River Road Grill opens today, softly, meeting pent-up demand.

The pent-up demand of a captive, enthusiastic and food-and-wine loving audience will finally get its relief.

River Road Grill opens right now, March 2, in the former Element Wine Bar at 275 River Road, next to the gas station.

Hours are 11am-9pm except Tuesdays.

It’s a strategic place for the thousands who live along the wine country corridor and among its neighboring housing communities.

The tagline is simple enough: “Classic American dishes made with fresh local ingredients prepared simply and served in a warm atmosphere.”

No photos or menus have been made available on the website.

A visit yesterday revealed last minute details being attended to structurally and Chef Jacob Lofton lingering in the back after completing some produce orders.

He spent three years as chef of Golden Tee Restaurant & Bar at Monterey Regional Airport after a much longer stint working various restaurants in New York, where he graduated from culinary school, until around 2010.

He describes the pattern in New York's trendy meat-packing district thusly: "Everything got to the point where it had to have a salad on it, even breakfast."

His debut menu, meanwhile, even with a half dozen small plates, a few salads, two soups, a pasta, a couple burgers, sandwiches and fish tacos, plus four entreés, he calls "the small version."

"My thing is to find really good taste in my own way," he says. "You won't have halibut tacos like mine somewhere—and if you do I have to pay them a visit."

A glance at the menu reveals a range of largely rib-sticking highlights.

The three pizzas include a goat cheese-mushroom-truffle oil pie ($10.95).

The River Road nachos ($9.95) are available with short rib (+$7) or flat-iron steak (+$9); the namesake burger with house barbecue sauce, Havarti cheese fresh onion rings and freckles ($12.95).

There's also a buttermilk fried chicken sandwich ($13.95), short ribs on a sweet corn cake ($18.95) and those grilled halibut tacos with salsa roasted in house ($16.95).

A handful of specialty drinks are available from the bar, including the River Road Tea ($10) and an "adult" root beer float ($8).

Given its location it's hard to imagine a solid lineup of wines not coming online.

All told there's a lot to like, for a place that needed this a lot.

Reminder (!): Soft-opening means go in looking to furnish constructive feedback and enjoy the chaos of the start, not any kind of critical reviews.