San Diego Wine & Culinary Event Center

I went to a holiday party here and was surprised by this great venue. We had both indoor and outdoor space and it did not feel claustrophobic at all. The outdoor fire pits were awesome on a colder night. There was plenty of comfortable seating both inside and outside. The food was actually very good as well! Bar lines moved fast, the bartenders were very knowledgable and aimed to please. They cranked out drinks fast! I also saw the staff continuously cleaning throughout the night so no tables were left messy. All in all it was a very well run event and I’ll be sure to keep this event space in mind for the future.

My brother and his fiancé chose San Diego Wine & Culinary for their April 2015 wedding and it was spectacular! The food, the service and the courtesies extended were nothing except exceptional. They wanted their ceremony at the same site and had a choice of getting married by candlelight in front of a dramatic wine barrel wall or an outdoor patio wedding. Shannon, Denise, Mary and the entire staff went above and beyond to make their wedding as special as they had hoped it would be. There are a number of hotels within walking distance and they helped them secure a room block at the Horton Grand right around the corner. They graciously accommodated special requests and were on hand to assist with set up and to make sure everything went flawlessly. If you are searching for a San Diego wedding venue in the downtown area, or even a winery wedding make sure to check them out. I feel like they are the best kept secret for awesome wedding venues!

Attended a corporate function here as an invitee in connection with PCBC June 24 2015. Staff put together an excellent vertical tasting of local beers paired with selections from local restaurants. Great location across from convention center and near the major hotels. Wine and cocktail bar very good also I would definitely host a function here.

I got married at this venue in December 2014 and my husband and I thought it was fantastic! And so did our guests!
We met with Denise initially (she was super nice and totally flexible and accommodating with showing us the venue) but primarily worked with Shannon. Shannon is great! She was also very accommodating and helpful with all the wedding plans and logistics. She was always incredibly pleasant and so easy to work with. The venue itself has such a wonderful, romantic, intimate feel. The catering there is awesome. Super yummy food. I would absolutely recommend this venue for a wedding or any other event.

We held our wedding at the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center on October 4, 2014. I have nothing but GREAT things to say about this venue!
Mary and Shannon were amazing and did such a great job making sure all the bases were covered throughout the entire wedding planning process. They were very flexible in working with us as well, which is a huge plus, especially compared to other wedding venues.
The venue looked absolutely beautiful the day of the wedding! We received so many compliments about the look and feel of the venue. Mary, Shannon, and the SDWCC team set everything up just how we wanted and were extremely helpful.
The food provided by Continental Catering was AMAZING! We had many people tell us how great it was, even some people saying it was the best wedding food they ever had!
The location of the venue is great… Basically in the heart of downtown! We had rooms at the Hilton Gaslamp which is only a couple minutes walk from the venue. After the wedding ended, everyone continued the party downtown.
I would highly recommend this venue, the SDWCC team won’t let you down!

We hosted a corporate event here for 55 people that needed everything from food and drinks to an A/​V setup for a presentation. Shortly put, everything was perfect.
The food was delicious and the staff was friendly and accommodating. The A/​V partner that the venue uses was ready for all of our needs and even staffed someone there the entire night just in case something went wrong.
The event planning staff was amazing and thought of every detail. To say that they saved me from a lot of stress is an understatement.
I would highly recommend for events of every type, ⁵⁄₅!

Had an awesome experience with the San Diego Wine and Culinary Center! We booked an event with them months ahead of time and were so pleasant to deal with. Shannon was very responsive and offered great suggestions. On the night of event, Grant, Shannon and Brandon were all responsive to our needs, keeping the place open for an extra hour and making sure all of our guests were attended to. We never felt rushed at all. I would recommend hosting an event there to anyone that is looking for a classy but low-​key experience.

Apparently it is not the policy of this restaurant to protect the safety and welfare of its customers. This evening we witnessed a person yelling profanity and threatening the customers of this establishment (the person was later removed from the local transit train for the same behavior). When we asked the employees if they were going to call the police, they said that they did not contact police in these instances. It seems this organization is not interested in being part of the local community, as such they should not get any revenue from their «neighbors». Steer clear, we plan to. Unfortunately we cannot give this establishment a «zero stars» rating.

Well, even though I’ve had some bad experiences in the past, I’ve always liked the venue — great for all kinds of events. I found out that recently there’s been a change in ownership at this venue, so I’m happy to say that I’ll be going back there to host events. And yes, the new owner and the GM/​Bartender Grant are Super nice people, which is a big bonus!
I just shot a video project for a client at the center, and I highly recommend that place for anyone looking to host private events and parties!
Two thumbs up!

Solid option for a relaxing drink (especially if walking your dog), but slightly overpriced.

This was on our short list of places to hold our wedding ceremony and reception. The staff was very helpful and friendly. They always responded to questions, etc. in a timely fashion. In the end we opted go host our ceremony elsewhere because we decided on a more urban vibe, but I’d recommend this place for anyone looking for a winery style venue without the winery style prices.

We had our company holiday party here and the food was GREAT! The appetizer spread was wonderful: fruit, cheese, salami, olives, crackers. For dinner, I had the truffle mash potatoes with beef short ribs and it was delicious! There was also a pasta bar which I didn’t get too, but all the dishes look yummy. The mini desserts were also wonderful, especially the strawberries with simple syrup and basil. They also had Cesar salad in mason jars — what a unique idea!
I can’t say much about the wine. I’m not a wine drinker, but most people seemed to enjoy what they were drinking.
Lovely venue, good staff. I thought the event was awesome.

I’m surprised about all the negative reviews here! Some of them were from years ago, so maybe they improved! I got to sample a few of their delicious chef exhibitions, palate-​pleasing wine pairings, and tempting signature cocktails. Everyone there was super nice and just wanted us to try everything they had to offer. The place looked like a cute place to have a small wedding. ;)

I am of the opinion that these sort of establishments are hard to review because so much of the experience depends on whomever planned the event. With that in mind, my pros and cons are consistent with things I feel are firmly in their control regardless of the event planners.
Pros:
1. Bar Staff is top notch and had some great recommendation
2. Atmosphere is nice
3. Food (dinner) is a high average
4. Was in a large group that went overtime, staff was flexible and did not lock us out
Cons:
1. All local wines, but no local beer, I realize this is a wine place that sells beer, to go that route, and since all the wine is local, how about local beer (more).
2. Desserts are boring, very much like a Costco spread (this can be the planner’s issue).
Would I recommend? I am neutral. I think it is a good place that can be great, but it is missing something. I cannot seem to put my finger on it, but there is something missing, or a few small somethings.

Came here for a corporate event. Food was decent. There was a salad, cheese/​fruit/​cracker, sushi, asian fusion, mashed potato, and meat station. Salad was a pear salad with gorgonzola. Sushi was decent. The meat was legit, served with risotto and grilled vegetables. Loved the desserts the waiters came around with. Kahlua milkshake shots were a hit. Great ambiance. Lovely outdoor area. I feel indifferent about returning.

Wow, everyone is hating on this place! I thought it was a GREAT team building spot! My company booked a private event here last week for 30 people. We took part in a cooking challenge where we were split up into 4 teams and we prepared a 2 course meal with the oversight of a master chef.
Upon entering the facility we were greeted by two servers who poured us wine, and made sure that our glasses never went empty. The master chef was friendly and helpful, the kitchen was full of all of the supplies we’d need (food, utensils, cooking items, spices, etc), and the event was really fun.
Sure it was a bit hard to cook on a pan on a little burner, but all of us managed and everyone had a good time. All of our dishes ended up turning out nicely, so we all enjoyed a two course meal with ample wine. Compared to a group dinner or other activities, this one was well priced as well. Give this place a shot, we liked it!

I found this place several years ago when staying at the Marriott across the street. It was a small and quiet wine bar, a great place we «snuck» into for a quick glass of wine.
It became a favorite, even joining their wine club. Friendly staff, great wine and prices, decent café food and relaxing on the patio. I would meet my parents there and just relax for hours… Then it changed.
The owner (really a nice guy and very well versed in wines) became more removed from day to day operations and busy with some other adventures and then… things really changed. Less care and concern, poorer quality and typical absent owner situations.
When seeing the result, he (John) returned, took over again and has made a huge turn in things. He made it efficient and more focused on customer service doing more venue related activities. They have terrific jazz events in their big room called Dizzy’s and the wines and prices are spectacular. I was there just a couple weeks ago and the music was top notch, and a chance to relax again and enjoy.
They don’t have the food now as they did and it’s not really a wine bar any more, but there’s a few places within walking distance to grab and go, and come back and enjoy some great wines and music. He’s working hard to make this the place it was and is certainly worth another look.
He’s got some great people working to handle groups and is dedicated it seems to making it THE place near the water to have a great experience. He seems to really want this place to work and I would say that this place is well on its way to again being the premier spot for corporate events, great wines and terrific moving music. Check it out and give them a shot on a Friday or Saturday night.

If there was a way for me to give this place less than one star I would for one simple reason — they nearly single handedly destroyed my wedding. Here’s what happened:
We made an appointment to visit SDWCC in June 2009. At the time they were under new management, affiliated with the Art Institute. The new manager, Kevin, and the site coordinator, Amanda McPhail, seemed to be very competent at the time. I should have known what we were getting into right away. It took them about 2 months to get me menus and another month after that to get a contract. And I think I only got these that quickly because my fiancée and I hounded them non-​stop nearly every day. Every time we were met with excuses about meetings (Amanda), or events (Kevin). When we finally got the contract, we were told the date we selected was held and we didn’t have to submit the deposit or contract until early in 2010. So we held off on doing anything else — which I’m glad we did.
In January 2010, we tried to contact Amanda regarding some changes to the contract so we could get our deposit in — no response. We kept trying and finally got a message that she was no longer with SDWCC. After trying to get ahold of Kevin for about a week, I was finally contacted by the person we thought would be our new coordinator. We met with her and her boss that weekend and thought everything was okay. She took our contract changes and said she would get them added and back to us, which she did. Problem was that the new contract was COMPLETELY different than what was originally discussed and about $ 4000 more than we were originally quoted. Now here’s where it gets interesting…
We were contacted by Amanda a week later saying that she was back in the employ of SDWCC, that Kevin and the entire staff had been fired and that the original owner was back in charge. At this point we were also informed that they no longer had catering, only wine so we would have to re-​do our contract. Basically, they threw out our contract, told us we needed to pay $ 5000 effing dollars for their crappy site and that none of the wine and soft drink prices negotiated would be honored. So that basically did it in for us at SDWCC. Good thing we were able to find another venue.
If that wasn’t bad enough, what really pissed me off was Amanda’s attitude, about how she didn’t recall items that were in the original contract, how she wouldn’t return our phone calls, and basically seemed peeved that we were able to see through the bullshit she can obviously lay on her other moronic clients. I go to a lot of meetings, but for an event planner, she was apparently required to be in meetings so often she could never return a call or email, or do the things she said she would do. And the new owner is no better. Dude — you don’t gain more business by charging 3x as much for your space as any other equivalent place in San Diego and providing NOTHING for it.
So in a nutshell — avoid SDWCC and Creative Affairs by Amanda at all costs!!! These people are horrible business people, horrible people in general and I can’t wait until their crappy business sense leads to an «Out of Business» sign on their window.

This place should seriously consider dropping the word «culinary» from their name, lest they be accused of false advertising.
We ordered the cheese/​meat/​bread plate that was listed under the category of Chef’s Special. Special indeed. According to the menu, it was to contain four artisan cheeses, salami, prosciutto, and bread. What we received was large cubes of generic cheddar, provolone, and swiss, and some slabs of plasticky brie. As for the meat, it was possibly Hillshire farms supermarket salami, along with two slices of below average prosciutto. Oh yeah, they slipped a piece of DELI HAM under the prosciutto, as if we wouldn’t notice. The accompanying bread was dry and flavorless. The crackers were the best thing about the plate. Oh, and it was $ 17. Ripoff city.
The wine selection featured many local wines from Fallbrook. Come on, we’re in California. Local means Napa.
Needless to say, we won’t be going back.

I went here tonight for a book club. The guys working were attentive without being overbearing. There’s limited indoor seating and some outdoor seating on the patio overlooking the trolley tracks. I had a glass of white wine for $ 8.50 and a small dinner plate of Greek flat bread. The food was okay, toppings were tasty but the crust was burnt.
Seems like a good spot for a first date or for meeting a friend you haven’t seen in awhile.