GOOD Napa Valley Restaurant with Best Corkage Policies

I am finally getting a vacation after a year of telecommuting, COVID closures, and cancellations. My 60th birthday is in May and we are doing five nights in Sonoma and Napa. I was looking for the best restaurant for my B-day dinner with the most liberal corkage policy so I could bring some of my own “treasures.” Some had great menus (like Press) but limited the number of bottles to one or two (there will be four of us) or cared if there was cross-over with their own list even if I had older vintages; others were fine on the corkage but did not have the broad menu. Then I found Cole’s Chop House which has a fair $30 corkage, no limitations and they don’t even care if something may be on their list.

A search here shows very few recommendations other than some old posts from Randy Bowman. It also will be a bit of a drive from either Rutherford or Calistoga - haven’t nailed down the hotel yet. Curious what other restaurants might be recommended for steak and seafood or of anyone still recommended Cole’s?.

Did you try Solbar at Solage in Calistoga? Also try Brasswood in St. Helena. They are very liberal with winemakers and regulars…not sure about “tourists” but worth a shot.

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The past few times we’ve traveled to Napa, we plan to eat at least one dinner at the Rutherford Grill. Two primary reasons are 1) their ridiculously good cornbread 2) reasonable corkageg fees (and they will even decant 1.5’s). They do have pretty good food as well…

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You could try Le Tocque; the last time we were there they let us have 4 bottles for a 4 top, maybe even 5 if I count a half bottle of dessert wine. Food was good, wine service excellent, and although expensive no one felt like they were mugged.

Given the situation some restaurants may be doing tasting courses and limited capacity, while others may be closed, so don’t rely on websites for info - I would call in to see what the situation is so that there are no surprises. We were making bookings yesterday where there was a quite a divergence between what was stated online, vs. what was in practice in real life.

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I recall last time we visited Charter Oak. their policy was free corkage if its napa valley wine and they even give you free corkscrew for you to open your own bottles…and food didn’t suck

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FYI, they have lousy stemware

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“True” steak and seafood houses are limited in Napa. Press, Perry Lang (newer…not sure if survived Covid) and Cordeiro’s Steakhouse are the only ones that come to mind other than Coles.

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Girl and the Fig in Sonoma used to be pretty liberal if I recall correctly.

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Compile in downtown Napa is excellent for both policy and food. Will be there again this week.

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Charlie Palmer’s and Trancas Steakhouse

A usually fairly current list here: http://www.napalife.com/corkage.pdf

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Market in St. Helena had a free corkage policy last time I was there which has been a few years. Only did lunch there.

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Cook in St Helena charged us $20 in 2019 and I don’t think they even charged us on the second bottle. The food was fabulous.
We had a great meal at Torc in downtown Napa on that trip as well. Their’s is $25 although we didn’t use it.

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Thank you all. You have given me some good insight. Two of the members of our group of four (the two wives) do not eat meat so I wanted a restaurant with a well-rounded menu with seafood options. You’ve given me some with that.

Out of curiosity, does anyone have anything good or bad to add about Cole’s? Perry Lang looks great but its menu is not online. i will show the La Toque menu to our group and see their reaction. My first choice was Press but they have a two bottle limit on corkage. Solbar looks promising and we are probably going to Market and Rutherford Grill on different days of the trip.

If you’ve got two veggies with you, you definitely need to make a stop at Charter Oak.

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Farmstead St Helena has excellent food and liberal corkage policy.

Tom

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Cook’s. Great for non meat group. Corkage is $20, but most often do not charge for second bottle.

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Loved that restaurant.

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I personally love Cole’s, best bone-in ribeye around the area IMHO. Been there every trip, and heading there again in June. Don’t remember the corkage policy, but I’ve used it every time.

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Yeah, that place is great.

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Let me tell you a story about Farmstead … and why I would NEVER go back. About 8 years ago, my wife and I ate there with a winemaker, his wife, and three others who owned a wine label made by this wine maker - the proprietor himself is also somewhat famous in his own right. Not going to give names but the winemaker is well-regarded on this forum.

We were a table of seven outside. I noted that there was this really nice sounding pork rib dinner on the menu. Then the waitress told us the specials which included the ribs, an arugula salad and a desert for the price of the ribs. I told her I don’t eat arugula and could I substitute the salad for another kind- after all the salad and ribs are not served together? She said she’d check with the chef. She came back a few minutes later and said the chef said no substitutions. So I ordered the ribs ala carte off the menu, and different salad. And when they Brought out my ribs, the chef for whatever reason = because he wanted to prove a point - put my ribs on a bed of arugula which I cannot eat. So, not only did I not get the special, but I got ribs I really should not have eaten.

Given my company I bit my tongue and did not complain or say anything. But, I will NEVER go back. Would you?