Dined with my beautiful girlfriend Saturday night for their Grand Opening weekend.

Decor was gorgeous. Barn-styled motif with real wood tables. Lots of parking out front but when busy, may need to park on a side street. The building had a wrap around patio and walk-up wine tasting area (I think!). Their Host Stand is a little blue distressed dresser that is just adorable (and functional!).

The staff were friendly and smiling. I believe the Manager was Ken, a very friendly and active guy all night wearing an awesome “Red, White and Blue” cowboy hat. Our server was great. She smiled when she arrived at our table. She recommended a few items for us to consider.

We placed our order with her and waited patiently for maybe ten minutes? We ordered three appetizers, no mains. All three arrived simultaneously, piping hot!

The pan-braised Brussels sprouts with lardons were our favorite! It had such an amazing flavor! The sprouts were cooked perfectly. Along with the sauce, the crispy lardons were the best accompaniment. This is probably going to be their best dish!

The second plate was a bowl of medjool dates that were pitted and stuffed with goat cheese and toasted almonds and wrapped with bacon. OMG! these were really really tasty! The contrasting textures between the crispy bacon on the outside coupled with the warm creaminess of the goat cheese inside created a wonderful flavor party in my mouth.

Our last dish was their Parmesan bread with red lentil hummus and tapenade. It was very fresh and lemony (the hummus). The bread pieces were crispy and tasty. The hummus was spot on! The tapenade was kind of just ‘there’? We really didn’t notice too much tapenade actually. I’m not a huge fan of tapenade so it was okay for me! LOL But I wanted to try it if there had been more to try.

I’m sure they’re still ironing out some kinks. One example is that my girlfriend’s menu wasn’t completely the same as mine. Her’s was missing some items and the server explained that they’re still sorting through the menus. No worries!

When it was time to check out, out server brought us the bill in a small hardcover recipe book!! How quaint and innovative. I noticed the other tables around us had their bills in small books too. The server even suggested that we write a message inside the cover! I freaking love that!

We will definitely be back again! Can’t wait!

Be sure to visit them the next time you venture out to Old Town Murrieta. They are located at the Plowboys building on Washington Avenue. Their address is: 24683 Washington Avenue, Murrieta, CA 92562. Give them a call for reservations: 951.600.2800.