Norman Rose Tavern — Restaurant in Napa

So this place was recommended by a friend who said the food was good. I had never heard of it, even though it’s been here since the 70’s apparently. I went to check out the menu thru their website and decided to go ahead and make reservations. After filling in the required information, I clicked submit only to get the “we don’t support online reservations” message. Ok, no worries, let me call them. Jen picked up and after a confusing conversation about me being part of a party, she said: “hold on one second”. She puts the phone down and 20 minutes later, I hung up. She completely forgot about me. I know she put the phone down because I could hear everything that was going on and then when I tried calling back, the line was busy. Anyways, against my better judgement, I still went ahead and showed up as planned, party of four no reservation. We were seated immediately and our waitress (the other Jen) served us. The place is a sports bar that has wood paneling all around, tv screens everywhere and a big screen for sporting events (there was a fight happening and would start charging $10 cover charge). Jen was very friendly, bubbly personality and fun. Service was a little on the slow side but hey, we were there with friends from out of town so we were catching up. We ordered the calamari and the coconut shrimp as starters. I should point out that I do not like coconut but the shrimp were really good. I had the bacon and blue burger, my partner had the shrimp tacos and our friends had the sliders and the ribs. Everything was really tasty. The ribs fell off the bone; the burger was delicious, well made and balanced (no onions) and the shrimp tacos where pretty good too. Overall a good place to eat and hangout if you’re...

I have never been treated as rude as I was this past Saturday night. After the wine train we stopped in at the tavern to grab a bite to eat and drink. The place was empty so we decided to sit back and have a few rounds. After our second round the waitress came and picked up our menus and walked away. We asked her what she was doing and she informed us she was told to do that. So as business owners ourselves, we complained to the manager who came over and smoothed thing over until this waiter (who was not our waiter and was very sloppy in appearance) came by the table and muttered something barely audible. I asked him "what did you just say?" he spun on his heals and said "it is inconsiderate to occupy a table when you are just drinking." I then responded; "it is rude to comment on things that don't concern you, we were just about to order until YOU told the girl to get our menus." I then asked for the check (which was well over a hundred dollars) it was not like we were not paying patrons and what went from a good time was ruined by this complete idiot. The manager attempted to smooth thing over but we were done. What was over a hundred dollar bill probably would have been over three hundred by the time we were done eating. Instead, we will never step foot in that place again with rude...

Norman Rose Tavern is one of our regular stomping grounds because the food is consistently good and the environment is comfortable. My husband and I went there for a late lunch and sat in a booth by the window to people watch the passersby on the street.

We enjoyed our server’s mellow nature and smooth service. I was thirsty from being out in the sun and both server and busser kept my iced tea and water full. Seriously, I must have a hollow leg to store it all!

Here’s what we enjoyed:

The Wedge Salad is big enough to share. Crispy, fresh, and tasty!

My husband was craving a BLT. It was not on the menu but they had all of the ingredients so the server made it possible. He thought it was perfect. The bread and bacon were proportioned evenly making each bite delicious.

Their lamb burger is always good. I love how the cheese and greens dance with the flavors of the lamb.

What blew us away this time though were the Sweet Potato Fries. Seriously? It is a mystery what made them stand out for us?? They were the best we have ever had. My husband does not like sweet potato fries and he thought they were great. They were cooked to perfection. Nice crusty outside and a tasty inside.

We will be back...