ArBARetum — Restaurant in Napa

We stopped by this bar for a casual afternoon and brought along a small tasting glass of wine from a local stall in Napa downtown—something we picked up earlier while exploring. Unaware that bringing outside alcohol into a bar wasn’t allowed (a rule that many visitors might not know), my friend had the glass in hand when the bartender tried to throw it away without saying a word. When my friend asked him not to, the bartender abruptly told us to leave in a very rude and dismissive way.

There was no attempt to politely explain the policy or give us a chance to correct the mistake—it was just immediate attitude and eviction. Everyone makes innocent mistakes, and a little professionalism goes a long way. If this bartender isn’t the owner, I truly hope management addresses the way he treats customers.

To be fair, the rest of the staff, including a very courteous lady bartender, were respectful and welcoming. After the incident, we stayed and enjoyed some great pizza and had a good time despite the rocky start.

Tip: If you do visit, maybe steer clear of the arrogant Asian male bartender—we certainly won’t be returning if he’s still...

Strolling through Napa on a Saturday, this was the most attractive option, with open-plan seating: main bar, indoor/outdoor bar, couchy-cozy nook, inside & outside tables.

The drinks menu is 8x the length and diversity of the foods menu; and the food offerings are sparse — tasty, but spendy. We ended up with deviled eggs ($14) and the Mediterranean version of a taco ($7).

Service was very good and fairly quick, in part because all of the servers are empowered to take orders – you don’t have to wait for your server.

The drinks were especially good, and quite potent! The espresso martini almost put both of us under the table 🤣

The dessert menu is particularly luscious (all @ $10), with all manner of chocolate delights. But no coffee! ☕️Which seemed really odd 🤨 Installing a Nespresso machine wouldn’t take up much counter space, and would be a...

Extremely rude and unfriendly bar staff killed the experience for us. We showed up at 6pm on a Sunday. The place was mostly full, but we were able to snag a pair of bar seats at the end of the bar. Right after sitting down, our bartender just bluntly says "you can order one drink, it's last call in a few minutes". No hello, no "hey guys", no "I'm sorry but..", just bluntly order something. The people next to us had just ordered a (quite good looking..) cheese plate that was dropped off just then. The bartender comes around and drops both our checks off, and the other couple ask if they can get a couple of shots to go with their plate. The bartender very visibly/audibly gives an "ugh.." motion/expression, aggressively grabs their check off the bartop, and brings them a couple shots of tequila. It was extremely awkward and uncomfortable for...