Francesca’s Italian Kitchen
Italian Bistro
Francesca”s Italian Kitchen 31165 Temecula Pkwy, (951-225-8145) ($30 – $50 pp), Open Tues. – Thurs. & Sun. 4 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.; Fri. ¶ Sat. 4 p.m. – 9…30 p.m. Closed Monday. Francesca’s Italian Kitchen serves delicious cuisine.Expect to be greeted with a warm, friendly smile by Francesca, the owner’s wife, or one of the attentive wait staff. You’ll then be escorted to the best table or booth in the house.
White linens and flickering candlelight adorn the tables and their attentive servers will pamper you with first-class service. The bruscetta is a great beginning to any meal. The Gladiatore, which is a tossed green salad with Gorgonzola cheese and balsamic dressing is good too.
Ten wonderful pastas are featured including the spaghetti seafood. With lots of clams, shrimp, calamari, mussels and fish in a memorable marinara sauce, it’s a savory delight. Other winners are the grilled salmon, pan seared beef medallion and the veal scaloppini with your choice of sauces.
And before the evening is over, Owner/Chef Alessio will come out of the kitchen and visit diners like an old friend. In fact, many diners are old friends because most are repeat customers. So don’t be surprised to hear the owner and the customers greeting each other by their first name.
Yes, everyone from the owners to the wait staff strive to make everyone feel like family. Everything about this restaurant feels good! Fine wines including award winning wine from the nearby Temecula Vineyards and beer. Food to go. Credit cards: .AE, DISC, MC, VISA.
A glance at the Temecula chapter should give you aa moment of pause to consider taking a wine tasting tour of the wineries and topping off your excursion with a memorable meal at Francesca”s Italian Kitchen. Then the option avails itself of driving home to San Diego, or staying overnight at a romantic hotel in the vineyards. I’ve stayed in several hotels in the vineyards as well as hotels in Temecula. I’d recommend staying in a much more romantic hotel in the wine country.
Hotels that come to mind are listed below and I have stayed in both of them. So they aare easy to recommend.
Where to Stay in Temecula’s Wine Country
Ponte Vineyard Inn, at Ponte Family Estate Winery 35001 Rancho California Rd.,$200) Temecula (951-587-6688) [Pontevineyardinn.com]. Good seasonal packages with rates varying with the season. Also featuring their impressive underground Cellar Lounge. Staying overnight in the romantic Temecula Valley wine country just got a whole lot better with the opening of this new 4-diamond inn in wine country with it’s romantic vineyard views. The eye-catching early California-style architecture of the inn sets a new standard of excellence in the wine country. This brand new vineyard view 60-room, two story hotel in the heart of the wine country is undoubtedly the best place to stay. Credit Cards: AE, MC, VISA.
Inn at Churon at 33233 Rancho California Rd. (951-694-9070). Current pandemic rates are ($210) a night. Stay in a picturesque French chateau in the heart of the Temecula Valley wine country is nothing less than romantic. Enjoy fine dining and lots of wineries to discover. It’s romance at it’s very best.
