Charlie's Napa Valley — Restaurant in St. Helena

We came here on Saturday night for dinner after having it recommended by every single person that we met while in Napa. The restaurant itself is super cute with a wood burning fireplace outside, but as others have noted in reviews, the tables are packed in quite close together.

We were seated at 7:30 and our waitress handed us menus and water but then did not come back to take our drink order until literally 20 minutes later. By that point I was pretty grouchy but it was also too late to pivot and go somewhere else. For dinner we shared the brussel sprout salad and the kanpachi crudo. For my main I had the two layer lasagna, my husband got the 3pc fried chicken and we split the snap peas. The brussel sprout salad and the lasagna were both delicious. The citrus in the kanpachi was quite bitter which we didn’t enjoy, the snap peas were incredibly oily and my husband was disappointed that the only dark meat in his order was a drumstick. I imagine you could request all dark meat when placing the order if you wanted (I would have been delighted by all white meat).

After dinner our waitress asked if we were interest in seeing the dessert menu to which we replied yes. She did not bring it to us for another 10 minutes. I know that it was a busy Saturday night but the service was sloooooow and the food was hit or miss. If we lived in the area I would give it another shot based on the sheer number of enthusiastic recommendations we got but if I were in town on vacation and could only try 4-6 restaurants I wouldn’t...

I visited to celebrate for my friend who's a soon to be bride-to-be with close friends. The visit left me disappointed.

Shortly after we arrived, one of my friends accidentally tripped and dropped a glass. Rather than receiving understanding and assistance, our server made a passive-aggressive comment suggesting that we were overindulging, despite the fact that we had not yet placed any orders. She said, “as I’ve aged, I’ve learned when to slow down on the liquor.” This comment struck me as unprofessional and inappropriate, particularly during our first moments at the restaurant. She asked my friend to return her menu while she was still contemplating her wine order, which created an atmosphere where we felt hesitant to make further requests.

It is disheartening to feel unwelcome in an establishment that should prioritize hospitality, especially considering the premium prices we pay.

Also, the quality of the food did not meet my expectations. The fish dish we ordered was lacking in flavor. The fried chicken was mediocre, and the beer chicken was similarly flavorless. The oysters were good! I felt terrible about wasting the other food and regretted not choosing...

Before I start this review, I have to state our server Helena was FANTASTIC. She never let our drinks sit empty. The timing of food to the table was impeccable. If my review was based on just her, it would have easily been a 5-star instead of 2-star.

First off ... I wear hearing aids and the room was so loud with background noise I had difficulty hearing table conversation. The room was excessively loud. Way too noisy. My non-hearing aid companions agreed.

Secondly, the desserts we ordered were pie and ice cream, and they tasted like it was straight off a buffet. The desserts were plain Jane and nothing more. The desserts had no "WOW" as the ice cream was bland vanilla and the pie just kind of flat.

The clincher for the low review was the fact that they do not have any coffee sweeteners like Splenda, Equal, or Sweet N Low. How is this even possible? I can not use sugar, and this single decision may be the most naive decision EVER made by a restaurant manager.

Our three meals came to well over $200, and despite the high hopes we had for here... all of us agreed to never return.

I am sorry Helena, as you were exceptional in your...