On the morning of August 13, 1930, a man with a grocery bag walked into the First National Bank of Temecula, pulled a revolver and left with about $1,600. That's how the Press-Enterprise retold the story in 2015. Cashier John W. Chisholm had kept the vault from locking by wedging a screwdriver in it. Once the robber left, Chisholm got out and fired shots to raise the alarm. Rancher John McSweeney joined the chase, and after Chisholm put a round through the getaway car's windshield, the robber stopped and surrendered. He was sentenced to San Quentin six days later.
Today that vault has upholstered chairs and a wine display. Gaucho Grill opened in the building at 28645 Old Town Front Street on September 21, 2026. It turned the room into The Vault, a private dining space named for the building's banking past. The robbery is the building's best-known story. The building has spent longer as a place to eat, though, than it ever spent as a bank.
Twenty-Seven Years a Bank, Forty-Five Years a Restaurant
The Temecula Valley Historical Society dates the bank's opening to June 1914, in a fortress-like, two-story concrete building. The bank lasted until 1941. The Historical Society says it failed after a manager made several large loans to a friend whose business then collapsed. The First National Bank of Elsinore took over its assets.
The tenants that followed:
| Years | What occupied 28645 Old Town Front Street |
|---|---|
| 1914 to 1941 | First National Bank of Temecula |
| 1941 to 1978 | An upstairs hotel, a residence, a realtor's office and an antique shop at various times. Herbert Leatham reopened the hotel in 1949, and the Reiningers opened the antique shop in 1965 |
| 1978 to 2007 | The Bank of Mexican Food, opened by Dave Covarrubias and family |
| 2007 to 2023 | Under new owners, eventually renamed The Bank Plates & Pours |
| May 2023 to September 2026 | Vacant during a lengthy refurbishment |
| September 21, 2026 onward | Gaucho Grill |
The bank ran for 27 years. The restaurant ran for 45, from 1978 to 2023, under two names and more than one set of owners. For anyone under about 60 who grew up in the valley, this corner has always meant dinner. Its use as a bank is the exception in the building's history, even though that's what its name and architecture remember.
The Gap Between Restaurants
The 45-year run ended on May 7, 2023. The Press-Enterprise reported that the City of Temecula revoked the restaurant's conditional use permit. That permit covered alcohol service, live entertainment and late hours. The Planning Commission upheld the revocation on March 1, 2023, and the City Council affirmed it unanimously on April 11. The restaurant's owners disputed the city's case, including how it read the authorized closing time.
That left one of the most prominent corners on Front Street empty for about three years and four months. The Press-Enterprise's opening story describes the gap as a lengthy refurbishment before Gaucho Grill moved in.
What Gaucho Grill Does With the Room
Gaucho Grill isn't new to Southern California. According to Valley News, the brand started in 1986. Argentine-born restaurateur Adrian Amosa bought the original Brentwood location in 2008 and rebuilt the concept around the parrilla, an open-flame grill used for Argentine-style beef. Valley News also reports that Amosa lives in the Temecula area, so this one is a restaurant in his own community. The other locations are in Downey, Pasadena, West Covina and Buena Park.
The menu covers a wide price range. The Press-Enterprise listed entrées from $22 for a breaded chicken breast up to $139 for a 45-ounce tomahawk ribeye. It also named a few dishes particular to the restaurant:
- Gaucho Bread, a sourdough baguette served with chimichurri
- Humitas Salteña, a corn pudding
- The Evita salad
- The Mojito Fin del Mundo cocktail
Grilled entrées come with one or two sides, and the menu also has burgers, sandwiches, pasta and seafood. Valley News added a list of empanadas that includes beef, smoked short rib and al pastor.
The $139 tomahawk gets the attention, but locals can eat here for much less on a regular weeknight. Here's the schedule Valley News published:
- Hours: Monday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.
- Happy hour: Monday through Friday, 3 to 5 p.m., in the bar and on the patio. Cocktails are $9, draft beers $5 and empanadas $4.50. Filet mignon sliders are $8, and grilled skirt steak or filet mignon with potatoes is $16.
- Weekend brunch: 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., with steak and eggs, chicken and waffles, and a tomahawk brunch plate.
- Live music: Sundays starting at noon.
- The Vault: the private dining room, available for celebrations. The restaurant also caters weddings, corporate events and birthdays.
The phone number is 951.904.7770, and the Temecula page is at gauchogrill.com/temecula.
The Same Thing Is Happening Up and Down the Block
The bank is one example of a pattern on this stretch of Front Street. Over the past two years, several older storefronts closed and new businesses moved into the same rooms. Gaucho Grill sits on the corner of a block that also has The Merc, an 1890 brick building that is part of the Old Town Community Theater, and Pennypickle's Workshop, a children's museum. Walking by address from low to high, here's what's there now and what was there before:
- 28464 Old Town Front Street, Ten Hut. Jimmy Cho's Korean-style pub serves fried chicken, beer and corndogs. It opened in early February 2025 in the former Sorro's space.
- 28601 Old Town Front Street, Tecovas. The Austin-based Western-wear brand soft-opened on October 29, 2026, in the space that housed Old Town Antique Faire. In July 2025, Patch reported that the antique mall was closing, along with Fourth Street Antiques around the corner. About 20 dealers worked out of the Faire, selling vintage baseball cards, art deco jewelry and Disneyland keepsakes. Tecovas now sells handcrafted boots, apparel and leather goods, and it also offers boot care and hat shaping. Its store page lists hours of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
- 28636 Old Town Front Street, Rodeo Cafe. Directly across from the bank, Rodeo Cafe serves traditional American breakfast and lunch with a Tex-Mex twist. It took over the former Rosa's Cantina space, which a later restaurant operator left in summer 2024. The Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce held its ribbon cutting on March 19, 2026.
- 28645 Old Town Front Street, Gaucho Grill. The bank, the hotel, the antique shop and the 45-year restaurant, now serving steak again.
- 28676 Old Town Front Street, Famous PUDN. EJ Smith's gluten-free banana pudding, made from five ingredients, had been a farmers-market regular after the Murrieta storefront closed in 2025. It soft-opened next to Swing Inn Cafe in June 2026 in a partnership with Swing Inn owner Dean Norris. Patch reported it is open Thursday through Sunday.
- 28693 Old Town Front Street, It's Tabu Sushi. It's Tabu returned to the former Devilicious Eatery and Taproom space, the same building it left in 2024.
That makes five storefronts with new tenants and one returning tenant, all inside about two blocks. None of them meant a new building. The 1890 Merc and the 1914 bank still stand, and the businesses inside them keep changing. The room where Chisholm wedged his screwdriver now takes private dinner bookings at 951.904.7770.
If you'd like to talk about what that history means for an older property you own or are thinking about buying in the Temecula Valley, Gena Elfelt is glad to walk it with you, and she can start with an instant home valuation.
