The Restaurant at Ponte

We had their veggie wrap, their bacon-​wrapped meatloaf, and their cheese, breads & jams platter. Everything was amazing! For dessert, we had this coconut & pineapple cake that tasted like banana cream pie… Mmm…delicious

This restaurant is beautifully arranged with outside seating. Half the seating is covered with heat lamps while the other half is under a tarp and heat lamps on top. The seating has enough room to walk around and you are not too close to others. The food was really good and not too bad for the cost. Just FYI for steak eaters, I asked for a medium well steak to have a little bit of pink but it was well done and too hard to chew. The Wait was not long at all and the bread is delicious. It’s a very romantic place surrounded by a garden.

This review is strictly for the lamb burger that was on the menu during the last visit. I hope the chef reads this and please update the burger or take it off the menu. The ground lamb used to make the patty was outstanding, good meat quality. Unfortunately it was served with a large beet slice, raw red onion and blue cheese. All three ingredients were overpowering the delicious lamb patty and they did not make sense.

The wait is horrible. I checked in and was told 20 minutes and 30 minutes passed and still wasn’t called. Kept seeing other people show up and they would get a table in 5 mins. Worst thing is they ruined my anniversary plans. I left after 35 minute wait

Locals in Temecula recommended this restaurant when we asked which vineyard we should visit for lunch. We weren’t disappointed! Beautiful setting, fantastic food and service, lovely walking areas to stroll after lunch and see more of the property. It was a memorable afternoon and great way to kick off a Sister’s Trip to California.

The service:
The service is SO SLOW! Being a server myself this was so irritating. Dont get me wrong our server was kind and friendly but at one point we were sure he was avoiding our table. We waited over 45 minutes for our food while the couple next to us who ordered after us already had their 2^nd course.
The food:
Pretty basic, the oxtail was like tuff and very dry ground beef, not cutlets (we returned it). The Salmon was extremly salty but with the pastsa being very very bland it leveled it out a little. The chicken tortilla soup is basic. Idk
What can I say the best part of this entire restaurant is the décor. I wont be returning.

I definitely feel this is a solid $$$ not the $$ which is advertised.
Its a winery so you are more than likely get a glass of wine with your meal. Unless it is an extension of your wine tasting and you are just getting a cheese and nut platter I could see 11 — 30 $ per person.
We enjoyed the sangria btw which was very good and refreshing in the hot Temecula sun. There is a generous amount of house bread, which I could say just the bread alone and wine would have made a perfect afternoon snack.
The salad was amazing, so fresh and son unique. In fact were going back to try all of them. The 5 cheese platter for an appetizer was so well selected and went magically together with the selection of nuts and jams and bread. We didn’t even try an entrée.
But our bill was more then 30 $ a person for the salad /​drink /​cheese platter which was well worth the money… just don’t expect to pay 11 — 30 $ when it is closer to 30 — 45 a person when you include a glass of wine. (who doesn’t drink wine at a winery? well honestly the food was so good I might be the first… but the sangria was sooo good too!)

There is a beautiful view view, good food, and passable wine. The food is reasonably priced.
The thing that got the fifth star was that they have floor baskets for the Mrs. And brought blankets to chilly people. Awesome service is awesome!

During our day visit to Temecula, we stopped at the Ponte Restaurant at the suggestion of our sommelier at the San Antonio Winery, where we visited earlier in the week. The weather couldn’t have been more beautiful for an outdoor lunch, and the scenery at Ponte makes for a great dining atmosphere.
I ordered the Salchicha pizza: Spanish chorizo, spicy capicolla ham, roasted red peppers, red onions, manchego cheese + mozzarella, with a spicy marinara sauce. It’s a thin crust, oven-​fired pizza, and the crust was nicely charred and crispy. The chorizo was the best topping, lightly spicy and had bold flavor. I ate most of the pizza, and barely had any to share, haha.
My boyfriend had the meatloaf: bacon wrapped beef, creamy mushroom demi glacé, smoked gouda, yukon mashed potatoes, and sauteed broccolini. The restaurant boasts that they serve all natural, hormone free meat and game. He liked his dish, but thought that the meatloaf was too dry (easily fixed with more sauce).
The service was fast and friendly. I am glad we acted on the suggestion of our sommelier; we had a lovely lunch and beautiful scenery for lunch at Ponte.

I had been to a wedding here a few years ago and it was the best wedding food I’ve ever eaten so we made a point to have dinner here during our stay.
Our dinner started on a high point and kind of fell to mediocre. The ambiance is gorgeous. Though it was winter and outside the heaters kept t warm enough to not wear a jacket. Being outside in the twinkle lights was absolutely lovely. Their house bread and sauce are very good. We ordered the meat and cheese platter and the small is bigger than some large platters I’ve had at other places. It was good. Noting terrible, nothing amazing but a little for all tastes. We decided to order a pizza, the steak special and a side of their rainbow carrots to share all. The carrots were the star of the three. We were told the Rum cake would travel the best to our hotel room but I suspect they just had a lot of rum cake they wanted to unload. It was kind of like a Christmas tres leches but neither of us much cared for it. Together we made it through about a fourth of it until we admitted that we did not want to eat it. I’m a bit disappointed just because I had such lovely memories of their food. If I come back I’ll probably stick to ambiance, appetizers and wine.

The bread and dip was awesome. OK, maybe not what you want to hear about first in a restaurant/​winery review, but it’s pretty unique and enjoyable. The service is excellent. The ambience is nice, located outdoors where you can enjoy the nice Temecula weather under a shade and heat lamps like a true Californian.
I went with my dark side and ordered a burger and fries. It was not good. Too much bun for the patty and condiments. And, by condiments I mean garnish like onions and grilled veggies. There was no sauce of any variety, making for a dry burger on top of the well done patty (ordered medium rare). I ended up asking for mustard. They have Yellow. Yep, no true backup option for sauce on a dry burger. Probably serves me right for ordering a burger at a winery but the cholesterol infused heart wants what it wants.

First time eating at Ponte and it was awesome! We came on a late Sunday afternoon to wine tasting then a subsequent meal.
–We started off with comp bread and pesto dipping sauce. The sauce was amazing!!! We definitely requested additional for our party.
–We then had the special cold Summer Watermelon Gazpacho Soup. It was very refreshing. If you’re not used to cold soup, you may want to pass or even share a bowl with the people in your party.
–The jam spreads, breads and dried fruit platter was amazing. The jams were all made in-​house and had the right amount of flavors.
–Burrata cheese was to die for! We are all into burrata cheese and we had to order this to share. Delicious!
–Cheese platter had some great selections. Also came with a side of pickled veggies and mustards.
Overall, our experience was great. We had good service and they accommodated our large party without issue despite them being super busy on a weekend.

Best winery restaurant I have ever eaten at.
We came up on 10÷13÷15 around noon for lunch, no reservations… no problem.
Warmly greeted by receptionist, and shown to a lovely seat close to the misters, but not wet. Seating at this time was all outdoors, with a covered area for the «sun-averse”(aka…ME!)
Joshua was our server, and he was professional, courteous and considerate… as well as knowledgeable about the fare and wines, always a plus.
We started with the three cheese plate ($ 16.00) featuring a brie-​ish type, a bleu-​ish type and a Manchego. Came with candied pecans, plenty of fruit and was well matched to the Chardonnay glass she had ($ 10.25) and Moscato ($ 9.25) that I had.
Perfectly choreographed, Joshua took our empty plates and brought out the Butternut squash ravioli that she ordered ($ 18.00) and the bacon-​wrapped meatloaf with smoked gouda mashed potatoes ($ 23.00) that I requested.
My sole complaint was that the meatloaf was under-​seasoned, which was resolved by Joshua suggesting some sriracha sauce, which was perfect. I had a glass of the Doppietta ($ 12.50) with the meatloaf and it was also perfect.
Expensive lunch to be sure, but the ambiance, food and service are more than worth it, and this would be a treat for anyone to enjoy mid-​week, where it is quiet and relaxing.
We will go again!

Came here to celebrate a birthday celebration and they charged us an extra $ 4 per person for bringing a cake for them to serve us. I don’t know why they had to charged us, we where already a party to begin with. And that extra $ 4 was all added on top of the gratuity.
Anyways, we tried their soup of the day. Which was a cold leek potato soup. Never had my soup cold before but it was ok. It lack of leek favoring and there where no present of the leek itself. So if just tasted like a cold water down potato soup with dried bacon bites on top.
Pizza– I did not like the sauce that was used. It was super sour and tangy. Took one bite and I was done with it.
Ahi sandwich– it came with a big piece of tuna, tomatoes, lettuce, red onions, and avocados. The tuna it was cooked well. But lacked of favor. It needs more of the mayo sauce that it came with. The sandwich came with fries which was overly salted with some green onions.
Service was ok. We had a great time but knowing the fact that it was additional $ 4 on top of our meal made us uneasy. I expected better tasting food since this place already cost a lot to begin with.
Probably will be coming but just for the wine tho.

I was pleased with my visit. Ponte is really beautiful. It’s one of the vineyards that has an inn also so there are dining options here. They have 3 restaurants and we decided for the restaurant at Ponte.
My only complaint was all the empty tables and I still had a 30 minute wait. They need to let go of some of their reservations especially with only a few parties waiting for a table.
It was a nice ambiance. It’s outdoor seating and this guy was playing and singing songs on his piano. To drink, I had a sangria and it was amazing. I ordered the Agnolotti for my meal. It is a ricotta, marcapone, and parmesan stuffed pasta with Italian sausages and artichoke hearts in this creamy artichoke sauce. It was reasonably priced at $ 20 and I knew the pasta would be filling and it was. I love artichokes and it’s definitely a different tasting pasta from what I am used to. I absolutely loved it. It’s very delicious and the sauce tasted great.
For dessert we shared the pot of crème. The chocolate was divine and the hazelnut cookies were perfect.
The staff here is really nice and accommodating. They have baskets for your purses which I thought was cute. It definitely gives me hope for the dining experiences in Temecula wine country. Can’t wait to come back again.

We came here over Easter weekend for lunch. I like Ponte more than the other overpriced lackluster wineries in the area. It has solid food and wine.
I don’t remember the menu being so expensive so that would have affected our return had we not just moved out of state!
The hostess gives you a basket to set your handbag in so that it does not get dirty. I’ve never seen that before. Great idea!
We started with the charcuterie plate. It has a variety of cheeses and pickled vegetables. It also had spicy pickles and mustards. It was different than any other meat and cheese plate I’ve ordered before (and this is my staple app for wine tasting).
We shared the salchicha pizza with Spanish chorizo, capicolla ham, roasted red peppers, red onions, manchego and mozzarella cheeses and spicy marinara sauce. It was delicious and had a just-​right kick to it.

Beautiful place to hang out. It’s like you’ve been transported off to Tuscany.
Service was not stellar. We got a nice table on the patio, but the water sprinkler was dripping on us from above. So we asked to change tables — which they did, but no one offered to help us move; we were clearly on our own. Since we were now assigned to a new waiter the service level dropped off tremendously.
Food was mediocre at best. Paella was very fishy and tomatoey. Barely ate half of it. Burgers were dry. Ravioli — good, but nothing special.
Overall impression — great atmosphere, mediocre food, and apathetic service. If you have enough wine then I guess it does not matter, but I’m not in a rush to come back.

I had lunch here a couple months ago on a long weekend. Make a reservation so you don’t have to wait, because this is a very popular place to dine since the food is amazing! They start you off with the most delicious loaf of bread and green dipping sauce. My BF could not stop eating this bread, I think we must have gotten 2 or 3 loaves. I had the turkey burger and salad and he got the burger and fries. The food was delicious and tasted fresh, I believe they get their ingredients from the local farmers. I also had a yummy glass of Voignier, which was my favorite from the wine tasting we did here. I loved the outdoor seating, it’s so pretty here. I can definitely see how this could be an ideal wedding venue. I hope to be back soon to try the other delicious food on their menu.
Even though they were really busy, service was good. Plentiful free parking in front.

Absolutely stunning place and lovely people!
For a special occasion, I attended a dinner at this Temecula wine restaurant. Unbelievable place. Gorgeous building, and one of the most beautiful store and wine tasting rooms I’ve seen. It featured items for sale such as olives, fine jams, and imported Italian and french ceramics, etc.
Due to a 530pm dinner reservation, I missed the wine tasting as it closed at 5pm (fyi: most, if not all, Temecula tasting rooms close at that time). I will definitely have to return one day in the future… because everything was just so beautiful!
The restaurant of Ponte Winery, was voted top 50 outdoor dining experiences in the US (well, according to their website). Holy. I don’t know who votes, but they sure know what they are talking about! As the evening transpired, it was definitely one of my the best or top 2 nicest outdoor dining experiences I’ve ever had, and perhaps one of my all-​time favorite experiences.
Surrounded by the vineyard on one side, a beautiful patio, the barrel room, and the lovely main building/store…sipping (to start) with a Pinot Grigio, a solo guitarist playing light jazz, delightful and attentive service added to the fact that the weather was particularly perfect.
The printed menu features daily selections, meat and vegetarian alike. While there is a nice selection to choose (steak, fish, chicken, pastas)…it as just ‘good’, but not great. What was great and made up for what the food lacked was the service. Mick, our waiter, was fun and casual, attentive and brought various extras along the way. Lynn, the manager, had such great energy… and very welcoming. All in all, the place is perfect for the special occasion, a glass of wine, dessert with a coffee, or all of the above.
It’s casual, and very comfortable. A very special place!
~5/​2012

Great outdoor spot to have lunch, snacks, wine, coffee, and more. No breakfast here however, but I believe the hotel serves it. Came here for brunch and had amazing coffee and a couple great pizza’s.
I ordered a steak and mushroom pizza, and my friends ordered a roasted beet salad and chicken pesto pizza, trip tip, ceviche, and seafood pasta.
All were great except one which was a chicken melt sandwich with apples and jam. Stay away from that. Sounds good one the menu but is kind if disgusting and not for me. Not sure how that even got on the menu.
Overall, a great spot to enjoy lunch.