In the 10 years since he opened the first of his five Hola! Mexican-Peruvian restaurants in Central Oregon, Marcos Rodriguez has achieved remarkable success.

Rodriguez’s original east-side restaurant, established with commercial realtor partner Peter Lowes, has expanded to two other shops in Bend and one each in Sunriver and Redmond. The food is great: ceviche traditional, mole poblano, Peruvian lomo saltado, authentic margaritas.

But as a boy in the metropolis of Guadalajara, Rodriguez had enjoyed fare considerably less gourmet. In Oregon, he found his daydreams wandering back to the plates he once craved from Mexican street vendors. And when he found himself in a financial position in mid-2015 to open an authentic Jaliscan-style cafe in Bend, he jumped at the opportunity.

EsTa BiEn, which from the start has operated as a completely separate business from Hola!, was an instant hit on S. Third Street. Consistently busy, it earned a reputation for no-frills Mexican food at budget prices.

An opportunity to open a second EsTa BiEn arose last fall, when restaurateur Gene Fitzsimmons announced his intention to retire and close Taco Stand after more than a quarter-century. After Gonzalez negotiated a purchase of the Hill Street business, EsTa BiEn 2 seamlessly slid into the space in October — so quickly that longtime fans of Taco Stand were barely aware it had closed.

Tacos and pupusas

That’s not to say there haven’t been changes. Hours have been expanded to include dinner as well as lunch. A full bar now caters to tequila lovers. The menu offers fewer burritos but a wider variety of tacos and a choice of Salvadorean pupusas.

“This is what I grew up with,” Rodriguez said. “It’s traditional Mexican comfort food, fast and simple. Nobody else in Central Oregon is doing fresh corn tortillas or pupusas by hand. Nobody is making the tamales or tortas like we do.”

The phrase esta bien, translated from Spanish, means all’s well, or it’s all good. It’s a fitting description.

Like the original EsTa BiEn, this restaurant has a large selection of tacos and pupusas. The lengua, chopped beef tongue, is particularly tender. The carnitas (braised pork bites) are also delicious. The menu also includes adobada (pork marinated in red chili sauce), asada (charbroiled skirt steak), grilled chicken and fish tacos.

A pupusa is a thick, handmade corn tortilla with a filling of cheese, vegetables or meat ground to a paste that is the consistency of refried beans. At EsTa BiEn, it is made with pork and chicken as well as eggs (revuelto). My favorite preparation, however, is with minced zucchini and queso (cheese).

Tortas, made in Guadalajaran ahogada (drowned) style, are popular sandwiches typically made with chopped pork and drenched in spicy red chile sauce that makes them rather messy to eat.

Entrée plates

There’s nothing I enjoy more at this small cafe than chicken mole, when it’s available — which is often. Dense with the flavor of semisweet Mexican chocolate, accented with peanuts and pepitas (pumpkin seeds), the sauce cloaks savory bites of boneless chicken breast.

Like all full-meal plates, the dish is served with Spanish-style rice and refried black beans. I like them both, but my dining companion expressed that the beans were too thin when she had them with a carne asada meal. On that occasion, the steak was gristly and of mediocre quality. It is not always so.

Patrons who like late breakfasts (the doors open here at 11 a.m.) have a choice of dishes like chilaquiles (tortilla chips with scrambled eggs and cheese) and huevos rancheros (fried eggs with rice and beans, smothered in a chile-rich red ranchero sauce).

The latter is one of my morning favorites, along with the EsTa BiEn version of a breakfast burrito: scrambled eggs, ground chorizo sausage, onions, cilantro, other vegetables and rice, wrapped in a flour tortilla without the potatoes that are often a dominant ingredient at other Mexican restaurants.

Service at EsTa BiEn 2 is consistently friendly and efficient, although it’s of the order-at-the-counter variety. Completed orders, however, are delivered directly to diners at a handful of tables that seat fewer than two dozen.

A flat-screen TV often presents international soccer matches. It shares a wall with a beloved mural — a siesta beneath a palm tree — that remains from Taco Stand days.

— John Gottberg Anderson
 can be reached at 
janderson@bendbulletin.com.

EsTa BiEn 2

Food: () Traditional Mexican recipes typical of the Guadalajara area.

Service: () Friendly and efficient, with counter orders delivered directly to tables.

Atmosphere: () Fewer than two dozen seats, but there’s a neighborhood charm.

More Info

Location: 221 NW Hill St., Bend

Hours: 11 a.m.-8 p.m. every day

Cuisine: Mexican

Price range: Tacos and pupusas $2.85 to $3.95, other meals $7 to $10

Credit cards: American Express, MasterCard, Visa

Kids’ menu: Kids’ burrito $5

Vegetarian and gluten-free menu: Queso (cheese) and zucchini pupusas, vegetarian burritos with corn tortillas

Alcoholic beverages: Full bar

Outdoor seating: Limited seasonal

Reservations: No

Contact: www.facebook.com/EsTa-BiEn-378251975665828; 541-318-1111