Walnut Creek’s La Ezkina, a new Mexican grill and cantina, just opened

Emboding a spirit of “mi casa is su casa,” a new Walnut Creek destination for Mexican food lovers — La Ezkina cantina and grill — opened last week.

Run by the Wence family — restaurateurs Maria and Rafael and their sons, Eric and Christian — cantina serves up dishes such as housemade crispy chicharrones paired with a salsa flight, plus fish tacos, carne asada plates and blue corn tortillas made in-house.

Craving seafood? The restaurant also serves up dishes such as halibut kiwi ceviche paired with lime crema, adobo-smoked octopus and fish tacos. The cocktail menu is extensive too. Look for a tequila and mezcal-forward selection, plus drinks like the Wari Queen, a take on a Pisco sour, or the Walnut Creek, made with gin, xtabentum (an anise liqueur), nixta (a Mexican corn liquor), lemon, thyme and walnut bitters.

The family members behind the restaurant originally hail from Southern California, but extended family in the Walnut Creek area helped them launch the restaurant, Eric Wence says. They previously ran a restaurant in Benicia that closed.

The family was impacted by layoffs last year and has been working hard to bring the concept behind the restaurant to fruition. “We are pouring everything we have into this,” he says.

“It’s not like we were prepared and had crazy savings for this opportunity,” he adds. “We had to roll with the punches and do this ourselves from the ground up.”

Details: Open at 11 a.m. on weekdays and 10 a.m. weekends at 2065 N. Broadway, Suite 100, in Walnut Creek; laezkina.com.