nice family run sandwich shop, The Crossroads Coffee and Cafe, in Somerset (6032 Grizzly Flat Rd.). Further south in El Dorado, is Poor Red’s Bar-B-Q (6221 Pleasant Valley Rd.). Be adventurous!