bottega

amazing! the food was excellent but theservicewas better! we sat in the bar area and despite that, alex (the bartender and our server) was attentive and extremely knowledgable. he made the dining experience for us! one note though... the prices are closer to $$$$ than $$$, entrees start at $21. very worth the money. we definitely recommend.

among the best in the area. they started us off with crusty bread and a delicious garlic cheese spread. this time we shared the corn pasta. it was good but i liked the raviolo we had last time better. some dishes are more impressive than others. i had the whole fish dinner again (bronzino). the fish was delicious and prepared perfect and was served with farm fresh carrots that tasted like olives and were sprinkled with dry fruit for sweetness and texture. i don't recall what the strawberry dessert was called but with the balsamic and black pepper it had everything going on sweet, spicy, tangy, sour and those strawberries were concentrated with strawberry flavor. the dessert seemed very light but also very rich at the same time. it truly was one of the best desserts i ever tried anywhere.


-----24 mar, 2013-----

always good. we've been here a few times and always get good food. this time we started with the potato raviolo. i thought it might be doughy but it was good and tasted yummy with the fried sage and truffle shavings. i had the branzino and it was good too.servicewas a bit slow this time.

abysmal. michael chiarello would have been mortified if he had witnessed the despicableservicemy party of 8 received at his restaurant this past saturday night. my husband and i were giving his place a second chance to redeem itself after our first experience there a couple years ago when we were made to wait for our reserved table for 45 minutes past our scheduled time then ignored by our servers for the balance of the evening only to experience an unremarkable dinner.

so, our group travelled from far and wide and just had to one of try yountville's big name restaurants. for starters, we brought our own magnum of joseph phelps backus cab ($400+ value). we asked for it to be placed on ice so it would be at the appropriate temp for serving after a few minutes. when the world's worst server, scott, finally greeted us after a solid 15 minutes of sitting with no offer of beverages, bread, etc., we had grown anxious about where our wine had gotten off to. scott sent for his wine guy to fetch it, and this chap was so young and inexperienced, it was pathetic. he had no awareness of our wine choice. upon showing us our bottle at our request, he then disappeared to the back of the restaurant with it and returned with two decanters containing our wine. we never saw our wine uncorked, never were offered a taste of the bottle, never were offered the option to decant only a portion of the magnum to keep the bottle at temp, etc. absolute disgrace for any restaurant to lack this etiquette, let alone one in the heart of napa.

our wine was fantastic no thanks to the restaurant, but theservicecontinued to go down hill. no joke, it took 4 requests to finally get bread. the meal wasn't horrible, but left no lasting impressions either.

bottom line, skip this place napa goers. resist the temptation to tell your friends "we went to bottega" out of frommer's peer pressure. the reviewers are brain washed by the whole celebrity chef nonsense. try redd or a picnic from whole foods for that matter before you waste your time at this place for zero reward. please learn from my twice-made mistake. shame on you if you go anyway after my review. it is honestly that bad.

this is the best restaurant in napa. the food is served just like in italy, the prices are affordable, and theserviceis outstanding. great open kitchen concept, busy bar, and outdoor seating.

we started with burrata autunnale (kambocha squash, caramelized mushrooms and shallots, and brown butter vinaigrette). the pesto complemented very nicely the sweetness of the winter squash. the burrata was so creamy and fresh, mouthwatering!

my husband got the goat milk braised pork orecchiette, served with chanterelles, cavalo nero pesto, pine nut gremolata, crispy savoy spinach, and pecorino. it

ate there today for lunch with my wife, it was amazing. from food toserviceeverything was done the right way. the manager greeted us and made sure we were happy with our seats even tho it was a busy day. i have worked in the industry over 15 years and i was very impressed. after reading a few of these comments i was taken back by a few comments, people seem to be very over critical to say the least, why would you not ask for parmesan or pepper? people please don't be afraid to ask for something, or even ask to see a manager if they felt the food was not up to par and a server gives an explanation that you feel offended you. no manager wants to make the guest experience a bad one...sometimes there are just weird people..

bottega - awful customer service. my husband and i walked out because the foh manager treated us so badly.

we had a reservation booked. we arrived. hostess said we were early and was not seating anyone until the reservation time. it was for 1:30 p.m. since we were 7-8 minutes early, per the hostess, we went to the shops to kill some time. we returned right on time. the hostess and the foh manager looked at each other, looked at us and he said "make them wait 2 more minutes". i knew right then and there we were going to be seated by the kitchen door or by the bathroom. another server came up to the stand and was ready to escort us but the foh manager stopped him and said no another place was getting set up. the poor server looked stricken when he looked at us.

sure enough, the table we were shown to was in front of the kitchen door. i looked at the dining room, the number of available tables were numerous. this was on tuesday november 29th. i cannot believe such an insufferably snobby, non customerservicemanger is representing michael chiarello! i have worked in the restaurant industry for well over 10 years and have never been treated in this manner. if i had an emplolyee like this i would make sure he or she never worked in my employment or my colleague's. competition for every dollar is too fierce especially for restaurants.

my husband and i were looking forward to dining at bottega's when we knew we were going to be visiting san francisco. this was the only bad experience we had during our entire trip.

i will tell everyone to avoid bottega and give them our recommendations on the restaurants we patronized in the three days were were in napa valley.

wonderful. the food was amazing, balanced, fresh... theservicewas fantastic. given unlimited resources, i would eat there every night!!!

all of the main courses were under $30. i thought for a restaurant with a celebrity chef behind it, that the prices would be more expensive then they were. the food was excellent (not that you can really tell from my iphone pictures) and theservicewas okay.

chef chiarello creates..once again.. a place with charm, excellent cuisine and a dining experience of pure bliss.. whether for lunch or dinner. the setting is a blend of napa and tuscany. theserviceis exemplary. and the food and wines...... as i said... pure bliss... we have dined here several times and always try new menu items..all are superb! recently we enjoyed an appetizer of fresh mozzarella, figs and fresh basil with a touch of honey! extraordinary!!

mediocre food, terrible service. my husband and i stopped by for a nice evening. we were very excited to go to this restaurant. we had the charcuterie platter to start, then he had the risotto of the night and i had pasta. the risotto did not have the correct kind of rice in it, so it was not very good. my pasta was brutally underseasoned. when the waitress finally came around to ask how things were (5 minutes after we had finished), i mentioned the underseasoning and she said that "that was the way it is supposed to be prepared" and gave me a lecture on seasoning. i felt badly for the people at the table next to us... they ordered a bottle of wine when they arrived, and 2 courses later (about 45 minutes) it still had not appeared. terribleserviceoverall.

wanted to like it, but was terrible. my husband and i dined here upon hotel recommendation and previous reviews and wished i could rewind the evening and dine somewhere else. atmosphere andservicewere fine, but food was terrible. my medium rare lamb chops were overcooked medium well and one was oddly butterflied. what i cannot get over were the incredibly gummy, starchy excuse of mashed potatoes. absolutely disgusting and easily the worst i have ever tasted.
the whole fish was actually cooked correctly but the eggplant that accompanied it tasted like it was cooked hours before with areas that were hot and others that were cold. do yourself a favor and go down the street to tra vigne or better yet solbar.

amazing food in an amazing location. impeccableservicewith real attention to detail. and chef michael did stop by for a sit down and photos. what a nice man. we'll be back again!

disappointment. while food andservicewas good, i was very disappointed that i told the reservationist, the receptionists and the waiter that we were celebrating two birthdays at my table (not mine). the dessert arrived for me, with a birthday greeting. no greeting for my guests. no one seemed to get it right as to whose b'day we were celebrating. i'd also asked that chef michael might stop by to wish them a happy birthday. he walked by our table twice, but never stopped.