{"id":2382,"date":"2023-05-28T17:02:52","date_gmt":"2023-05-28T17:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2382"},"modified":"2023-05-28T17:02:52","modified_gmt":"2023-05-28T17:02:52","slug":"gotts-roadside-st-helena","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/?p=2382","title":{"rendered":"Gott\u2019s Roadside, St. Helena"},"content":{"rendered":"

Power Tasting<\/em> is not in the business of restaurant reviews, so this is not a restaurant review.\u00a0 Yes, Gott\u2019s Roadside is a restaurant but in its way it\u2019s a great deal more.\u00a0 It is definitely a place to visit if you are going wine tasting in the northern end of Napa Valley.\u00a0 Gott\u2019s is an institution<\/em>.\u00a0 Now, an institution might seem a bit stuffy, but this one definitely is not.<\/p>\n

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As you drive along Route 29 into St. Helena, you can\u2019t miss it there on your left.\u00a0 It\u2019s a big white building with lots of parking and seating all around it.\u00a0 There\u2019s quite a history to go with it.\u00a0 Originally, it was known as Taylor\u2019s Refresher, established in 1949 by Lloyd Taylor.\u00a0 At that time, Napa Valley was mostly planted with fruit trees not grape vines, and the clientele must have been largely farmhands and truckers.\u00a0 It was an unapologetic burger joint that, as we remember it, was a place to get a quick meal but not a destination.<\/p>\n

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In 1999, Mr. Taylor\u2019s heirs sold the restaurant to the brothers Duncan and Joel Gott.\u00a0 Together, they were entrepreneurs; Joel was an is a winemaker as well as a restauranteur.\u00a0 (Duncan has since passed away.)\u00a0 They kept the name, Taylor\u2019s Refresher, until 2010 when they changed it to the current name.\u00a0 They also significantly expanded the place. \u00a0The Taylor family was a bit upset that their name was being lost, so it seems that the settlement was to change the name but keep the old sign.<\/p>\n

Gott\u2019s is still a burger joint, but in keeping with \u201cNapa Style\u201d, it\u2019s somewhat fancier than that.\u00a0 The beef is Niman Ranch. \u00a0There are salads, tacos and sandwiches as well; we have no idea how they taste because we\u2019ve only ever ordered hamburgers.\u00a0 And what kind of burger joint has a wine list?\u00a0 For some legal reasons, Joel Gott\u2019s wines aren\u2019t served there anymore.<\/p>\n

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Part of the reason for eating at Gott\u2019s Roadside is to be able to say you\u2019ve eaten at Gott\u2019s.\u00a0 It\u2019s the same reason people have their pictures taken in front of the Eiffel Tower \u2013 to prove they\u2019ve been there.\u00a0 There are some excellent restaurants just up the road in St. Helena, but none of them have the retro cachet of Gott\u2019s.\u00a0 You\u2019ll be able to say \u201cyes\u201d when friends ask, \u201cDid you have lunch at that famous burger place?\u00a0 What\u2019s it called again?\u201d<\/p>\n

Another reason, a better one in addition to the food, is to partake in a tradition with all the other folks dining there.\u00a0 Part of the seating area is under canopies next to the parking lot and there is also a grassy picnic area where families gather; kids run around; and there\u2019s a general sense of fun.\u00a0 Just eating there makes you feel like you\u2019re a part of Napa Valley, not just visiting it.<\/p>\n

There are now Gott\u2019s establishments in other locations.\u00a0 Don\u2019t be fooled.\u00a0 They\u2019re just restaurants, not pieces of Napa Valley history.<\/p>\n

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Power Tasting is not in the business of restaurant reviews, so this is not a restaurant review.\u00a0 Yes, Gott\u2019s Roadside is a restaurant but in its way it\u2019s a great deal more.\u00a0 It is definitely a place to visit if you are going wine tasting in the northern end of Napa Valley.\u00a0 Gott\u2019s is an … Continue reading Gott\u2019s Roadside, St. Helena<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2382"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2386,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2382\/revisions\/2386"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/powertasting.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}