Tim O’Leary
Special to Valley News
It had been eons since this old dog left the porch to cover yet another chamber of commerce ribbon-cutting ceremony. But a recent Old Town outing proved to be well worth the effort.
And so, with the usual fanfare and folderol, a longtime Temecula couple was feted as the new owners of a chunk of Old Town that includes the iconic Swing Inn. The celebrity couple – parents of four – shared the limelight with their newest acquisition: Temecula’s oldest eatery.
Thus I can now introduce you to Dean and Bridget Norris, who have cobbled together a local business empire. It includes the folksy restaurant, a soon-to-open sibling, and a nearby dance, drama and performing arts academy.
Dean has amassed more than 150 TV and movie credits throughout his career. At least two other performances are waiting to be aired.
Dean, 61, is perhaps best known for his portrayal of DEA Agent Hank Schrader in 51 episodes of Breaking Bad, which ran on AMC from 2008 to 2013. Dean is a high school valedictorian who was reared from Hungarian stock. He has degrees from Harvard College and the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Bridget heads the Norris Performing Arts Center in Murrieta.
The couple commanded the top billing at a Temecula Valley Chamber of Commerce ceremony on Sept. 27 that marked the Swing Inn’s foray into Texas BBQ and expanded take-out services.
The event also spotlighted a line of Swing Inn ball caps and T-shirts, as well as an array of products linked to Breaking Bad. The show-related items include a craft beer and candies that include gummy chicken feet.
The Swing Inn’s story began in 1931, when the corner building was constructed and opened as Mother’s Cafe. It anchored the heart of a tiny town dotted by a few rag-tag buildings that were scattered among the declining ranching and granite mining operations and a sparsely-populated Indian reservation.
There, over the years, one restaurant after another there fed hungry cowboys, construction workers, city and school employees, townies and tourists. The eatery was renamed the Swing Inn in 1949, and it became best known as a breakfast joint.
But everyone – locals and tourists alike – seems to have a tale to tell from a visit there. Mine features an embarrassing dip into the realm of “Indian time.”
Old Town emerged from its slumber in the mid-90s after the fast-growing city spent $5 million on wooden sidewalks, period street lights and other improvements. That upgrade and others spurred waves of development, which in turn boosted city coffers from rising property, sales and hotel taxes.
Trendy restaurants and shops soon replaced the stodgy antique stores, and Old Town over the years evolved into a mini Gaslamp. Busy days there can trigger a fierce scramble for scarce parking spaces.
Temecula first appeared on Dean’s radar in the early 2000s as he was driving north from an acting job in Mexico. He had logged about 80 film and TV credits by that point in his career.
His array of colorful characters by then had included police detectives, a priest, a school principal, a scientist, a state trooper, a SWAT team leader, a job foreman, an Army sergeant and a rodent.
TV viewers may recall some of Dean’s appearances on such hit shows as JAG, Dragnet, Nash Bridges, NYPD Blue, NCIS, ER, Bones, Charmed, Castle, Criminal Minds, Tremors, Married … with Children, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles, The X-Files, Grey’s Anatomy, The West Wing and Walker, Texas Ranger.
Dean and Bridget’s hunt for the perfect place to raise their family ended in Temecula about 23 years ago. They opened their dance and drama academy in 2018. In 2022, they spent $6 million to buy the Swing Inn, an adjacent vacant building and a pair of parking lots that flank those historic structures.
Dean isn’t worried that he’ll lose his nest egg on a restaurant gamble. He’s confident that his investment was sound, especially since two new hotels will break ground nearby soon and grading is underway west of Murrieta Creek for a 1,400-unit housing project and the long-awaited Western Bypass.
In the near future, Dean plans to transform his adjacent vacant building – a former candy shop – into a Western-style bar and grill.
The couple’s children – who range from 15 to 21 – at times work at the restaurant or the academy. The Swing Inn employs about 45 people, and the performing arts academy boasts a stable of instructors and administrators.
Dean and I perched on the restaurant’s porch as we chatted after the chamber event. He would frequently pause to acknowledge the honks, shouts and waves from passing drivers and pedestrians.
Dean said he promised the former owner of the Swing Inn that the trademark breakfast dishes – including liver and onions – will remain on the menu. And he said another staple – a scraggly patch of dirt dubbed Temecula’s Boot Hill – will continue to showcase its smattering of cheesy wooden “tombstones.”
“We can’t lose them,” Dean confided to me. “We’ve been told we’d be in big trouble if we did.”
