Napa Valley is one of America’s great dining destinations, home to Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-star French Laundry. Here, the restaurants are a reason to visit in their own right, drawing chefs who came for the produce and the wine and stayed to build some of the most sought-after tables in the country. That ambition shows up across the valley, from tasting-menu temples to the trattorias and family-style rooms locals have loved for decades.

Below are the 20 best restaurants in Napa Valley, from once-in-a-lifetime dinners to easy weeknight favorites.

1. The French Laundry

One of the most celebrated restaurants in the world, The French Laundry is Chef Thomas Keller’s three-Michelin-starred temple to seasonal cooking and the standard against which Napa Valley fine dining is measured. A commitment to sourcing locally drives the daily-changing menu, offered as two tastings, the Chef’s Tasting and a Tasting of Vegetables, each as beautiful as it is meticulous. Many ingredients, from herbs to 25 heirloom tomato varieties, are grown in the culinary garden just across Washington Street, and the kitchen holds a Michelin Green Star for sustainability on top of its three stars.

Michelin Star Restaurant ✽ ✽ ✽

6640 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599, (707) 944-2380

2. Auro

Auro at Four Seasons Napa is Calistoga’s Michelin-starred jewel, where local ingredients meet French technique. Executive Chef Evan Neumann leads the kitchen with what he calls a “marine and floral sensibility,” shaped by a childhood in the South of France and a lifelong love of the ocean. The result is a multi-course tasting menu that shifts with the harvest, heavy on seafood, vegetables, and delicate composition. Floor-to-ceiling windows frame the vineyards and Palisades beyond.

Michelin Star Restaurant ✽
400 Silverado Trail N, Calistoga, CA 94515, (707) 709-2100

3. FARM Restaurant + Bar at Carneros Resort

FARM at Carneros Resort and Spa , has entered a new chapter, reimagined as an Italian farmhouse concept from James Beard Award winning chef Chris Bianco, the talent behind Phoenix’s Pizzeria Bianco. The cooking is rustic and produce-driven, sourced from local farms and the resort’s own garden. Think wood-fired dishes and handmade pastas, a few great ingredients treated simply and well. Open, unfussy, framed by Carneros vineyards, it suits a relaxed lunch as easily as a lingering dinner.

4048 Sonoma Highway, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 299-4880

4. The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil

Founded in 1981, The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil is widely known as the first fine dining restaurant in Napa Valley. Located at the iconic Auberge du Soleil resort, the cuisine at this One Michelin Star restaurant is influenced by French technique and flavors, but with heavy emphasis on sourcing locally and seasonally. Sit on the terrace for unforgettable views of the Napa Valley landscape while dining on a multi-course lunch or six-course tasting menu for dinner. Pair your meal with a stay at Auberge du Soleil for a getaway experience that blends warm Napa comforts with Southern France-inspired elegance.

Michelin Star Restaurant ✽
180 Rutherford Hill Road, Rutherford, CA 94573, (800) 348-5406

5. Forum at Meadowood

Sure, you have to be a guest at the esteemed Meadowood to eat at Forum, but we’re including it on this list because it’s a place you’ll want to visit multiple times during your stay. Seamlessly blending refined elegance with a welcoming atmosphere and hyper-seasonal cuisine, the restaurant exemplifies Meadowood’s long-standing dedication to culinary and hospitality excellence. Chef Alejandro Ayala has perfectly executed an experience you can enjoy any time of day. Whether dining for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, Forum is sure to leave a lasting impression.

900 Meadowood Lane, St. Helena, CA 94574, (707) 967-1200

6. Bouchon

Thomas Keller’s Bouchon is the Yountville bistro where Napa’s own chefs tend to eat on their nights off, and that tells you most of what you need to know. The menu is a greatest-hits of French brasserie cooking, steak frites, roast chicken, mussels, a raw bar stacked with oysters and shellfish, all executed with the polish you’d expect from the Keller name but served in a warm, zinc-and-mirror room that hums late into the night. Come for a long lunch on the patio or a post-tasting-menu nightcap when the kitchens up the street have gone dark. Whatever you do, do not skip the profiteroles.

6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599, (707) 944-8037

7. PRESS

St. Helena’s PRESS has been a Napa Valley institution. Chef Partner Philip Tessier, an alum of Le Bernardin, Per Se, and The French Laundry, turns out precise, produce-forward cooking: wood-fired cuts, house dry-aged steaks, vegetables from the on-site gardens. But wine is the soul of this place. The all-Napa cellar holds the largest collection of Napa Valley wines in the world, a feat that makes PRESS one of the rare single-region lists ever to earn a Wine Spectator Grand Award.

Michelin Star Restaurant ✽
587 St. Helena Highway, St. Helena, CA 94574, (707) 967-0550

8. Bear at Stanly Ranch

Bear sits on a 712-acre Carneros ranch at Auberge’s Stanly Ranch, and it’s become one of Napa’s most talked-about tables. Executive Chef Anthony Stagnaro calls his approach “elemental cuisine.” Each dish is built around a single peak-season ingredient, much of it grown steps away in the resort’s garden. The menu runs all day and arrives family-style, playful and cross-cultural, from the cowboy-cut ribeye with huitlacoche to the cult-favorite crispy rice. Add vineyard views and an all-local wine list, and you have farm-to-table Napa at its most current.
200 Stanly Crossroad, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 699-6250

9. Scala Osteria

Scala Osteria is a new venture from longtime restaurateur Giovanni Scala (of Bistro Don Giovanni), who co-founded this “osteria”-style restaurant to highlight the traditional, unpretentious cuisine of Southern Italy. With an emphasis on seafood, the menu features simple yet enticing dishes like cioppino and grilled branzino, as well as a selection of non-seafood Italian staples, like margherita pizza, ravioli al limone, and pesto Genovese pasta. Adding to the experience is the beautiful interior of the dining space, highlighting neutral colors, tall ceilings with lights dangling from above, and a lively, yet welcoming vibe.

1141 1st Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 637-4380

10. The Charter Oak

Behind the ivy-clad brick facade of St. Helena’s The Charter Oak is a casual dining destination by Chef Christopher Kostow, renowned chef of the Three-Michelin-starred Restaurant at Meadowood (now closed). This picturesque Napa restaurant, complete with a tree-lined courtyard patio and expansive, industrial indoor space, focuses on simple, farm-inspired dishes featuring just a handful of ingredients, largely sourced from the restaurant’s 3.5-acre culinary garden. The family-style menu centers around fresh salads, grilled vegetables, and hearth-cooked meats, along with an epic cheeseburger and minimal, yet artfully composed starters like raw vegetables from their farm with fermented soy dip.

1050 Charter Oak Avenue, St. Helena, CA 94574, (707) 302-6996

11. Kenzo

Few rooms in downtown Napa feel as transporting as Kenzo, which held a Michelin star as recently as 2025, and whose seasonal sushi and kaiseki menus bring the delicacies of Japan to Napa Valley. Ingredients are flown in daily from Tokyo’s acclaimed Toyosu fish market, and every course is paired with wines and sakes from around the world, including bottles from the Kenzo Estate right here in Napa. Sit at the chef’s counter for an up-close view of each course being composed, or in the sleek, minimal dining room built so nothing distracts from the food.

1339 Pearl Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 294-2049

12. Violetto

Nestled within the luxurious Alila Napa Valley in St. Helena, Violetto offers an exceptional dining experience that beautifully harmonizes the region’s Italian-French influence with its renowned wine culture. The menu, crafted with meticulous attention to seasonal and locally sourced ingredients, showcases the culinary prowess of Chef Thomas Lents and his team, while the thoughtful beverage menu offers something for everyone. Add in a sophisticated yet inviting ambiance and you’ve got the perfect recipe for an elevated brunch, intimate lunch, or celebratory, multi-course dinner.

1915 Main Street, St. Helena, CA 94574, (707) 963-7000

13. The Grove at CIA Copia

Experience a slice of the world-renowned Culinary Institute of America at the school’s food, wine, and art hub in downtown Napa. The on-site restaurant, called The Grove at CIA Copia, features a dynamic menu of Mediterranean-inspired dishes, each highlighting bold flavors and seasonal ingredients from the CIA’s gardens. Whether dining outdoors in the garden under the olive trees, or inside in the dining room (where you’ll get an up-close glimpse of the chef’s process), this inviting restaurant is sure to leave you satisfied and feeling inspired to channel your inner chef.

500 First Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 967-2500

14. La Toque

Wine leads the conversation at La Toque. Ken Frank has run this downtown Napa room inside The Westin Verasa since bringing it to Wine Country, and few chefs anywhere pair with his obsession, drawn from a cellar that’s earned Wine Spectator’s Grand Award. The cooking is French-rooted and Cabernet-friendly by design, right down to a signature riff on mac and cheese built with Fiscalini bandage-wrapped cheddar. Go à la carte, or hand yourself over to the six-course Chef’s Tasting. For regulars, the monthly Tour de France series keeps the menu moving.

1314 McKinstry Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 257-5157

15. Angèle

Nestled in downtown Napa, Angèle has remained a favorite restaurant in Napa Valley for both locals and tourists, who flock to this French restaurant for its friendly service and delicious food inspired by the French countryside. From the rustic-chic dining room, enjoy classic French fare for lunch and dinner, such as escargot, a Niçoise salad, and a whole roasted Dorade fish, as well as a full menu of craft cocktails and wine.

540 Main Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 252-8115

16. RH Yountville

As part of an innovative five-building concept blending food, wine, art, and design, The Restaurant at RH Yountville offers a selection of brunch and dinner plates as visually stunning as the setting itself. Within the picturesque dining room, adorned with chandeliers, a central fountain, and olive trees, guests can indulge in shareable plates like crispy artichokes and artisanal prosciutto, along with comforting entrées such as the lobster roll, roasted half chicken, and RH burger. It’s all complemented by a curated wine menu featuring regional and global selections.

6725 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599, (707) 339-4654

17. TORC

If you’re looking for meticulously crafted cuisine highlighting local ingredients, but served within a soulful, laid-back setting, TORC is the place for you. Located in downtown Napa, this lively, modern American eatery strives to “dismantle” the fine dining experience with its relaxed approach to dining, where guests are encouraged to sit back and settle in for an evening of great food, fun conversation, and music that ranges from rock & roll to blues. The thoughtfully composed menu showcases local, farm-inspired fare that is flavorful and diverse, from bar bites like deviled eggs and tempura asparagus to housemade pastas and hearty mains. Wash it all down with a craft cocktail or wine from the award-winning wine list, and you’re set.

1140 Main Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 252-3292

18. House of Better

House of Better, located at Dr. Wilkinson’s Backyard Resort in Calistoga, presents a refreshing take on Napa Valley dining. Emphasizing wellness and sustainability, the restaurant offers a vibrant, Southwestern-inspired menu rich in dishes that are health-conscious yet comforting—think wholesome grain bowls, plant-forward entrees, and pies. Did we mention the pies? It’s casual, it’s comfortable, and it’s the perfect place to nosh on nutritious eats without sacrificing an ounce of flavor. Chef Trevor Logan has crafted a restaurant that truly finds a balance between health and comfort, concocting an experience that makes it delectable, nurturing, and easily one of the top restaurants in Napa Valley.

1507 Lincoln Avenue, Calistoga, CA 94515, (707) 942-4102

19. Oenotri

Located in downtown Napa, Oenotri is an inviting eatery where Southern Italian food meets locally-made wine, produce, and olive oil. While the menu items change regularly, diners can always expect to find an assortment of delectable wood-fired pizzas, housemade pastas and bread, along with mouthwatering antipasti and over 20 types of the chef’s artisan salumi—all elevated with fresh fruits, vegetables, and herbs from the restaurant’s five-acre garden.

1425 First Street, Napa, CA 94559, (707) 252-1022

20. Ad Hoc

A casual alternative to some of Chef Thomas Keller’s fancier restaurants, Ad Hoc offers an approachable dining experience inspired by the American comfort food of his childhood. Featuring produce from Keller’s extensive gardens, the multi-course menu at this downtown Yountville restaurant changes daily and is served family style, furthering the laid-back, convivial vibe of the eatery. From pot roast to buttermilk fried chicken to black truffle mac n’ cheese, every dish is meant to instill a sense of nostalgia while delighting the taste buds in a way that only Chef Keller can. Adding to the experience is an accessible beverage menu featuring great value wines and classic cocktails.

6476 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599, (707) 944-2487

Best Restaurants in Napa Valley: Honorable Mentions

If you’re looking for even more ideas on where to find the best places to eat in Napa Valley, these honorable mentions serve up a combination of cultural favorites and New American fare that can’t be missed!