Blackbird Tavern

Such an awesome place to go to whether your going to drink or sit down and the hostess Linsey is a phenomenal worker and is super engaging to the patrons

One star review is for the bar service alone… understaffed for high volume demand. They do play a good mix of music… spanning from 80s to 90s and top 40. Crowd is a weird mix of old and young tourists … «punk» rock kids… and hip hop crowd. I was also charged $ 18 for a $ 9 dollar cocktail… and received someone’s cash/change…when a debit card was used. Get it together.

I really want to like this place. Been there three times now and it is totally hit and miss. Some food items are pretty good, but some are really bad. They are constantly running out of things (like glasses for drinks???), and the service is so bad it is almost comedic. The place has so much potential, but they need to train their staff.

Went here for lunch and very disappointing. The bar had problems with cooler so no draft beers and when I ordered the specialty drink Watermelon Cooler they couldn’t even make that.
Food was ok but there are better places close by.
Should have walked out. Next time I’ll listen to my wife and go elsewhere.

This is a cool place with a good vibe. The food was spectacular, the short ribs «forgettaboutit» a must have! There is both indoor and outdoor seating depending on your preference. Outside there are fire pits with the seating arranged to create the perfect environment to meet new people. Check it out you will not be disappointed. Rated a four just because I am still searching for perfect

Blackbird Tavern is like a backyard party at your old friend Brads, two years after you got out of college. You feel shameful for being at Brads but maybe it can redeem itself with some fun. Well, it wasn’t fun and you should feel bad
Rude bartenders.
Slow service.
Security (or staff) that bum cigarettes off you.
Expensive drinks.
Babies that try to remove all bad Unilocal reviews
All around, don’t go to Blackbird (aka Brad’s crappy backyard party) I’m sure Brad is a nice guy and he’s cool when he’s not drunk. You can get a bite to eat with him during the day, but don’t go out drinking with Brad in his backyard at night.

We’ve seen good reviews on this place, decided to try it out…
Atmosphere — rustic look, nice and open with picnic style benches. Partially open sitting area, then a back area with a couple fire pits. Tiny bar area. Looks like it can handle large parties well.
Customer service — energetic and up beat. Attentiveness is an entire different story.
Food– nothing to brag about. Mediocre quality but higher end prices. Burger w/​fries $ 14. Good size, but again, lacking flavor. The arugula was the strongest taste. Couldn’t even taste the thick slice of bacon in it. Don’t get the ranch, it’s nothing more than sour cream with that packet of ranch seasoning. Pizzas are 14 inches $ 15. There are 4 to choose from. The crust was the best part.
Drinks — Don’t do it. Not worth the money. At least for the wine anyways. $ 8+ per glass… You get more per glass wine tasting.
Took us 20 mins to get out food. We were the Only ones there eating. 4 people in the bar. A few hanging around the fire pit, that mysteriously started working after the staff told us they weren’t working. One orders coffee, server asks if she would like a fresh cup or is this fine… (seriously?! Wtf food service fail!). Just bring a hot batch since it litterally took you 15 minutes to bring the drinks. When we inquired about issues with the food & drinks. They didn’t seem to care much except the «ohh no» comment.
This place has so much potential if they would just get their act together. So not impressed, won’t be back, wouldn’t recommend it. We should have stayed at viva vino’s.

First off I want to say I’m sure the bar is awesome. Unfortunately I won’t be able to speak from personal experience. Here’s what happened:
The bar typically closes at 10pm on Sunday’s. I was getting married Sunday of Memorial Day weekend and wanted to have the after party at this bar. I worked out a deal with the owner 8 months in advance. I have the confirmation emails and everything. Then I make a follow up phone call 2 day prior to the event and the owner says we are all set. He also suggests I order flatbread pizza’s from the kitchen in advance, so I do. I had been telling my wedding guests about this bar for months.
At 10:45 a school bus full of close to 75 people ready to party show up to a closed bar. I call the owner on the cell phone number he game me «for emergencies» and he doesn’t return my call till the following day, via email.
He apologized and took responsibility. However I would have to caution anyone booking an event there. Maybe don’t trust this location. The owner doesn’t seem to value other people’s time.

Horrible food. We got the pork belly sandwich and the chefs special pizza, both were barley eaten. The pizza looked like the toppings and the dough were cooked separately and assembled before being served. And the pork belly steaks tasted like they were deep fried and put on stale bread with globs of mayo.
The preparation of the food was also something to behold. The sandwich came out of what looked to be a kitchen inside the main restaurant room. The pizza, however, came out of a shed in the back. The pizza also looked like it was prepared using only ingredients from a gift basket, and cut by someone who is both blind and bad at cutting things.
The drinks were also bad. The mimosas we started with were fine, (how can you really mess that up). But the cocktails were bad tasting. But! I’m sure that if we drank enough the food would have been more acceptable. Truly a terrible lunch experience. The fire pits and the waitress were nice though.

We stumbled upon this place as we were waiting for a different restaurant, it’s a very casual atmosphere, with indoor and outdoor dining. Parking is super easy and even if you have to walk a block or two it’s such a quaint town it doesn’t matter.
It’s a loud restaurant with a younger crowd (25 – 30) and service is really slow so if you are not in the space of a long lingering dinner, I would pass. I would not suggest this place for couples as there are other places for couples to enjoy even more.

A total of 6 of us arrived at blackbird to have a few drinks after having dinner at 1909. There was standing room only at the bar. I went to the hostess and asked if we would be able to sit at 6 of the 15 empty seats that were available near the bar. She informed me that we would not be able to have a server at these tables. I politely agreed and let her know we would walk to the bar when we needed drinks and that we would move if she needed the table.
During the hour that we sat drinking and taking, we had 2 different waitresses come to our area and ask us if we needed anything. We declined. They both repeated that no server would be serving our tables, but we could sit there. Not even 20 minutes after the last contact, 2 security guards approached the table and sternly asked to escort me outside so they could speak to me. I felt accosted, so I refused and asked them to speak openly as to whatever the issue was. The security guard got very upset and informed me that we were repeatedly asked to leave and that we were now no longer welcome.
This entire exchange threw me off guard. We were finishing our drinks and getting ready to leave as it were. I was offended and asked to speak to the manager. The security guard from Elite Enforcement security solutions company was incredibly rude and aggressive. I again asked to speak to the manger and informed him that I was through talking to him. The waiter assured me that John or Julian the manger and owner would be coming shortly to talk to us. After waiting 20 minutes and having no show of the manager, we needed to leave to get back to home. We decided to leave and contact the manager by phone.
When we were headed out the door we asked to have the managers number and the employees names to make a complaint. They all refused to help us.
My wife decided to video tape the incident as it was occurring and the security guard proceeded to assault her and hit the phone out of her hand. We decided it was time to leave and call the police. We went out front and awaited help.
I have been to many restaurants in this valley and have never had such a strange altercation. I will not stop to let everyone know the level of customer service and will patiently wait to be contacted by the management or owner to resolve this matter.

Sunday morning brunch:
Lemon ricotta pancakes — really soft and the blueberries and hint of lemon were delightful with the cream
Brussel sprouts — so good, try them it comes with a sunny side up egg on top
Chicken and waffles — savory and tasty, not your standard chicken n waffles plate
Poutine — good but a little salty and have had better
Our server was nice, but the service and the hostesses were abominable. We were told to wait 15 min even when the place was pretty empty and the food took well over 30 minutes to come out. But the food was satisfying and delicious. Food: ⁴⁄₅. Service: ²⁄₅

Really nice place and good food, love the fire pits and the band of bluegrass.
They have good elements to make a good lunch.
I recommend the sprouts.

Made a visit here recently for a couple of drinks and appetizers with my wife. We were told that the wait would be about 45 minutes if we wanted a table, so we found a couple open seats at the bar. There were several tables open for seating, so I’m not sure why the wait, maybe short staffed?
Overall, food was great. Service was OK. We do plan on returning at some point to check out the backyard area.

Have loved patronizing this place regularly for years, but over the past year, it’s really gone downhill. Last night was absolutely the worst!
Sitting at the bar, our wine came in dirty glasses, covered with nasty-​looking watermarks and sticky stems. From our front row seat to the staff’s actions, no one seemed concerned about doing a good job or attending to customers. Staff seemed more into themselves than the customers. Cocktails were sloppily mixed, weakly shaken (like a lighter during a rock concert ballad), and dropped in front of patrons like they couldn’t care less!
A guy next to us questioned the female bartender about his beer not tasting right; she poured herself a taste and replied that it tasted fine to her, but that she wasn’t a fan of IPAs anyway, doing nothing to make the issue right with him. We saw another patron return to the bar to complain about his two beers and he too seemed to struggle with the bartender.
Once upon a time, staff was incredibly buttoned-​up, friendly and started pouring our drinks when they saw us walk in the door. Then good staff started quitting. A couple months ago, the bartender went to the rear patio bar to get a wine we ordered; she never came back. We’re gonna take her lead and do the same.

Service was very friendly, and the food portions here are great! The food was pretty good, not great, and the drinks while tasty, weren’t very strong. Pricing is very reasonable and the ambiance is just perfect. It was quite chilly out at night but they lit the heatlamps and it quickly warmed up.
We had our rehearsal dinner with a party of 20 ppl and they were easily accommodating. The lawn games were occupied for the duration that we were there but overall feel was warm and intimate even though it was jam packed with patrons.

So here’s the thing. I live in Temecula and frequent Front St. Tonight I brought my best friend from Los Angeles here — this is the third time we’ve come here because we want so badly for it to be great.
Shame on us for thinking they’d get better the last two times we were here we sat down, got settled, and attempted to order drinks. They were out of multiple ingredients to make said signature cocktails on a Saturday night (it wasn’t even late yet). After that we attempted to order multiple things from the menu, all of which they were out of. This all would’ve been fine if the server had warned us of the lack of ingredients, had been apologetic or sent a manager over. She failed to do any of these things.
Cut to tonight — we love the ambiance so we thought «why not give it a final try?» We walked in and were told there would be no food served for at least an hour — the kitchen was backed up. This was okay because we were not planning to eat anyway. We tried to order two glasses of prosecco — The bartender said we don’t have prosecco but we do have champagne. My friend asked «Is it good?» And she said «Yes». We paid $ 16 (good deal for two glasses!!) except the bartender was pouring from a $ 4 bottle of ANDRE.
ANDRE.
If I had wanted to spend $ 16 on ANDRE, I would’ve gone to the ⁷⁄₁₁ down the street and bought 4 bottles.
Sorry Blackbird, three strikes, you’re out.

Now, understand, I came here in New Years Eve night and after hearing a lot about this amazing place in downtown Temecula, my friends who brought me here were really embarrassed that they talked about this place and that they had let me down.
Granted I know we came here on possibly one of the busiest nights in the year, but out of the three bars they have at this location, only one was open. My friends and I waited about 15 minutes before we placed our order for drinks. There were only 2 bartenders and 1 bar back working. Once we got our drinks, we went outside and had a seat. None of the heaters were on, and the security people around the place were really immature. I personally felt like they were just trying to seem cool and very bad ass by trying to be all big and mighty around the restaurant.
Again, I know it was New Years Eve, but I wished their game was a little bit more on point. I always give places second chances so hopefully things will change the second time around.

Stumbled inside after an afternoon of wine tasting and a quick dinner at the sushi restaurant a short walk away.
My gf and I weren’t too crazy about the sushi spot we ate at earlier and were still trying to wear off our buzz from our afternoon shenanigans. We made our way to the back and found two open seats by the pit fire, sweet.
We ordered a pizza and it came out promptly. While we waited, we enjoyed people watching and the cozy flames of the fire, even though it was chilly out, we were kept nice and warm.
Servers were nice and checked on us often enough. Our buzz wore off shortly after eating a few slices of pizza and decided we were ready to Über it home. I definitely want to come back and check out Blackbird when I’m more aware of what’s going on, seems like a cool spot to hang out while sober too ;)

The boyfriend and I were in Temecula for his cousin’s wedding and his aunt and uncle had seen this place from the street but never stopped in. Since it seemed to be one of the few places open and not crowded at that time of day, we decided to check out the menu. It was really hot for October so we were hoping for a reprieve from the sun. They didn’t seem to have AC inside so we moved back to the outdoor seating area, which was perfectly shaded and comfortable. The overall décor is cute like something you would find in Silverlake or Echo Park, but without the pretension.
Granted, we weren’t there during peak hours and there weren’t a ton of people there, but the service was great. The food was also surprisingly delicious. I got the chopped salad. Though it could have stood to be a little more CHOPPED, the combination of ingredients worked very well together and I felt sated even without a protein. The boyfriend made a split second order change from the pork belly sandwich to the burger, which disappointed me at first. In the end we were both glad he did because that burger is good. The fries on the side came with this awesome house ketchup and were covered in Pecorino-​y goodness that you want to lick off your fingers. Just a well put-​together plate that I would like to hope any burger snob would be happy with.
If you ever find yourself in downtown Temecula and are looking for a chill place to grab a beer and a burger, Blackbird seems like the place to be. My experience with the service was nothing like some of these other reviews so I’d say it’s worth the risk.