Shorty’s Bistro

Came here to dine for lunch, and they no longer do full service here. They have a short menu; order at the register and wait for the food to come out. No vegetarian or fish options on the new limited menu. Definitely not a good value, nor a relaxing set up. Maybe one day they’ll bring back the full service restaurant, but until then, this is a one star food establishment.

Mt Palomar Winery and Shorty’s Bistro provide an excellent stop for a nice lunch or some relaxing wine tasting here in the beautiful wine country of Temecula! We split a huge sandwich, Turkey Ciabata accompanied with crispy French Fries and a generous glass of their Viognier… a favorite of ours! This is what LIFE is about for us these days and we couldn’t be more happy… Come give it a try!

Shorty’s Bistro is closed, and has apparently been closed for three months. Quite sad, but I was told they are building a new restaurant. It appeared to still be opened since it is still on the large sign at the entrance of the winery. Mount Palomar is still a wonderful place to go tasting!

Food was AMAZING, and the prices are unbeatable! There’s a live band on weekends too! However, I was very disappointed when we had reservations and our host seated us by the fountain, and then another host told us to get up and be reseated at a different table so she could seat another couple at our table – our host was very apologetic, but that type of customer service is unacceptable. To make matters worse, we were reseated to a table that was on an angle which was just an uncomfortable dining experience. For the quality of food and the prices, it doesn’t bother me too much… I just feel like it shouldn’t be too much to ask for all the tables to be level.

Have been to the winery a couple of times for tastings. Was very impressed with the atmosphere… the place is beautiful! Today was my friends 50^th bday, and I wanted to take her somewhere nice, yet relaxing and quiet. Figured the winery wouldn’t be very crowded on a Monday afternoon. I had the burger. It was absolutely fabulous. She ordered the Tuscan Flatbread (something I was also looking to order). I tasted hers and it was also very good. Bottle of wine was half price with 2 entrees. Food was a little slow, but isn’t good food worth the weight? I would definitely go back. The sooner the better. Service was great also.

On a trip with my boyfriend for my birthday and we came across this cute winery with a delicious restaurant! I was starving so we decided to give it a shot, Roxy was our waitress and the menu was a bit short but we were not disappointed. Great service, food, and the prices we’re reasonable. I would definitely come back here again. PS… make sure you get the ahi poke… delicious!

We were in town for a wine shipment pick up and decided to try places we hadn’t been before… and we arrive at Mt Palomar winery. More importantly, shorty’s Bistro where we sat down for lunch. Our waitress Roxy was exceptional, I explained I had a list of food allergies and she made sure I ordered food that was safe for me. My husband and I had the Shorty burger, he had the potato salad side (sweet potato, yukon gold and purple potatoes… noms!) I had the chick pea salad, which was quite delicious. Our darling friend ordered a BLT and she said it was very good. We would highly recommend eating here, the food is priced right, no pretentiousness whatsoever, and it was tasty to boot. I’m super happy
Roxy was knowledgeable in their menu ingredients because it really helped me determie what I could safely eat. If you are in town, come by and eat. Not only will you be eating delicious food, you will be supporting a locoal business instead of a corporate giant.
P. S. we are off to taste their wines…

We had a late lunch here after a great day of wine tasting at Mount Palomar Winery. Our experience here has been amazing. Everyone is super friendly and very knowledgeable about their food. Christy was a great hostess and very accommodating. Our server Roxy was also super cool. What I really like about this restaurant is the ambience, it’s not very loud. I also really like the small waterfall they have so It adds to the tranquility of our dining experience. I will definitely come back here again.
Edit: The food turned out to be a mixed bag. The chicken in their salad was dry, not well-​seasoned, and had a weird flavor. My fennel sausage platbread pizza didn’t have a lot of flavor. A friend of mine enjoyed his bacon sandwich. The menu needs work, but I’ll gladly try this place out again in the future.

Excellent food and the service is second to none. Roxy made our experience one to remember. The food was absolutely fantastic. Can’t wait to come back. Not to mention the scenery and ambiance is one of a kind.

Spending time with old friends. The bistro is charming and Roxy is a delightful server!

Super yummy flat bread! I would have given this place a 5 if it wasn’t for being a bit over priced :(. The service was great, Roxy was so sweet and totally accommodated my food allergies. The atmosphere is just beautiful. We loved the hot rolls and herb butter– yummy! Great end to our weekend. We also love that it named for the vineyard dog — Shorty.

My husband and I had an amazing meal here in between wine tastings. He ordered a flatbread with feta cheese, artichoke hearts, cherry tomatoes which was delicious however my Shorty’s burger was the best out of our two dishes… The blue cheese and Caramelized onions made this dish! Our bill was $ 34 for both entrees because we only had water

Ive been a member of Mt Palomar for a little less than a year. I kept telling myself «oh need to try the restaurant», but never have. And then, out of no where… the perfect opportunity presented itself I WAS STARVING. Ding! Ding! Ding! Time to eat. I had my mother there and we were ready to attack lol.
Let me get the bad out of the way… I don’t want to end of a bad note. So, the major issue is… THEY ARE SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW. Like real slow, like Ill cook it myself slow. It didn’t help that a party of 20 came in right after, but when I’m hungry that’s not my concern. It took a while, to order, to get water, to get the food. Everything just took way too long.
:FOOD:
Shorty’s Burger ($ 15) — Ah-​mazing. I am a burger lover, and this burger didn’t disappoint. The burger was loaded with yummy Bleu Cheese and Provolone, Red Onion Marmalade, Truffle Aioli in-​between a soft Toasted Pretzel Bun. I had a spicy coleslaw on the side, the coleslaw was OK, not bad though.
Mahi Mahi Club Sandwich ($ 16) — My mom didn’t care for this, I had a bite and I thought t was OK. I was more interested in my burger. She ended up sending it back and getting a Chicken Caesar Salad ($ 14), which was incredible. This isn’t like a bowl of lettuce and 3 chicken strips, NO… they use a whole bird it seems. I «had» to help my mom eat the chicken. Yes, had to… she forced me lol.
Id come back, to try more things… but they really need to improve on their time management.
PS Is you are a wine club member, you get 10% off your bill (I love a deal)

Shorty’s is the restaurant at Mt. Palomar Winery.
Mediocre food. Bad service. Overpriced.
The wedding area is beautiful. Shorty’s Bistro is not.

I had two girlfriends come from Los Angeles to visit me and do lunch in the vines last week!
It was a beautiful but hot day in Temecula. I do floral designs for events in Wine Country, so was eager to take them To Mt. Palomar Winery, as its a very picturesque location that is one of my faves on Rancho Ca. Rd.
I had not eaten at Shorty’s before, but was very pleased with the lunch menu and wines. We were seated right away, We chose to be seated inside in the AC, since my friends were not used to the heat. and we enjoyed the funky wine décor.
Service as mentioned was Ca. slow, LOL, But it gave us a chance to talk and laugh and enjoy, Be warned dont go here if you are a Type A personality or in a hurry! This is a place to come and relax.
They were making a house white Sangria infused with Blood orange and raspberries that day, that was a perfect choice for lunch. We ordered a carafe and drank every drop! When our waitress finally arrived to take our lunch order, we ordered the Tuscan flat bread with chicken and the BLT with Rosemary Aoli and a field salad, Everything was delicious, although it would have been nice to have some salad or fruit with the Tuscan meal to balance it out. Proportions were good for lunch service.
We did get a kick out of the amount of people celebrating on a Thursday, wine tour happiness and laughter seemed to rule !
I Hope to go back again with my Husband and more friends, Maybe try their fun Fridays with Live music!

Dined here with a friend on Friday 4÷26÷13 prior to doing a tasting at the Mount Palomar tasting room. When we arrived, we were seated immediately. There was barely anyone sitting outside on the patio which was nice because that meant better, more attentive and faster service, right?! WRONG!!! Service moved at snail pace and was almost non existent! We only saw our waitress at the time she took our orders and when she delivered our food. No one came in between to see if we were doing okay or if we needed anything. I think they might have changed the area she was covering, but sent no one to cover our table. We had to flag down someone just to get us water and our check. We were both out of water and did not get refills until the end of our meal, which to me is totally unacceptable.
Food wise we ordered their Charcuterie Platter for $ 16, which included assorted meats (salami and prosciutto), cheeses, olives and bread. The meats were way too salty and as for the cheese, I have had better tasting cheeses from Trader Joe’s. It is WAY over priced for what they serve you. We also split the cured Italian flat bread pizza for $ 17, which was nothing to write home about.
Overall, a very disappointing dining experience which is a shame as we had great service and excellent wine from the Mount Palomar tasting room and even joined their wine club. One of the wine club benefits is 10% off your bill at Shorty’s Bistro. However, I don’t think I will be returning to Shorty’s even with the discount!

It was my friend’s birthday so she decided to go wine tasting in Temecula. Shorty’s Bistro is located in the Mount Palomar winery. All of us were pretty hungry after drinking so much wine after only two stops.
FOOD — 3 Stars: In our group, we had the following appetizers:
— French Onion Soup (
): This was really good, but only because 1) we were cold and 2) we were starving. There were seven of us and we all ordered the soup. However, they told us there was only two serving left. How sad right? You’re freezing cold and the last thing that happens is that you can’t have soup! What a travesty! Haha. Anyway, they eeked out an extra soup somehow. I don’t know if they added more water or put bigger pieces of bread in it, but we were happy to have three soups to share.
— Artichoke Dip (
): This was alright. Nothing special about the dip or the pita chips. The best part was that it was on the house since they ran out of soup.
The entrees we ordered were:
— Pesto Chicken (
): This was basically a chicken pesto sandwich with mozzarella, and tomato (I think) in a flatbread. The flatbread isn’t the thin bread that you’d normally think about it. It was a bit bigger. The cheese was actually a generous portion, but I took some out because it was just too much for my taste. The pesto flavor was kind of there, but it was almost forgettable.
— Marinated Chicken (
): This was a big piece of chicken in a wheat bun with bacon, cheese, and lettuce with chipotle dressing. This was pretty good. I actually split the sandwich with this and the pesto one and this completely won hands down. The portion of chicken was better as well as the flavor.
The sandwiches come with a side of spicy red potato salad, pasta salad, cucumber salad, or a fresh green salad. We opted to get the spicy red potato salad, which was really good though I added pepper because I wanted more spice. I also ordered a side of hot sauce which worked great with the side of potato as well as the sandwich.
SERVICE — 4 Stars: Our server was very friendly and was quick to take our order. However, they were also quick to try take away our appetizer when there was some left. We said we’d leave it there since we were still trying to eat it. Overall, the service was pretty good.
ATMOSPHERE — 3 Stars: There is an outdoor seating area as well as the inside which resembles the inside of a cellar. With that being said, it was cold inside the restaurant portion. I was hoping they could close the door to keep the coldness out, but it was just wide open.
RECOMMENDATION: If you’re in the area, I’d say try this place out. The food isn’t spectacular, but it definitely hits the spot and will tide you over as you keep drinking. An important note for this place is that if you’re a member or just become a member, you get 10% of your bill!

My bf and I visited Mount Palomar during our first trip to Temecula, and ate here before going to the tasting room (see review of winery at
).
For lunch, we ordered the Gyro on Pita and Salmon Florentine. It seemed a bit pricey for the amount of food you get, but the food was still enough to get full off of. The gyro was simple but didn’t taste bad, and the salmon turned out pretty good. The salmon might’ve been a little overcooked (not flaky enough), but the spinach and hollandaise sauce went really well with the salmon. The roasted potatoes that came with the salmon were crispy and tasty.
Our waiter was very friendly and attentive. It was chilly when we went, so the staff immediately brought out a heat lamp for us once we sat down.
This is a good place to stop by for lunch if you do not want to leave the wineries and drive far for a decent meal.

I posted this on the review for Mount Palomar as well because the winery and restaurant go hand in hand, but have separate reviews.
Visited the restaurant today with a friend for lunch. There is a beautiful, covered patio area with plenty of seating, but because it was so hot outside, we ate in the inside area known as the cave (an old barrel room converted to a dining room that stays nice and cool). The service was prompt, and the waitress let us taste some wine before we purchased the bottle. For an appetizer we ordered the green apple bruschetta, which was some brie, melted on lightly toasted bread, then topped with green apples and drizzled with honey. It was fantastic, and I appreciated the pairing of the flavors — things I probably wouldn’t have thought to pair together. My only suggestion would be that they also included some warm towels or wet-​naps, as the honey left our fingers pretty sticky.
For our entrees, we ordered the turkey and avocado sandwich, which came with a cucumber salad (simple, yet delicious) and the fig flatbread pizza. Again, the flavors on the pizza were not ones I would initially pair together, however, it tasted really good.
A huge plus was that the chef, Matthew, came and spoke to each of the guests to make sure the meals were to their liking. He took the time to explain about where the restaurant got various ingredients and listened to suggestions made by the guests. When I asked about more vegetarian dishes on the menu, he stated that while print space was limited on the menu, many of the dishes could be converted to vegetarian dishes. That alone made us feel more welcome, and we will probably be more likely to go again and share the experience with others.
The prices were right in line with other wineries up and down the street — not expensive, but not cheap either. We did not feel rushed to finish, and at the same time received prompt service when it was needed.
All in all, we had a great afternoon and look forward to it again in the near future.

Their brie bowl is so delicious! We also split their Italian sandwich-​very good. It comes with a side of yummy cold pasta salad.