Napa Valley Grille

This is a good choice to eat at the mall if you are not looking for a chain. The happy hour menu is quite varied and requires you to sit at the bar or terrace, with the terrace looking out to the interior walkways of the mall. In addition to some interesting cocktails the wine menu also features several wine flights. Most appetizers on the dinner menu are also featured on the happy hour menu. Both the happy hour and dinner menu had a good selection of meat, fish and vegetarian options.

Of all the things my partner and I tried, the walleye cakes with wild rice were the best. The wild rice gave it a nice chew and the lemon aioli flavor was fresh. Roasted brussel sprouts were also well done; thanks to our server for steering us away from braised winter greens and toward this item. Pan fried gnocchi with roaster mushrooms were flavorful, but the gnocchi was a bit dry. The portion was quite good for being from the happy hour menu. Bolognese pasta with a mix of pork and beef was above average but not outstanding. Crème brulee was pretty good as was the raspberry sorbet from Izzy's.

We stopped here while holiday shopping for a spot on the patio. It was like an upper class Minnesota state fair with the wide array of people from around the world. Most liked to stare at our good looking food and wine.

We started with the large portion of charcuterie board app consisting of porciutto (fantastic), apricot chutney (next best), sesame seeds, salmon, tuna, turkey, olives, blackberries and bagel crisps for eating on.  It seems like a lot but most items were very small (for example 2 olives and 4 blackberries). It was Dec 1st and the turkey looked and tasted like old thanksgiving leftovers which was nasty, not to mention that it doesn't work well on a bagel crisp mixed with any of the other toppings. The olives had pits which makes no sense when your trying to combo up on a crisp. Overall the app was pretty much a disaster and is not recommended

To our surprise the complimentary bread came next and was a huge hit.  Onions are in my top 5 worst hated foods but I will try anything and the red onion purée spread for the bread was so good we left with a recipe card for it.

Last came our flank steak entree with mashed potatoes and broccoli which I highly recommend. Best steak I've had in a while and order it medium or medium rare, salty and scrumptious.  Add the black pepper ground when they ask.

If it wasn't for the charcuterie I would give Napa Valley the highest rating. Come for the flank steak and wine. It is pricey, running us $95 at happy hour with 2 drinks each

We stopped in for a quick lunch before exploring the mall. The atmosphere was dim, yet comforting, which made it a more secluded dining experience. It was as if you weren't even inside the mall until you notice the shoppers walking by from the view of the "balcony". Every member of the staff was extremely polite, attentive, well trained, and made you feel like a valued patron. Our waiters weren't overbearing and coming over to check up on us every five minutes, but were back to refill our drinks and to ask if there was anything else we needed, pretty much at the exact times we wanted them to.

The menu is pretty typical, with your soups, salads, sandwiches and specialties. All our dishes were well portioned and left everyone completely stuffed. Try their red onion jam with your bread. Yes.. onion jam. Sounds weird, but it's sweet and not something you'd expect.

Pricing was alright, which ran about $10-$15 per person. Yes, you could save money by hitting up the food court, but we decided, "We're not going to have a chance to come back for some time, so what the heck?"

This place is nice if you want to get away from the madness of the mall for an hour or so.