Jessica Y.
Yelp
I'm getting this place three stars because I thought that the environment and the experience was not what I was expecting. I went for brunch during a time where they had live jazz music, which I was very excited for.
Starting from the top, parking at this location is going to be difficult because it is in Hillcrest. Once you do get into this winery, it is a very modern vibe with metal chairs and metal beams, but could be cool depending on the vibe at the time. The server at the bar greeted us, and we let him know that we were there for brunch and that it was our first time, and he told us okay, have a seat wherever you'd like. No welcome or explanation of how brunch works, and it was kind of awkward.
We sit down, and there are menus telling us what you can order for brunch, and to circle which items you want, but then they were check boxes next to them, so we didn't know if we were supposed to circle or checkbox. The menu said things like breakfast special, but didn't tell you what was in the breakfast special. It's a à la carte options and then no price. I don't remember exactly what it looked like but it was just very confusing and we also weren't told that we had to go up to the bar to give him the menu, and we didn't have pens to indicate on the paper menu what items we wanted. Just a mess.
Our server and addition to not being very friendly or warm, also smelled heavily of cigarette smoke. Not judging anybody for their lifestyle, it just was so present that you could taste it. So I don't know if he was going on constant breaks or what, but it was a lingering scent that never went away every time he visited the table.
Then the band. Oh, the band. They were super good, really talented people, even though the elderly keyboardist fell asleep at one point, or at least seemed to. The problem with the band is that whoever set up their audio had no idea what they were doing, there was screeching and inconsistencies in the sound all throughout brunch. My previous work was in the entertainment industry, and I understand that it can be difficult to set up the sound properly in a metal space like we were in, but it honestly did not sound like a professional set up their sound. Instruments were getting feedback sounds, the singer was being drowned out by the instruments... It was noticeably bad.
The food is super good! The food is really good. The wine is really good. I think that even though it's a little bit pricey, it's San Diego and so the price seems consistent with the rest of the area. For this reason, the place is still getting three stars for me. For me to give this place a higher rating, they would need to have friendlier staff interactions, more clear guidance on how to order, or just a regular menu, and whoever is setting up their live music needs to at least not have the speakers screeching the entire time and going out. I literally was covering my ears at certain points because it hurt, and I don't want to exaggerate and say that it hurt the entire time, but the fact that it happened more than twice is crazy.
