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Bounty Hunter Restaurant in Napa

Address: 975 1st St Napa, California 94559

The Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin’ BBQ is established in 1992 and is situated in the heart of Downtown Napa. Casual, brick-walled establishment offering a wide variety of fine wines and great selections of craft brews. A full lunch and dinner menu serving sandwiches, salads, real BBQ, their famous beer can chicken bbq, and barbeque is served ’til 12 am on weekends.

We are looking for a place to celebrate the 4th of July and for our daughter’s early birthday celebration. We were craving for an authentic or good barbeque restaurant with a nice view. It took us about 1 hour and 15 minutes from San Francisco and passed through a couple of wineries in the Napa area. We arrived at the Bounty Hunter Restaurant around 10:45 am and were lucky enough to find parking in front of the Restaurant(free and 2-3 hours max). Both indoor and outdoor seatings are available at the Bounty Hunter Restaurant. There were some cool and nice decorations inside the restaurants such as a horse saddle, articles from newspapers recognizing the restaurant and its history, a big moose head hanging at the wall.

But we decided to eat at their outdoor seating overlooking the Napa River since it was sunny and beautiful day. We were greeted promptly by a friendly server and recommended their two famous signature entrees which are the Bounty Hunter beer can chicken for $34.95 and the B.H. Smokin BBQ Platter for $49.95. We also had toasted baguette with pimiento cheese and their famous cornbread as a side dish/appetizer. We were surprised when our order arrived because it’s more than enough for just the three of us. But the main highlight of our lunch was the savory, unique and delicious Beer Can Chicken which is a cajun spiced whole free-range bird perched on a Tecate beer can. It was big, soft, and lots of juice was coming out while we were carving it. What’s even surprising was the B.H. Smokin BBQ Platter which includes a combination of pulled pork, smoked beef brisket, half rack of St. Loius ribs, and coleslaw on the side.

The St. Loius ribs were so delicious and soft that the meat came off easily from the bones. The B.H. cornbread was warm, soft, moist, and served with melted butter on top. The Best part was eating savory BBQ with a view of Napa River where people are kayaking, Stand up paddle, and walking along the River. And lastly, the server brought out a dessert which is a chocolate cupcake with vanilla ice cream on top and a strawberry swirl for my daughter’s early birthday celebration compliment of the Chef. We were so full that we end up bringing the leftovers home for dinner.

Tips: Come in early before 11 am to find parking in front otherwise you may end up parking on the street or at a public parking(fee) about a block away. You may also rent a kayak, stand up paddle board, ride a Gondola under the bridge by the Napa River.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments or what you think about the Bounty Hunter Restaurant after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.

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Auberge Du Soleil Restaurant (Napa)

Address: 180 Rutherford Hill Rd, Rutherford, CA 94573

Auberge du Soleil Restaurant is a fine dining restaurant that is perched on a hill with an amazing view of the Napa Valley. And it is also an exclusive resort for couples (no kids allowed) with a beautiful swimming pool with great amenities. Auberge du Soleil means “Sun Inn” in French. The Executive Chef for Auberge du Soleil is Mr. Robert Curry. The restaurant also received the Michelin Star Award for 13 consecutive years.

The Restaurant is by reservation only and it’s usually difficult to find an open time slot to reserve a seat. We arrived for lunch at Auberge du Soleil restaurant at around 11:30 a.m. which is the time when the restaurant opened. We drove up on a hill for about 3 minutes on a narrow winding road. As we arrived, we were immediately greeted by a valet attendant, who opened our doors, gave us a claim stub, and parked our car. We noticed a lot of very expensive and exotic cars parked in front of the restaurant. We checked in with the friendly host and were seated after we waited for at least 3-4 minutes.

We were seated on a table closest to the handrail that has an unobstructed view of the Napa Valley. The waitress provided us with a fresh bread basket with different pastries and sliced bread. We ordered the lunch 3-course meal for $85 per person since it was my daughter’s early birthday celebration. We started out with appetizers and ordered wild gulf shrimp, cows milk burrata. And for our main entree, we ordered Sonoma Chicken which is roasted baby artichokes, fennel, carrots, and thyme sauce. Buttermilk pancakes with blueberries, applewood smoked bacon, and maple syrup. Cabernet braised short ribs with spring onions, miso turnip puree, mizuna, and kumquat. And for our dessert it’s a Trio of Seasonal Fruit Sorbets with the flavors mandarin, blood orange, and rhubarb. Valrhona Manjari Cremeux which is a brandy roasted cherries, devils food cake, vanilla bean ice milk. And lastly Tomatero Farms Strawberry Mille- Feuille which is lavender velvet cake, wildflower honey cream. They even provided us with birthday candles for my daughter’s early birthday celebration.

Overall, we were satisfied with the quality of the foods that we ordered. The gorgeous view of Napa Valley, the great service and the beautiful sunny warm weather made our experience memorable. We would highly recommend the Auberge du Soleil due to the quality of food and the amazing valley view.

Tips: From the main entrance, on the left side is the main restaurant where you order the full meal course. While on the right side is the Bar and Bistro which serves different menus and small bites such as Crispy Monterey Bay Calamari, Roasted Bone Marrow, Grilled Flatbread, Margherita Pizza and Auberge Burger. Request a table closest to the handrail so you will have the best view of the Valley. If you drive up a little further you will end up at Rutherford Hill Winery which has a Cave and a great view of the Valley.

Let me know if you have any questions, comments or what you think about Auberge Du Soleil Restaurant after your visit in the comments below. And kindly share our family travel blog site with your friends and family. Or even include our travel blog website address when you post your pictures on social media. Have fun and stay safe. Thank you.