Our planned trip is in April and we need some dinner plans. Any suggestions? Thanks

Popular & Expensive:
- The French Laundry
- Torc
- Cole's Chop House
- Waterfront Seafood Grill

Other Recs:
- Grace's Table
- Norman Rose Tavern
- Tarla Mediterranean

Make reservations for any of them that you know you want to go to, the popular spots fill up weeks in advance.

I had a really good meal at Compline in downtown Napa a couple months back.

Oxbow Market has some good more casual option too.

Need more information on what you are looking for and where you are staying. I live relatively close to Napa and can give some good recommendations if I know particulars.

Take a look at these and let me know what you think k and can recommend more that are similar

Mustards Grill - St Helena Highway north of Napa between Yountville and Oakville, popular place near many vineyards.

French Laundry - in Yountville, almost impossible to get reservations but if you can and you are not concerned by the price. Do it. Will cost you a min of $1000 for two people.

Bistro Don Giovanni - just off of St Helena Highway just on outskirts of Napa. Been here a few times and love the place. Great for lunch or dinner. Outdoor patio is fun for lunch on the way to a tasting.

Cole's chophouse - downtown Napa on Main Street. Very good steakhouse right downtown near the river. Easy to walk to and then walk around other bars and restaurants.

After dinner drinks or before dinner drinks. The rooftop at the archer. Get there early and enjoy better than normal bar food around a fire pit and enjoy the views. Come later and don't be shy to ask to join other people around a fire pit if you see and open spot.


More suggestions if you tell me where you are staying and what you are looking for.

ColoradoMooseHerd said:

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After dinner drinks or before dinner drinks. The rooftop at the archer. Get there early and enjoy better than normal bar food around a fire pit and enjoy the views. Come later and don't be shy to ask to join other people around a fire pit if you see and open spot.

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Definitely second the rooftop. I believe the actual name is Sky & Vine? We had reservations one night but wound up going twice and the second night we just walked in, no wait.

Cool atmosphere and a great way to end a day of wine tasting.

If you are spending any time in Sonoma during your visit, I highly recommend The Girl and the Fig.

We had a very nice lunch at Farmstead in St. Helena and another nice stop at RH in Yountville.

A lot of people recommend Los Agaves in downtown Napa for a casual meal, but I thought it was weak compared to Mexican restaurants in Texas. Wish we had gone somewhere else like Bistro Don Giovanni or Bounty Hunter.

We were very fortunate to get reservations to The French Laundry, which was the highlight of our visit. Definitely worth trying to get in.

Cole's Chop House is a great dinner spot. And Sky & Vine is a must for after dinner drinks!

Is it just me or are all Napa restaurants pretty much the same? How many different versions of "farmhouse american" are necessary?

Not one of the restaurants that I post is similar at all. And I could not disagree more about the Napa restaurants being similar. That seems you must only be searching for similar types of restaurants s

Bouchon

Bottega

EclipseAg said:

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We had a very nice lunch at Farmstead in St. Helena and another nice stop at RH in Yountville.

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Farmstead was one of the most disappoiting meals I have had....not just for Napa Valley.

jetch17 said:

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Bouchon

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Bouchon is good...a bit tight in there. They literally moved the table so a person could be seated and then basically "locked" them in.

mpl35 said:

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EclipseAg said:

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We had a very nice lunch at Farmstead in St. Helena and another nice stop at RH in Yountville.

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Farmstead was one of the most disappoiting meals I have had....not just for Napa Valley.

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Interesting.

Ad-Hoc for Fried Chicken.
Brasswood has some great lunches I think. It isn't on the menu but they will stretch the mozerella on the toast at your table. With the heirloom tomoatoes itis an app worth visiting for..
French Laundry of course.

I found most food in Napa pretty good.

mpl35 said:

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jetch17 said:

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Bouchon

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Bouchon is good...a bit tight in there. They literally moved the table so a person could be seated and then basically "locked" them in.

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Hey, you can't say it's not an authentic Parisian bistro if you're not basically at the same table as strangers!

I do love Bouchon. Probably my favorite restaurant there.

Remember that restaurants in CA or BYOW so if you have a special bottle, take it with you and pay the corkage.

mpl35 said:

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Ad-Hoc for Fried Chicken.
Brasswood has some great lunches I think. It isn't on the menu but they will stretch the mozerella on the toast at your table. With the heirloom tomoatoes itis an app worth visiting for..
French Laundry of course.

I found most food in Napa pretty good.

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I was disappointed in Farmstead but that was over a decade ago. Not sure how it is now

Agree on Ad Hoc. I like it for brunch. I went on a day when they served eggs Benedict and it was the best I've ever had. We also got the fried chicken supplement because it's so freaking good. In the late spring thru early fall, they sell fried chicken at the pop up in the back of the resurfacing: Addendum. Pair with a nice old bottle of champagne and it's a damn fine meal.

Cook is another one of my favorites. Only open weekdays for dinner. It's a must for us. We'll do Mustard's for lunch on most trips.

French Laundry from time to time is a real treat.

We stumbled on Fleetwood in Calistoga after a Realm tasting and had a really good lunch there.

That's pretty much my rotation. The city of Napa has great spots but we rarely make it down there.

BSD said:

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Thanks to this thread, I am now going to Napa this spring.

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Not a bad idea. Addendum gets a stop at least once each visit. So cheap for great fried chicken.

+1 for Cole's Chop House

Go to Press if you want to try a Michelin star that what I could call a 'reasonable' price (compared to other options like French laundry, etc.) it's a 1 star place so not apples to apples, but wife and I had a spectacular meal there. Their wine list is like 100% Napa and has some really cool stuff. The pairing was really good.

We enjoyed Charter Oak if you're further up the valley.

The Gatehouse restaurant is on our list (Culinary institute of America training restaurant). Every time we've gone the students have been on break so haven't been able to try it.

If you're getting over towards Sonoma at all, try the Mayo Family Winery "Reserve Room" experience. It's more of a heavy lunch with wine pairing, but Chef John puts on a spectacular experience.

Would NOT recommend the CIA restaurant at Copia, we had a terrible experience there.

For wineries please do yourself a favor and check out Buehler and Paloma. Both spectacular wineries that are off the beaten path and not super commercialized/touristy.

Any other Yountville specific (or Yountville area) restaurant recs?

If you are there in the morning, stop by Bouchon Bakery to grab a coffee, a ham and cheese baguette (they'll ask if you want it warmed - do it) and a few chocolate bouchons.

Catelli's in Geyserville is one of my all time favorite Italian joints, if you're up for a drive.

steve00 said:

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If you are there in the morning, stop by Bouchon Bakery to grab a coffee, a ham and cheese baguette (they'll ask if you want it warmed - do it) and a few chocolate bouchons.

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Bouchon Bakery is a must to start the day.

Also, Oakville Grocery for a pitstop for snacks and great sandwiches/pizzas

Modern Bakery is great. Their english muffins are awesome my wife says. I'm not an English muffin guy...

jetch17 said:

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steve00 said:

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If you are there in the morning, stop by Bouchon Bakery to grab a coffee, a ham and cheese baguette (they'll ask if you want it warmed - do it) and a few chocolate bouchons.

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Bouchon Bakery is a must to start the day.

Also, Oakville Grocery for a pitstop for snacks and great sandwiches/pizzas

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Big fan of Oakville Grocery. As you said outstanding sandwiches and pizza but really love their assortment of cheese, meats and other items for a picnic or to pair with tasting.

jetch17 said:

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steve00 said:

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If you are there in the morning, stop by Bouchon Bakery to grab a coffee, a ham and cheese baguette (they'll ask if you want it warmed - do it) and a few chocolate bouchons.

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Bouchon Bakery is a must to start the day.

Also, Oakville Grocery for a pitstop for snacks and great sandwiches/pizzas

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We went to Mini-Model one day and Bouchon Bakery the next. Both were great.

Yountville is such a cool little town. Like a Hallmark movie come to life.