I went winetasting in Livermore with my sister Kathy and her friend Anna a couple of weeks ago, and we stopped at the Café Garré, at the Garré Winery, for lunch. The little café is cute, it has a small dining room inside and a patio area with shaded dining under trees or umbrellas. From the patio there is a view of the grapevines and the road, and unfortunately you can hear the road noises. Still, it's a relaxing place to have a meal in a warm day. The restaurant was less than half empty when we got there around 12:30 PM on a Saturday, but it became packed by 1 PM.
Their menu includes appetizers, salads, sandwiches and pastas with a couple of main dishes. The most expensive entree is $12, but most entrees are under $10.
Lunch started with slices of fresh focaccia bread with toasted onions, it was very good with the olive oil and vinegar provided. Too bad that the oil & vinegar bottles were dirty.
I decided to try their Boar's Nest sandwich: an open roll of braised smoked pork with cheddar cheese and BBQ sauce ($9). I really enjoyed it, the meat was tender and the BBQ sauce infused it with flavor without overwhelming it. My only complaint was that the bun was too thick for the meat. It came with a side of pasta salad, which was quite good. It had very fresh tasting veggies, though I would have liked a stronger tasting cheese. The sandwich was quite big and I ended up taking home half of it.
Kathy and Anna went for pasta. Kathy had the pomodoro ($8), which she liked but wasn't crazy about. The sauce was slightly sweet and would have been better with some Parmesan cheese, but it was satisfying.
Anna was also underwhelmed by her linguini & clams ($9). Part of the problem was that she had actually ordered the seafood linguini, and she wanted more than clams with her pasta, but the light, too-liquid sauce also failed to impress her. We all liked the accompanying garlic bread, though.
Service by two very cute young waiters was affable, though they were a bit distracted (perhaps by my two cute young tablemates?). Not only did they get Anna's entree wrong but they gave us way too much change back. They did refresh our bread and drinks quite often, and were as attentive to me as to the girls, so I can't complain.
Lunch for the three of us came to $32.50 after tax but before tip. In all, I'd go back to Café Garré though I'd probably stick to the sandwiches.
Café Garré
7986 Tesla Road
Livermore, CA
http://www.garrewinery.com/