Bleaux Magnolia

 

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Linda V.

Napa, CA

LOVE this place for Sunday brunch!  No corkage fee, great outdoor patio, Zydeco band playing.  We sit and drink bubbles all afternoon long!  The food is great as well.  Love the jambalaya.  Great service too!
(note: I've been here many times for brunch, never for dinner yet.)

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18

Domenick B.

Napa, CA

This Place Rocks! If they are serving the yam fries, get em! Big fan of their small but diverse beer selection! I am looking forward to going back!

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15

136

Grace P.

Petaluma, CA

Naw, naw, gatha 'round Chillun' I got's me a story to tell.

'S 'bout a Girl who was never satisfied. She's always hungry. Yessir, she loves ta eat. Well, one day she takes her friends an' hersef to That Bleaux Magnolia...

And she lived happily ever after.
I needed a Cajun fix, it's been too long since my visit to N'Orleans and you just can't quit it cold turkey.
We made reservations and did it up, right - this place is small ya know.
Cute, cute cute. The first thing that hits you upon entering is the smell of something cookin up that you want to put in your mouth - no matter what it is.

We sat outside in the enclosed patio and settled right down to the drink menu. Nice wine selection, good choice of beer and even champagne for you Fancies.

Appetizers - butternut squash & bacon filled fritters please. Oh - we're sharing? Shit. Allriiiiight. SO good, but you knew they would be, I mean come on now.

Dinner. Jennifer's got the chicken and waffles, ooooh yeah. Everything you think it is. And more.
Angela's got the hangar steak, holding it's own with the potato mash.
Me? I've got the Osso Bucco in front of me, and though I was not prepared for the presentation (I was a bucco virgin, at 27! I know!) it was a tasty piece of meat. Between you and me, I got it because it was served with sweet potato fries. Mmmm.

The waiters are a bit pompous because they're Pretty Boys and happen to think so, but because of this they don't really know when you're making fun of them and that makes it all better.

The Girl was hungry no mo' and she went home fat 'n happy!

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Elite '08

85

243

Katherine F.

Dublin, CA

This was not over rated in the least!  It deserves all 5 stars!

We went for lunch...on a slow Wednesday.  The staff made sure we had the table of our dreams...outside..partial sun. The service was great throughout our meal.

My dh had the catfish po' boy...he loved the fish and the remoulade was spicy enough for him.

I had the butter leaf salad with the spicy shrimp...delisious...beets, macadamia and gorgonzola are my new favorite, and the voodoo grilled shrimp was large, and chewy, and hot...YUM!

We shared an order of cornbread...which was not a 10 for me...but I do not like my cornbread as sweet as they do in the south...so don't listen to me on this one.

I had a glass of Sauvignon Blanc that was the perfect compliment.

We did indulge is dessert...Huckleberry Lemon Bread pudding with cream chantilly was soft and tasty!

With dessert I had a wonderful glass of tawny port...again, the perfect thing.

Too bad they are over an hour away (and that is at mid-day) I would go back in a heartbeat!

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Mark C.

San Francisco, CA

The service was simply fantastic. They did everything to accommodate our party of nine in their patio and made sure the heaters were positioned properly. When the ladies felt slightly code, they even took out blankets.

The food was also excellent. Take the jambalaya/gumbo combo with the duck confit.

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Elite '08

23

60

Richard G.

Saint Helena, CA

Deep in the bayou of backstreet Napa, this hidden gem serves up solid Cajun cuisine in a warm, intimate setting.

The good:  
Like Ben G., I'm usually suspicious of any restaurant claiming to serve up  Cajun cuisine.  90% of the time, they fall flat.  The menu grabbed me right from the start, with great descriptions of their offerings and the ingredients listed got me drooling before I could make up my mine.  EVERYTHING sounded delicious!  It took a while to make up our minds, but we went for the tasting menu and I was able to try more than half of the offerings.  All of it was solid, but the real standout was the Chicken and Waffles.  So damn good it pains me to think about it!

Crap...I have to go, so I'll finish up later.

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4

23

Jessica L.

San Francisco, CA

My In-Laws took some of us out here recently for dinner. It has definitely opened my foodie sense to something new.

The menu was definitely interesting, with things like gator totes. The food was good. I had a butter leaf salad that had an interesting spice to it. Imagine a spicy salad. For my entree, I had a drunken skirt.  It was a nice tender cut of beef served on a sauted pear with a spicy sauce toped with a bleu cheese ball.

Some of other things we tried....believe or not was gator totes. They taste like chicken but feel like fish. We had some jalapeno cornbread that I must was awesome.

My mother-in-law had the chicken and waffles. I would advise against it. It was that great. My sister had pork something and it was tender but the yams they served with it were a little bland.

So in short the food is interesting the atmosphere is nice for couples but a little small and crampy. I would say that you should at least try it once just to say you had gator totes.

Cheers.

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Elite '08

12

112

Powell Y.

Napa, CA

Date: January 5, 2008
Location: 1408 Clay Street
Corkage: FREE
Cost: $220~ (not including tip, party of five)
Phone: 707.252.2230

Having a drink at Bounty Hunter with a few friends, one suggested let's go to Annalien for dinner, I said, "nah, Anna doesn't like me because of the review I wrote. Instead, I suggested Bleaux Magnolia, as I've not been before and has heard good things about the place.

Greeted warmly as we arrived, the staff was very attentive from the minute we walked in. Menu, wine list, drinks, and we are ready to eat.

After hearing the special, we ordered Gator Tots to start. This looked interesting on the plate, served with a side of chili sauce of sorts, taste more like crab cake then anything else. Not quite sure what to make of it, probably not something I would order again. A round of Pulled Pork Lumpia was also shared by the table, less our vegetarian companion. Not quite sure what lumpia is doing at a Creole restaurant, by the way the menu looks, there is some Asian & French influences in a few items. The lumpia just didn't work for me, a good example of fusion gone crazy (pulled pork, sweet potato, pickled onion).

For entree, I was going to order the Duck Confit Jambalaya, but someone has already order the item, so I opted for Niman Ranch Pork Osso Buco instead. In retrospect, I should of gone with my original choice, as I did like the one bite of duck confit I had, same can't be said about the Osso Buco. Perhaps I am being overly critical on the dish, but I thought there was too much soy (braised with maple soy ginger), over powering the pork flavor and lost the overall balance of the dish. The accompanied mustard greens did help a bit, but in the end, it was just too salty for my taste. Now that I think about it, a bowl of steam rice could of made the dish work for me, but then again, we were at a Creole restaurant.

After figuring out most of us at the table were industry folks, the kitchen send out couple of desserts for us, Bananas Foster, Chocolate Devil Food Cake, and a round of stickies. I am not a big dessert guy, but both creations were absolutely wonderful.

I really wanted to like this experience more, the service is outstanding, the feel of the restaurant is warm, charming and inviting. Food presentation is beautiful, but the taste just falls a bit short, perhaps just on this night. I would like to go back to Bleaux Magnolia in the near future to give it another shot. Hopefully with a few different items ordered I will truly like the restaurant for the overall experience.

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Elite '08

104

171

Linda M.

Pleasant Hill, CA

Oh what a find....and still apparently off the radar of many, as there was NO WAIT for brunch (begins at 11:00am) this last Sunday.  This is scrumptious Cajun food.

Bleaux Magnolia is just a few blocks off the First St. (downtown Napa) freeway exit, with free parking right across the street.  We sat on the patio, where the live jazz duo was entertaining diners.  

Two of us had the crab cakes benedict which had the tastiest spicy crawfish hollandaise sauce and an amazingly delicious medly of vegetables on the side.  And my other friend had the cornmeal and applewood smoked bacon flapjacks, which she also liked but it left her craving a bit more protein.  A feeling which she remedied with a little side of hanger steak she found to be just the ticket.  

The service was excellent, as was the ambiance.  I have to give Bleaux Magnolia an overall 4 stars though because I hate to see my friend finish her breakfast and still feel hungry (and she's not a big or abnormally hungry kinda gal).   Also the blueberry/pomegranate mimosas sounded great but underwhelmed....and my initial call re: reservations went unreturned.

I can't wait to take my husband and try lunch or dinner.  Seemingly the chef concentrates on a smaller variety of menu options that are carried out superbly.  The menu was slightly changed from what's on the website.  Brunch came to $30 each, including tip.  You can eat brunch at Gillwoods down the street for less...but this is much more special.

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Elite '08

99

133

Maritel C.

San Jose, CA

Took my mom here for Sunday Brunch on her birthday and we loved it! They had peach mimosas, and the food was unbelievable!! Their crawfish bisque, was rich and yummy, and the jambalaya was the best I've ever had!

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Michelle C.

Palo Alto, CA

One word comes to mind: Heavenly. This definitely comes in at  my Top 5 eating experiences.

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Benjina D.

Walnut Creek, CA

Being from Texas, my husband I have searched for a good Cajun/creole restaurant in the Bay area since we've moved here. When we decided to take a trip out to Napa for his birthday, I Yelped the restaurants in the area and found Bleaux Magnolia. I called the restaurant to make a reservation for dinner and spoke with the owner himself. Phillip, who is originally from Louisiana, assured me the food was authentic. We got to the restaurant at 8:45p, late for our originally 8p reservation. The restaurant had an intimate and appealing atmosphere. We sat in the outdoor patio area, where most of the customers were sitting. Phillip had told me he had  fresh crawfish flown in from Louisiana, and I LOVE spicy, boiled crawfish. I happily ordered the crawfish and my husband a vegetarian plate. My crawfish was great! It was spicy, and the potatoes and corn boiled in with the crawfish were perfect. The dinner also came with jalapeno cornbread with jalapeno butter, which was also fresh and amazing. My husband enjoyed his vegetarian plate, which had a waffle topped with fresh sauteed vegetables. For desert, we ordered the bread pudding, which arrived a generous portion. Everything we ordered was amazing, authentic and delicious. Above all, the customer service was impeccable. I later found out that the restaurant closed at 9p and they took us anyway. Also, they usually don't do boiled crawfish, but they did it for us since we asked. And they remembered my husband's birthday, which made his day. We definitely will eat at Bleaux Magnolia on our next trip, and definitely recommend this restaurant!

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2

40

Philip T.

Mountain View, CA

They may not know how to spell 'bleu', but they know how to cook.

I ordered the duck jambalaya breakfast burrito. That's, like, 4 of my favorite things all together. Spicy, rich, tender - even the tortillas were good. Dessert was bread pudding.

Live music was jazz clarinet playing southern Louisiana standards (complete with Cajun jokes about Thibodeaux and Boudreaux). And the waiter was nice enough to let us have a table and drink some coffee when we arrived a half hour before the place opened.

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3

49

Ben G.

Napa, CA

Believe what you're reading here, folks...this is the real deal.  I'm *always* wary of anything "cajun" or "creole" outside of the south simply because 99% of people presenting this stuff don't know what's what.  But the folks at Bleaux Magnolia do.  They're doing the cajun thing with a slight mix of California cuisine, without being obnoxious about the California influence.  The pulled-pork po boy is outrageously great, as is *anything* on the dinner menu.  Even brunch is a stand-out, from the ubiquitous "breakfast burrito" offering (except this one is crammed with jambalaya) to the crab cake benedict.  Yow!

Pros: Great staff, nice space, wonderful menu, not shy with the hot heat spice

Cons: Sweet potato fries are not too crispy

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122

Josh M.

San Francisco, CA

If you find yourself up in Napa and in search of a brunch, I don't know that you can do much better than Bleaux Magnolia.  Set right in downtown Napa, it's not the most picturesque setting, but their beautifully-done arbor-covered patio is transportative.  With live and soothing classical guitar being played in the background as your soundtrack, you can peruse their New Orleans-inspired menu for both classic and innovative dishes that bring fresh Rock Crab, flown-in Crawfish and other delights that you don't normally find on a brunch menu.

As much as our party of four wanted to experiment with a wide range of dishes so that we could taste more of what they had to offer, two of us succumbed to their Rock Crab-cake Benedict.  The Crawfish Hollandaise was incredible - light and richly flavorful, and not at all overly syrup-y...you'd almost be convinced that it was healthy.  The eggs were perfectly cooked, runny in the middle, and all of our dishes arrived hot and at the same time.

One of us got the included sweet potato home fries that came with the Benedict, and they were very flavorful (although if I had to complain about anything, they could have been a little on the crispier side - still, delicious).  On the other order of Benedict, they gladly substituted fresh fruit, with an artfully-presented array of sliced strawberries, pear, apple, and what we think were pluots.

Also at the table we enjoyed a Catfish Po'boy and an order of their ab-fab Cornmeal Flapjacks with Applewood-Smoked Bacon, Cheddar, and Jalapeno inside - yowza!

If you're there for brunch in the summer - don't miss the amazing and refreshing agua fresca's that they make from fresh fruit in the kitchen.  Ours were made with honeydew and cantaloupe and were both a different take on breakfast just and just the thing on a warm morning.

Topping it all off was the friendly, efficient and accomodating service by our server, David, who took one look at our dog and let us bring him onto the patio to sit with us on the table by the street, bringing him a container of water and letting us know that "we love dogs!".

All-in-all, we could not have asked for a better breakfast experience at any price in wine country.  We'll be back.

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39

amnnor n.

Berkeley, CA

Not to be missed.
Sit comfortably at lunch an the patio off a quiet street just a block from downtown's main drag.

Enjoy both authentic and "fusion" New Orleans fare.  Gumbo is great, jalapeno, cheddar cornbread excellent, and a mighty fine wine list.

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Elite '08

23

71

Matthew M.

Dallas, TX

From the moment I walked in I knew I would love this new cozy addition to Napa lacking restaurant scene.  From a suggestion from a friend we decided to go here for Sunday brunch and it was amazing!!!  Bleaux Magnolia is located in an old Napa home transformed into a relaxed Cajun bistro.  The live classical guitar was wonderful on this bright and sunny day and put a smile on my face when I heard several Beatles songs and of course "Classical Gas".  Now for the food!!!  Not knowing what to order the three of us split 4 entrees.  First we started with the Beignet Monte Cristo....Who wouldn't like ham and turkey and cheese fried in beignet batter???  I ordered the gumbo....At first I was a little hesitant because I am a southerner and have had some of the best gumbo around, but this rendition was both flavorful and exciting.  Another friend ordered the eggs braised in Cabernet and duck sausage!!!  Freaking amazing !!!!  and another friend order the Crab cakes Benedict with a crawfish hollandaise....another classic dish found to be executed amazingly!!!  I am sooo happy this place opened and cant wait to try dinner and lunch!!!! Finally a great brunch in Napa!!!  oh ya almost forgot ....make sure to try the homemade root beer floats to finish a great meal!!   GEAUX GEAUX GEAUX to Bleaux Magnolia!!!

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