Sam's Social Club — Restaurant in Calistoga

First time visiting Sam’s Social Club. We had reservations for 6:15 and arrived at 6pm. We had check the weather forecast ahead of our visit and it was going to be hot so We specifically requested a table inside. The hostess seemed a bit flustered that we arrived early even though the restaurant was virtually empty, so we volunteered to sit in the bar and wait for our table. Bartender was great and took our drink order promptly. The bar started to fill up and we noticed there seemed to be a lot of confusion / discussions about tables and reservations. Probably people wanted to be seated inside out of the heat. Good thing we reserved our table inside in advance. Right? Wrong. The hostess returned to our bar table and informed us we could have dinner in the bar or outside, but not inside… This was odd because we had confirmed our inside reservation upon arrival, it was very hot outside and the indoor dining area was less than 1/2 full. I counted multiple 2-top tables at which we could have been seated. Not a huge deal for us, we we agreed to remain at our bar table for dinner. But not a 5 star experience.

The menu was interesting, but limited. The wine list was also limited and fairly uninspired given our location. The wine prices by the glass were quite high for the selection on the list.

The food was very good and the bartender did a good job balancing his duties with waiting on us for dinner even though there did not seem to be any reason to seat us in the bar.

The restaurant has potential, but training / procedures could be improved to optimize guest experience. Given the other choices in the area, it is not something we’d go out of our...

absolutely the best brunch I've had in a long time!

we started with an order of the deviled eggs. . .really delicious, highly seasoned with lots of dijon mustard.

we could not decided between the candy cap churros or the banana bread so we got both! both were very good but if you're more disciplined than I am, get the churros. . .not only are they technically perfect, the use of candy cap mushroom gives them a maple flavor accent that is truly unique.

for our mains, i had the egg in the hole and my friend had the eggs benedict. both dishes were presented beautifully. the egg in the hole is thick cut brioche that is fluffy and buttery, griddled and crispy with a perfectly cooked egg in the middle. there is a porcini truffle cream sauce presented underneath along with amazingly crispy and well seasoned breakfast potatoes and a petite arugula salad. my only quibble with my dish is i wanted more of the porcini cream because it was so delicious!

little details abound to make this an elevated dining experince. the room is beautiful - sunny, spacious and comfortable. the patio is stunning and transports you to a Palm Springs-like setting. the condiments are served in nice ramekins with tiny silver spoons, the varied plate ware is lovely. we received absolutely excellent service from Angel.

we were celebrating our dual July birthdays and are already planning next year. . .our plan is to stay at hotel so we can eat our fill of our very favorite brunch, then stagger to our...

So we walked in sorry we didn't have a reservation but it was a Tuesday night in the off season and they weren't even busy. We were able to sit at the bar and the bartender was friendly and personable. We ordered two. Burgers one rare one medium and the Piri Piri chicken. When they brought our food they mixed up the burgers and didn't even aplogize or offer to correct it when my mom noticed she had the rare burger I had ordered. They were okay burgers not worth $24. The Piri Piri chicken was good but we felt totally unwelcome. We had a hit a log and upon arrival noticed we had a flat tire so.we called AAA when they arived they had to use a flahlight because the parking lot had zero light. I tripped and fell on the curb because I could see nothing in that pitch black parking lot. I thought I was okay but my left knee sweeled severely and I couldn't walk the next day or the day after. They must've seen me fall but didn't say anything either because they came and turned on the lights shortly after. I know I should have reported but I didn't think it was bad and I'm not a litigious person. I have never felt more unwelcome anywhere. It was an awful start to our Napa trip. The next night we ate at Solbar and they were so welcoming the food was outstanding and I was so grateful to be in a place with out of this world food and hospitality also so much more beautiful ambiance. Save yourself the wasted trip and head to Solbar instead! Date of visit:...