Meritage At Callaway

Worst service

5 Stars ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The views here are absolutely amazing — the sunset, the winery, the whole place is simply beautiful. Since dining is outdoors, it was a bit hot, but that’s to be expected. The steaks were overcooked, but overall, the atmosphere, the location, and the service were excellent. Definitely a must-stop if you’re visiting Temecula. Appreciate the great experience!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

I've lived here for years and dined at this restaurant many times over the years. It's been awhile and saw a prime rib prix fix special on Friday night. Cool! Made a reservation for hubs and I. When we arrived at 630, restaurant was empty, except for 1 other table. Should have been a sign. We were seated, beautiful view of the vineyard. Our server although very friendly, had no idea about the prime rib special, nor was he knowledgeable about their wines. It's a WINERY, people. Ordered a couple glasses which were corked. I could tell right away the color was off. Let him know, he agreed, yeah that bottles been open for awhile! Asked repeatedly if an end cut was available, had to remind him at least 3-4 times to please check. Manager Sam came over, gave us a great wine recommendation on the house (thank you) and he agreed the original wine we were served was bad, he took one whiff and knew immediately. Brussels sprouts appetizer was very spicy with a Sriracha type sauce. In my opinion, it didn't match the prime rib, but maybe that's just my taste. The courses were all served in a timely manner. When the prime rib arrived (yes we did get one end cut), it was slathered with gravy! What!? I've never seen prime rib with gravy, usually au jus and done horseradish on the side. Huge portion. It was cold. Room temperature, like it had been sitting there on the counter since we arrived. I'm not usually one to send food back but please just warm it. Once I scraped off the gravy it was fine. Little roasted potatoes and asparagus spears that were good. Ordered cheesecake for dessert, tasted like it had been in the refrigerator for weeks. Hostess kept wanting to raise the blinds so the sun was blaring in my eyes, attitude, eyes rolling when I asked her to lower it. It's a sheer shade, we could still see the vineyard view, which is beautiful especially at sunset. This restaurant promotes a fine dining experience. It was not that. It was over $200 which isn't crazy expensive but enough where I should enjoy myself! Oh and by the way, I was up sick all night as soon as we got home. So thanks for that little bonus! Do better.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 1

I wanted to love this place. Unfortunately, it was a hot day, (A Monday afternoon) and the few ceiling fans were not doing a great job of cooling the restaurant. I had the strawberry chicken salad which was delicious, and a glass of sparkling wine that wasn’t very good. The view was somewhat blocked by the wall. The seats were uncomfortable, no cushions. The service was excellent.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 5

Service: 5

The standard at this restaurant was very poor. We were very disappointed… …extremely average food ( and I’m being nice) , and way too expensive for the quality of food you will get. DON’T GO !! Not worth it!!! You are basically just paying for the ambiance , and that’s it!!
Will never go back to this place!!

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

Atmosphere was beautiful but the service left much to be desired. I understand Mother's Day is a busier day for restaurants but the expectation from your guests is that you will staff appropriately. This experience took nearly 3 hours and our server only stopped by 3 times unprompted. Every other time we had to get up to get anyone to bring by water or even to order beverages at is was nearly 100F that day. The server was clearly overwhelmed and was handling too many tables to provide us decent service. We requested to speak to the manager who unfortunately was flippant and seemed eager to just be done with the conversation. Food was being kept under heat lamp for too long and came out crunchy and hard. All in all, it was extremely disappointing for the amount of money we spent. I understand Mother's Day is difficult but my main advice would be to staff appropriately and also take ownership when you do not meet the expectations of your guests. TLDR, skip the restaurant and just visit the winery itself.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 2

Service: 1

I absolutely love the pear-flavored rose champagne combined with the curry mussels. The curry jus was delicious and the mussels were covered with shaved coconut. Highly recommended!

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Ashley was amazing! View and food were amazing as well. Highly recommend.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

We went for Lunch on a Tuesday- Burgers with a view! Relaxing and Quiet. Tasty mustard pulled pork sandwhich and a Burger. Quick service

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 4

Service: 5

Food was ok. Quiet afternoon cold weather.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 3

Service: 4

The food was amazing. Service was fantastic. The scenery was beautiful, even for lunch in off-season.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

The window tables offer lovely views of the winery, the place has a bit of a greenhouse vibe though it could do with some more
plants. The food is meh, the dishes are all over the place, if you ordered all the small plates it wouldn’t make a tapas meal, the food reads 3 star hotel by the airport. French fries are frozen and thrown in a deep fat frier, everything served is something you could buy at WinCo and Trader Joe’s but for an artisanal farm to table price.

Parking: There is lots of parking, probably because the food isn’t great and the restaurant is empty.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 3

Service: 3

I ordered a seafood pasta, which I paired with a crisp white wine. The combination was absolutely delicious! The pasta was perfectly cooked, with a rich, flavorful sauce that perfectly complemented the fresh seafood. The wine was a delightful accompaniment, enhancing the overall experience. Adding to the enjoyment was the breathtaking view, which made the entire dining experience truly memorable. It was a truly satisfying meal that I would highly recommend.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 3

I don't take pleasure in writing a bad review for Callaway, as we're locals that used to like it. However, I think it's necessary so they can hopefully do better. Despite the recent mixed reviews, we decided to take a chance based on our past experience dining there.End result: The food *looks* good, but the flavor doesn't match up to the taste. Bland recipes with bad execution, unfortunately. If you just want a view and a glass of wine, it's great.We asked for an available window table. The hostess told us we couldn't have a window seat because our party of 4 needed to be at least 5 for that table. However, throughout the whole meal, nobody with a party of 5 came and that seat remained empty the whole lunch hour (See empty seating photo.)I ordered a light flatbread as a starter, to test how the food would be. Boy am I glad I got something small. It looked great, but it was seriously the worst flat bread I've ever had! It was as tough as cardboard. I shared a bite with the table and everyone was in disbelief that it was let out of the kitchen. No exaggeration - it was inedible and tough! I had to saw through it with my knife. To their credit, they acknowledged it was bad, took it back and off the bill.My mother ordered the muscles with broth. Even though it looked bright, like it would have flavor, it was very bland with hardly any taste.My father ordered the short ribs with mash. There was so much mash with short ribs that simply tasted like pot roast. Not much flavor at all. Wouldn't you think a short rib dish at a winery would have a nice flavor of... wine? It was blah, average at best.The waiter took the cost of the flat bread and asked if I'd like to order something else. Frankly, when you mess up something so simple, I don't have confidence you can get more complex dishes right. We left our dishes unfinished, didn't order wine as we usually would and left. That was an expensive meal for less than fast food satisfaction.It still has a great view, so if you come by for a glass of wine on the patio, you should be fine. To Callaway management - Please do better. We miss how it used to be.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 1

Service: 2

I don’t usually leave reviews but Chris, who answered the phone, is really doing the establishment a disservice. I only called to ask if it’s reservation only or if I’m able to go day of and just wait for an opening since their online reservations are booked up. Chris didn’t even let me finish my sentences before cutting me off and responding. He clearly wanted to get me off the phone asap. So although it looks lovely this will not ever be a place I consider bringing my family.

Service: 1