Villa Creek Restaurant

The 'Pepino' drink is delicious.

I'm a fan of both the regular restaurant/table service side and the bar side. Be aware that both sides serve food and drinks, but operate with different menus. On the bar side the menu is made up mostly of tapas. Their restaurant menu changes regularly to reflect what's in season and locally available.

The service is always quality, and the menu(s) are fun. Not too much to say about Villa Creek, just predictably, solidly good.

They have changed their menu so unfortunately I did not get to try the buttermilk rabbit or the not nachos everyone was raving about. That being said, in my home city, I love restaurants that change menus as it gives me reasons to return.

We strolled in on Taco Tuesday and ordered a carnitas taco to start. At $2.50, we figured it was worth a shot. OMG was this a good carnitas taco! My husband is a bit if a taco connoisseur so was skeptical about ordering one in a non Mexican restaurant but he almost cried biting into the juicy little taco.

I ordered two apps: mussels in ginger coconut sauce and a burratta salad atop a bed of frisée and served with a side of stone fruit which is a cross between a peach and a plum. The mussels were everything people promised. Savory, yummy- just wished it was served a little hotter and bread was less burnt.  (In fairness, I don't like toasted bread.) the burrata was disappointing. For $12 it was the tiniest portion of cheese. Good but could be more generous.

Husband had the rabbit mole, which was stuffed into a green pepper. Not my kind of thing but he said was well cooked.

Service was good. They missed my order for fish taco and comped my drink when it was brought to their attention.

Note on margaritas: heard a lot on yelp about mint margarita, but was disappointed. It was a margarita with a few leaves of mint thrown into it for $12. The mint didn't infuse into the drink so it just looked like decoration. Husband had the $10 margarita and it was almost identical tasting. For the price, neither was spectacular.

Wonderful wine list (even great by-the-glass options) and sommelier but food is so boring. Flavors need to be richer and interesting. The ingredients are good quality. Service is good. Lots of options for kids.

Mushroom Escabeche - boring (flavor-wise) mushroom caps served cold
Guacamole - boring, needs more flavor
Lemon Castelvatranos - served beautifully but needs some more depth of flavor
Ahi Tuna Ceviche - excellent
Hatch Green Chiles, Pork, Queso Fresco - cheese too salty, pork is nice and tender, overall standard flavors
Steamed Green Lip Mussels - wonderful.
House Made Brioche - too dry
Sautéed Sea Bass-good