29 Best Restaurants in Napa and Sonoma, California

Not one to rest on her laurels, the creative director of this urban-rustic restaurant responded to winning a prestigious fine-dining award by welcoming a new chef, mixologist, and wine lead, all with impressive credentials themselves. The worth-the-splurge cuisine, hinging on hyperfresh local ingredients from superstar purveyors, comes off even more intricate than before in dishes that might include kanpachi crudo or goat-cheese croquette apps or a smoked pork chop with Japanese sweet potato entrée.

Calistoga's flashy 19th-century entrepreneur Sam Brannan built the depot in 1868 to receive spa patrons, but it was looking careworn until his 21st-century equivalent, Wine Country vintner-showman Jean-Charles Boisset, restored the wood-frame building and opened a combination gourmet grocery, café, wine shop, distillery, and wine and beer garden. As at Boisset's historic Oakville Grocery, salads, artisanal sandwiches, and wood-fired pizzas headline.

In a high-ceilinged former barn with plenty of outside seating, Farmstead revolves around an open kitchen whose chefs prepare meals with grass-fed beef and lamb, fruits and vegetables, and eggs, olive oil, wine, honey, and other ingredients from nearby Long Meadow Ranch. Entrées might include wood-grilled trout with fennel and bacon-mustard vinaigrette; caramelized beets with goat cheese and chimichurri; or a wood-grilled heritage pork chop with jalapeño grits.

The mixologists at this verdant "bar-focused restaurant" whip up creative "garden-to-glass" cocktails meant for pairing with neo-comfort food whose ingredients, especially the produce, are primarily cultivated in west Sonoma County. "Umami bomb" mushrooms with sticky rice and the tofu with turmeric and peanut velouté entice vegans and vegetarians at dinner, but with lamb sausage, roasted chicken, a smash burger, and pan-seared fish, there's plenty for meat eaters, too.

A vintage-style neon sign outside this bungalow restaurant announces "Great Food," and the chefs deliver with well-plated dishes served in two buildings, one a Craftsman gem, or on street-side patios that are especially festive during weekend brunch. The offerings at women-owned and  -run Lovina change often, but a recent menu's roasted Cornish hen, lobster and prawn risotto, and seared wild halibut with gnocchi and wild mushrooms are typical of the imaginative cuisine.

Regulars of this southern Petaluma "daytime café" with indoor and outdoor seating rave about its eastern Mediterranean–inflected cuisine—then immediately downplay their enthusiasm lest this unassuming gem become more popular. The menu changes often, but mainstays include shakshuka (a tomato-based stew with baked eggs) and a lamb burger dripping with fennel tzatziki.

Possibly the most romantic roost for brunch, lunch, or dinner in all the Wine Country is a terrace seat at the Auberge du Soleil resort's illustrious restaurant, and the Mediterranean-inflected cuisine more than matches the dramatic vineyard views. The prix-fixe dinner menu (three or four courses), relying mainly on local produce, might include caviar or diver scallop starters, delicately prepared fish or vegetable middle-course options, and mains like prime beef pavé with béarnaise, spiced lamb loin, or Japanese Wagyu A5.

The chef-owners of this neighborly restaurant say their fare "walks the line between comfort and haute cuisine"—mostly California-inspired and "hyperseasonal" items that range from vegetarian butter-bean cassoulet (there's also a pork-belly version) to a 30-ounce tomahawk steak. The same could be said for the casual but knowing hospitality and the decor (bare wooden tables yet linen napkins), but it all works: dining here engenders quiet excitement.

The team behind this wine shop, bar, and restaurant across from Sonoma Plaza revamped a 19th-century adobe (though inside you'd never know it's this old) and expanded its outdoor patio, where most dining takes place. Sustainably produced seafood and meats find their way into "California home cooking"—summer dishes that might include halibut with corn and cherry tomatoes and winter ones like pork adobo or a half chicken with broccoli.

At this low-key dining room with zinc-top tables, superstar chef Thomas Keller offers a changing daily fixed-price menu that might include smoked beef short ribs with creamy herb rice and charred broccolini or sesame chicken with radish kimchi and fried rice (check the website for that day's offerings). Ad Hoc also serves a small but decadent Sunday brunch, and Keller's Addendum annex, in a separate small building behind the restaurant, sells boxed lunches to go (including moist buttermilk fried chicken) from Thursday to Saturday except in winter.

The culinary garden guests pass on their way to the Stanly Ranch resort's main restaurant supplies fruit, produce, and herbs for the artisanal cocktails and well-conceived dishes served inside the stone-and-glass structure. A salmon crudo appetizer exemplifies the approach: each of the pristinely fresh ingredients (yogurt, young dill, raw salmon, trout roe, green apple, Japanese spice) registers well enough separately but soars as an ensemble.

A roadside stop for specialty cocktails, casual lunches, and evening fine dining, Brix shares ownership with Kelleher Family Vineyards, whose Cabernet Sauvignon grapevines surround the restaurant on three sides. Pan-seared fish, juicy Brix burgers, house-made pasta, and risotto appear on both the lunch and dinner menus, with prime rib the crowd-pleaser on Sunday night.

Two microbrewing brothers' longtime dream, this storefront gastropub along Geyserville's slim commercial row serves their ales and other area craft brews, plus a rotating lineup of kombuchas, ciders, stouts, seltzers, and sours. The beverages beguile, as do the flavors in animal- and plant-based dishes that might include farro salad, cheddar cauliflower muffulettas, lamb burgers, roasted-mushroom melts, pickled vegetables, and pork belly sliders (good with the potent house IPA).

Breakfast, served all day at this bright-yellow French-style bakery and café, includes the signature omelet (sun-dried tomatoes, bacon, spinach, and Brie) and French toast made from thick slabs of cinnamon-walnut bread. French onion soup and cranberry-turkey, chicken with Jarlsberg, and (on the cinnamon-walnut bread) Monte Cristo sandwiches are among the lunch favorites.

This restaurant owes its visual appeal to its clean lines and svelte decor, but the eye inevitably drifts westward to the open kitchen, where longtime executive chef Armando Navarro's team crafts dishes full of subtle surprises. The menu might include ceviche or roasted maitake mushrooms as starters and pan-roasted salmon, fettuccine carbonara, or paella awash with seafood among the entrées.

The gas-lamp-style lighting fixtures, charcoal-black hues, and bistro cuisine at Evangeline evoke old New Orleans with a California twist. The chefs put a jaunty spin on dishes that might include shrimp étouffée, duck confit, or steak frites; the elaborate weekend brunch, with pamplemousse (grapefruit) mimosas an acerbic intro to everything from raw oysters, avocado toast, and smoked salmon to shrimp and grits and prosciutto Benedict, is an upvalley favorite.

Built-in wood-fired ovens anchor the open kitchen at this fun-casual spot with tile floors and bare light bulbs strung over the tables. Pizzas and pasta dishes made from farm-fresh ingredients dominate the menu, but straightforward fish, chicken, and steak entrées appear as well.

A dependable, varied menu makes this modest corner restaurant occupying a brick-and-glass storefront many Napans' go-to choice for a simple meal. Empanadas and iron-skillet cornbread with lavender honey and butter show up at all hours, with buttermilk pancakes and chilaquiles scrambled eggs among the brunch staples and cassoulet and roasted heirloom chicken popular for dinner.

Tablecloths, cut flowers, and the soft glow of liquid paraffin candles and strings of lights overhead draw most diners to this casual-elegant restaurant's expansive outdoor patio. Chef Bob Simontacchi relies on local sources for the organic, sustainable ingredients in vegan, vegetarian, and omnivore bistro-style dishes like beet salad, braised red cabbage with bacon and Sebastopol apples, vegetable stew, foraged-mushroom risotto, and duck confit.

Even before diners settle in their seats, the Montage resort's glass-walled destination restaurant captures the imagination with exterior views of vineyards, oaks, and far-off Mt. St. Helena and interior haute-luxury touches like chandeliers of locally handblown Czech glass. The Cali-Continental connection comes full circle in dishes—Pacific oysters with a spicy mignonette, perhaps, or halibut with shrimp, corn, and chanterelles—whose French flourishes elevate the seasonal ingredients.

The mile-long list of morning fare at Occidental's neo-hippie go-to breakfast and weekend brunch spot includes order-at-the-counter huevos rancheros, omelets, eggs Benedict, waffles, pancakes, French toast, and "healthy alternatives" such as oatmeal, house-made granola, and quinoa and brown rice bowls with kale and eggs. Soups, salads, burgers, and monstrous sandwiches are on the menu for lunch at this laid-back space with seating inside a 19th-century gingerbread Victorian and outside on its wooden front porch and covered back patio.

Inside a metal-and-glass structure design writers have described as industrial grange-hall chic, the chefs at this "farm-forward gathering place" prepare satisfying plant-based cuisine supporting the founders' goal of creating Healdsburg's first entirely vegan restaurant. With most ingredients rushed over from Little Saint's nearby 8-acre Russian River farm, the menu items change often.

The menu at this upscale roadhouse with a sloping wood-beamed ceiling focuses on seafood and meat—beef, lamb, chicken, duck, and other options—with many dishes in both categories grilled. Start with the classics, perhaps a martini and oysters Rockefeller, before moving on to well-plated contemporary entrées that might include crispy-skin salmon or duck breast, a fish stew, or grilled rib eye.

Tourists, locals, and spa guests—some of the latter in bathrobes after treatments—assemble inside this casual resort restaurant or on its extensive patio for breakfast, lunch, bar snacks, or dinner. Lunch options include thin-crust pizzas, sandwiches, a cheddar burger, and entrées such as chicken paillard, with the burger reappearing for dinner along with fish, steak, the house-made pasta of the day, and similar fare.

Decorated in shades of brown and white and softly lit at night, the Grille is the type of spot where old schoolers start a meal by washing down oysters on the half shell with a stiff gin martini or cut to the chase with vodka oyster shooters. The menu at lunch and dinner skews heavily surf but covers all the turf bases with grilled, baked, or roasted beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and fish dishes, plus risotto and pasta plates.

Christopher Kostow's reputation rests on his swoonworthy haute cuisine for the Meadowood resort, but he and his Charter Oak team adopt a more straightforward approach—fewer ingredients chosen for maximum effect—at this high-ceilinged, brown-brick downtown restaurant. With exceedingly fresh produce from Meadowood's nearby farm, this strategy might translate into dishes like red kuri squash with pickled peppers, almonds, and goat cheese; or pork collar with fermented pepper jam (or just go for the cheeseburger and thick hand-cut fries).

Owner-designer Jay Jeffers initiated a top-to-bottom makeover of this restaurant and its same-named hotel but retained the farm-to-table, French-inspired cuisine, the chef freshening it up a little to reflect The Madrona's flashy-elegant look. Inside a 19th-century mansion, with ornate molding and high ceilings but ultracontemporary to the max, diners feast in chic splendor on multifaceted preparations that make ample use of locally raised proteins and the on-site organic garden's fruits and vegetables.

The owners of a local-fave tri-tip food trolley opened this comfort-food restaurant in a 90-year-old building originally a gas station and later an inn. In addition to tri-tip, the New Orleans–inspired menu consists of small bites like white-cheddar grits and larger bites that include smoke-braised short ribs, steelhead trout, fried chicken, and a grass-fed burger with cheese and tomato jam.

Salads, several hot sandwiches, and filling signature entrées like chicken potpie, the French dip, and spaghetti and meatballs appear on this pale-yellow and lime-green eatery's lunch and dinner menus. Sunday brunch is elaborate, and breakfast the rest of the week—specialties include hot, creamy polenta and house-made granola—is American down-home solid.