1313 Main

Review is for their 3-course Sunday Brunch menu. This trendy restaurant is located on Main street in Napa near an older part of the neighborhood with construction going on. The restaurant is enormous and is much bigger once you enter. We sat near the front next to shelves of wines from various wineries.

The three-course menu has some innovative dishes and overall execution was solid, so 4 stars.

ONE:
The Marin Oysters with frozen champagne mignonette were fresh and plump, and I like the mild brain freeze from the mignonette. I did get a single small piece of grit or broken shell, but otherwise excellent oysters (4 stars). The foie gras beignets were excellent - very creative way of elevating the humble donut hole. Use the plum sauce sparingly so it does not overwhelm (5 stars).

TWO
Truffled eggs with brioche was a solid dish (5 stars), with intense yet balanced flavors. My mushroom toast had nice sautéed chanterelles and a perfectly poached egg (4 stars).

THREE
Chicken and Waffles were excellent. Chicken was crispy but had moist, seasoned meat. A bit bony since it was a thigh. The waffles were thick, fluffy, and very filling. I liked the maple chili butter but think the dish goes better with syrup. (4 stars). Lobster Benedict was good but really rich and creamy. I could barely taste uni in the Hollandaise. Still, a solid dish paring lobster with smashed avocados and a good English muffin (4 stars).

Definitely one of the better places for brunch that we've been to. Great way to start a Sunday!

1313 is an upscale dining spot in Napa. Although it is listed as "casual" I would definitely say that it is on the dressier side vs the casual side, particularly in the evening. You wouldn't at all feel out of place if you dressed up to come here. I would call it sophisticated rather than trendy. You definitely need a reservation to dine here, and they require a credit card to hold the reservation.

This is one of those places where the food is all beautifully presented, but it's also very hearty and delicious. Whether you opt for the set menu or not, everyone gets a complimentary amuse bouche. Ours was a flaky pastry dough with asparagus - interesting, to say the least.

After a day of wine tasting, we were craving carbs, and ordered the house dinner rolls are warm and soft and buttery and totally worth getting.

We shared the Roasted Heirloom Beets to start, which I LOVED. The beets were perfectly accompanied by the burrata, and served in a way that I've never had them before (full, rather than sliced or chopped into cube, they almost seemed like peaches).

Seared Scallops - probably the largest scallops that I've ever seen, they were cooked to perfection. There's only two, but as I mentioned, they are very large. I often worry about scallops not being a "hearty" enough meal, but not an issue here.

Strawberry Shortcake Dessert - LOVED. Again, served in a way that I've never seen before, with small pieces of shortbread garnished with strawberries. Definitely "fancy" strawberry shortcake and I was a fan.

1313 Main takes traditional sounding dishes but reinvents them in a unique way that actually improves upon the traditional dish. Fancy, but not one of those fancy places where everything is beautiful but you will leave hungry. Yes, everything is beautiful, but it's delicious too.

I am sad to report that, one year later, almost all of the things I loved about this place have gone downhill. My first review was a 5-star rave, but after our recent visit, I honestly don't care if this place goes out of business.

A little over a year ago, I discovered 1313 Main on my birthday (on the 13th!) and decided to give it a try, and it was wonderful: great food preparations and plating, good service, interesting flights of spirits, and fairly reasonable pricing.

Based on that great experience, we decided to take my parents "someplace special" for their visit to Napa Valley (it has been several years since they were last out here) over President's Day weekend.

We should have chosen pretty much anywhere other than 1313 Main.

1) Price has gone WAY up. Like, 50% MORE EXPENSIVE than one year ago!! When I visited here a year ago, we ordered the prix fixe chef's tasting menu, which was about 6 courses for $75... they were small, but delicious, and I found that price reasonable. It was a big allure for returning to this place. Now the price has gone up to $115! "Maybe the ingredients are more expensive now?" my wife pondered.

Nope! They are cheaper now. When we first visited, it included the beef bavette (a more expensive piece of meat than the rabbit they now have), and it even included shaved black truffle on one of the dishes! Now it has neither of those... but the price is 50% higher??

AND they told us "You can only order the chef's menu if everybody at the table orders it." Huh? That's new... a year ago, my wife and I got the chef's menu while her father ordered a la carte. It wasn't a problem.

So does this mean if we have a table of 4, can we split into two different groups so that one of our 2-person "parties" can order the tasting menu?

What an absurd policy. Between that and the pricing, it was not a surprise that when we looked around the room, NOBODY was ordering the tasting menu.

2) The service was awful. Our waiter was some schlubby, stubbly, slightly chubby middle-aged guy who apathetically lumbered around the room. When he came over and started talking to us, his speech was so mumbly, jumbled, and slurred that we could barely make out what he was saying. Was he drunk? (His cheeks were flushed) Or was he just hungover? In any case, he was incompetent.

My wife inquired about getting a flight of chartreuse (which is what she ordered last time), and he said "We don't do flights of that." ... then we pointed to the menu, where it said (in bold letters, no less) "or try a FLIGHT" He said "hold on, I'll need to check on that." He goes away and after a while comes back and says "Okay, we can do that, it's just the regular pricing for each of them. But we don't have one of them." (so, not really a flight available... just 2 out of the normal 3)

Then I asked for a 1978 Calvados... he takes the order... comes back "We're out of that." Why do they have so many things on the menu that they don't have in stock? He prompted me to order another one, but I didn't want to (1978 was the year I was born, hence the interest) While he was at the table, my wife asked the waiter if he could clarify which were the two chartreuse types she had been served (we knew there was a yellow and a green, but didn't catch the name of the one they were out of.) In a snarky tone he pointed to them and said "See, the yellow one is yellow chartreuse, and the green one is green chartreuse." (We knew that; we wanted to know WHICH green chartreuse but, on par with the rest of the meal, our the waiter was no use.)

3) On to the food: since we clearly weren't going to order the overpriced and cumbersome tasting menu, it was a la carte.

My mom didn't know what to get, so I suggested the beef bavette; she asked what that was like, and I told her it was basically thin slices of beef.

She asked the waiter: "How is the bavette served? Is it, like, a whole steak? Or is it slices of meat?" He said "It's a steak."
"Is it sliced?"
"No."

She didn't want to deal with that, so didn't order it. But I did. When it came out... lo and behold, it was NOT a whole steak, but was THIN SLICES OF BEEF, just as I had remembered. She was thoroughly disappointed at being lied to about the preparation of the dish, and otherwise would have ordered it.

The food is still overall pretty tasty, but between being overpriced and having some of the worst service I've ever encountered in Napa Valley, we will never be giving this place another try. There are PLENTY of better restaurants in town.

1313 Main is a trendy and somewhat chic wine bar which serves tapas as well as sophisticated dinner courses. The ambience reflects a casual elegance that is upscale but not stuffy.

The wine list is extensive and offers bottles from countries around the World as well as from local wineries a stone's throw away. Plenty of wine flights as well as wine by the glass are also available.

Service has been impeccable the entire evening. Our server was very knowledgeable about the menu and answered our questions with great details. His assistants were very efficient in clearing dishes and refreshing our silverware settings. I had the feeling that someone was always nearby if I needed anything. I turned my head slightly, and my server appeared out of nowhere, ready to take my order for another drink.

They take presentations seriously. Very seriously. Every dish is like a piece of art. They were so meticulously arranged - down to the color, sizes and the spacing of every leaf and flower - that makes your side dish look like a miniature garden on your plate.

I was holding my fork in my hand for the longest time... not wanting to touch anything on my plate... afraid to ruin a piece of fine art... hesitant to destroy a masterpiece by eating it...

CHERRY COLA AND FOIE GRAS TERRINE

It had a strong taste of cherry coke reduction that was blended with foie gras and other ingredients to form a terrine that was quite tasty. The texture was somewhat smooth and had a consistency that's almost like a cheesecake. The paper-thin celery ribbons were artfully displayed and their taste complemented the terrine very well. The dish was quite good except for the fact that the cherry coke flavor was too strong and it completely dwarfed the flavor of the foie gras.

EGG YOKE RAVIOLO

My spell check program keeps auto-correcting it to "ravioli".

FYI: Raviolo is singular, and ravioli (which most people and spell check programs know, is plural.)

So the dish consists of a single raviolo with a perfectly medium and runny egg yolk inside the pasta shell. Break the raviolo open and the egg yolk flowed and blended with the mixture of baby greens and a variety of wild mushrooms. Very creative and well executed.

Freshly shaved white truffle was available at an additional cost and it's certainly worth it as it added a robust dimension to the aroma and the flavor of the dish.

SPRING CHICKEN BALLOTINE

It was made with a small spring chicken, deboned, rolled and cut into medallions so that each piece was half white meat and half dark meat. Brilliant! The combination of both dark and white meat made each bite flavorful and interesting. Garnishing includes brown butter roasted Kohlrabi, smoked apple soubise, a wide variety of wild mushrooms and mustard seeds.

ROASTED AND SMOKED BEEF BAVETTE

We were told that it was a butterflied filet but it really wasn't as tender as a filet should be. It was a bit chewy and definitely not the best cut of meat. Nevertheless, the side dishes were the highlights as it came with a bone marrow coquette plus a whipped yukon gold mash that tasted fresh, creamy, and yummy.

Overall, a very solid 4-star experience, but shy of the ultimate 5-star World Class rating when compared with restaurants in the same caliber that I've visited. Nevertheless, it's a cool and somewhat refined place that I'll definitely revisit and recommend.

Went to Napa on a spur-of-the-moment road trip with the family on 4th of July weekend. Our friends offered to take care of the kids for a few hours while we had dinner. Score!

We called around and most places were already booked due to the long holiday weekend. Luckily, 1313 Main had a spot open for us to come down right away. So, we hopped in the car and drove like it was Mario Kart 64 (sans turtle shells).

There was parking on the street, so thankfully that wasn't an issue. We walked in and the friendly hostess seated us. Tables are kind of close together, so even if you're a semi-loud talker, your neighbors will hear you.

Our waiter (I think his name was Connor) was friendly and happily explained the menu to us. The dishes are made to be served with other people. Kind of like tapas-style. But not exactly. For instance, we ordered a pork belly dish, but it was basically one whole piece. Even though we had a knife, it was still hard to evenly cut between the 2 of us (we had a friend come with us, too, but she doesn't eat pork, so more for us!).

As for the rest of the food, we also ordered the Herbed Gnocchi, Seared Scallops, Prime Bavette Steak, and Fresh Burrata. Everything tasted pretty damn good and was presented beautifully. The one thing that prevented that 5th star was the portion size. It was incredibly small for all dishes. While the prices weren't astronomical, they were high considering what you actually got. For the pork belly, it was pretty much 1 piece that when cut up, was about 4 bites, the gnocchi was gone after a few pieces between the 3 of us, the scallops were 3 a piece, but that's because I didn't eat any. Again, the food was great, but the value wasn't there.

We didn't have any wine, so I can't really comment on that. I know, sorry. What kind of person goes to Napa and doesn't drink wine?!?

This was an excellent little spot to have Sunday Brunch. The decor in the restaurant was beautiful and the service couldn't have been better. We sat outside as it was a bright and sunny day.

We ordered orange and pomegranate mimosas. Both mimosas were pretty strong in the alcohol department.

We tried the Latke with eggs, capers and salmon (on the side). The latke was delicious and humongous! We ordered it as an appetizer but found that it filled us up quite a bit before the entrees.

I had the Fried Chicken and Waffles with the chili maple syrup (one of their specials). The staff were all pretty excited about it. I can tell they don't serve this dish much in NorCal, but here in SoCal it is quite common. They did a great job.

We also had the Duck Confit Hash. I'm not a huge fan of duck but the presentation was nice and it was tasty.

Overall, good experience. I would recommend checking it out if you're in the area.

The only reason I'm not giving 1313 Main TWO STARS is the food, with that being said, service leaves much to be desired. We came here with a large party after a day in wine country and one of our friends wanted to check with our waiter if it was ok she opened a bottle of sparkling water she had in her purse, the waiter immediately reacted and told her, "it's illegal" which left us all perplexed and scratching our heads. He then quickly shuffled away saying he needed to check with management. When he came back he said that it was ok but he needed to charge us $5. Uhh, sparkling water costs $5 on the menu, so what you're saying is that not only is it now no longer "illegal" but you want us to pay a service charge that equates to the full price on your menu? No thanks.

I will have to say many of the dishes we shared were enjoyable and presented well. The standouts for me were: the Seared Foie Gras, Truffled Egg, Australian Lamb Chop, Oxtail Ravioli, and the Strawberry & White Chocolate Semifreddo dessert.

When the bill came, someone noticed the included gratuity looked abnormally high, as in approx. 35% of the total bill. After looking into it, our waiter very casually apologized and stated it was a "computer glitch" and nonchalantly walked away, which is my advice to you as well.

FOOD: 5
SERVICE: 5
AMBIANCE: 5
VALUE: 5

I was a little hesitant when I read a recent review by a group of Yelpers who stopped by after a day of wine tasting. However, let me assure you what they said were completely misleading; I think they were loud and obnoxious after a day of too much drinking.

We made our reservation on OpenTable and we were promptly greeted and seated on our arrival. Our waiter handed us the menu right away and brought us our water to quench our thirst after a long drive. Our waiter explained the menu and left us to our pre-Yelp, i.e. taking pictures of the inside and the menu.

We decided on 3 courses with a wine flight each. Here's my dinner:

1. Truffled Egg: truffle poached eggs, served with potato mousse line, potato gravel, pickled onion, toasted brioche and a generous slice of black truffle. A wonderful mixture of taste with a perfectly textured egg, topped off with that slice of real truffle that just explodes with flavor in your mouth.

2. Braised Pork Belly: served on green apple sauce with a side of wild radish and celery salad with a sprinkle of vinaigrette dressing. The pork belly was just perfectly crispy on the outside with tender juicy meat and just the right amount of rich pork fat. The side salad set off from the meatiness of the pork leaving your taste buds perfectly balanced for the next course.

3. Prime Bavette Steak: a tender juicy filet served with bone marrow croquette, sautéed baby carrots, young leeks and Chantrelle mushrooms, and three dollop of whipped Yukon Gold potatoes. A steak that's done right can never be wrong. The veggies were crisp and tasty. The whipped potatoes were as good as I've had anywhere.

I must compliment the executive chef, Adam Ross, on his selection of meat and vegetables, it shows his great care in selecting the freshest local ingredients, his imaginative pairing of not just tastes but different textures. Keep it up, you are ranked up there with some of the famous chefs we've dined with! Excellent food and service in the heart of downtown Napa, what a joy of a find!

VERY EXPENSIVE - You can't go by the prices on the menu - more like small plates for a lot of money.

I came here with a big party of people - there was some confusion on getting all 9 of us in there but it worked out.

The service was excellent - Shawn or Sean took care of us and others helped him. I thought the food was very good.

What I didn't know was they have it set up like you are supposed to buy 3 courses. When I looked at the menu online and saw prices in the mid $20s to low $30s for entrees I thought that's about right for our group. ***BUT*** they want you to buy that $28.00 steak and the $14 salad and the $12 tartar - smaller portions make a whole meal but then you have to look at the price and say WTF - it's $ 54.00/person just for food. Completely different.

My cousin brought in a Parador Cellars Red Wine Reserva (from Napa) soooooooo Delicious and perfectly made http://www.paradorcellars.com/ one of my Favorite producers.

They also don't have a 'normal' full service bar - there are no manhattans or martini's. They have a liquor service of special liquors that they serve tableside. It's expensive and kind of odd. This is the kind of service you find in a big restaurant or hotel, not in a 30 seat place off the main drag imo.

And like another reviewer said - seems like they're catering to tourists here - the place was not full on a Saturday night. And you have to put down a credit card to reserve a big table.

We went to 1313 Main to celebrate my wife's birthday a couple of weeks ago. Not only did they remember it was her birthday, but there was a special birthday greeting on our menus, and at least 4-5 staff members stopped by our table during dinner and wished her happy birthday.

The dinner was exceptional, as was the service. Everything was beautifully plated, fresh and imaginative ingredients, and was a joy to eat. They let us know that the plates were small so we could order a middle course. We ended up ordering just one middle course, and had enough room at the end for two desserts (complete with birthday candle).

Final surprise was a birthday card, signed by everyone who worked there, including the chef. We've never been made to feel more at home at a restaurant. We'll definitely come back for another special occasion (it's an hour drive from home).