This longtime Calistoga mainstay offers a quintessential Napa Valley dining experience, especially with its posh poolside patio that’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. For dinner, start with the iconic Chips & Dip (caviar, potato chips, and, onion crème fraîche), Parker House rolls, and Santa Barbara sea urchin before moving on to more classic entrees, like New York strip and rib-eye, or maybe something a little more inventive, such as sake-marinated black cod. Lunch isn’t too shabby either, starring a wagyu burger and Maine lobster roll. 

Introduced as a part of a massive revamp of Dr. Wilkinson’s Backyard Resort & Mineral Springs in Calistoga, House of Better aims to give wine country a dose of health-minded dining that goes beyond the usual salads and smoothies. Chef Trevor Logan of San Francisco’s now-closed Green Chile Kitchen offers a menu that bridges the gap between spa food and comfort food with dishes like grilled fish tacos, a roasted green chile and maitake flatbread, and rustic green chile stew. It’s a fast-casual dining experience with cocktails, wine, beer, and “herbal elixirs.” Just don’t forget to nab a slice of Logan’s popular fruit pies. 

Model Bakery has the best English muffins in the world — and some of the world’s best breakfast sandwiches made with said muffins. They’re so delicious that Oprah has admitted to having them flown to her house. The pastry case is stacked with buttery croissants, moist banana bread, cookies, savory bread puddings, and more. Model Bakery has grown from its original digs to two additional locations in Napa (by Oxbow) and Yountville, but several specialty items (like avocado toast on sourdough bread with a hard-boiled egg and crispy bacon) are only available at the flagship bakery in St. Helena. Breakfast goodies sell out fast, but you can place an order online ahead of time and get some extra muffins to take home. 

The legendary Tra Vigne restaurant may have closed a few years ago, but its sister pizzeria keeps the legacy alive with several of Tra Vigne’s iconic dishes, like the must-order mozzarella al minuto. Pair that with one of Tra Vigne’s signature pies, like the Ducati (capicola, spicy Italian sausage, mozzarella, marinara, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes), paninis, pastas, or even a burger. They’ve also got one of the best happy hours around. Offered seven days a week, you can get oysters on the half shell, wings, and arancini for $1.50 each and drinks as low as three dollars.

This classic burger shack was known for 60 years as Taylor’s Refresher, but the name was changed in 1999 when it was sold to Joel and Duncan Gott. Luckily, aside from a recent paint refresh, that’s pretty much all that’s changed. The restaurant still draws lines for its old-fashioned burgers (they’ve got ahi, turkey, veggie, and Impossible burgers, too), fish tacos, protein-loaded salads, milkshakes, and soft serve. For something boozier, there’s a list of beers on tap, and, lest ye forget that you’re in Napa, more wines by the glass and half bottle than most other roadside dives. Gott’s is notorious for long lunchtime lines, but place your order online ahead of time and avoid the wait.

This ranch has it all: a restaurant, a cafe, and winery. Farmstead’s menu focuses on beef from the Long Meadow herd — steaks, meatballs, meatloaf, beef tartare, and more — and spotlights LMR produce, olive oil, and honey. Don’t miss the mini ham sandwiches, featuring salty ham on biscuits slathered with pepper jelly, or the Dungeness crab roll (when in season). In the mornings, a commissary next to the restaurant offers grab-and-go coffee, green juice, pastries, and breakfast sandwiches.

Press has been a Napa Valley fine dining staple for more than 15 years, best known for its meticulously sourced cuts of aged beef that pair well with big Napa Cabs and black truffle hash browns. Miraculously, chef Philip Tessier (a Le Bernardin, Per Se, and French Laundry alum) has raised the bar even higher. Whatever you do, don’t sleep on the ricotta gnudi or sweet and sour pig ears for apps. Press also has one of the best and most comprehensive Napa Valley-exclusive wine lists around with more than 1,800 selections.

Though one of Napa’s main attractions is its upscale restaurant scene, fine dining fatigue is real. Thankfully, the valley is also dotted with taco trucks and small bodegas with back counters that serve good food in a casual setting. La Luna has tacos, quesadillas, and more, but it’s famous for its fully loaded burritos, especially the version stuffed with its delightfully crisp carnitas. If you can get there before 11 a.m., the massive breakfast burrito will lay solid groundwork for even the most ambitious day of wine tasting.

Going on almost 40 years, this Napa Valley landmark from chef Cindy Pawlcyn is a go-to lunch spot for local winemakers and is beloved for its comfort food classics that pair great with Napa’s best wines. You can’t go wrong with Mustards Mighty Meatloaf, the Crazy Good Chicken Wings, Famous Mongolian Pork Chop, or Chalkboard Pasta, which changes each day but never disappoints.

This exciting new addition to Yountville adds a fresh perspective to a sea of French and Italian. Former Momofuku chef Nick Tamburo combines wood-fire cooking on a Japanese grill with Asian flavors and local ingredients. Case in point: the duck liver mousse with rye crackers and matcha. The wood-roasted half chicken is an early favorite for North Block’s signature dish and the house cocktails are in a league of their own. 

Ad Hoc’s four-course, family-style dinner menu changes daily, though snagging a table on fried chicken night is the ultimate goal (add the Maine lobster mac ’n’ cheese; it’s worth the extra cost). Luckily, Chef Thomas Keller’s legendary buttermilk fried chicken is also now available for takeout by the bucket daily (for now — it tends to change). Pro tip: Splurge for the large bucket; legend has it this chicken tastes even better the next day.

Napa’s destination restaurants aren’t just of the fine dining variety, just ask Rancho Gordo founder Steve Sando, who’s intimately familiar with wine country’s best taco trucks. You’ll find El Muchacho Alegre tucked alongside the Universal Auto repair shop and the move is to order the torta ahogada, a Jaliscian specialty. The meat-filled sandwich is almost like a fiery French dip, served with a gazpacho-like salsa and drenched in a savory tomato and chile sauce.

The Ferry Building’s high-ceilinged little sister has a serious concentration of Bay Area restaurants (plus shops) under one roof. Slurp oysters at Hog Island Oysters, order the famous duck tacos at C Casa, or share some sushi rolls at Eiko’s. Don’t miss Oxbow’s newest tenants, Loveski, a Jewish-style deli from chef Christopher Kostow that’s dishing out sourdough bagels, sandwiches, latkes, and more, and Milestone Provisions, a butcher shop also offering roasted meats on sandwiches, salads, and platters.

A downtown Napa staple that’s beloved by locals, Cole’s Chophouse is the neighborhood steakhouse. Start with the lobster and shrimp bisque or classic Caesar, choose your favorite cut of meat for the entree — perhaps the 21-day dry-aged New York steak — with sides like potato and gruyere gratin, and finish with the whiskey bread pudding. Mondays to Wednesdays, Cole’s offers a four-course prix-fixe menu for $65.

A triple threat, Compline (pronounced like Compton) is a wine bar, restaurant, and wine shop in one. Started by two sommeliers — co-founder Matt Stamp is a master somm — Compline’s impressive collection of bottles goes far beyond Napa Valley and includes selections from all over the world, including some regions and grapes you’ve likely never heard of. The burger and duck fat fries are Compline’s reigning royalty, but the new fried chicken sandwich from Chef Jammir Gray has a shot at the throne. Those can be snagged at lunch while dinner brings other delights, like locally sourced duck breast and black cod.

Breakfast here, offered Tuesday to Saturday, is all about biscuits with jam, pimento cheese, or bacon and molasses, or the weekly special Baller Biscuit. Lunch brings light takeaway options like beet poke or the heavy artillery like banh mi sandwiches stuffed with mortadella and miso turnips. As the name implies, there are also goods by the pound, like sliced meats and cheeses, bacon, pickled onions, coffee beans, and jars of hot sauce.

Serving escargots, sweetbreads, steak tartare, and ratatouille, this classic French gem at the end of downtown Napa’s Main Street has unparalleled river views and one of the best patios in town. Open for lunch and dinner, sip a cocktail like the Angèle Spritz (bubbles, vermouth, strawberries, mint, and vanilla) on a warm Napa day and watch stand-up paddle boarders and kayakers float by.

A Napa coffeehouse and cafe, Southside has achieved low-key cult status in wine country for its all-day breakfast, and has grown to three locations. A solid mix of light and hearty dishes with a focus on veggies, Southside is known for California cuisine with a Latin twist — try the ceviche tostadas or biscuits with chorizo sausage gravy — for founders Irma and Morgan Robinson both have roots tied to Mexico. The “Fried Chicken Friday” is a favorite among locals: Get a bucket of Fulton Valley buttermilk fried chicken to go with sides, biscuits, and a bottle of sparkling wine.

True to its name, Farm is hyper-seasonal — sourcing ingredients from local farmers and their own culinary gardens — plus diners enjoy their meal in a bright, airy, and spacious farmhouse at Carneros Resort. With no clear cuisine theme here, there’s something for everyone (dinner dishes range from gnocchi to diver scallops to roasted brassicas), yet one of Farm’s best offerings is Sunday brunch. For $68 a person, the table gets to choose four items to share, like a lobster shrimp roll or crispy duck confit hash.