Yountville Dining: Where to Eat in This Napa Valley Gem of a Town
- Jody Holman
- Sep 17, 2025
- 5 min read
With so much to offer within a four block area, Yountville has long been one of my favorite places in NorCal wine country. The town has evolved to have a sleek side to it, but its appeal still lies in proximity- good meals close together, tasting rooms within walking distance, and hotels designed for lingering rather than logistics. It is also accessible to both Napa and Sonoma, and only about an hour from the city. When planned intentionally, Yountville fits neatly into a Northern California itinerary as a one-night reset between city and countryside.
Yountville continues to walk a fine line between indulgence and intimacy. While some spaces have grown grander in the past decade or so, others remain grounded. The joy is in knowing which doors to open, and which to admire briefly before moving on.
Tasting rooms in the span of the town are: Jessup (go for the artwork, and stay for the wine), Girard, Somerston and Grace. Otherwise, park yourself on one of the patios below and taste from their wine lists while you nibble. Maisonry, once a favorite for quiet tastings under olive trees, has since been reimagined as the RH Yountville Wine Vault. While undeniably dramatic, the transformation trades intimacy for spectacle. It is worth knowing about, if only to decide whether chandeliers and scale enhance or distract from your wine experience — a choice that neatly mirrors Yountville’s evolving personality.
Dining in Yountville:
Clementine
Cleminetine feels like Yountville moving forward without losing its sense of intimacy. It is bright, unfussy, but stylish. The food is confident and precise — seasonal California cooking with enough polish to feel special, but none of the stiffness that can creep into Napa dining. It’s also one of the more photogenic dining rooms in town, though the plates more than hold their own once the camera is put away. Bistro Jeanty
Bistro Jeanty is fab, for French food lovers and novices alike. The setting is a bit rickety-bistro, very French feeling, very casual. If you are there for lunch on a nice day, the vine covered patio is a lovely option for lingering over foie gras, escargot, tomato soup en croute and wine. Prices are nice enough that a steak frites for lunch is not out of the question. website 6510 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599 (707) 944-0103
Thomas Keller’s presence still shapes Yountville’s dining identity, but the town works best when his restaurants are part of a broader mix rather than the sole focus.
Bouchon is the third of Thomas Keller’s Yountville restaurants, and 1/3 of the price of French Laundry (see below), where you can eat unpretentious, French fare with a Keller twist. From Croque Madame to steak and roasted chicken, the kitchen puts out classical French bistro fare. I love sitting at the marble topped bar, Pastis in one hand, a spoon for my mussels in the other. Not only is it quite affordable, but if you are lucky enough to snag an outdoor seat, feel free to sit, Paris-style, all afternoon chatting with friends (and I dare you to resist walking into the Bouchon bakery two steps away to complete your meal- or grab a foie treat for your dog!). 6534 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599 (707) 944-8037
Ad Hoc- Another Thomas Keller offshoot, originally planned as pop-up, “ad hoc” casual burger kind of place. Happily, it has been transformed- permanently- into a “what’s fresh and local”, a-little-more-than-comfort food (it IS a Keller, after all) restaurant. A sample menu might include greens with dates and nectarines, ribeye with artichoke relish and mushroom ragu or fish and chips, local cheese with peach ham and pana cotta with berry sauce. I love the diagram of meat cuts hanging over the front. Check the menu before you go, as it changes daily, and schedule your visit, if you can, to make it up there for fried chicken night! 6476 Washington Street, Yountville, CA 94599 (707) 944-248
Addendum- One of my favorite picnic stops in all of Wine Country, maybe all of California. Keller gives his fried chicken a lead role on this stage, a small area in the back of Ad Hoc with picnic tables. Other bbq style sandwiches available in a lovely little setting- or take out.
French Laundry- This is a once in a lifetime kind of dining experience. And I do mean, “experience”. The multi-course meal (9, I think), takes several hours to get through, and while you will relish every bite, I found myself calculating the price of every chew. Yes, the food is all that it is purported to be: genuine, elegant, beautiful, exciting, and intriguing, and served with precision. It is funny, then, that what I remember most about my meal were the non-alcoholic drinks my neighbors were served with each of their courses- concoctions made to enhance each course. If you have the time, the patience to get a reservation 6 months out, and the money (I am not exaggerating when I forewarn that an evening here will put you back close to $750 for 2), then go early- sit in the garden and sip on something cool and lovely, or take a stroll through their vegetable garden across the street first. Take in every corner and piece of artwork in this rather dim, old laundry building. And savor every bite, because it may be the only time you get to! {Jacket and tie required- no jeans, shorts, tennis shoes or t-shirts}.
R+D Kitchen is one of Yountville’s most reliable constants — warm, understated, and refreshingly unfussy. The menu leans classic American with polish, the room feels comfortable rather than hushed, and it’s a favorite for lingering lunches or low-key dinners when you want something excellent without ceremony. Sit at the bar if you can; it is one of the friendliest in town.
North Block Restaurant is a calm, modern, and thoughtfully paced place for a night wroth a small splurge and nice rewards (within the North Block Hotel just off the main road). The menu highlights regional ingredients with a light hand, the room feels composed, and it has a bathroom that is worth the visit alone(!)
Plan This as a One-Night Stop
Yountville works best as part of a larger Northern California itinerary — an overnight between San Francisco and the coast, or a pause before moving deeper into wine country. I often plan it as a single night with one standout meal, a walkable hotel, and an easy next morning departure.
→ Plan a Northern California itinerary
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