Best Rutherford and St. Helena Restaurants
From cheap eats to Michelin star dining, the BEST restaurants and places to eat in Napa’s Rutherford and St. Helena area. Locals favorites, hidden gems, and the top restaurants you won’t want to miss.
Best Places to Eat Around Rutherford & St. Helena
Napa’s Best Restaurants in Rutherford and St. Helena
The heart of Napa, Rutherford and St. Helena has no shortage of great dining options from an elevated food truck and drive in to a elegant yet unpretentious dining. This is the best of dining in Napa’s mid-valley, a place where even the lowly cheeseburger is somehow elevated to a gourmet experience.
Space out your wine tasting to save time for lunch at one of these great restaurants, or pop in afterwards for a happy hour or a destination dinner. Whatever you do, don’t miss dining at any of these Best Restaurants in Rutherford and St. Helena if finding good food is part of your reason for visiting Napa.
good, fast and cheap
🤑 Cheap Eats around $20pp 💵 Moderate around $35pp 💰 Expensive over $40pp
Clif Family Bruschetteria Food Truck
🤑 Farm fresh ingredients from a food truck outside their winery
Napa dining from a food truck, expect the freshest ingredients using only in-season produce grown in their organic farm. Plenty of vegan options join their delicious rotisserie chicken and wings and chicken sandwiches. Fresh, healthy and vibrant, add a glass of wine from their tasting room next door for a memorable happy meal.
DON’T MISS: Vegetable Frito Mistro, crispy, battered "root to shoot" spring vegetables, served with chili aioli. 100% of proceeds will go to the Napa River Ecology Center.
Gott’s Roadside
🤑 Order in the front, picnic in the back!
This is sooo Napa, taking an old and outdated drive-in diner and turning it into a gourmet burger destination. The constant lines over the years proves it lives up to its hype as one of the best burgers you’ll every have. The original St. Helena location beats their Downtown Napa spot with red picnic tables and grassy area in back.
DON’T MISS: Ahi Burger, an Asian inspired burger with sushi grade ahi.
Guigni’s Deli
🤑 Local’s Favorite
Guignis has been part of St. Helena since 1911, a family run grocery store and deli, the type of place where long time locals speak fondly of the sandwiches from their youth. It feels authentically old school and the quality meats, cheeses, toppings and bread options combined might make this the best deli sandwich you’ve ever had.
DON’T MISS: Giugni Juice, not a drink but rather an oil and vinegar secret sauce for topping your sandwich, essential.
Model Bakery
🤑 Breakfast and Lunch
Oprah raves about the English Muffins for breakfast here and she’s not wrong, they’re the best, especially when combined in a breakfast sandwich. For lunch their fresh bread elevates their sandwiches to dream level. Limited seating inside and out, or order ahead and grab and go.
DON’T MISS: Smashburger served on their famous English Muffin.
Oakville Grocery
🤑 Oldest grocery store in California becomes gourmet market
Tourist spot? Yes, for sure. But the quality of their sandwiches and deli items and the shear fun of browsing the old grocery store now stocked with foodie items is too hard to resist, even for locals. Picnic tables on the side and wine machines with “wines by the sip” at the Wine Merchant next door makes this a well deserved popular stop.
DON’T MISS: The food is great but so is the shopping - if you want to bring home souvenirs and gifts to remember your Napa adventure, this is the place.
Pizzeria Tra Vigne
🤑 Chef driven wood fired pizzas and more!
From their hand pulled fresh mozzarella appetizer to their inventive sourdough wood fired pizzas, pastas and sandwiches, Pizzaria Tra Vigne is the place locals go to when they just want good food. A Napa Valley favorite since 2004, that they are still going strong is a testament to the quality of their food.
DON’T MISS: Happy Hour daily from 4-6 features $3 oysters, $5 cocktails and a few appetizers, great place to land after wine tasting.
best restaurants in Rutherford and st. helena
🤑 Cheap Eats around $20pp 💵 Moderate around $35pp 💰 Expensive over $40pp
Auberge du Soleil: The Restaurant
💰Michelin Star tasting menu
Often compared to The French Laundry, The Restaurant offers a six course chef’s tasting menu for $245 and two or three course dinners for $190 or $220, respectively. It’s terrace with sweeping views of the valley add to the ambiance.
DON’T MISS: On a tighter budget? Head to The Bar where you get the same ambiance but with a much more affordable menu.
Charlie’s
💵 A hopping bar scene and lively setting
Chef and owner Elliot Bell worked under Thomas Keller for 11 years so it’s no surprise that Charlie’s follows in the same elegant yet casual aesthetic, including their fried chicken which rivals what Keller serves at Ad Hoc. Order from their sharable options for fun family style dining.
DON’T MISS: Late night menu features a NYC Happy Meal, an order of fried and a martini for $20.
The Charter Oak
💰 Chef Christopher Kostow upscales family dining
The chef who earned three Michelin stars for his work at The Restaurant at Meadowood (currently closed) knocks it out of the park at The Charter Oak, a reimagined fine dining experience done family style. Polished rustic vibe inside, manicured garden patio out, and food that outshines it all.
DON’T MISS: Happy Hour cheeseburger with fries for just $18.
Cook St. Helena
💵 Locals love it, Michelin Guide loves it, You will too!
Tiny petite family owned restaurant featuring house made pasta, hand pulled mozzarella, and an exceptional risotto with halibut. Fun and lively, a seat at the bar with a view of the kitchen is the spot if you can get it.
DON’T MISS: Cook St. Helena really IS a local spot. Case in point - it’s closed on Saturdays and Sundays so plan ahead as you really need to eat here.
Culinary Institute of America: Gatehouse Restaurant
💵 Student Chefs prepare 3-4 course dinners at affordable prices
Prepared by student chefs after 2 years of training, expect nothing short of spectacular at the CIA’s Gatehouse Restaurant. Set in a historic site with stone walls and a gorgeous interior, this is a no compromise gourmet meal that end up to be your favorite. At $45 for 3 courses and $55 for four it’s one of Napa’s best dining deals.
DON’T MISS: For foodies there’s plenty of things to see at the CIA grounds with a high end culinary gift shop and a corkscrew collection featuring over 1,000 corkscrews.
Farmstead at Long Meadow Ranch
💵 Wine and pizza at the Wine Bar or Dine in the Restaurant
Two options at Farmstead - Opt for a wine or beer tasting or wines by glass, cocktails, you name it, and add a wood fired pizza for an affordable lunch in the farmhouse. Or dine in the restaurant featuring American standards like a cheeseburger, pork chop and lobster roll along with shareable appetizers that can make up a lighter meal.
DON’T MISS: Go super casual in their Garden Lounge and Cafe with wood fired pizzas and from Nov-Apr on Fridays is a Farmers Market.
Market St. Helena
💵 Like your favorite neighborhood restaurant!
Housed in a historic building, it’s like you stumbled into a small, cozy neighborhood hidden gem. It’s refined casual dining with a menu featuring American classics that compete with the best in the valley with memorable bright flavors using organic, seasonal ingredients. Great atmosphere, great food, a local favorite.
DON’T MISS: Free corkage on your first bottle of wine with dinner and a great Happy Hour featuring $10 bites.
PRESS
💰 Fine dining tasting menus in a modern farmhouse
Light and airy dining room, fresh and inviting, PRESS is a Michelin star restaurant serving Modern California cuisine, creative and innovative to highlight the best of Napa dining. Menus are set and limited to the four course at $150 pp or the Chef’s Tasting Menu, $195 pp. A la carte menu available in the lounge.
DON’T MISS: Caviar pretzel, elevated pretzel bites with yogurt butter and a generous helping of golden white sturgeon caviar makes for an extravagant appetizer, $75.
Rutherford Grill
💵 A Napa standard that still deserves your appetite!
Sometimes you don’t want a fancy tasting menu, you want a rack of ribs or a cheeseburger without any pretense, nothing reimagined, just delicious. That’s when a seat at Rutherford Grill is like coming back to an old friend. You’ll find winemakers, locals and regulars at the bar, prime spot for people watching.
DON’T MISS: Grilled artichoke when in season is a must order.
