CAVE At Pala Casino Spa & Resort

We loved this restaurant. Large wine selection. The service was great, our waitress knew the menu inside and out and was extremely friendly and helpful. The dinner bread was warm and fresh, I had the steak which was cooked perfect.
Fire pits outside where relaxing after dinner with our wine. It was quite and romantic.
Worth checking out’

Delicious food –MUST order the burratta! Many gluten free options, too! However, the portions are HUGE!

Great wine list! Just wish they would add Port and chocolate as it would be a great after dinner spot.

Nice place great service terrible food. Pasta Troccoli was over cooked so it was gummy. Dish had no flavor. It’s served in a wood bowl so it looses temperature quick.
Overpriced bad food.

My girlfriend and I have eaten here twice. The restaurant has no resemblance of a cave. If you want a cave atmosphere you have to go downstairs to the wine bar that is located in a room that is designed to look like a cave. I have been in a couple caves in Temecula wine country that blow this location at Pala away! The main dinner course (snapper) and (duck) were tasty and had good flavor. The server (Tiffany) was phenomenal and went over and above to accommodate our requests. Overall the main courses they offer are very good. The sides had to be sent back due to lack of flavor and being over cooked. This restaurant is worth eating at if you are in the area but I would not make a special trip to Pala just to visit this restaurant!

We whent to the cave for the first time on Halloween. Everything was amazing, our waitress was the best very confident and knowledge about the entire menu, the food was fresh and very tasty, and the price very reasonable, after dinner we went to the cellar below the restaurant and listen a guitar player. We definitely we’ll be back.

I’m not sure where to start with everything that was wrong with this place, so I guess I’ll just start from the beginning.
The BF and I were staying at Pala for a wedding and wanted to grab a bite to eat, we were nearing hangry status so went for the first restaurant we spotted after checking into the hotel. The hostess at the cave seated us and right away I got the vibe that I was in a haunted hotel or horror movie. By this I mean the lighting was dim and unflattering, and flickered in a very distracting way. Not what one would expect in a restaurant that presents as «fine dining».
We asked our server about what was popular and tasty on the menu, and she recommended… almost everything. Not super helpful, but hey at least she was friendly. We started with a couple glasses of wine, and the cheese platter. All of the cheeses on the plate were pretty dried out, as if they had been cut and sitting in a refrigerator for way longer than any respectable cheese monger would recommend. I am a cheese FANATIC– so this bothered me. The BF noticed that the chef hadn’t done a very good job selecting cheeses for the platter either– they were almost all very strong tasting hard cheeses. The honeycomb on the platter was neither honey nor comb. One of the pieces of chocolate tasted like BBQ lays, and the other one had a piece of hair in it.
I’m just getting started.
For my entrée I ordered a rack of lamb. I ordered it medium rare, and when it came out it looked like it had barely touched a grill. This meat wasn’t just rare, it was raw and bleeding. Normally I would just send it back to be corrected, but at this point I was pretty fed up with the experience overall and just wanted to leave. The BF ordered a cioppino (or maybe a seafood pasta), which was more like not so fresh seafood overcooked and drenched in flavorless tomato sauce.
We passed on dessert, so I can’t speak to the dessert menu but can’t imagine it would be any less disappointing than the rest of the menu.
Highlights: the bread was good. That’s about it. Save your money & skip The Cave– head to Pala’s Choices buffet instead & get some endless crab legs.

The winery was gorgeous. My husband and I went for our first wedding anniversary yesterday. The environment was very relaxed. Our server, Steve, was incredibly helpful and attentive to us. We asked his opinion on different wines. The Wolf Cabernet was incredible. The cured meat selection was delicious. I have been wanting to go to CAVE since it opened. I think we made a wise choice last night and will be back.

If you are a wine person in both taste and atmosphere you’ll enjoy the under ground Cave at Pala. I had a great time! Great atmosphere, nice music and very knowledgable folks working at the bar… Steve lends his expertise via his wine travels and overall love of vino to all who query. Get your purse ready though. it’s not cheap but you are guaranteed yummy tastings and plenty of ambiance! Suggestion to the house… Need to broaden the wine food menu. People love to eat and drink.

Wine was great! Décor it’s nice… But having the cheese plate was the worst… Mosquitos flying and landing on my glass, I asked waiter if I can have another glass her response made me feel like it was my fault fly landed on my glass wine.

Food was fantastic, great atmosphere and a server was great. This is a new restaurant but they have worked out all the kinks.

Such a great restaurant! Great environment, Great customer service. Definitely recommend to friends and family!

This was an overall enjoyable dinner. The restaurant is right at the front of the casino, so I guess that makes it less smokey but does cut back on ambience.
Our server Waldo was very good. He came over often enough to make sure we had everything but not so often that we felt rushed. The wine list was huge so there was something for everyone, but it was so big it wasn’t up to date and the wine we wanted had to substitute.
The food was good, the only gripe I had was my filet was over cooked, I really wanted medium rare and it was definitely cooked beyond that. If it wasn’t a tender cut of meat I would have made them make it again.
The food was high quality and I would definitely eat there again!

Came here due to lack other options at 10:00pm for our anniversary dinner after a long day. Food was delicious and Jose our server (with the noteworthy mustache) was outstanding. Excellent food and service make it well worth the drive behind a slow moving Cadillac. Make the trip, you won’t be disappointed.

This is for the lounge/​restaurant: we only a the cheese plate and fried calamari. Overall the calamari was super light and tasty but the sauces were underwhelming. The cheese plate was exceptional though. The lavender honeycomb and multiple cheese choices made this a great value. We added a chocolate truffle martini that had a dash of orange zest. The orange zest really made the drink because it lingered for so long.
I believe we would come back here again.

Cave is a sexy new lounge and restaurant. The prancing grape vine steals the show and definitely attracts passerby’s. I really wanted to fall in love with this restaurant and lounge. Sadly my overall experience was just not good.
The menu offerings are heavy on small plates and appetizers; The food was… meeeh, I’ve had better. We ordered the romaine Caesar salad to share. It was good. I enjoyed the boiled egg as an accompaniment. I ordered the halibut for my entrée. What a disappointment. First, it was overlooked and hardly edible. Second, It was covered with with a jar of tomato sauce and baby heirloom tomatoes; they called this a Mediterranean sauce. Clearly, they missed the mark on this one. As a courtesy, and because I did not opt for the bone-​in skate steak special of the night they kindly allowed the halibut substitution. It was served with a bland butter cheese risotto. For the price, I expected more. I regretted not ordering the champagne risotto as it was absolutely delicious. My dining partners salmon was beautifully presented. This was a definitely more reflective of the type of restaurant they portray-​modern gourmet and contemporary California cuisine.
The salmon plate looked nothing like the plate of mess that I was served. It was as if we were in two different restaurants.
The service was absolutely terrible; our server lacked any knowledge about menu items, couldn’t remember the specials, couldn’t speak intelligently about the wine menu, of which was as thick an encyclopedia… and, the worst part-​she never came back with my cocktail! What!!! She forgot just about everything, and did not check on us until it was time to clear out plates. Perhaps she and the executive chef were too busy entertaining the large party of 10 year olds running around like it was Chucky freakin Cheese!!! We couldn’t inconvenience anyone for a knife, cocktails, or water because they were all too consumed with painting children’s faces, taking photos, and serving cake! Absolute mind blowing!
At the end of dinner we were served a complimentary piece of cheesecake. I assume this was due to the terrible service we received. This was a very nice redeeming gesture.
This experience left a rather bad taste in my mouth. The service could use quite a bit of work. I’m not sure that I would return. I would rate CAVE two stars. However, the complementary cheesecake was delicious and a nice gesture. Given this, I up them one star.

Last night we had the pirogi with lobster sauce, the sautéed mushroom appetizer, and the very delicious escargot. The bread they serve is fresh made every day. All of their dishes are homemade from scratch. Our waitress was extremely polite and thoughtful. It was our anniversary and they gave us a free dessert.
Life is good

Was surprised for my birthday to be taken down to the Cave for the first time, and was extremely impressed with the perfect ambiance with our wine server Angelika. Great vibes, awesome recommendations, and impressive knowledge from our experience here with our server. I work at a winery, so from my own experience, I tend to be rather picky when it comes to wine! The Cave did not dissapoint due to a great server paired with a solid arsenal of a wine list!

What a great experience! Pala Casino has done such a great job with this space! I loved Mama’s but WOW is it amazing at the Cave!
The food, as always, was SO good! So happy that the risotto and eggplant is still on the menu!
After dinner we went downstairs –yes, downstairs! — to the underground portion of the restaurant. What a great space to have a glass of wine and visit with friends! We’re definitely coming back when they have the live music on the weekend.
Oh! Can’t forget the service. I love a place were the chef comes out and talks to you!
Can’t wait to go back!

I really do not write many reviews, but I must say this place is really very good. I had arugula salad and cioppino and it was so flavorful I was absolutely stuffed by the end of the meal. The chef came over and said hello and asked if I was enjoying my meal, nice touch. Overall my time at this place was pretty fantastic. The wait staff was so attentive I never wanted for anything. Next time I’ve really got to bring friends and try some of the appetizers. The place even has a wine cave, if I had more time I would have definitely checked that out… Ah, something for next time. So, did I love it? Yeah, I loved it. In fact I wish we had a place like this in my own neighborhood. Thanks Cave good food good people!