Best Every Day Eats

Everday Eats A sign of a great restaurant isn’t necessarily the celebrities seen necking in the banquettes or the number of times the chef’s been interviewed on the Food Network. Often, the best restaurants are the ones we visit again and again for everyday comfort food like sandwiches or tacos. They’re the places we seek out for family dinners and Sunday brunches. Simple everyday eats are the places just off the beaten path, but with well-worn steps and comfy chairs that satisfy our everyday hunger. In Wine Country, some of our favorite spots hardly register on the top 10 lists of other magazines. Burger joints like the Red Rock Café or lunchtime favorites like Napa’s Genova Delicatessen are where locals can be found scarfing down homestyle Italian hoagies and sandwiches.

Best Place to Take a Date

Soft candlelight, dreamy food and subtlety suggestive artwork on the walls make the girl and the fig a favorite spot for dates of all kinds, be they brand new or well-worn eating compatriots. Headed up by fig-fantatic Sondra Bernstein, the fig has a simple, but eclectic menu that even the pickiest eaters can embrace—ranging from steak to pork, duck and her signature fig salad. Plus the Fig now features a new walk-up cheese bar where lovers (and others) can select from nearly a dozen tasty selections of delightfully fragrant fromage. Tres romantique!

Best Chocolatier

Nestled in a robin’s egg blue box, Woodhouse Chocolate’s artful little chocolates—handmade by the Anderson family—are little pieces of heaven wrapped in milk chocolate, white chocolate and dark chocolate. Pick from exotic flavors like Thai Ginger, Fresh Mint and Raspberry Chambord. Just make sure to buy some extras to replace the ones you sneak out of the box before you get home. 1367 Main Street, St. Helena, (800) 966.3468

Best Bakery

Best Bakery There’s a secret that’s really no secret in Napa: where to get the best cake in town. Alexis Baking Company is the local favorite, filled with amazing pastries and cakes. Somehow when family and friends want to celebrate, there’s always a special box tucked away in the back of the refrigerator with mom’s favorite carrot cake or a lemon-poppy seed for granny’s 80th. Those who merely want to sit inside and sniff all the sugary goodness can eat breakfast or a light lunch at the bakery café each day.