napa alone for diner, where to go?

[Goofy Yno]

I'll be in napa overnight alone. No time for wine tasting, but will need to eat dinner. I'm a vegetarian who eats fish. I was thinking of either finding a good wineshop that doesn't gauge (I'm on a lot of mailing lists ) and grabbing a pizza or something for the room, or a casual restaurant with a good wine list. I tried Oxbow on my last trip, but did love it.

any suggestions?

thanks

[CarrieWas218]

I'd head to Grace's Table. I dine alone in Napa weekly (live here) and the quality at Grace's Table never ceases to impress without being pretentious or expensive.

If you eat fish and want to splurge, the sushi bar at Morimoto can be quite fun as well but prepare for a $100 meal versus a $30 meal.

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Morimoto
610 Main Street, Napa, CA

Grace's Table
1400 2nd St, Napa, CA 94559

[vday]

Second Grace's Table . . . lots of locals eat there. I like eating solo at their bar too. The food is always delicious.

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Grace's Table
1400 2nd St, Napa, CA 94559

[Dan Wodarcyk]

Sorry, cannot "third" Grace's Table. Many options though, especially if sitting at the bar works for you.

Napa: Zuzu, Morimoto, Angele, Oenotri (though the bar is small)

Yountville: Bistro Jeanty, Redd

St. Helena: Cook and I've heard Bar Terra is good but haven't been

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Bistro Jeanty
6510 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599

Oenotri
1425 1st St, Napa, CA 94559

Morimoto
610 Main Street, Napa, CA

Grace's Table
1400 2nd St, Napa, CA 94559

[KatoK]

I'll second your Bistro Jeanty nomination. They have a bustling room and sitting at the bar there seems like it would be a great option.

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Bistro Jeanty
6510 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599

[billraymond]

If I were dining by myself and wanted a really nice meal but also wanted to enjoy a bit of the messiness that is Napa, I would sit at the bar at Mustards.

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Mustards Grill
7399 St. Helena Hwy, Yountville, CA 94558

[cortez]

Sitting at the bar is a favorite pastime of mine. Lots of options.

Napa: Ubuntu, Farm at the Carneros Inn

Yountville: Bouchon, Mustards

St. Helena: Cyndys, Cook, Go Fish

Given your one night and Napa location, I'd do Ubuntu or Farm.

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Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio
1140 Main Street, Napa, CA 94558

Go Fish
641 Main St, St. Helena, CA 94574

Bouchon
6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599

[openhelix]

Ubuntu is the easy, almost cliche, answer. In addition, I'd suggest going and sitting at the bar at Ad Hoc and telling them you'd like a vegetarian-coursed meal. They're happy to oblige and do some pretty good stuff!

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Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio
1140 Main Street, Napa, CA 94558

Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599

[gregb]

After recent trips to both, I would highly recommend Ubuntu.

Avoid Ad Hoc like the plague!

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Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio
1140 Main Street, Napa, CA 94558

Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599

[billraymond]

gregb... what about Ad Hoc makes you say this? It was one of my favorite/most memorable dinners in Yountville.

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Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599

[gregb]

The service was pathetic (wine bottle left to pour ourselves, empty water glasses and water containers for long stretches of time, empty plates left on our table for 20 minutes on a couple different occasions, having to be offered coffee by our bus boy, etc.), an uninspired menu that was ordinary at best, 2 ribeye steaks (for 6 people) that were cool to the touch, inconsistently cooked, and nearly half fat, incredibly small portions (3 asparagus per person for the salad, 2-4 ounces of beef per person for the main), and a stale pound cake for dessert that was soaked in a simple syrup to make up for its lack of freshness. All of what I have listed and much more leads to a meal I would describe as nothing short of a rip off at $52 per person. If Chef Keller were at our table, I cannot even imagine what his reaction would have been.

...maybe we caught them on an off night.

[billraymond]

Wow did you have a completely different experience than me! The service was outstanding and the food was portioned really well. I will admit the meat was a bit on the cool side but they informed us it would not come out ripping hot and we all kind of liked the way it was served. Either I had a good night or you had a bad night :-)

[mmerino]

I would like to heartily reject "almost cliche" and just call Ubuntu cliche!
Bar at Ad Hoc is the way to go. Never had an cliche or ordinary meal at there.

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Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio
1140 Main Street, Napa, CA 94558

Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599

[nancyhudson]

If the OP has never been, then does cliche matter? It's a great meal. And, I too, have had an outstanding meal at Ad Hoc. Service was terrific and kitchen was very accomodating to a vegetarian. My guess is every single recommendation on here won't dissapoint.

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Ad Hoc
6476 Washington St., Yountville, CA 94599

[nancyhudson]

Vegetarian in Napa? Ubuntu! Fabulous.

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Ubuntu Restaurant & Yoga Studio
1140 Main Street, Napa, CA 94558

[MeredithR]

Terra, Cook and Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen (all in St. Helena if that works) have some great seafood entrees and great wine menus to boot.

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Cindy's Backstreet Kitchen
1327 Railroad Ave., St. Helena, CA 94574