If it were not for Texas Rangers baseball, Zin Zen Wine Bistro in McKinney’s Adriatica Village might be under different ownership.
As season ticketholders, Regina Schneider and Randy Reed sat next to someone at Rangers games who was friends with the previous owners of the bistro.
“Randy says it feels like we just woke up six months later and owned the place,” Schneider said. “If we’d never had Rangers tickets, this never would’ve happened. But now we aren’t season ticketholders anymore because we are too busy to go to baseball games.”
Zin Zen, a wine bar that doubles as a lunch and dinner spot, was the first business in the Adriatica development and opened in September 2006, Schneider said.
“We are in the process of planning something to celebrate 10 years,” she said. “The first owners were two ladies, and their images are in stone at the entry, and then two guys bought it from them before we became owners in February of 2015.”
Schneider and Reed said they rely heavily on the staff of the bistro to keep things running smoothly.
“Our employees are really the golden stars,” Schneider said. “We started with six employees, and now we have 11. Most of them have been here since we got here, and they are a great group of people.”
Cassandra Hernandez is the bistro’s manager, and her husband, Augustine, is the chef.
Cassandra put together all 10 Zin Zen featured flights, which are samplings of wines usually in the same variety.
According to Schneider, Augustine handles the menu and creates the recipes.
“Augustine trained in New York,” Schneider said. “He is adamant that everything be house-made, so he prepares all the sauces and makes all the pizza dough.”
A popular menu item is the flatbread ($12-13), which is served with grilled chicken or pulled pork. The hummus ($8) is a favorite among customers and is made with roasted garlic, feta, sundried tomatoes, tzatziki, and olives and is served with toasted pita bread.
“We get lots of compliments on the hummus,” Schneider said. “A lot of our customers say it’s the best they’ve ever had.”
Reed said customers would be surprised to know the kitchen is less than 8 feet by 15 feet in size.
“The entire kitchen and all the storage is in that tiny space,” Schneider said. “Because of the layout, we can’t really expand, but we are about to do some renovation to get the space functioning better.”
According to Schneider, Zin Zen Wine Bistro caters to many types of wine drinkers.
“We have people who come in and know exactly what they want and some who’ve never had a glass of wine before. We even have customers who don’t like wine, but there’s a full menu and bar with a great selection of beer. We can keep everyone happy.”
6841 Virginia Parkway, Ste. 104, McKinney
972-547-4620
www.zinzenwine.com
Hours: Mon.-Thu. 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.-midnight, closed Sun.
