Thornton Winery — Attraction in Temecula

Yesterday my hiking group decided to take a social trip to Temecula and do a bit of winery hopping. So we included Thornton Winery on our itinerary to close out our wonderful day, well let me just say we wished we had selected another location. We came to Thornton and had a group of 22 African American women, including 2 winery club members. We asked to be seated but initially the servers said our group was too large and we didn't have reservations - even though we could see available seating.

We opted to go to the tasting room where we were assisted by Daniella. She was amazing and accommodating. When we told her we wanted to actually eat in the restaurant but there wasn't any seating, she sprung into action and went inside the restaurant to see what she could do. She returned and informed us that she had some seating for our group! We were thankful! They were some tables available outside for us.

Once we were seated the service went down hill from there. The 2 winery club members were told that they had 16 complimentary tastings between the 2 of them. So we ordered tastings. Then we ordered our food after receiving our tastings. The food took forever to come and it was cold. We had a few ladies cancel their order because it took so long.

We began getting cold and asked if we could use the outdoor heaters. We were told they didn't work but later we saw those same heaters being turned on and used for other people. Not only that they began to close off the outdoor section so they could turn on the outdoor heaters in their outdoor space - there were heaters mounted in that area. Our group was seated just outside that area, so were excluded when the barriers were pulled down without explanation or even asking if they could move us inside to the many empty chairs that were available. Weeven heard a snarky remark by customers seating inside of the barrier stating "you must be cold." We asked the server Scott about being closed off but his explanation was that the tables were reserved but we never saw anyone get seated there.

We asked for our checks and realized that the 2 members who had courtesy flights were charged gratuity for the flights. Scott stated "this was standard for a large group" even though that was not explained when we sat down.

We were so disappointed in this winery and the service that we will not be back. The 2 winery club members decided to discontinue their membership. We felt so disrespected as women and an African American group. This winery is definitely...

I hope this message finds everyone well. I wanted to bring to everyone's attention an unfortunate experience I had during my recent visit to Thornton Winery Restaurant. I was disappointed by the food I received on Thanksgiving Day, November 28, 2023.

Went for Thanksgiving Day Dinner and our family was served child size portions. When I complained they said, "the manager is not available". The server was nice enough, however when I contacted the restaurant to speak with the Manger after 3 calls over two weeks, I was first told they would refund our meal for Thanksgiving. Two weeks later I was told by Rebecca that she was the Manager and had been sick and that she doesn't refund anyone regardless; especially on holidays. Rebecca told me the person who talked with me wasn't a Manager. How was I suppose to know this; I'm the customer when I asked for the Manager. Rebecca was very rude, unprofessional, yelling to me on the phone, demeaning and offered no solution, as well as pointing out again that there was no refund, especially for a Holiday. She made it sound as if Thornton Winery has financial troubles and can't refund customers. It wasn't like I was looking for a free meal. Rebecca argued with me that Thornton Winery will not refund even though I was told they would. Originally, I was dismayed by this company's response and "I don't care" attitude. I've lived in Temecula for over 25 years and have never had a restaurant be so rude, unprofessional and uncaring toward it's customers. I will never go there again and they act like their on the edge of bankruptcy; but even worst is the poor demeaning attitude displayed by management toward customers.

I understand that unforeseen circumstances may arise, but what troubled me the most was the perceived rudeness and lack of courtesy displayed by Rebecca and her harsh angry attitude, particularly when I inquired about the status of my refund.

I believe that addressing and rectifying such issues promptly with a positive attitude towards customers will contribute to maintaining the positive reputation that Thornton Winery has enjoyed in Temecula and has earned in...

I've been a Thornton winery member for at least 3 years. So yesterday our Group Black Girls Hike met up at one of the wineries and our last winery was Thornton. Once we arrived I picked up my wines from the club and quite a few of the other girls bought tastings and bottles to take home. We wanted to eat so one of the girls asked and they said that there were too many of us and they couldn't accommodate us, "this is our busiest day of the week and we have reservations to accommodate" One of the ladies that works in the store there heard the conversation and went over to the restaurant and was able to get us a table. She was great and greatly appreciated. She told me that myself and my mom had 8 tastings that we could share with our friends...great...so we did. We also ordered food. As we were waiting it got really cold so we asked if we could get some of the heaters. We were told they aren't working, but saw others using in the other dining area. Shortly after the dining area that we were near was closed off from us. They drew down the siding and turned the heat on for those customers. We were the only group left out in the cold. We being an all black group felt closed out. We weren't offered a table inside which there were at least 10 empty ones available. It was not crowded in there at all. We then heard one of the customers from the inside of the tent yell "yall cold out there!" which really made us feel again closed off and treated less than. We stayed and ate but felt like this wasn't fair, we are paying customers as well. It was at least 20 of us. Once we received our bill I was charged for those free tastings I received for being a member. It was guised as gratuity...on free tastings? I then asked about that and was told by our server well yeah for serving it. Hmmm...anyway I just went ahead and paid it and canceled my membership because I work to hard and spend too much money to be...