Bluewater Grill — Restaurant in Temecula

I apologize upfront for a longish review, I rarely write them, but the visit to this place almost ruined a lovely day at the coast that my family and I had, so I have to say something. The only reason I am not rating this restaurant lower (as food is always the most important part of every "eating out" experience) is welcoming staff and a sweet manager who comes to his customers very often asking if everything is alright. My husband and I, unfortunately, did not have the heart at the time to complain, and we were super hungry and too tired to leave and look for another place, so we hope they read the review.

Visiting this restaurant for the first time, we booked our seats outside in advance as the weather was nice. We came for an early dinner. We were greeted by friendly staff and a display of colorful fresh fish at the entrance. We were taken to our seats, which were not the best, right next to the glass that separates the busy street from the outside sitting area (we thought this part could do with a few tree-like plants that would cover the view of the road and buffer the sound of the cars driving by) and there were some food leftovers on one of the chairs. The waitress took a hint from my disappointed looking face and let us sit at a nearby table (there was three of us, but we got a table for six, which was very nice of her). Unfortunately, I discovered more food pieces under the table, which again was disappointing. The atmosphere, though, was very nice, both inside of the restaurant and outside. We ordered Oysters on the Half Shell as the appetizer and Tuscan Artichoke Rockfish (Snapper), CA, for the main course as we wanted to try fresh local fish. We also had a set from the kids' menu of grilled shrimp, edamame, and some fresh fruit, which was the only meal that 'delivered'. Oysters were very poor - one was almost completely missing from the shell, they were seasoned with salt, which is redundant due to salty water they come from, and of comically disparate sizes (medium to very tiny), which didn't look pretty. The taste was stronger than what it usually is with good quality fresh oysters, but we haven't had any stomach issues, so that's that. The main course was even worse and probably the biggest grievance of the whole experience. Panco Artichoke that should complement the fish tasted strongly of the brine it came from (can). We expected the fish to be light and juicy as fresh fish should be - we got overcooked thin slice that felt overseasoned topped with dried tomato pesto (dried fish, dried pesto, not a very good combination). On top of that, the risotto the fish was served on was way overseasoned with what tasted as premade supermarket salt and spice or instant noodle seasoning. Every bite had to be washed off with water. As I have already mentioned, we came very hungry - hunger can often make food taste better than it really does, but this was not the case.

We came trusting the positive reviews, and, honesty, everybody else looked satisfied, and some even complimented the food. It was hard to believe that only our food wasn't up to the standards, but we've seen this over and again in California, having lived here for a year. The food is usually overpriced and rarely satisfying, service slow and utensils unclean or broken. Our budget rarely exceeds $$, but if we have to cash out over $100 for every meal we have on our trips to have something decent (as we already gave up on eating out due to this eperience and prefer to cook when at home), something seems wrong with the food...

i'm updating this review based on our decision to return to blue water grill and give them another go due to the responses that we received from the management team at the Temecula restaurant regarding our first experience. As mentioned previously, my wife and myself considered this restaurant one of our go to sea food restaurants in the Temecula. i was hoping that maybe this was just a really bad night an a one off in regards to the food quality that we received. i can say first and foremost that going back for a re-do was probably one of the best decisions we have made in a long time. WE pretty much decided to do a re-do of our first visit, so we ordered the artichoke and chip dip. This time around the chips were fresh and crispy, and much to the delight of my wife, the server (can't remember his name, but he was amazing and extremely attentive and helpful) provided us with some house made potato chips to try with the dip, and they were delicious. My wife re-ordered her scallops with the goat cheese grits, which last time were very under-seasoned and the grits were very lumpy. Her order was perfect, the scallops were perfectly seasoned and the goat cheese grits were prepared perfectly and very smooth and tasty. i decided to go with the swordfish this time, which turned out to be an excellent choice. This was probably one of the best swordfish dinners I've had in my life (growing up in Redondo beach, lot's of good restaurants with great seafood). We also did a re-do of the dofo zin, which again was most excellent. The service last time wasn't stellar, but i believe the server was pretty new and she really did try to provide the best service possible. With that said, the service this time around was excellent. The server even provided a small treat for myself and my wife being it was our 33 year anniversary week, very much appreciated. So, I am thrilled to say that we are once again huge, avid fans of Blue water grill Temecula and look forward to many, many more visits and excellent dining experiences. A huge shout out to Max and Jaime, they really went above and beyond in making sure all of our grievances and issues were addressed and...

Gave an overall 4 because not all their food seems to be under the same quality control standards, where some items are spot on with everything you would expect and other items leaving you dissapointed. We were celebrating our 25th anniversary and expected better. Service and all FOH staff were exceptional, caring, and attentive. Now for the food... The crab cakes were mediocre at best, especially for $20 for 2 of them. Flavor was just not there, although the sauces were on point, which actually carries the dish. Clam chowder was presented as "award winning" and anyone that has dined in the central coast knows what that expectation is. It wasn't bad but was somewhat flavorless and on the thinner side. I had to add salt, pepper, and Tabasco just to get any flavor. For $28, the Lobster Roll my wife had was just ok. Fries that came with it were definitely frozen from a bag. The lobster roll lacked the richness one would expect from a Lobster roll and, when I tried to take a bite, I bit into shell about the size of a dime... Manager was quick to address with free desserts, which is another story. Now, the star of our meal was the MisoYaki Butterfish Black Cod with Ginger Coconut Rice and fresh green beans and eel sauce. It melts in your mouth and the flavor profile had all the umami, sweet and savory flavors one craves with dishes like these. Phenomenal and would definitely order again. Now the desserts... Key Lime Pie was WAY too limey and lacked the creamy richness I have had in other key lime pies when dining out. The crust was mediocre and felt I had to smother the pie with whipped cream just mello the overly extreme tartness of the pie. Wife had the creme brulee and the brulee on top was over-fired, causing a bitter burnt taste. As you can tell by this review, the menu is hit and miss. They do some things well and other dishes just lack taste, quality, and the expectation for the price point. I did see lots of people ordering fish n chips and the fisherman's combo platter, which seems to be popular here. My thought is that they need to manage the menu better, axe the poor sellers and problem dishes, and push what...