This past weekend I was invited to check out Bacchus Bar & Bistro located in Irvine, California in the small community of Quail Hill at 6735 Quail Hill Pkwy., Irvine, California 92603. We had been to Bacchus years ago when they first opened their doors as Bacchus Secret Cellar, which was a wine tasting bar, as well as a wine store. At Bacchus today, the space is ample, there is wine for sale, there is an awesome wine selection along with specialty menu items, and there is live music on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays!
Upon entering Bacchus, I felt a warm and welcome feeling and was promptly greeted at the door upon entry by our soon to be fabulous waiter, Bill! Wines lined the walls in gorgeous displays as well as an extensive number of large refrigeration areas for the wines to stay chilled. I instantly fell in love with the atmosphere and we were quickly seated at a table closer to the back of the restaurant/wine bar near to where the awesome musician of the evening, Fiz would soon play classic rock music. 🙂
Bacchus offers over 350 bottles of wine from around the world and a wine bar which utilizes a state of the art wine preservation system with 60 wines by the glass. There are 12 different pre-selected wine flights or you can also create your own! Bacchus also offers 6 craft beers on tap along with 20 bottled micro brews each individually selected by Bacchus’ Beer Meister, Aaron.
The first glasses of wine we ordered were The Possessor, Paso Robles Red Blend at $13 a glass and $49 for a bottle and the Orin Swift Abstract from CA which was also a red blend and was $14 a glass & $54 a bottle. Both of these wines were divine, but I have to say I am glad I had Possessor because I liked it a slight bit more. 🙂 Of course wine is all about personal taste. I found the Possessor to be smooth and well balanced. The Orin Swift was also a fabulous blend as well; it had a bit more of a fruit forward flavor. 🙂
To pair with our wines, we got a cheese platter which is always my personal favorite! For the cheese platters they give a variety of so many options that include 3 cheeses for $11 or 5 for $16. There were 11 different cheese choices that come with bread and crackers and special additions that you can add such as a variety of 7 different meats, 7 different bread or cracker options, as well as a variety of other options such as spreads, nuts and olives to go with your cheese!
For our cheese plate selections, we had Chevre with Rose Preserves, a goat cheese from France, Saint Andre, Triple Crème brie, Cow, from France, and Collier Reserve Cheddar, Cow, from Wales. To pair with these cheeses we had a delicious garlic bread, Prosciutto Creminelli, and Honeycomb. I LOVED this cheeseboard…For those of you that do not know me in person, I will tell you, I literally could live off of cheese, wine and bread…oh and also I need some honeycomb! 🙂 Seriously I loved this cheese platter combination and need to go back for more. I look forward to trying more of the cheeses and fixings in the future. I cannot say one cheese is my favorite over the others because they were all so different in flavor and texture and paired beautifully with our wine!
The next 2 glass of wine we selected were the Duckhorn Merlot from Napa Valley and the Blackbird Arise Red Blend from Napa. Both of these wines were smooth and paired nicely with our food to come! For our entrees we had the Grilled Vegetable Stack which was filled with eggplant, red pepper, roasted tomato, mozzarella, marinara, baguette for $11, the Lobster Grilled Cheese stuffed with brie,
cheddar, mayo, sourdough at only $10 & last but not least, the Rioja Braised Lamb Quesadilla with white bean puree, red pepper yogurt sauce, radish pickles for $8. The flavor of the food at this restaurant definitely made my taste buds happy and although I was extremely full, it definitely left me craving for more. I loved all three of the items above, but my personal favorite was the lobster grilled cheese because like I told you, I am a cheese fanatic & how can you go wrong with lobster, seriously? 🙂 The prices were also so reasonable!
We did not end up having dessert at Bacchus, as we had dessert plans after dining, but I do hope to check out some of their decadent sweets next time I dine at Bacchus! There was a yummy looking seasonal pumpkin cheesecake on the menu I would love to try!
The last thing I would like to share is that on the bottom of the menu at Bacchus it says: “gluten free bread and hamburger buns available.” I just had to share this one with you for all of my gluten intolerant readers out there because I know it is always hard to find offerings for gluten intolerance and it is so nice when it is recognized on the menu, such as it is at Bacchus! The manager, Deb Willems is so welcoming and is happy to assist you with anything you need when dining at Bacchus. Have you ever been to Bacchus? Please share your experience with me below!
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I know so many people with gluten issues – nice to see restaurants that offer alternatives for them. Thanks for sharing!
I could not agree more! Thanks for the comment, Laurel:)
It really takes time to develop a taste for good wine.
Cheese platter is always welcome here with good wine
I LOVE wine and cheese…literally I could live off of those two items with a little bit of bread.:)
Seeing more and more and so glad offering gluten free.
I thought that was a great factor too. Sometimes it is so hard to find gluten free.
I’d like to give this a try. Great pics too.
Thanks Casey! Bacchus is a great place!:)
I typically like the changes to Bacchus Wine Bar and Bistros from the first time we visited ten years ago. I really liked the cheese board!
The cheese board was soooo yum! I cannot wait to head back to Bacchus again soon!