Passion! It surrounds the love of good food, good wine, and certainly good people! This was the impetus behind Salud!, a wine bar and wine storage and event center, now featuring Italian dining.

Tony and Raechill Dotson, along with Jeff and Karen Stephens, bring  to downtown Camas the passion of Salud every day through their good food, drink and camaraderie. Three years ago, the team looked for a space large enough to accommodate all they wanted to do, and at that time, the Sears store downtown was closing. They were also looking at a certain demographic that could support wine and good food.

The strenuous process of rebuilding the former department store began, and the team knew they had plenty of time and a good game plan in place to open Salud and provide what they saw as a need in downtown Camas.

“Our motto since day one has been ‘Enter as a Guest, Leave as a Friend,” said Tony Dotson. “I believe that we have and continue to hold that as our number one priority. We want everyone that enters to feel like they are entering our extended living room or dining room. That they feel comfortable.” He said it is one of the highest honors to hear patrons say they feel comfortable to come and hang out and just be themselves. “That pretty much sums up the feeling we are striving for.”

The Salud team agreed that treating patrons as family, Salud family, is of the utmost importance. “We get to know them, talk about anything … except politics and religion,” Tony said with a smile. “Just like Grandma always said, no politics or religion at the table!”

Tony said Salud is imminently welcome to all tourists and visitors. “It’s nice to have the folks staying at Camas Hotel come in and visit. Sometimes we get new ideas from them, sometimes we get offers to open up a Salud 2 in their hometown,” he said. “We know they go home and tell their friends about the fun wine bar they went to and let them know to visit when in town. We’ve had folks come in because their friends had visited and then went home and told them about us. It’s a great compliment!”

Coming back from the Covid-19 shut down, Salud will be your place downtown for your favorite wine, a cheese platter, some fondue, charcuteries, and certainly house-made Italian specialties like lasagna, pizzas, and pasta dishes of all kinds. When sharing in fellowship around a great glass of vino, you can sit by the fireplace or by the large windows watching the world go ’round. You can join Salud for one of the many planned events in their Bella Vino room, such as Murder Mystery Dinners, Wine and Chocolate Pairings, ’80s night, and all kinds of revelry.

The Salud team said, “We look forward to meeting you and getting to know you as you become a member of the Salud family.”

Stop in soon and become fast friends! 224 NE 3rd in beautiful Downtown Camas.