Wilfred's Lounge — Restaurant in Napa

Cannot recommend for large groups or events. We recently hosted a wedding event on a Wednesday in Napa. Our event was during the day and we planned on ending the night at the tiki bar. I emailed Wilfred’s 6 weeks before hosting our event to inform them a large group of around 25 people will be coming to the tiki bar around 6 pm. Their response was positive - they said they would love for our party to come to the tiki bar, told us what time the bar closed, told us what time the kitchen stopped food, told us they would put a note on OpenTable reserving a spot for us. We were SO happy… Until we showed up at 6pm like we informed them. Our party showed up, they told us to have a seat upstairs. The weather was perfect, the views were great, there was a large couch and large table for us to sit around, and then we sat there… and sat there… and sat there…. There was a bar upstairs, that was closed. We went downstairs to the bar to order drinks and we caught one of the servers who was walking around. She told us she was the only server working right now and she will not provide service to us upstairs and promptly walked away as if she was busy. They expected our group of almost 30 people to walk up and down stairs (a terrible idea and probably a liability at a bar with ladies in heels having alcohol) and get drinks from the bar. We went searching for another spot to host our group - The rooftop bar at the Archer hotel was absolutely amazing. When I (the host) left the bar, someone in our party grabbed the manager and the manager informed us the bar upstairs was closed and there was no service because I did not put down a credit card. I was never asked to put down a credit card. I was never informed we wouldn’t have service (we did NOT need private service by any means, but we needed SOME service). I was never informed the upstairs bar would be closed. I was not informed we would have to walk up and down stairs to get service at an already full bar. Absolutely atrocious experience. Cannot...

Since we are locals, we had seen this place a few times during its construction/transformation, and since we're fans of Tiki Lounges we decided to finally give it a try for my birthday celebration. Made a reservation for 5:00, drove down from St. Helena (while my father-in-law drove up from Oakland)...

Only to be met and told they are canceling all reservations due to a plumbing issue. (But it was also very confusing, because people were sitting there, dining, and the sign out front said "closed for private event."

Well, we tried to give you a shot and potentially be returning local customers, but we won't be trying again. Sounds like we dodged a bullet anyway, because when I told my coworker that was my birthday plan, she winced and warned me that was pretty bad (mediocre food and bad, watered-down drinks. And a good drink is pretty much the entire reason people go to a tiki bar!) This seems to align with the negative reviews I am reading online.

To the owners of Wilfred's: it looks like you really have some things to fix, or you're not going...

It was a busy Wednesday evening. We got a table right away. Staff was friendly and attentive. Drinks were delicious, if slightly overpriced. My wife and her friend enjoyed a shared, flaming, fruity concoction. The bartender cheerfully modified a house drink to use Mezcal, and it was excellent. Appetizers arrived right away. Food took forever, but we were enjoying drinks and conversation, and staff made it good. When the food arrived it was excellent. The steak was cooked perfectly. Island salad was good. The pineapple fried rice was also good, if a slightly ridiculous portion size served on half a pineapple. Desert was delicious, and we shared it. The key lime Panna Cotta was both tart and delicate. The pineapple upside down cake should definitely be ordered WITH the rum. The 'Ono Pie is excellent, though a little hard to eat - the crust is hard to cut. Overall, a great night, if a little expensive. VERY expensive by non...