The Rock-It Bar in the Whole Foods Market Offers Fun and Interesting Menu

The Rock-It Bar is the little restaurant inside the Laguna Niguel Whole Foods Market. Several friends have suggested that I try it. It took some convincing to get my husband to agree to have dinner at the Whole Foods Market. We have never shopped there, and so had no idea what to expect. Rock-It is tucked into one of the corners at the front of the store, and is nicely separated from the shopping area. There is a fairly large, curved bar with comfortable barstools, as well as a mix of regular tables and high boys with stools. There is also seating on the patio in front of the store. On the wall behind the bar are two televisions. The night we were there, one had the Food Network on and the other was showing college basketball. The area is kind of rustic and comfortable with interesting pendant lighting lots of wood and a warm color palette.

We arrived a few minutes before six, and so our waitress encouraged us to order our beer or wine quickly, so we could take advantage of the last few minutes of happy hour pricing. My husband looked over the beer list, which consists of twelve microbrews, mostly from California and a few from the east coast. He selected one called Lagunitas Sucks an America double IPA. During happy hour, pints of beer are only three dollars. For those interested in trying out a few of their beer offerings, customers can order a flight, which consists of four five-ounce pours for ten dollars.

The wine list is short and sweet and is divided simply into “whites” and “reds”, and everything is sold by the glass. The “whites” encompass quite a variety, including French Champagne, Kyklos Moshofilero from Greece, as well as some high scoring Chardonnays from a variety of California wineries. The “reds” also come from around the world, including Australia, Italy, France and California. I chose a glass of Rombauer Chardonnay and got three dollars off the regular price. 

The menus are sheets of paper on clipboards, making me think that the drink and food menus probably change on a regular basis. The dinner menu was titled “Winter Menu 2013”.  Starters include soup de jour, grilled cheese de jour, cheese & charcuterie board, a grilled vegetable platter, and a grilled mushroom and arugula salad.  Entrée options are beer battered fish and chips, a traditional BLT, which can be made with regular or vegan bacon, a Mediterranean Greek burger, a triple cheese mac & cheese prepared with Brie, cheddar and Gruyere cheese and chicken under the brick, which is roast chicken served with mashed potatoes and green beans. There is also torchiette pasta with smoke chili pork ragu, a rib-eye steak with onion rings and turkey pot pie, as well as a vegan pot pie. In addition, you can choose from an entire page of “Asian Bites,” featuring sushi rolls, sashimi, pot stickers, lemon chicken, eggrolls, and the like.

My husband selected the fish and chips, and I chose the grilled cheese de jour along with a cup of soup. Our waitress explained that the grilled cheese for that evening was made with quadrilla de buffala and sour cherry preserves. I later came to realize that the cheese was made from bison milk, which was surprising. She went on to explain where in the market we could find the cheese and sour cherry preserves in case we wanted to prepare the sandwich at home, which was thoughtful. She seemed quite knowledgeable about the menu as well as the products in the store.

We were seated at the bar, and while enjoying our drinks, we were chatting with other patrons, watching the game and the crazy chef competition on the Food Network. The only downside about sitting at the bar is that we were quite near the area where the dishes were being washed.

Our food came pretty quickly. My sandwich was served on rye bread, and the combination of the mild, white cheese and the cherry preserves and the rye, was really quite good. The soup was mushroom bisque and was very hot and flavorful. The fish and chips were served with a small cup of coleslaw, a cup of tartar sauce. The batter was light and crispy and the fish was tender and tasty. The portion size was perfect.

We were quite pleasantly surprised by the Rock-It Bar. The menu is creative and interesting. The wine and beer lists offer many great options. Despite eating inside a grocery store, the atmosphere was pleasant and comfortable. It was fun to go shopping through the store after our meal, although we were too full to buy anything.  The restaurant is open from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. daily with happy hour from 4 p.m.-6 p.m.

I give the Rock-It Bar 3 ½ Patches out of 5.