The Barrel Room

Great place for a glass of wine and appetizers. We ordered the cheese board which was enormous. They have a smaller version which we should have ordered for two people. Comes with a delicious baguette. We also ordered the Lmb Pops which were good. I didn’t care for the mint dipping sauce but that just a personal preference.
Loved our server, Peter! Excellent, understated service without being smarmy. He anticipated our needs but otherwise kept out of our way. Will definitely ask to be seated in his section next time we go.

My coworkers and I had our happy hour here yesterday, even though there’s no happy hour menu here. It’s ok though, we enjoyed it nonetheless. We all met up here and sat outside, which was nice at around 4, but got chilly so they turned on the heat lamps for us and pulled the shades down, it really helped, or maybe the wine made us warmer.
Our waitress, Stephanie, was awesome, she suggested a few bottles of wine when we were indecisive and the one that I really liked was the one she suggested, it was a Meiomi Pinot Noir, which was really delicious and was really smooth. We also got some Cabernet and Malbec, but the Pinot Noir stuck with me. My glass was never empty, Stephanie was on top of it when it came to refilling my glass.
We ordered some appetizers to start, a few plates of the lamb chops and they were good, we also got bruschetta, which was also really good. A few plates of the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with bleu cheese because it was a favorite, and the full cheese board, which was good, but not as extensive as I would expect a cheese board to be.
This place is very unassuming, located in the plaza which can be tough for parking spaces and even finding it, since it’s in the center of the plaza, corner of a strip mall, but we managed to make the most out of it. The experience changes the little annoyances such as parking so still definitely a place worth checking out.

I recently planned a Sunday brunch with five of my girl friends at The Barrel Room and it was a wonderful experience! From the food to the setting to our amazingly helpful and funny waiter, the day couldn’t have been better.
As soon as I looked at the menu, I knew I would have a difficult time deciding what to order. There were so many dishes that sounded delicious. Although the stuffed French toast was tempting, I was craving lunch more than breakfast and ended up splitting the chicken pesto wrap and caprese panini with one of my friends. Both sandwiches were flavorful but I slightly preferred the wrap as it was a bit more substantial. Plus, I’m obsessed with pesto so that gave it an unfair advantage from the start. However, the best part of the meal were the garlic fries, especially dipped in ranch. Amazingly, The Barrel Room includes garlic fries as a side option with no upcharge and I highly recommend them. I also tried the pineapple mimosa, which was good but didn’t taste as much like pineapple as I had anticipated.
The patio is lovely and is a nice, quiet setting for a casual meal with friends. I’ll definitely keep this place in mind for future brunches.

First off, the service was awesome. I ordered off the gluten-​free menu and my husband ordered a burger. The foods was great but an hour later I felt sick as a dog and am pretty sure my food was gluten-​contaminated. I really wanted this place to be a winner for us but we won’t be able to return. So I say it’s a good place if you don’t have food allergies, but be cautious if you do because I don’t think the kitchen takes them very seriously.

I would have given this place 5 stars if it wasn’t for our server. Granted it was a tough evening (they were at 100% capacity for a weeknight!!), but she seemed irritated the whole time. I wanted to surprise my husband with a dessert for his bday dinner and I had to hunt her down. She got my wine order wrong too. Either way, I over-​tipped hoping it was just an off night for her.
The spectacular hostess made up for it… the girl was awesome!
This was my second trip to BR and I know I’ll be back for the wine, cheese plate and the appetizers… I just hope we don’t have the same server again.

Awesome ambience and great service. Food was great and just a perfect place to eat and enjoy. Thank you!

Cajun calamari only had one taste, pepper (crunchy black pepper). The sauce made up for lack of flavor. The salmon, bok choy and basmati rice was average. While the salmon was cooked great, the miso ‘glaze’ was more of a lumpy sauce and very salty and with the soy sauce garnished on the plate made it extra salty. Rice had a seasoning that didn’t blend well with the other sauces. Would recommend dish but sauce on the side.

Went here for dinner w/​my boyfriend tonight. I got the jambalaya and he got the TBR burger. We also got the calamari to start.
The calamari is to die for! That was bomb dot com. Squeeze a little lemon over it and you’re good to go. Unless you’re like my boyfriend and don’t like the lemon. You do you but regardless the calamari is on point.
My jambalaya was pretty good. It was a little too sweet for my taste but the Cajun spice was there. I love things spicier personally so I would have loved more of a kick to it but I understand they have to appeal to the masses.
Food and service was excellent. But y’all are probably wondering why they got two stars. Well I got two beers. In my last beer there was a huge shard of glass at the bottom. Now since I was kind of buzzed and had been chugging that beer, I don’t know if I swallowed smaller pieces or not. I guess I’ll keep y’all posted because I have to wait and see aka digest everything. Anyways, they comped half the bill but honestly they should have comped the whole thing because no one expects to come to a restaurant and find shards of glass at the bottom of their drink. I never thought that would happen to me but it did. I much rather would have preferred to have gotten food poisoning than swallow glass but that’s just me.
Shoot with this luck, y’all know I didn’t win the $ 900 million Powerball.

Great service and great selections of wines for reasonable price. We shared many small plates all delicious. My favorite was the bacon wrapped dates and the Brussels sprout. All of the wait staff was very helpful and friendly. We were in before the dinner rush which was nice had the whole patio to ourselves! Must go again, it’s a nugget of joy

We stopped in to check the place out before committing to a full meal here. We ordered salad, calamari and a bottle of wine. The calamari was very good, but a little more breaded than I am used to, though I wasn’t too upset about that.
The wine was good and reasonably priced by the bottle. Some of the per glass prices seemed high, especially if your group was going to each have more than one glass, but that’s probably typical of all places like this so I can’t really fault Barrel Room for that.
Service was very attentive and friendly, and the atmosphere was lovely. We stayed in side because it was a little bit chillier than I like for sitting outside (there were heaters though, I think) and it felt really comfortable and cozy.
We’re definitely planning on coming back for a date night soon!

Food was ok, service was fine but where we encountered an issue was with the chicken parmesan was undercooked (raw in the center)
Normally this wouldn’t be an issue but the server asked if we wanted anything to replace it with another meal but we said no and just asked to have it taken off. The server agreed and asked us if we would like a dessert due to the undercooked meal. When we got the meal the entire chicken Parmesan was still on the bill. I asked the server about it and she said she needed to talk to the manager.
When the manager came out she mentioned that because there was half of the chicken (all of the pasta was still remaining) missing that she still had to charge us for it! The issue with this is that everyone at the table (4 of us) had each had a piece of the chicken to confirm it was undercooked.
The managers resolution was «well we rarely encounter this issue of undercooked meat so we can take half of the bill off» I tried explaining to her that it was barely eaten and that the reason almost half of the chicken appeared to be eaten was because everyone had tried it but spit it out on our respective plates but the manager refused to listen.
This was the first time we ate at the barrel room and I assure you it will be our last. I will also be sure to relay this information to family, coworkers, and friends.
If the owner of the barrel room is reading this please talk to your manager and explain to them this is not how to deal with food issues and you lost several future guests/​customers because of it

The Barrel Room is a mixture of old gen + new gen.
I’s a great mix of crowds ranging from the young and the «old.»
The Barrel Room is tucked into a sort of high class strip mall called «The Plaza», it’s near Big 5 Sporting Goods and CVS.
Friday night wait time was quoted at 20 minutes, but we got a text 5 minutes later.
This is a great place for friends or an intimate dinner with a loved one.
Once you walk in, you are taken into a different world. Everything is kind of jam packed (bar + lounge area + dining area), but it didn’t bother me as it added to the ambiance. Dimly lit, but good enough.
Service was awesome, everyone was really on point and it seems like providing service is a huge thing that they follow. Thumbs up.
Dinner menu ranged anywhere from pasta, steak, seafood, cheeseboards, chef specials and an amazing assortment of wines.
The chicken parm pasta was extra delicious with a big fat piece of chicken. Geezes. It was chicken for two. I loved the simplicity yet taste of the garlic cream noodles on the side.
Definitely give this place a peep.

The BR is very much a local destination for RB and North Poway. Hidden away in the corner of a strip mall, but yet so full of soul. The wine list here is spot on for the area. Fall in love with a new varietal any day of the week.
The food is consistently good and the menu is not overwhelming. Some of my favorites are the duck quesadilla, jambalaya, ahi salad, and their seasonal menu items are always great to try.
Barrel room is quiet, dimly lit and romantic — yet totally casual at the same time. It’s the perfect spot to sneak in for a glass of wine and an appetizer at the bar, date night dinners, or girls lunch.
Service is good and the patrons are friendly. Love this place and so glad it’s so close to me.

Wonderful menu, great customer service, impressive wine list, warm and inviting atmosphere.
Never had a bad experience here! I love coming here! My favorite menu items are the meat and cheese board (that you can customize yourself), and the scallops!
They also have one of my favorite Cabernets, Silver Oak (2012 and 2013, but I prefer 2012).
They have outdoor seating that is mostly covered, and some fun couches inside.
Staff is always very classy and friendly when they are taking dish orders, pouring wine, and serving the dishes. I have never felt rushed or felt like they were hovering over me while I ate.
I can’t wait to come back here!

It’s been a few years since I’ve been to the Barrel Room and I will say I’m more than impressed with their new menu, everything we munched on was tasty, good sized shareable portions and reasonably priced. The service was fabulous, there is plenty of seating areas and overall it’s a great spot for a night out or a place to simply sit back and relax while enjoying great food and wine.
I came here this past weekend with 6 people and we decided to sit on the couches, it’s obviously difficult to eat an actual main meal off of the couches so we enjoyed several of the shared plates. We started with a meat and cheese plate, the port salut was truly fabulous and of course who doesn’t love brussel sprouts. I feel every restaurant offers a Brussels dish now and they’re always a go to choice for me. Now my favorite thing we enjoyed this evening was the cauliflower with romesco sauce, what a unique sauce this is, we enjoyed it so much that we requested an extra one for our other dishes. We also ordered the sautéed mushrooms, that’s a light yet a heavier tasting dish and the lastly we went for the spinach and artichoke wontons.
Now of course we had great wine, it is a wine room after all. I enjoyed a fabulous Pinot Noir which our server Jamie chose for me and his choice was a delicious one. The other girls enjoyed a Merlot, a Cabernet and the men enjoyed the beer selection.
Jamie was our server this evening and he was fabulous, very nice, accommodating and had a great personality. He was able to serve us at the couches, our group was also migrating back and forth to the bar area and he was able to keep track of our party in addition to our food and drink items. Jamie also chose a lot of items for us, we simply asked him to chose the cheese and meat selections and a few appetizers and as I mentioned above, we enjoyed every bite that we indulged on!
I’ll definitely be back to the Barrel Room, I used to love their panini’s which I didn’t see on the menu however, I’m more impressed to see a more upscale yet still a casual type of menu. The barrel room is a perfect place for a date night, lunch with friends or a great place to sit back relax and enjoy great drinks and bites.

3.5 stars?
AMBIANCE: I think this is the first and only wine bar I’ve been to in San Diego. My first impression was that the Barrel Room sure gets packed on a weekday evening. They have some indoor space, but their outdoor patio is where it’s at. The tables are pretty close together, but there is space for an intimate party of two or a larger party. What set off the ambiance for me was the pleasant spring weather coupled with romantic patio lights and the quiet murmur of cocktail conversation. Barrel Room is all about its ambiance.
WINE: Obviously, being a wine bar I have to comment about their wine. I love my red wine and have been to Napa a handful of times, but I’m no wine connoisseur. Give me a mildly dry Cab and I’m good to go. I came here a few months ago so I don’t remember the specific wine I had, but I do remember having no qualms about it.
FOOD: Got to try the half board of cheese (choice of three items), which comes with toasted baguette, dried fruit, and candied pecans. It’s nice that you can choose your meat and cheese and there’s enough selections to be satisfied. Even though I’m a charcuterie person through and through, what stood out to me about their half board was actually the dried fruit and candied pecans. Unfortunately, with the meat and cheese, I kept thinking the whole time that this isn’t Twisted Vine in Fullerton. It is good, but I’ve had great — AVANT happy hour in Rancho Bernardo and V. Sattui in Napa Valley are what immediately come to mind.

Looking for a last minute place for a date, the fiancé and I stumbled upon this place through a quick Google search. After a quick peek at their menu (and Unilocal reviews, of course), we made our way over for dinner.
We walked in at about 7:45 pm on a Friday and was seated right away. I think this place is actually right next to Urge. We opted to sit inside and were approached by our server right away. We started out with some wine while perusing the rest of the menu.
DISCLAIMER: IF HAVE AN UNDYING LOVE FOR BLUE CHEESE LIKE ME, YOU ARE GONNA LOVE THIS PLACE! We were drooling at all the plates coming out.
Anyway, we ordered (too much for 2 ppl):
Starters:
–The Board — you pick 3 cheeses and 3 meats. I HIGHLY recommend the Port Salut. So mouthwatering and creamy. Oh and of course blue cheese. Big enough for 3 – 4 as an appetizer, big enough for 1 – 2 as a light dinner.
–The Garlic Fries — these were really, really good. They serve it with your good old ketchup and 2 other aioli sauces. A lot of garlic but really worth every bite!
Entrees (Main Street):
— Bordeaux Short Ribs — I got this with brussel sprouts and sautéed veggies. The meat was very tender and falling apart… the sauce was a little salty though. Brussels sprouts had blue cheese and bacon too.
–Charred Flat Iron — ordered medium rare with brussel sprouts and veggies as well. Topped with blue cheese and fried leeks… so heavenly.
We could barely make it through a third of our entrees. We were practically rolling out of there! The food was amazing, our waitress was super (always checked on us and really friendly).
2 starters + 2 entrées + 2 glasses of wine = about $ 100. And enough leftovers for my lunch AND dinner the next day.
Why did it take me so long to make it here?

Yay for awesome breakfast !!!
We came here on our way to LA we were leaving San Diego and of course gas lamp was busy in the morning people getting breakfast. So we decided to drive out and see what we can find. I found this place and honestly no regrets! I got the stuffed French toast and it’s so deli! My fiancé got the chicken zesty panini with garlic French fries and I had a few bites and it so good! I honestly love French fries and the fries were probably one of the best fries ever! The coffee and OJ were so great! I will totally come back here again next time I am in San Diego!

Taste– **
Service– ****
Ambiance– ***
Parking– ****
To say I was disappointed would be an understatement; The Barrel Room completely missed the bar for me.
Getting into some of the dishes I ordered:
Garlic fries– no doubt the best item I ordered today. Crispy, well seasoned, topped with garlic– yum.
New England clam chowder– Over salted, I couldn’t taste any of the potatoes, celery nor clams. I’m from the East Coast and this did not taste anything close to what I was expecting. The worst part was the cream was a bit broken and the soup had an odd texture. My husband tasted it and thought it was french onion soup.
Salmon Panini w/​cucumber and red onion medley– The panini was tasty, but the medley was wildly under salted. I’m willing to bet that they did not deseed the tomatoes, watering down the entire dish making the salt, and citrus elements virtually undetectable. The large chunks of red onion was also off putting; I would have preferred the onions chopped smaller than the cucumber and tomatoes, especially since the ratio was 1:1.
Champagne Dover Sole– We were told this dish was going to be mild, but just turned out to be bland. The fish was completely not seasoned, and the beurre blanc didn’t add much to the fish. The accompanying mashed potatoes, also under seasoned!
Pork belly ramen– I think I know where all the seasonings for the rest of the meal went. It all went in the «ramen broth.» This was probably the worst «ramen» dish I’ve ever had. I can not see how anyone can drink the broth because of the salt content, it was more like gravy. The portions were so small for lunch, though I’m not sure I would have been able to eat more. I completely do not understand the concept and to me the worst dish of the day.
So with the exception of the garlic fries everything was either not salted or over salted. This was probably one of my worst dining experiences. The savings grace is the wine selection and the good customer service. Overall definitely fell way below expectations for me, would not recommend to anyone.

Wow. What a salad. Apples, candied pecans, blue cheese, and added salmon which was cooked perfectly.
Very nice atmosphere, dark and cozy.
Waitress is very nice and attentive. Knows her wines.
I chose a dark cab for 7 bucks that I’m very pleased with.
Outdoor seating too. Nice bar inside with tv. I’ll be back.