Napa is filled with great restaurants so we’ve decided to only share our list of our favorites and other places we’ve enjoyed. Unless you’re spending an entire week in Napa this list should get you through a few days of meals. If you plan on hitting up these spots, chances are you’ll end up saying goodbye to any diet you might have been on.

Just like we mentioned in our Favorite Napa Wineries GMG Now post, we enjoy overall dining experiences. We are always on the lookout for delicious, fresh food and drinks served in a comfortable, cute and fun environment. You might notice that this list tends to favor breakfast, brunch and lunch choices. As with the wineries we recommended in Napa, try to get a reservation at these restaurants, if possible. While waiting an hour for a table isn’t too bad with a glass of wine in hand, it could throw off your schedule.

Let’s start with our favorites.

Our Favorites

Farmstead– We continue to go back to Farmstead because it’s always a hit. When we think of ideal Napa dining we think of enjoying tasty food from the best ingredients and sipping wine while basking in the sun. Farmstead has all of this. That’s probably why we continue to go back to Farmstead as much as any other restaurant in Napa. We highly recommend the grilled artichoke (we normally get 2 orders) and the vegetable gnocchi.

Archetype– Also a favorite of ours for lunch. Their shaded front patio is the perfect spot to relax away from the summer sun when the weather heats up. We recently returned and shared some photos in this post. We loved the lemon pancakes and donuts.

Fremont Diner– We couldn’t believe it took us so long to try Fremont Diner after having driven past it a few dozen times. Now we make the stop almost every trip. It’s one of those places that the combination of food and atmosphere makes you want to show it off to all of your friends that have never been before. Everything is really good on the menu. Thomas loves the Chilaquiles, in fact he can’t force himself to order anything else. Also, their milkshakes are not to be missed.

Boon Fly Cafe at Carneros Inn– Blood Mary’s and Donuts are the go-tos here but everything is great. It can get really crowded on the weekends since it’s a small space. If you want to make sure you don’t have to wait you should make sure to get there before 10am.

Hilltop Dining Room at Carneros Inn- While Boon Fly Cafe certainly is much more popular, if you’re staying at Carneros Inn (highly recommended) do not miss having breakfast up by the pool. On a spring or summer morning the warm sun mixes perfectly with the beautiful view and peaceful setting. Oh ya, and ordering any main breakfast dish comes with the option of getting an order of the Espresso Glaze Covered Cinnamon Rolls for the table.

Gott’s Roadside– Until last weekend we hadn’t tried Gott’s. It wasn’t because the food didn’t look appetizing but because of the simple fact that on Weekends around lunch time, the line has at least 100 people standing in it. We were driving by at 5pm on Sunday and there was only a line of 10 people. We got a veggie burger, sweet potato fries, lemonade and an Arnold Palmer. It was seriously delicious.

Enjoyed

Redd Wood– We had a lovely dinner at Redd Wood last weekend and were very surprised that we had never tried it before. We had such a great experience with our friends, it’s the type of dinner restaurant you can go to in Napa and not feel bad about having a good time. We ordered about 4 pizzas for 5 people and those were fantastic. The star of the show happened to be the bucatini pasta. The tomato sauce was rich and the thick spaghetti like noodles were cooked to perfect al dente firmness.

Bouchon– While all of our recommendations so far have been more towards the casual side, if you are looking to get “fancy”, Bouchon is one of the few high price point restaurants that we enjoy eating at for dinner. My sister and I still reminisce about the truffle risotto that we had here over a year ago.

Goose and Gander- We’ve only been for brunch but we’ve heard great things about their dinner and cocktails. We sat out on their patio and enjoyed a relaxing meal on Easter.

Celadon– It’s been a while since I’ve been here, but it was one of those meals that my friends and I still talk about. We dined outside under their bistro lights and everything we ordered was amazing.

Model Bakery– If you happen to have an english muffin while in Napa, chances are it came from Model Bakery. These english muffins are incredible. Like seriously better than any english muffin you will ever eat. You can visit one of their two locations at Oxbow Market in Downtown Napa or in the heart of St. Helena. We like the Downtown Napa location as they have a big selection of breakfast sandwiches and other pastries.