Wonderful Sandwiches, Wine, and Weeping in Temecula

Meritage Restaurant at Callaway Winery

32720 Rancho California Road

Temecula, CA 92591

I told some of the people from work that I was going to be going on my first wine tasting trip to Temecula recently. Most were shocked that I had never been before. To be honest, I'm not really a big fan of wine. I do not appreciate it as much as I know I should. I also know that wine and food complement each other, but I'm more into hard liquor than either beer or wine.

The reason for my maiden voyage to wine country Temecula? It was my good friend Cynthia's 40th birthday, and her fantastic husband had rented a party bus from OC to shuttle us and twenty of her other friends to three wineries. As with most booze trips, things started out kind of slowly, but by the second winery, everyone was feeling pretty buzzed. We were even treated to a breakup and reuniting by one of the couples on our bus. This breakup/makeup cycle happened probably six times and was the train wreck that we, unfortunately, could not take our eyes off of, well, because we were on a bus with them.

Luckily, our bus pulled into the Callaway Winery, where we had reservations at their Meritage Restaurant for a late lunch. It was not only a chance for all of us to sober up a bit but a chance to get away from the constant bickering of the couple that was ruining what was supposed to be a great day for Cynthia as she joined the 40-year club. Lunch was definitely what we all needed.

After we got off the bus, I was awestruck by the beauty of the Callaway Winery, which sits on top of a hill in the heart of the Temecula wine country. Impossible to take a horrible picture with these views. The Meritage is basically a tiered, climate-controlled patio. On this rather chilly day, we were actually pretty comfortable sitting near the window, with the views washing away the drama of the bus ride.

From what I've been able to learn in doing some research, Meritage has been at the Callaway Winery since 2008 and replaced a restaurant called Allie's. They suffered from some pretty stinging reviews in their early history, but a change of chef has benefited them recently. The reason for the turnaround can be attributed to the arrival of Chef Anthony Bar, who came aboard a few months ago. He went to culinary school in France and has worked in fine dining restaurants in France, St. Martin, Texas, and Clifton's Cafeteria in Los Angeles. He also has done some consulting, which is where his OC connection comes in, as he provided support and guidance at Moulin in Newport Beach.

The new menu is very compact. There are eight starters, three sandwiches, seven entrees, and five salads to choose from. I was a little surprised that they had the same menu for both lunch and dinner. Entrees are definitely on the pricier side, with them ranging between $28 to $40. The appetizers run from $16 to $22. Enough of the background here, let's hope this lunch helps us get a little sober and helps decrease the tensions between our two bickering lovebirds.

Even though it's only 22 miles away in a straight line, it seems like the ocean is a long way from Temecula. I sometimes feel a little uneasy getting seafood from what I perceive to be so far from the ocean. Katie and I decided to chance it since we were both very hungry and I spied these Lump Crab Cakes ($20) on another table when we walked in. Glad we did. The tender white crab meat was placed on a very good citrus dijon aioli. The crab cakes were delicious, fresh, and not overwhelmed with any filler. I was afraid that the dijon was going to overpower, but it paired nicely with the crab. Very well done.

Out of the three sandwiches offered, the Chicken ($18) sounded like it would be the most to my liking. The organic chicken breast was joined by crispy bacon, creamy avocado, tomato, lettuce, and a balsamic drizzle. The menu states that the bread used here is pain de mie, but it was not as soft and reminded me more of a ciabatta instead. Nonetheless, it was a good sandwich. The bacon was prominent and the chicken was not overcooked. I wish they had provided maybe an aioli or some mayo as a condiment, but still a solid chicken sandwich. The fries were fine but could have been a little crisper. 

I think Katie had really wanted the chicken sandwich as well, but she knew that I was going to be writing a review of this restaurant, so she had to get something different for varieties sake. The sacrifices a restaurant blogger's wife has to make. Thanks so much, Katie. Her second option was the Fish Salad Sandwich ($18). I believe this fish sandwich was made with yellowtail, but I could be wrong about that. Whatever it was, it was definitely better than I had imagined. This elevated tuna sandwich came with hard-boiled eggs, tomato, guacamole, and what I wish was on my sandwich, a housemade mayo. The fish was fresh and mellow, the hard-boiled egg seemed weird but worked well, and guacamole is never a bad thing. This came with a side salad which I did not try. 

Sadly, dessert was not going to be an option on this late afternoon, due to a scene that one of the fighting lovebirds made in the restaurant and the fact that we were going over our allotted time with our bus driver, who had another trip planned later in the evening. Even with all the chaos going on with our fellow party guests, both Katie and I really enjoyed the food we consumed at Meritage. Just based on the lunch that we experienced, they are definitely going in the right direction here. If we are out this way again, we'd for sure come back and try Chef Bar's entrees. Make note that they are only open for dinner Friday through Sunday. Service was great, considering how challenging it is to serve 20 people who have been drinking all day. The lovebirds? They broke up about three more times on our way back to OC and when we were dropped off, he was last seen walking home by himself. Yes, they got back together the very next day. True love. 

Out of five hot air balloons, (because Temecula is famous for their Balloon and Wine Festival held the first weekend in June), five being best to zero being worst, Meritage at Callaway Winery gets 3 solid hot air balloons.

For more information about Meritage at Callaway Winery, head to their website here: http://www.callawaywinery.com/page-332683/Restaurant.html

Visiting the Food Pyramid at Aztek Taco

Aztek Tacos

43810 Butterfield Stage Road #104

Temecula, CA 92592

I am going to admit something in this review that will open me up to ridicule for some unforeseen amount of time. It is with great trepidation that I admit what I was doing out in this area of Southern California. I am sure that within two guesses you could come up with my final destination of Pechanga Resort and Casino. Were we going to be gambling? No, we were here for a concert, and who we were here to see is probably the thing that will get me ridiculed, but I don't want to give it away just yet, plus it was time for dinner first.

I was not looking forward to eating at the food court at Pechanga, so Katie and I ventured off on our own to explore the culinary landscape of Temecula. Well, we did not actually just drive around aimlessly. I checked on-line reviews and blogs and found a place that people were raving about. It was about ten minutes away from Pechanga, so we headed off to Aztek Taco.

Aztek Taco has not been in this location very long from what I have gathered. They used to be located on Ynez Road, but have since relocated to a new shopping center, which is anchored by a Big 5 Sporting Goods and a Kragen Auto Parts. Not exactly stores that will bring lots of foot traffic into a shopping center. Nonetheless, during our Saturday night visit there was a very steady stream of customers, and sometimes the order line got to be five to six people deep.

Aztek Taco is basically a fast food Mexican restaurant. Ordering is done at the counter, then your food is bought out to you. The menu has everything that you would expect on a Mexican fast food menu; tacos, burritos, tortas, and rolled tacos are included here. After driving for an hour and a half, we were pretty hungry. Lucky for us our food was on our way to the table. Let's see how it all turned out for us.

Before we get to the things we ordered, here is a quick picture of the chips and salsas that they have at Aztek Taco. I kind of liked the chips here. They were a bit on the greasy side, without giving up on the crunchiness. The salsas were okay. They had a small pop of flavor, but their primary use was to add some moisture to the food.

Katie ordered something I have never seen before, the Two Chicken Taco Combo Plate ($6.99). Yes, I have seen tacos, but I have not seen tacos served quesa style. These tacos came with the chicken wrapped in a flash fried crunchy cheese, along with onions, cilantro, and guacamole, then placed on a corn tortilla. I liked this little twist on the standard taco. The chicken here was pretty tender, and the crunchy cheese added a nice texture. Katie liked these, but felt that they were just too rich. She would only get one of these on future visits here. She felt the beans and rice were good for what they were.

My friend Angel has been going on an on about a surf and turf burrito that he wants me to blog about back in OC. I have it on my list, but now I have been craving it ever since. At Aztek Taco they had a Steak and Shrimp Taco ($3.99) on their menu that could help me satisfy my craving for a surf and turf burrito. Not only did this taco contain shrimp and skirt steak, but it came with cheese, mushrooms, guacamole, and a house sauce. This taco was full of flavor. Plenty of steak and shrimp, fresh guacamole, and the house sauce added a decent flavor to this taco. The only thing that kind of got lost here was the mushrooms, but with all of these big time flavors, it was no big deal. The tortilla did an admirable job of keeping all the contents inside without breaking apart. After eating this, I can not wait to have that surf and turf burrito that Angel keeps yapping about.

When we eat in fast food Mexican restaurants, I almost always like trying Rolled Beef Tacos ($4.75). At Aztek they come three to an order, and are topped with guacamole, sour cream and jack cheese. These were just as good as others we have had. I thought they were fried well, and the beef inside was plentiful. The guacamole was little on the watery side, I like a little more chunk to my guacamole. Not bad though.

Aztek Taco had one of my favorite kinds of burrito, the California Burrito ($6.99). This classic burrito comes with carne asada, sour cream, guacamole, cheese, and french fries. This was a pretty large burrito. Almost as big as a half a loaf of bread, I did manage to finish this off. The french fries were predictably a little soggy, and the sour cream was a little too much, but this burrito did have some good going for it. The carne asada was tender and flavorful, while the guacamole was watery, but added some good moisture to this burrito.

I was pretty happy to have dinner at Aztek Taco. The food for the most part was all pretty good for Mexican fast food. The prices were a little on the high side, by at least a dollar or two. The service was okay on the night we were here. The line to order does get a little backed up at times, and the dining area is not exactly the biggest you will find. They do have a patio area, but during colder weather and peak meal times, tables can be at a premium. We definitely felt we got the better end of the deal by not having to eat at the crowded food court at Pechanga. Plus it gave us extra time to prepare for the awesomeness that was the band we were going to see on this night, Air Supply. Even though these Aussie's are into their sixties, they still put on a great show. Feel free to mock me all you want.

Out of five hearts, (because almost all of Air Supply's hits have the word "love" in the title), five being best to zero being worst, Aztek Taco gets 3 hearts.

For more information about Aztek Tacos, click here: http://www.aztektacos.com/index.htm