Opus World Bistro

A terrific restaurant with great service by the funny, personable, and attentive waiter. Our appetizers vegetarian spring rolls, and shrimp and green chili empanadas were delicious as was the main course: the chickpea seitan cutlet with artichokes and mushrooms. We simply loved the place and plan to return.

I don’t know.
Not the first words you want to see when reading about a restaurant, but I just don’t know. I really wanted to like this place, especially because there are limited vegetarian/​vegan-​friendly restaurants in El Paso. I have to say, this is the most disappointment I’ve experienced with Unilocal reviews.
I went here to celebrate my birthday with a few friends and I was raving away to my ‘non-​vegetarian’ friends about how great this place is going to be! As a recently converted (fish eating) vegetarian (I think we breeds are called Pescestarian. Sounds like a weird religion), I was really excited to try this place.
It was rather empty for a Friday dinner-​time, but I ignored the empty room and remained elated. The server brought us ‘bread’ basket, except they were very large chips with some sort of white dipping sauce. The chips had a spicy kick to it, but they were all right. A little addicting– so far, so good.
We ordered a few appetizers– Vegetarian Spring Rolls, Calamari, and Crab Cakes. The Spring Rolls were divine! Perfectly crispy, delicious veggie filling, sweet dipping sauce. YUM. The Calamari were a little disappointing– large chunks of squid with very light breading, making it really mushy. The Crab Cakes were– meh, not the best I’ve had.
As for the main dish– I was stuck between the Chickpea «Cutlet» and the Tofu «Crab Cakes». The server recommended the «Cutlet», so «Cutlet» it is! My friends ordered Chicken Jerusalem over Fettuccini, Jerk Chicken, Tuna Steak, and today’s special– Duck. The «Cutlet» was… hmm. It was okay. The chickpea was cooked well and it really did taste like a real ‘cutlet/​meat’. The outside was crispy and the inside was very tasty. However, the mushroom sauce that came with it had a vinegar-​y flavor that was way overpowering. I felt there was way too much sauce on it– making the chickpea super mushy. However, the haricot verts and the potatoes that came with it was delicious. My friends pretty much agreed with their dishes as well– they were, meh.
There was just 1 server working in the restaurant, but that wasn’t odd– because it was so empty.
Well, this place doesn’t serve the best vegetarian (and non-​vegetarian) dishes in El Paso, but I’m sure there are plenty of other places. Gotta stay positive, fellow El Paso vegetarians! (or Pescestarians!)

Restaurant was quiet with low key music in background. Waiter was very helpful. Nice wine list. Empanada appetizer was very good. Nice bread basket with lavosh-​type crackers with a cheese spread. I had tuna steak and my husband had baked haddock with a crispy crust. Sides were thin-​style green beans and red potatoes. Nice place, good ambience. Located in Colony Cove II plaza on N. Mesa in El Paso.

I went to this establishment before it was Opus. Great little place. Now the first time I went once it became Opus, Michael made me a pasta dish (not on menu) with parsley, shrimp, asparagus, scallops, in a al vodka sauce Thai hot. Awesome, Perfect, Best Ever!!! Kisses to the chef. The second time I went for lunch, again not on menu, Mahi Mahi Thai style over cabbage and carrots, perfect light lunch. My husband and I went for Valentines day, I had the best lobster bisque ever in my life… ok ok I am sure you get the point. I am from the northeast coast where food cannot be duplicated, traveling in the military allowed me to taste many flavors and cultures. Once I arrived in El Paso I was not all to pleased with the food here. Not to many choices and it seems people are afraid to use seasoning. Point being if you want an eclectic, cultural diverse menu choice please do not pass go, just get to Opus ASAP!!! You will not be disappointed. And for an appetizer try the spring rolls!!! But for all of you who have no flavor palate… do not insult the cook by going here!!!

Love Opus! Such a different kind of restaurant with different kind of food. It’s a great relief from all the other chain restaurants out there. I got the smoked salmon sandwich and it was the best I’ve ever had! The feta cheese was a great touch and the smoky salmon was probably the best I’ve ever had. I ordered the side of fries and man there were a lot. It’s enough for 2 maybe even 3 people! Overall, great place to each lunch. I’ve been looking forward to going back again!

My fiancé and I decided to go out for brunch yesterday and after looking at our options, decided on Opus based on the positive reviews here and the fact that they have unlimited mimosas and sangria.
We walked in right as they opened at 11am and were seated in the dining room. The décor is a little outdated, but I’m really all about the food so it didn’t bother me. One thing that struck me was that all of the food was beautifully displayed on the buffet… the grilled vegetables were artfully arranged, the dessert bar was filled with delicious looking treats, etc. Everything looked really appetizing and there was a good range of items for both omnivores and vegans. My mimosa glass was never empty and was magically refilled each time I returned from the buffet. We didn’t try the sangria, but will definitely give it a whirl next time.
The only thing I might suggest would be to add some more traditional breakfast fare in addition to the french toast and bacon available when I visited, like pancakes (make ‘em vegan, why not?) or sausage. Maybe some more warm vegan dishes would be a good addition, as well. It might also be useful to mark the menu items on the buffet with some sort of symbol indicating that they’re vegan-​friendly, although I could see some people potentially being skeptical of anything labeled vegan and can understand why they might shy away from that. Really, all of these issues are VERY minor and I thoroughly enjoyed my experience at Opus. Great service, great food and very reasonable prices. I’ll definitely be back for dinner, maybe on a Thursday when they’re having one of their wine dinners. Don’t be put off because of the modest exterior! Give it a try!

Let’s all celebrate Opus! Don’t be fooled by the storefront in a strip center. This place is AhMazing!
The chef, Michael, has created a diverse and yummy menu. He is very open to adjustments for those who are gluten-​intolerant or vegan, or both. The staff is just as open. At our table of 4, both the vegan and the gluten-​intolerant guests received special service without even asking. It was great!
They also have a selection of vegan and non-​vegan wines. :-)
Order Dessert! You won’t be disappointed.

Wonderful attentive service, great menu meal!

I have been vegan for awhile and have eaten at many restaurants offering vegan cuisine and this is by far the worst! The garbanzo patty was more like a stuffing, and didn’t taste good at all, and the chocolate cake was dry with no icing on it! Our server wasn’t very attentive either! Will not be back and would not recommend to anyone.

Good stuff, for it being healthy I was surprised. The chef and staff was very nice and helpful to us.

What a great find! Amazing vegan menu items and a very passionate chef who is extremely proud of his work and it shows. The green grape gazpacho, which also happened to be raw, was interestingly good. The eggplant involenti tasted magnificent. Hope this place prospers!

Had dinner here for the first time last night and couldn’t say enough positive things about this place. The food, atmosphere, and service were absolutely wonderful. Chef Michael was a delight. He came by our table to ensure that we were enjoying the delicious food that we had been served. He even went out of his way to create a specialty desert sampler plate for us. I highly recommend this place and give it two big thumbs up.

It is the only restaurant in El Paso to include a totally vegan menu (no need to change or substitute anything in your meal here). The food is exceptionally presented and everything I’ve ever tried off the menu is delicious. If anything on the menu doesn’t suit you, chef Michael is happy to prepare items off the menu. He also works beautiful wonders with kale.
Every bite of his food is a delicious sensation for your taste buds to play around with. The pureed parsnips were exquisitely delightful and are comparable to a similar dish from The Millenium in San Francisco.
The vegan four course dinner and wine tasting was so much fun. I highly the recommend the chocolate torte. Yum!
The restaurant has great ambiance.
The wait is excellent, especially Roxanne, who always gets an A+.
Thanks for all the delicious meals and warm welcome! Will continue to return again and again.

Enjoyed a yummy vegan lunch at Opus — great service, sous chef came out to talk w/​us and prepared an off-​the-​menu appetizer dish that was excellent. A little pricey: $ 48.00 for lunch: shared appetizer, two entrees (one way to generous to finish, took half home), two desserts (to go, we were too full to eat but couldn’t pass up!), one iced tea). But Opus offers unique, well-​prepared vegan recipes – hard to find elsewhere.

Came here with the family during off hours. We met the chef, who is a warm and attentive gentleman. He eagerly explained some of the menu items. The food we ordered was fresh and tasty, and very different from other restaurants in El Paso, thankfully. This restaurant has much to offer, including the ambiance. We listened to great jazz during our meal. This is a great restaurant, either for date night, or special family occasions.

Good service, excellent meal. Food came out hot and was very good. It was the first time at this Opus and will definitely return.

Was looking to have a nice meal at Italians, but the long wait sent me packing to look elsewhere. Il Posto came to mind, but as we pulled up we were suprised to see that Opus World Bistro had taken its place. Upon entering, it looked as if it were a private party. A waitress stopped and explained that it was the grand opening and that they were not serving dinner, but we were welcome to come in and join the party.
We were sure glad we did! It was like a wedding reception, complete with an ice sculpture and five serving stations and free flowing wine.
We tried everything they had to offer and came back for seconds. I asked for the dinner menu because I definitely wanted to come back. Everything on the menu looked delicious and at a great price! I can’t wait to come back. I want to try everything.
Great first impression! The servers were fast and attentive, I had to fend them off several times as they were trying to clear the table when I looked away or stretched. I see good things ahead!

My friend bought one of those coupon books for discounts at places across town. We decided to try Il Posto since the coupon was good. After ten minutes of not finding it, we found out it’s because Opus replaced it. The day we tried our lunch it was only their second day open and even though were some hiccups with timing issues, they weren’t enough to keep us from coming back.
We all had a difficult time ordering since we all wanted to try EVERYTHING on the menu. For appetizers, we ordered a bruschetta and a Mediterranean pizza. The bruschetta came in large pieces of toasted bread with a large helping of fresh mozzarella and a bit of shaved basil and drizzled balsamic. This could have easily been a lunch instead of a starter. My pizza was suppose to come with chicken, kalamata olives and goat cheese. Since I don’t eat meat, they were very accomodating and removed it from the recipe. They weren’t chintzy on the toppings. The saltiness from the olives and earthiness from the cheese balanced each other perfectly.
One coworker ordered cheese sticks which were good, but they were your average deep fried mozz. Another coworker bought a lemon chicken fettuccine that she ate for a few days. There was so much, but she wasn’t willing to trhow any of it way. My boss ordered a sandwich that had chicken, bacon and pesto. it looked good, but they didn’t say it had mayo. So she ended up not eating it, but they comped it for their error. Also, next time she went in, they offered her a free desert and apologized for the omission. As for me, I had a smoked salmon panini. The pesto matched nicely with the loads of smoked salmon and the cold tomato versus the hot bread was a great contrast. I will DEFINITELY go again so I can add more of the foods to the review.
A couple of other intesting things: it turns out that ‘world bistro’ is not a misnomer. Apparently the cook has trained and cooked in 17 different countries (if I remember the number from my bosses story of talking to him on her return visit). Also if you can choose, let Vincenzo be your waiter. Very nice and not overbearing; which is a rare combination for servers nowadays. The bright blues he has doesn’t hurt either.