Creekside Restaurant & Bar opened to the public on October 12 at Sendero Marketplace in Mission Viejo, marking the eighth concept from restaurateur Russ Bendel and his partners at RJB Restaurant Group. The new spot, located at 30865 Gateway Place, serves approachable everyday American fare with a full liquor license and opens daily at 4 p.m.
The opening was first reported by the Los Angeles Times, which noted that Creekside joins RJB's existing roster of Sapphire, Parlor Woodfire Kitchen and Bloom. Bendel said he was excited to open Creekside in Rancho Mission Viejo and have it bookend historic Ortega Highway alongside Bloom, according to the same report. Jared Cook, who was named Chef of the Year by the Orange County Business Journal in 2024, serves as executive chef at Creekside and oversees culinary direction across all of RJB's dining locations.
A Patio Named for the Creek Behind It
The restaurant's name was inspired by Sendero Marketplace's natural surroundings, with San Juan Creek running directly behind the building, the Times reported. A covered patio seats up to 60 people, giving diners a view of the waterway that gave the restaurant its name. Kyle Simpson serves as vice president of operations at Creekside, while beverage duties are split between Gabe Whorley and Mike Alvarez, who developed a bar menu of select wines, craft beer and cocktails — including a Reverse cocktail built from vodka, orange liqueur, crème de peach, orange, lemon and serrano.
On the food side, the menu leans into comfort-food staples dressed up with upscale touches. Dishes include chili cheese fries topped with smoked cheddar queso and lime sour cream, an albacore tuna tartar with scallion ponzu, hearts of palm, cherry tomatoes and cucumber, and a blackened salmon sandwich. Heartier plates range from an American Wagyu burger with aged fontina, grilled sweet onion, roasted garlic aioli and house-made pickle to a double-cut pork chop served with mustard gastrique and macaroni and cheese, plus a pan-roasted rainbow trout with sweet corn and blue lake beans.
Eight Restaurants, One Expansion Strategy
Bendel's path to Creekside traces back more than a decade. He acquired Vine Restaurant & Bar in San Clemente in 2013 before expanding across South Orange County, according to the Orange County Business Journal, which named him Restaurateur of the Year in 2018. The group's sister restaurant, Bloom Restaurant + Bar, opened in December 2022 inside San Juan Capistrano's historic Ferris Kelly building — once the city's original 1930 City Hall — and sits directly across from Mission San Juan Capistrano, the outlet reported. RJB opened its seventh concept, Parlor Woodfire Kitchen & Cocktails, in San Clemente in July 2024 directly across the street from Vine, marking the group's first pizza-focused concept built around a custom wood-fired oven.
Bendel's restaurant pedigree runs in the family. His father, Russ Bendel Sr., served as CEO of Irvine-based Habit Burger & Grill, president and COO of The Cheesecake Factory, and CEO of Mimi's Cafe, and was named Orange County Restaurateur of the Year in 2004, per Cal Poly Pomona.
A Grocery-Anchored Center in a Growing Ranch Community
Creekside's location places it inside a commercial center with built-in foot traffic. Sendero Marketplace is anchored by Gelson's Market, In-N-Out Burger and Starbucks at Ortega Highway and La Pata Avenue, serving as the sole walkable commercial hub for Sendero village — the first residential village developed in the master-planned Rancho Mission Viejo community, according to a Rancho Mission Viejo real estate guide. Commercial real estate investment trust Regency Centers acquired Sendero Marketplace in July 2025 as part of a $357 million, five-property retail portfolio acquisition in the area, reported by The Real Deal, which noted the 630,000-square-foot portfolio was 97 percent leased at the time of purchase.
Ortega Highway, the corridor linking Creekside to Bloom, has drawn its own attention this year beyond dining openings. Firefighters responded to the 250-acre Gibby Fire near Ortega Highway and Gibby Road in September, which temporarily closed State Route 74 in both directions, as Hoodline previously reported. The Orange County Fire Authority also broke ground in August on a 30,000-square-foot Wildfire Resource Center on five donated acres along the same highway, a facility meant to centralize emergency hand crews and heavy equipment for South Orange County.
Back at Creekside, Bendel said he hopes the restaurant will become a favorite for local residents, according to the Times. With Rancho Mission Viejo's residential villages still expanding, the eighth RJB concept is betting that a creekside patio and comfort-food menu will give new neighbors a reason to stay close to home for dinner.
