Wood Ranch Kitchen & Bar
The city of Laguna Niguel just got a whole lot more popular with the addition of it’s newest resident, WR Kitchen & Bar. Located in “The Center at Rancho Niguel”, (28061 Greenfield Drive), this casual yet sophisticated eatery is a brand new concept from the Original Wood Ranch BBQ restaurants.
Featuring a wood-fired open kitchen, WR Kitchen & Bar will offer an a la carte menu, allowing each guest more options to customize his or her order with maximum flexibility in selection of items and portion size. There will also be a wider price range, with items to accommodate everyone’s budget.
At WR Kitchen & Bar, guests will be greeted upon arrival and order at designated locations at the bar, and then can sit in the dining room, bar or patio where their order will be delivered. Servers will stop by the tables to take additional orders for second cocktails, dessert or anything else a guest may want.
The outside patio area is adorned with coastal style adirondak chairs, fluffy pillows, wicker laterns and wood tables making for a quaint yet upscale setting.
Bar Area
The main concept of WR Kitchen and Bar is that it is counter service. I love that you order at the bar. Everything is visible to the eye so I noticed they had my favorite whiskey. If you know me well, you know I love whiskey. Old fashions are a favorite of mine. Smoky and sweet, this cocktail pairs so well with all the delicious barbecue food we ate. All of the mixologist were polite and friendly and my drink was a solid 10.
RDIF Enabled System and Serve Your Own Water
To make things operate smoothly, WR Kitchen and Bar has an RDIF enabled system where you take your pager and lay it on your table. Then it pairs up with the kitchen and when your food is ready a server will bring it to you. They also have carafes filled with ice-cold water that you take to your table. Love that I can refill my own water without having to flag down a waiter. If you need another round of drinks, “service assistants” will be walking around to take those orders.
Menu Items
WR Kitchen & Bar will offer Wood Ranch favorites including tri tip, baby back ribs, the BBQ chopped salad, and fresh, house-made desserts, along with introducing new items. Smoked Steelhead Trout will be available by itself, on salads and featured on a multi-grain grilled bread with guacamole and pickled red onion. Blistered Shishito Peppers and Burnt Ends Caramel Popcorn are new snack items, and a “Little Salad” of roasted heirloom carrots and goat cheese topped with toasted pistachios will be among the new starters. There will also be tacos, uniquely filled with a choice of brisket, pulled pork, smoked steelhead trout, roasted chicken or roasted cauliflower, as well as other new menu items.
We tried the popcorn and were super impressed. It was sweet, salty, a little sticky and a whole lot of delicious. Seriously, how many places can you think of off the top of your head that serves a unique appetizer like this? I would definitely order it again. I loved how the meat stuck to the popcorn.
I love a good salad with lunch or dinner and the Natalie’s Salad did not dissappoint. Comes with fresh baby greens, persian cucumbers, candied pecans, avocado, gorgonzola crumbles and balsamic vinaigrette.
The beautiful thing about this restaurant is that you can order small portions. We wanted to try a little bit of everything so we got a 1/4 portion of pulled pork knowing we were also going to try chicken and beef. I loved the coleslaw that came with it because it was made without mayonaise. Light and refreshing is exactly what I was going for.
If appetizers are more your style then you are in luck! Be sure to try the crispy buffalo cauliflower as well as the wood grilled shishito peppers. Both are shareable and both will make you happy. Each come with dipping sauces and that is fine by me!
Wood grilled Atlantic Salmon, mashed potatoes and roasted heirloom carrots. Life doesn’t get much better than this.
Dessert
I only have three words…..warm.butter.cake. I don’t know how they perfected this but it was warm and gooey on the inside and perfectly firm on the outside. Like a mix of lava cake and a blondie bar. It’s drizzled with a raspberry sauce and ready to go into your mouth. Trust me. Order it.
Take A Tour Of WR Kitchen & Bar
WR Kitchen & Bar opens to the public on Monday May 6th! WR Kitchen & Bar will offer online ordering, take-out and delivery. For more information, visit https://www.woodranch.com/wrkb/ and follow on Facebook at @WRKitchenBar and Instagram at @WRKitchenBar.
