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There are at least three good reasons why I didn't order cuy at La Vina Friday night:

1) At $50, it is by far the most expensive item on the menu.

2) Two hours advance notice is required.

3) My wife made it clear, in no uncertain terms, that if I ordered guinea pig, I would have to find some other place to sleep that night.

"You wouldn't eat a guinea pig, would you?" Carol asked me. As a matter of fact, I did eat guinea pig, once, many years ago, in a town called Loja in the mountains in the south of Ecuador. It didn't taste like chicken. It tasted like duck, or maybe a little like muskrat. Chino Latino in Uptown also has guinea pig on the menu for $40. Their version, with rice, mote, potatoes and salad serves two, and requires 48 hours notice.

Point # 3 above led to an animated discussion of whether it was any worse to eat a guinea pig than, say, a pig. Carol said I shouldn't be eating pig, either, but by then I had already ordered the hornado ($10.95), a traditional Ecuadorian dish of crusty slow-roasted pork, served with seasoned rice, mote (hominy), a green fava-like bean, llapingacho (a cheese potato cake, from the Ecuadorian highlands) and salad (see below). Carol ordered from the Mexican side of the menu, and got a sizzling platter of shrimp fajitas ($12.95) with peppers and onions, accompanied by rice, beans, avocado and fresh hot tortillas. Both were delicious, and served in very generous portion.

Actually, there is a lot more than cuy to the menu at La Vina. It's an attractive restaurant and night club with authentic Ecuadorian and Mexican cuisine at very reasonable prices - especially during happy hour, (3:30 to 7 p.m. daily) when mixed drinks and wines by the glass cost $3, beers are $2.50, and you can get an order of guacamole with chips for $2, or hornado in a mote salad for $4.

Service was very friendly, though not very polished. A small ad in City Pages offered a complimentary margarita with every entrée. When I requested one, our server was unaware of the offer, but she honored it and brought me one. La Vina has a full bar, and a limited list of wines and beers. After we chatted a bit about Ecuador, the waitress offered me a complimentary glass of what she called chuchao (not sure about the spelling), and described as Ecuadorian tequila - a smooth firewater, reminiscent of aquardiente. (I hadn't said that I was a restaurant critic, but the fact that I was photographing my food might have raised suspicions.)

While I waited for our food to arrive, I wandered over to the adjoining club, where the band was setting up for the night. According to the manager, there would be two performances that night - a karaoke singer named Marcella, and a three piece band led by a guy named Marcello - playing mostly Ecuadorian music with a little Mexican thrown in. As we departed the restaurant another manager urged us to return - and told us that on Saturday night, there would be a strolling guitars in the dining room.

We had other plans for the evening, but I do plan to return. There's lots more I would like to try, including the guatita (tripe in peanut sauce), and camarones a la diabla. The menu also offers a house bandera, a combination platter with hornado, goat stew, ceviche, guatita, llapingacho and avocado, listed on the menu at $16.99. (The menu they gave me to take home was old, but I assume it is still available.)

La Vina Restaurant, 3010 4th Ave. S., Minneapolis, 612-827-1000.