3 Best Restaurants in Kenwood, Napa and Sonoma

Best for lunch but also open for dinner, Palooza pleases with many beers on tap, jazzed-up pub grub, casual decor, and an often-packed covered outdoor patio. Pulled-pork and crispy-chicken sandwiches and beer-battered fish and fries are among the popular items, with prawn and braised-beef tacos and shredded-kale salads with sliced apples for those seeking lighter fare.

The menu at this upscale roadhouse with a sloping wood-beamed ceiling focuses on seafood and meat—beef, lamb, chicken, duck, and other options—with many dishes in both categories grilled. Start with the classics, perhaps a martini and oysters Rockefeller, before moving on to well-plated contemporary entrées that might include crispy-skin salmon or duck breast, a fish stew, or grilled rib eye.

The owners of a local-fave tri-tip food trolley opened this comfort-food restaurant in a 90-year-old building originally a gas station and later an inn. In addition to tri-tip, the New Orleans–inspired menu consists of small bites like white-cheddar grits and larger bites that include smoke-braised short ribs, steelhead trout, fried chicken, and a grass-fed burger with cheese and tomato jam.