Enjoy a festive feast this holiday season without fussing in the kitchen

TEMECULA, Calif. — (Dec. 4, 2018) – Numerous choices for every palate. Eight acclaimed chefs. Zero cleanup and preparation on your part. It’s the recipe for the perfect holiday feast and Pechanga Resort Casino provides a setting for every taste, from casual to upscale, from festive to romantic and from traditional to unique.

Eight of Pechanga’s highly regarded restaurants have created special Christmas Day menus that bring a smorgasbord of selections to the table. Those special menus can be found at the globally inspired Pechanga Buffet, the AAA Four Diamond Great Oak Steakhouse, Paisano’s Italian, Kelsey’s, Umi Sushi & Oyster Bar, the Lobby Bar & Grill, the Pechanga Café and Journey’s End at the Journey at Pechanga golf course.

The Pechanga Buffet, one of the most sumptuous in California, is serving a Christmas feast on Monday, Dec. 24 and Tuesday, Dec. 25. For $45.99 for adults and $22.95 for children 3-11, guests can partake in a variety of dishes from around the world: fresh seafood – including whole steamed lobster — authentic Asian, Italian and Latin fare, a carving station featuring prime rib, fried turkey, bone-in ham and bone-in leg of lamb, traditional American specialties, and soups and salads. Make sure to save room for the creations of Pechanga’s pastry chefs that include bananas foster, home-made pastries and cake, hand-scooped ice cream and mini milkshakes. With seating for 464, the Pechanga Buffet is perfect for large groups.

If an upscale or romantic Christmas feast is on your menu, look to the AAA Four Diamond Great Oak Steakhouse. Along with Chef Andre Pinto’s usual top-shelf USDA Prime steaks and other delicacies on the nightly menu, the night’s prix fixe options feature Maine dayboat pan-seared scallops with quinoa, smoked mussels, charred broccolini, and grapefruit beurre blanc as an appetizer, an entrée of Prime filet mignon with Alaskan king crab, wild mushroom and bacon marmalade and parmesan mashed potatoes, and white chocolate mousse cake with raspberries for dessert – all for $65. The Great Oak Steakhouse opens at 5 p.m. and reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by visiting www.pechanga.com/dining or by calling (877) 711-2WIN.

If celebrating Christmas in an Old World Italian style is what you prefer, there’s Paisano’s Italian. Chef Jordan Garcia created a three-course, prix fixe menu for $54 that offers guests an appetizer choice of either gnocchi soup with black kale, Italian sausage, cannellini beans and a coddled egg or a salad of mustard greens, spinach, kohlrabi, pineapple, guava, feta cheese and candied walnuts under a strawberry pomegranate vinaigrette. The entrée choices are either a 6-ounce filet mignon with Cipollini port wine, sunchoke puree and roasted Brussels sprouts or a citrus panko crusted ono, served with pine nuts, a golden raisin mousse, red beet puree, asparagus, and forbidden rice. Dessert is a Bailey’s coffee molten tart. Paisano’s Italian nightly menu will be served in addition to the Christmas special. Paisano’s opens at 5 p.m., reservations are strongly recommended and can be made by visiting www.pechanga.com/dining or by calling (877) 711-2WIN.

Feeling a bit adventurous for your holiday feast? Try the Umi Sushi & Oyster Bar, recently voted the No. 2 casino restaurant in the nation by the readers of USA TODAY. Umi offers a special sockeye salmon crudo appetizer that is accompanied by pineapple relish, micro greens and tosazu jelly for $17. Chef Kiyokuni Ikeda’s holiday entrees are a 20-ounce prime rib eye with white sweet potato puree, candied walnuts, micro root vegetables, grilled wild mushrooms and a soy onion glaze for $55 or diver scallops with a celery root puree, fava beans, Ikura caviar, micro beets and yuzu nage for $35. For dessert, add the banana spring rolls for $8. Umi opens for dinner on Christmas Day at 5 p.m.

One of Pechanga’s newest restaurants, the Lobby Bar & Grill, makes its Christmas debut with Chef Jose Mendoza calling on his international flavor to create a first course of smoked asparagus soup with feta cheese, shaved asparagus and balsamic reduction for $8. His main course is a bacon-wrapped Iberico pork loin with a crispy pork shoulder Brussels sprout and Parmesan puree and accompanied with maple glazed carrots and red wine onion jam for $35. For dessert, sample the apple crumble cream puff for $8. The Lobby Bar & Grill opens its regular menu at 7 a.m. on Christmas Day and begins serving the Christmas specials at 4 p.m.

If a casual atmosphere in a fun environment is what you seek, you can find it at Kelsey’s. Chef Roberto Acosta will treat guests to a smoked prime rib with crispy asparagus fries, roasted red potatoes and Yorkshire pudding served with au jus and horseradish for $24.95. The dessert is a novelty – egg nog cheesecake in a jar for $5. Kelsey’s opens at 11 a.m. and all of the barbecue specialties you’ve come to expect at the upscale pub are available.

The picturesque setting of the Temecula hills and the Journey at Pechanga golf course are your backdrop for Chef Ronnel Capacia’s creations at Journey’s End, located inside the Journey at Pechanga golf clubhouse. Chef Capacia’s specials begin with butternut squash soup with an apple crisp garnish for $7 and seamlessly segue into an herb marinated grilled veal chop with au gratin potatoes, asparagus, blistered tomatoes and a port wine cherry demi for $26. Save room for the cookies and cream cheesecake with pecans for $5. Journey’s End opens its regular menu at 7 a.m. and will serve its Christmas Day specials from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Open 24 hours, the Pechanga Café offers not only its wide-ranging menu of Chef Genaro Perea’s comfort-food-with-an-international-flavor, but a holiday special featuring grilled Chilean Sea Bass glazed with honey butter and topped with macadamia nuts. It’s served with wasabi mashed potatoes, green beans and a sweet chili sauce along with fried curly carrots for $29.95. Cookies and cream cheesecake with pecans for $5 is the perfect finishing touch.

Pechanga Resort Casino and Journey’s End both offer complimentary valet parking. For more information on these feasts, along with the rest of Pechanga’s culinary offerings, visit www.pechanga.com/dining.