We ate here on our last day in the Napa Valley area on recommendation from other Yelpers and I must say it was amazing. Â Everything from the service to the food was top notch and as a lifelong Broncos fan I thought the John Elway Stanford baseball photo was amazing! Â
With all the options you have in this area for food, this one is a must!
We went on a Friday and made a reservation Thursday night. Â They have jazz on Fridays, so thats why we did it. Â The band was great.
Quick Breakdown:
Band 5
Food 3
Wine -1 (yes thats a negative one)
Service 2.5
I ordered the clams in a white wine sauce. Â It was yummy but the prep could have been cleaner because I had broken clam shells in the sauce. Â The sauce was so good I let it pass.
My boyfriend had a pot of muscles, shrimp, and more seafood. Â It was good, but I would have liked a more unique marinara sauce for it.
BAD WINE
The wine... oh my goodness... you would think since we are in napa it would be good. Â NOPE. Â Not at all. Â It sucked. Â I had the house wine which tasted like water so I sent it back. Â Then I got the pinot noir and it tasted like something from Trader Joes. Â Maybe we should have gotten a bottle and that would have been better. Â But the wines by the glass were no good.
My boyfriend had the basil cocktail. Â I liked it and it was unique.
Service was meh. Â They were busy and you could feel that energy of not having time for us throughout and we were barely checked on throughout the evening.
The band is worth it with decent food. Â And this is coming from a gal in Chicago, so I was expecting something at least comparable if not better.
I love this place! Â I had a party of 47 people for my son's Rehearsal Party. Â And not only was the service and ambiance were great. Â The food was excellent! Â A couple of us are in the food business and we really enjoyed their menu. Â They do a great job there and I highly recommend to everyone! Â Being in the food business I surely appreciate the awesome service and delicious food! Â Thank You!
Review Source:My husband and I were hungry and after walking all through downtown Napa finally found a place that was open for lunch on a weekday. We were the only customers but the staff was quite attentive even though we had interrupted their lunch. We ordered two appetizers- one was calamari which was quite large and came with fried veggies as well. I'd never seen this before and it was so tasty!
Review Source:Four of us went here on a warm Saturday night. Â Parking is good and the ambiance inside is upscale Italian. Â My lady friend and I both ordered the short ribs special. What I got can only be described as a child's portion. Â I assume they must have run out of the ingredients and given each of us a half serving but at full price. Â The other couple got full adult size portions of different dishes. Â He was happy with his food. Â She said the noodles in her dish were undercooked. Â Expensive, pretentious and not very good was my reaction.
Review Source:I liked this place. Â The food was good - Not great, not suprising, menu was pretty standard, but everything was executed well. Â I think if this review was based solely on the food, it might be a 3 star, not as an insult... More that it just wasn't mind blowing...
The service was good, attentive, and efficient - Not smothering, which is always nice...
What I really enjoyed about this restaurant was the live Jazz... I know, it's not a big deal, for some some reason, it worked really well in this atmosphere... Better than other restaurants I've been to, with Jazz music... I don't know why, but I felt like it really gave a little something extra...
This Italian restaurant is in downtown Napa, very close to the house we had rented for the weekend. Â The restaurant itself had a pretty nice ambiance, the food was just ok.
The most memorable meal I had here was the squid ink pasta. Â Everyone really liked the risotto balls. Â No corkage fee for the first bottle of wine, Â which was great as we had brought our own wine. Â Service was ok, and overall, just good.
Everyone there is so nice and welcoming. Â Our party of six had a table on the bar side. Â Dwayne was our waiter and is the best. Â We also had two Travelzoo vouchers and let us do them together. Â
The salads are fresh and have great ingredients. Â My favorite is the beet salad. Â The spinach with bacon is also a winner.
All of our entrees came out at the same time. Â The veal came with four small cuts that were tender. Â The potatoes were a smaller portion than I thought would be given but the broccolini made up for it. Â I also had more than enough food.
The bar side is a bit louder since most nights there's live music. Â It is also darker than the restaurant area. Â I have never been seated on the other side. Â I think they reserve that side for larger parties who request not to be where the music is.
The desserts are also wonderful. Â We had the apple crisp which came in a round ramekin, the bread pudding and tiramisu. Â The apple crisp had a light Carmel gelato. Â The bread pudding is also a but lighter and not a heavy custardy type. Â The tiramisu looked nice but I didn't taste it. Â Not usually a fan.
Our group was attended to by everyone. Â We only felt a little neglected at the end when we noticed our waters were empty. Â And as soon as we noticed so did our busser. Â We were also there for three hours so we probably overstayed our welcome but we never left that way.
Mahalos Dwayne and can't wait to go back!
I really like the warm, cozy atmosphere and decor.
The music by the Jami Jameson Band was awesome. Â The first set was mellower for the dinner crowd and then opened it up with great sax, guitar, bass, and female vocals.
All the food was good. three of us shared a large beet and fig salad, followed by a hand crafted, thin crust pizza, then we shared a couple of entrees.
Great attentive service, great overall experience.
Really cute place in Downtown Napa. I loved the live entertainment. The night I was in there was a cabaret singer -- super sultry voice but the band overpowered her. The service here was really great though...always topping off water and refilling the bread plate.
I ordered Margherita pizza which was okay. The crust was good and I appreciated the freshly graded Parmesan. But I felt it was pretty much an all cheese pizza. I had like one basil leaf per every two slices. But it was a fresh basil leaf, it was a really good size. I had like 8 thin cut slices.
The bread was tasty, it was focaccia with sun dried tomato bits, served with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and crushed garlic to swirl in. Yum....and they kept it coming!
For dessert, I got a strawberry bread pudding to share. Topped with vanilla bean ice cream, it was totally delicious. The bread pudding was my favorite of the whole meal...thick and spongy with the right amount of berries and cream.
I was here with a family member, but I would definitely recommend this as a first date spot.
Nice friendly casual restaurant but food was just average. Tried a variety of dishes but didn't find anything particularly exciting. The black & white spaghetti was probably the better out of all. Fried calamari was very predictable. The tomato sauce on the pizza was bland. Desserts were nothing to rave about.
Uva Trattoria probably won't be one of the top choices when I crave Italian food in Napa area. That doesn't mean I would just write it off easily. It is still a good place for larger groups. No corkage fee for your first bottle and live music on the weekends, how does that sound?
Uva's was the place to go years ago..The owner always greeted you with a big smile he always remembered your name, I am local. Their spinach salad was to die for plus other entree's.
When sean sold it a few years back I believe it went downhill. The new bartender that I think was from N.Y. had a bad attitude, very snotty an full of himself. The other bartenders were always friendly, that's why we like to go there. I agree with another poster the Music will blow you ear drumbs out..an I love Music, they need to tone it down..
I love the atmosphere, it's cozy an has a great feel about it. Sorry it got sold, since the new owner's are nothing like the old ones.an the food is just o.k. I miss the old Uva's.
Had a great dinner here. Â The staff was nice and very efficient. Â The menu is limited but both dishes we ordered, black and white pasta and fettuccine were both good and the rice balls weren't bad. Â The manager was present but didn't visit but a couple tables. Â Ramses was our server and never left us wanting or needing to ask for anything! Â I'd recommend and will definitely return.
Review Source:Definitely A-Ok in my book. Â Almost 4 stars, but just not quite there.
Made a quick reservation for a Sunday night dinner on their website through Open Table. Â It was a cinch. Â
Location is just at the north end of downtown Napa, and considering we were staying at the Embassy Suites, it was a close 10 minute drive. Â Parking was plentiful, but again, it was a Sunday night, and it seemed a bit dead by the time we got there for our 7:45 reservation.
We were warmly greeted by the hostess who showed us to the bar for a short 10 minute wait while they got our table ready. Â We ordered a few cocktails, that were downright delicious. Â I had their take on the gimlet, which seems simple enough, but screw that up with some nasty old lime juice, and you're done. Â I watched the bartender cut the limes and squeeze them one by one. Â Now that's what I'm talking about! It was heavy on the gin, and heavy on flavor. Â I was flushed and sweating before I even ordered my dinner. Â
Finally seated at a table for 5 in the main dining room, where the band was playing. Â The music was perfect and just loud enough to drown out our conversation to neighboring tables, without being so loud we had to shout at each other. Â I can't remember the name of the band, but they were great. The place itself feels like it's in need of a little makeover. Â I will say though, that it wasn't at all pretentious, and was in fact very casual. Â Nice change for Napa.
We started with a few appetizers, those being the fried calamari (delicious) and the blue cheese fries (don't even bother). Â The house bread rounded out the apps, and if it weren't for the soggy fries, I'd say we had a great start.
My entree was the risotto with sea scallops. Â The menu is pretty limited, which can be a good thing, but I didn't find anything that caught my eye. Â That led me to the good old, go to, risotto. Â It was served with peas and 3 big sea scallops. Â It might have been some of the best risotto I've ever eaten. Â The scallops were perfectly seasoned and cooked, as well as the risotto, but I think it was the peas that made me love this dish. So fresh, so clean, they added just the right crunchy texture to a otherwise monotonous dish. Â Loved it. Â I ate all of my friend's peas too. Â I don't think she was loving them as much as I was.
Other entrees that made the table were the penne with sausage, linguini with clams, and maybe another pasta dish. Â My friends seemed pleased, but not amazed. Â Pretty standard stuff for an Italian restaurant. Â I believe some was left behind. Â
Service was overall good. Â A bit slow, but since I was in the company of best friends, I didn't mind. Â That and a few cocktails, and I don't mind much at all.
Live music, fun atmosphere, great food, and reasonable prices. Â This place is a nice alternative to an otherwise very pricey visit to Napa. Â I had the pollo ala diavola - very nice - and my wife had a very fresh-tasting salmon special. Â Cocktails and wine list were very reasonable and we had a nice blueberry cheesecake for dessert. Â Great stop. Â It's a little off the beaten path of main downtown Napa, but worth the short search.
Review Source:Had the fettuccine.
The mushroom sauce was really good but the chicken pieces were dry and flavorless and I didn't eat them.
I was a little disappointed, for the price I expected better. All menu items are 'a la carte' and I wasn't exactly full after my fettuccine alone.
They do bring out bread which I tried to fill up on after eating most of my noodles (minus the chicken).
Uva is a well-located restaurant that turns out decent though not outstanding fare. Â Service is OK though not necessarily top-shelf, and the food follows suit. Â Everything we've had here as been good while nothing is exceptional.
Bar service is quite good, with prompt mixing and delivery to the table.
Basically if you're looking for a solid meal in the down-town area Uva is reasonably priced and decent quality. Â There's nothing here I would rave about, but at the same time there's nothing I'd really complain about either. Â
Also if you care, they apparently have live music most nights.
When I walked in....I said " what is that smell" NOT in a good way.
Smelled like a old stinky bar, not a restaurant. Similar to a bar with straw/hay on the ground like one in a college town or cobo. How about some bleach?
We made the mistake of sitting right next to the stage. (It would have been nice if the hostess mentioned a band was about to show up. It was about 6 and never being there before we had no idea what or when shows started. Too close, but nice music... The
The food: was not bad at all. Staff was nice.
Uva was the best food I had the entire time I was in California. Â The atmosphere was relaxing and welcoming. Â The food was amazing. Â
We had the asparagus, mozzarella and prusciutto appetizer! YUM!
Plus we were able to enjoy a nice bottle of our favorite wine bought at a local vineyard without an uncorking fee.
I can't wait to go back!
Came here this past weekend for dinner on Saturday with a group of friends and were majorly disappointed.
Perks:
+ fried calamari & veggies (although I don't think veggies should only be asparagus & onions)
+gnocchi which came with our filet was delish! (granted there were only about 8 pieces)
Jerks:
+ waitress was a bit sketch, attentive, but it was a bit uncomfortable
+ food came out all at once, there wasn't enough room for everything, we had to give back all the tea pots and plates we weren't using just to fit everything in
+ both pastas were bland and flavorless
+ filet was cooked to the correct temp, but the texture and everything was just off
TIP: if you want to see the live jazz band while dining, i suggest requesting it with your reservations :)
My girlfriend heard from someone that Uva was a great place to go eat. Â We went there on our last night but really did not plan too. Â We were so hungry that we looked for the closest restaurant since we were walking. Â We ended going to two other place prior to getting to Uva. Â The two other places was not quite a right place to go to. Â So, we decided to walk a little longer to get to Uva since it was suggested.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by a nice young lady. Â "Do you have reservation?" Â I started thinking - We walk all this way and we need reservation? Â Good thing that they did not require it and we were seated within 5 minutes. Â
The place - Very spacious and clean. Â Not like other restaurants that cramp all the tables together. Â There was a live jazz playing. Â Thank goodness that we were in the other room since it was too loud for my taste. Â I like music while eating but not so loud that I have to speak loud to be heard.
The waiter was busy and took a bit longer to get our order. Â We weren't in a hurry but very hungry so I finally flagged her to come take our order. Â She was pleasant and attended to our orders right away. Â The wine was tasty too.
Food - I've tried to avoid Italian restaurants because I do not find them tasty enough. Â The food here, was very tasty. Â I've been to many Italian restaurant and only two Italian restaurants I found the food here really great. Â Â
I highly suggest this place to go eat.
We had a party of 8 go to 6 and you would have thought we slapped the hostess in the face. She was extremely rude and we watched as they pulled our 2 tables together and told us it would be 20 minutes. The pretentious little snot of a hostess couldn't care less , so we called a restaurant 3 doors down and got in immediately. We had heard mixed reviews from others and should have avoided this place.... I suggest you do the same.
**Update: management contacted me and were very apologetic. They have promised to make it right on our next visit to Napa and Uva and talk to the employee. I will give them another try when I am there. **
"Arancini" appetizer - Good. These fried pesto risotto balls were yummy. Too bad it only comes with 3 and considering what it is (rice bunched into balls and fried), I felt like it wasn't worth $8.
Garlic bread was a great supplement! They give you like 5 or 6 pretty large pieces and the garlic butter and whatever else they put on top is incredibly delicious. Well worth $5.
Fettuccine with chicken and mushroom - Tasty! Not too heavy on the sauce. Unfortunately only came with little slivers of mushroom, sadness.. Chicken was tender and flavorful. A full serving easily feeds two people.
Creme brulee!!!!! So gooood!!! It says it's vanilla bean, but I couldn't really taste vanilla bean. It just tasted like yummy yellow custard that was light and not too sweet. The caramel top is really thick and I really enjoyed cracking it. Although, after a while you start to notice the distinct burnt taste from the flame so we just kind of pushed half of it to the side. The creme brulee was really big--perfect for sharing with a few people. I highly recommend this dessert.
The place reminds me of a high-class Buca di Beppo, and it's SUPER loud inside. Probably has to do with the live music and the noisy bar. Also didn't like how the tables were really close together with just enough space for a waiter to walk through. And just like a lot of other reviewers said, it's hard to get waiters' attention and service is slow.
Came here after wine tasting. This place get busy fast on a saturday night which made service slow but this restaurant is still great. My family were lucky enough to made reservation and got seated where they have live music performance. The band of the night played good and enjoyable jazz music.
There's cool pictures of entertainers from the past and other unique pictures on the wall.
friendly services/workers
Since this was my family and i first time at this restaurant, we wanted to try almost everything on the menu. All the food that we order was all yummy.
Some of the foods that my family had were:
1. Spinach, almonds, laura chenel's goat cheese, pear, bacon, & sherry vinaigrette salad.
2. Organic mixed greens, shaved fennel, and balsamic vinaigrette salad.
3. Fettuccine, grilled chicken & mushroom-cream sauce pasta
4. Pollo diabolo (chicken)
5. Vitello piccata
6. Salumi misti, olives & formaggio del giorno
it was very enjoyable to listen to jazz music while eating your dinner,
One of my all-time favorite places in Napa. Â Great food, great wine selection and great service. Â The entertainment is usually fantastic, as well.
My favorite dish is the Handmade gnocchi with Gorgonzola reduction.
Whenever we had visitors in Napa, this is one place we always took them. Â It was always a hit with the out-of-towners!
I used to love this place, but one time I went there for lunch and the service was awful and the food was totally off. I had been there so many times and loved it every time that I didn't think much of it. But then my wife and I had another sub-par meal there. Since I was a frequent visitor, I dropped them an e-mail via their website and they never responded. But they kept sending me promotional e-mails. Ugh. Guess they didn't care.
When it was great, they had great food at great prices with good service (and bring your own wine with no fee!), but something happened. Not sure if I would go back. This place has left a bad taste in my mouth, both figuratively and literally.
Really good food and great wine. We came here for my dad's birthday dinner. Our hostess, Arianna, was extremely sweet.
We had a bottle of Ceja Vineyards Pinot Noir, which was wonderful, and than we each had an entre. I ordered the clam linguine. There were tons of succulent clams, but the sauce seemed a bit watery. I would have liked some more pasta as well. My father had the halabit and loved every bite.
The dessert was super decadent. Rich chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and a decedent dessert wine list.
They had a live band, but I didn't hear them play any music while we were there. They just seemed to make a lot of noise while setting up.
I'd also recommend making a reservation, this place gets packed. Still the best moderately priced Italian food restaurant in Napa. Give them a try.
Cool atmosphere. Clean inside. Street parking.
Poor service, receptionist was disrespectful and failed to provide us a table by the promised time..
Promised table will be available in 10 minute which kept us waiting for 15 min.. Until I asked her again and she said table won't be ready until an hour later...... We could have gone somewhere else ealier if we knew we have to wait this long. This is not the only Italian place in the Bay Area and we weren't craving for this place..
A recent first-time visit to Uva Trattoria proved to be a great dinner. With so many Bay area choices for Italian food, it's nice to find one in Napa that's comfortable, with good service and great food for a reasonable price. The low-key vibe and live jazz adds to the experience, and the food is simply delicious
I can't wait to return and sample more Uva flavors soon!
Visited Napa this past weekend and decided to celebrate my boyfriend's birthday here on Saturday.
What a perfect dining experience! The food was amazing. The complimentary bread comes with the perfect dipping oil that has garlic cloves in it - what a brilliant idea. We ordered the garlic bread and  aranoini for our antipasti. Both dishes were delicious, although the garlic bread wasn't necessary since the staff makes sure to refill your bread plate whenever it is empty. The aranoini was sooo good, the sauce it is in tasted like heaven! We ordered the ravioli with brown sugar sauce and the margherita pizza for our entrees, both were excellent! The portion sizes are huge, so you are definitely getting your money's worth. We actually couldn't even eat the pizza and ended up having it for breakfast on Sunday.
On top of the entire great dining experience, I mentioned to the hostess that it was my boyfriend's birthday and she in turn told our waiter who ended up bringing out a generous portion of their delicious tiramisu with the words "happy birthday" written in chocolate sauce on the plate.
The ambiance is intimate and dark, with live music later in the night. The restaurant can get loud, but I think that shows how everyone is enjoying themselves over good food, service, and wine!
We both loved the restaurant and will definitely go back the next time we're in Napa!
After debating about our dinner, my family decided to go with our hotel's front desk suggestion for this restaurant. Since our group of 5 is vegetarian, we were concerned about our options in the menu in Napa Valley.
We decided to try Uva Trattoria, and I am so glad we did. We had a great time at this place. They have amazing Italian food for vegetarians and as cherry on top, live jazz band was in the house. Ambiance at this place is very simple but classy, our server was very nice. She helped us out in picking the best dishes, and we pretty much ordered everything she suggested. They also have a good selection of wine, obviously.
Good parking in the dead Napa downtown. I don't know where did people go, as all the restaurants were jam packed with 30-45 min wait time. I highly recommend this place for Italian food specially if you're a vegetarian. Don't think twice on this! Absolutely coming back here.
My husband and I decided to go out to dinner to celebrate our daughter's one month on Earth so far (born October 17, 2012 :D) and I looked around on Yelp for a nice restaurant in Napa. I took a look at the menu for Uva Trattoria Italiana and decided it looked pretty good and the prices were good. We packed up the infant and headed out!
We pulled up and the restaurant had a live band (jazz) and the house looked a little underwhelmed but it is Wednesday night after all...let me just say that after having eaten here I'm SHOCKED it was as unseated as it was. This place was GREAT! I'll start from the beginning.
We walked in with our tiny carseat carrier and asked to sit on the opposite side of the restaurant away from the live music (she's a good sleeper, but not THAT good) the host (or manager) softly mentioned that they usually only seated near the music but graciously sat us in the quietest (and very romantic) side where we could still hear the music but our infant did in fact sleep thru the entire dinner (which I don't have to tell new parents that is awesome!!) our bread and water was brought out very quickly-honestly I was afraid of being forgotten but not once did they make us feel bad for sitting away from all the other tables-our water glasses never even had a chance to become empty either and the table bread and olive oil with balsamic and fresh garlic cloves was so good.
We ordered the garlic bread to start and this was SO GOOD. Highly recommend you get this with your food or as an appetizer even.
Our food came out and my husband had the margherita pizza with pesto and I had the penne with sausage and mushroom tomato cream sauce...OUTSTANDING. Everything tasted great, I literally scrapped my bowl clean and even my extremely picky husband's eyes lit up after he tried a bite. It doesn't say so on the menu but it's spicy and wonderful!!
As a side note, the manager came by the table to ensure we were enjoying everything and spoke to my husband for a bit about wine.
From beginning to end this place was fantastic!! Highly recommend and bring your friends!!! We will be back for sure!!!
I was really excited about this place because of the live jazz and the music didn't disappoint (+3 stars).
All the rest, well, pretty much disappointed (-1 star). Â
The service was SLOW and it took about 30 minutes for them to get us our entree from when we ordered. Â When we left, it took a while for him just to get me back my credit card and by that time, I was itching to get out of there.
As for the food, we ordered the Burrata appetizer and it was very fresh and tasty--probably some of the freshest burrata i have had, but i'm not too excited to go back there just for an appetizer.
For the entree, we both ordered the seabass and I, again, was pretty disappointed. Â I thought it was overcooked, a bit crusty on the outside, and really lacked any significant flavor. Â A decent piece of fish that wasn't well prepared, and definitely not worth the $30 or so I paid for it.
In the end, ambience isn't everything and this place definitely proved it.
Happy Eating!
Ok, what's the point of making a reservation these days when you show up and your table won't be ready for another 30+ min? Â Talk about frustrating. Â We called ahead to check in for our 8pm party of 7 reservation; they asked if we would come in at 8:30pm, no prob. Â We show up at 830pm, and don't get seated til after 9. Â The hostess was very apologetic, which is dandy, but it's already going to be close to 10pm by the time we eat so wtf you gonna do about that?? Â ugh, frustrating...
so while we waited...and waited...i lingered to the bar. Â jameson and coke please, $8 later. Â gah. Â $8.50 for the cousin's persecco, sheesh. Â at least he was prompt, one star.
so finally we got seated...and the section we got, the server had just been seated a 20+ person bachelorette bout 5min before we did. Â SWEET. Â they were a tame bunch, but homeboy was seriously lacking in attention to our table cuz of it. Â like, we had a white bottle of wine that needed to be chilled...it was gone from the table and didnt return for like 15min when we asked about it. Â he then brought it out and proceeded to put it on ice then. Â WTF has it been doing for the past 15min!? Â grrr...
we decided to continue ordering cocktails from the bar since the server was mostly absent, which worked out fine cuz they weren't that busy. Â we had a margarita pizza as an app while we waited...it was ok. Â even sized slices would've been appreciated (i know i know, i sound so snotty right now,) but hey, at least we got food. Â so we finally ordered and it was nice they offered 2 size plates of gnocci, so i went for the smaller one. so when that plate arrived, it had maybe a dozen gnocchi on it i swear. Â for $9, what a rip...but i didn't want a lot so i guess whatever, but seriously, overcharged. Â i had a spinach salad as well which was mighty tasty.
desserts were on the house for our wait...tried the creme brulee, tiramisu, a strawberry shortbread number, and some chocolate cake. Â the creme brulee was forgetable, tiramisu was ok, and the other two were meh. Â and they gave us complimentary limencello....uh thanks? Â talk about the grossest drink ever...and no one drank it either btw.
So i know i'm biased, and it seems this place has a decent reputation. Â But it was just so damned frustrating to start the evening off waiting for a table we already reserved well in advance. Â I say skip this place, nothing stood out as amazing or memorable. Â but maybe you'll have better luck then we did!