The Cellar Lounge

Specialty cocktails are always delicious and everything on the menu has been tasty and great to share.
Bartenders are always nice. Great place to come if you want to feel like you're somewhere out of Temecula.

We were staying at the Ponte Inn (which is wonderful btw) and went down to the Cellar for a light dinner and some wine. The place is very nice, although it did get a little crowded as the crew from that evening's wedding found their way there as well. The food was just what we were looking for and the Ponte wines were very nice. Even able to try some they didn't have at the winery like "Angry Wife". I do have to say though, the best part were the two guys providing the music, one on the guitar and the other playing percussion by hand. They played some classic songs that are perfect for folks who actually listened to music in the 70's and 80's!

We are definitely coming back to the Inn and the Cellar Lounge!

The Cellar Lounge is part of the Ponte Winery and Inn; I spent a couple of nights next door at the South Coast Wine Resort. While I loved South Coast, the only aspect lacking was a lone mediocre, overpriced restaurant. While doing a wine tasting, we at some point commenced talking about local restaurants with the gentleman pouring our wine and he mentioned that the restaurants at Ponte were a significant improvement. I wish we had learned this earlier in our stay as we enjoyed the food, ambiance, and staff we encountered.

The Cellar Lounge is below ground and has an intimate ambiance with the dark lighting and had the vibe of a sheik lounge. A beautiful wine display comes into view as you enter and you have the option of sitting in stools along the lengthy granite bar or at a variety of tables, couches and plush chairs. There is a well stocked bar (the only full bar nearby), three local beers on tap (several more in bottles) and a variety of wines by Ponte as well as from elsewhere. A wide array of craft cocktails run $12.

The menu is small, but nice featuring upscale pub food ( i.e. the sliders are made from short rib rather than beef patties). 4:00pm to 7:00pm on weeknights is happy hour. One beer on tap, two wines (a red and a white) and well drinks run $4 to $6 and three food items are priced at five bucks each. We took advantage of this and ordered all three items (the aforementioned sliders, nachos and a Caesar wrap). For five dollars this was a steal; my favorite was the Caesar wrap, everything tasted fresh and I particularly loved the Parmesan cheese. The nachos were quite good too; the tomato salsa appeared to be homemade and again the ingredients seemed fresh - while there was no meat included, the more expensive non happy hour version contains sausage. The sliders again were spot on with the only criticism being that they were just a wee bit dry.

While the lounge seating looked nice, we sat up to the bar and really enjoyed bantering with the staff; everyone was quite friendly and we left not only wanting to return, but also wanting to partake in Ponte's two other venues, The Restaurant at Ponte (casual setting serving American cuisine open daily for lunch, but only weekends for dinner) and Boquet (fine dining venue that was awarded four diamonds by AAA in 2012). If you are in Temecula definitely check this venue out!