Boar’s Breath Restaurant and Oven

I was sad to hear that the Boar’s Breath closed. Funny all these years later. I was one of the first employees that worked for Suzie and Frank. I was there the day they opened. It was crazy back then but I remember Frank being hilarious and Suzie a mother hen. I still can taste my favorite dish the lemon pasta with the large prawns Frank would make it for me each night after my shift it was amazing. I would kill for that now. The staff was fun to work with I remember Esther she was this fire cracker she was so sweet. I’m sorry I never went back to Middletown and had a chance to eat there one last time. I wish Suzie and Frank well.

Went there some months ago and had a great time. The food was excellent, the drinks were fantastic and based on that experience I would have given it 5 stars. I had a pork dish and my husband had something with beef. The drink I ordered was sweet enough but not in a cloying way. The best way to describe the food and drinks is with the word balanced. The flavors of our dishes came together in a delightful symphony.
So I looked forward to my return visit a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, it was closed when we went. Even though according to their hours, they were supposed to be open. I was very disappointed, because it was the last night of our visit. We went to the Casino which was OK. But I really wanted to enjoy our meal again. I will have to call them to see if they are open in the future, since the hours on their door are clearly wrong.

My favorite restaurant when in the area. The French onion soup and Cesar salad are great, as is the fried calamari. I love the linguine and prawns. This restaurant has never let me down

5 of us visited last evening. All felt food was excellent – roasted chicken flavorful, moist. Mashed potatoes creamy to die for, Caesar salad and spinach salads excellent. French Onion soup excellent. Service excellent. Kamila our waitress was fantastic. Truly can thing of nothing negative!

Wonderful fried chicken, great marinara sauce and delicious mashed potatoes. Delicious French onion soup. Amazing service. Camilla was a sweet and attentive server. Great experience.

A mediocre over priced restaurant and bar. You would think, given the location in the middle of wine country, that there would be a good wine selection. You would be wrong. Mostly whites, a few reds — mostly sold by the bottle only. The reds are expensive and the one I tried was not very good. The burger was okay — edible but not great. The service was also okay, but I was the only one there when I arrived and I sat at the bar.
Interestingly, I was watching college football and a basketball game. The bartender turned off the TV in front of me. When a man sat down at the bar, she turned it back on to Tennis, even though it was clear that I was now straining my neck to watch the football game on the now far away TV. Apparently she assumed that I did not want to watch sports. I found this presumptuous and it certainly affected her tip. I left as soon as I finished my meal. I will not go back to this restaurant.

The negative reviews almost scared me away — but my laziness got the better of me, and I went in anyway. Am glad I did! I sat at the bar, but didn’t notice any rudeness at the tables. The food was great, and the bartender (Brianna) was as sweet as could be — a real delight.

This was my first dining experience here and it was wonderful. Frank was our bartender and server, and the hospitality and service was superb.
My husband and I started with the chicken tenders which are perfectly prepared and the home made honey mustard sauce was delicious. We shared the roasted beet salad and lump crab cakes for the second course, both of which were fantastic. Our main course was the grilled salmon, with summer vegetables and mashed garlic potatoes. The summer vegetables were prepared with a wonderfully light butter sauce, and the potatoes still had a lovely chunky-​ness that one can only seem to find a Mom’s kitchen.
Frank made my dirty martini cocktail with a slight twist by adding a touch of onion juice, a detail I had never tried, and is now a must for my future cocktails.
Dessert was a yummy bread pudding and a superbly prepared espresso with thick crema on top.
I know I will be back, and I have recommended this restaurant to everyone. It is certainly the best dining experience in Middletown.

Took a buddy in after golfing at hidden valley, I had been to the boars breath several times throughout the years and it had always been ok. Not this time. Start off with a couple beers that came out slowly from the bar. Ok no big deal. Waitress seemed nice enough and I had her promptly take our order as to not wait as we did for the beers, makes it simple. Me a steak Andy buddy spaghetti and meatballs. Food came out slow and our beers sat empty until our food came. Order a couple more beers when the waitress finally brings the food we request a couple more beers. My food looked ok but my buddy had a weird look on his face. I ask him how’s it look? He says «there is no meatballs» I look over and there is a plate of noodles with tomato sauce??? When the beers come back I speak up and ask the waitress «where’s the beef»? She says «I thought you said spaghetti and no meatballs»… Are you serious? So by the time I am nearly done eating the waitress comes back with a plate with 2 tennis ball sized meatballs on a plate, no noodles or sauce… The kitchen and wait staff thought it was ok to send their forgotten item out to be served on cold noodles that had sat at least 20 minutes on our table. Beers stayed empty until we requested to speak to the manager. The owner came from behind the bar to see what our issue was. I explained our problems with the meal and explained how the service was and that the waitress had lingered around a table across the restaurant that as it turned out was occupied by her bf most of our time there and while our drinks sat empty. The owner apologized and did not charge us for the spaghetti and meatballs that were basically uneatable as he should have. I WILL NOT RETURN. I’d suggest taking the trip over the mtn to St Helena for gourmet food at a similar price to the boars breath.

Dinner last night was so good. We started with Crab cakes. I had roasted chicken and my husband pasta Alfredo. Rob was our waiter, did an outstanding job! It was a very busy night yet we were seated and served promptly. Generous portions mean a great lunch today. Can not wait to go back, great job Susie and Frank!

This place has really gone downhill.
First off, we had a res for 7:30, got there and «some other patrons are eating kind of slow and your table isn’t ready yet.» Mind you, they put this party of two on a table for four thereby making us wait — totally bogus.
Secondly, wait staff is slower than a frozen booger. Ordered salad and entrees, salad came out in 10, entrees in 35 minutes. The entrees finally arrived at 8:40p.m. — those that didn’t order a starter were left looking at the ceiling. The «prime rib steak» was ok, nothing special. The other entrees didn’t knock anyone’s socks off.
The back of the house was just as bad as the front. Is it really that hard to find good help in this area???
Ya feel me?

I had the lamb burger, a margarita, and a black cherry martini. My wife had the pulled pork sandwich. The food was great as was the service. We will go back.

We love Boar’s Breath – especially the Fish Tacos, Ceasar Salad, Beet Salad, and Vanilla Pork Chop. They have a great space and a great location – easy to get to and very cozy to dine in. If I could wish for one thing it would be prompter service – it can take a REALLY long time to get your food. The owners and staff have always been most friendly and hospitable, and I am grateful to have them here.

What a gem in the small town of Middletown! My wife had the fish tacos and said they were soooo good. Everything was so fresh. I had the sirloin steak dinner. The steak was cooked perfectly as I requested. The included mashed potatoes were delicious.
The mixed vegetables were in a rich sauce that complemented the steak and potatoes.
This is not a fast food joint. All the food is prepared as you order it. Even the veggies were cooked for my order, no soggy veggies waiting to be served. Make sure you have time to enjoy this wonderful culinary experience! Definitely worth the wait!

«The best restaurant in Middletown» is hardly a compliment.
I will say that the best steak I ever had was a ribeye from the Boar’s Breath. That was in 2000. I went here again last summer and was very disappointed in what I found. This place is now overpriced and service is lousy. You used to get local meat and produce. Now it appears to be the same old food distributor crap. Go to Perry’s and get a sandwich.

Definitely a gem in Middletown. Love the feel… love how I don’t feel like I’m in the middle of nowhere when I’m in there (still making the adjustment to rural life). Service was reeeeeeaaaaallllllyyyyyy slow despite being a not-​so-​busy night.
The mojito I had was really minty. I know. that’s a main ingredient. But the mint was basically shredded into pieces, that I had no choice but to eat/​drink it.
HOWEVER… Like other reviews said: the crab cakes were DELISH. Pricey… but delish. I’d go back just for that. I had one of their creamy pasta dishes… yum.
So all in all… Food = YUM. Drinks = okay. Price = up there… Service = eh.
Would love to see happy hour specials bc this could def be a regular happy hour spot given the option.

We went in for dinner on a Friday night around 5pm. There were only two other couples in the restaurant, and one already had their food.
I ordered french onion soup and a salad, my boyfriend ordered the beef brisket sandwich with fries. About 5 minutes after we ordered, two more couples came into the restaurant.
20 minutes later, the couple who came in AFTER we ordered, received their food.
It took 55 minutes from the time we ordered to receive our food. Not once did the waiter apologize for the wait or offer us something to snack on.
Now I know they cook the brisket in advance because the couple next to us were told that we had ordered the «last brisket sandwich». Yet somehow it took 45 minutes to heat it up and put it on a roll? And 45 minutes for soup and salad?
The french onion was decent, the salad was fine. My boyfriend said the brisket was ok, but we were so hungry by then I think he would have eaten shoe leather.
We won’t be going back.

I had heard good things about this restaurant and tried it a couple of nights ago, maybe 01/​27/​2011. Not only was the service and food awful, but the price tag at the end of the meal made me wonder where all that money was going. We had three adult beverages, an appetizer, two salads, two side dishes, and an entrée. The «house» salad I had was $ 7.25 for some chopped up romaine lettuce with out-​of-​a-​jar dressing. The beat salad, at a whopping $ 8.75, was basically the same thing with some roasted beats thrown in.
The artichoke heart, spinach and cheese dip was runny and unappetizing. The salad was essentially plain lettuce with mayo and some spices. The steak I had was not cooked properly — it was served directly after coming off the fire so it did not have time to soak up the juices. The steak came with «aoili» which was mayo out of a jar with nothing spruced up about it. After this, the bill of $ 87.00 came.
Service, or the lack thereof, was completely frustrating. It took over 5 minutes to get drink orders in and for such a slow night I was utterly unimpressed.
After dining at the Rutherford Grill and some other places in Napa and the City, I would never pay these prices again for second-​rate cuisine. I love simple, well done food, but this place has it all wrong. If you’re going to halfway do it, charge halfway prices.

I had a meal there with my husband about 8 years ago. That was the very first time, and we had a very nice time and a good meal.
We just went there for dinner at the end of July and had a horrible time, mainly because of a nasty waiter. I don’t know what his problem was, but he seemed intentionally evil.
It seems that he was ticked off somehow because I asked him for bread. He seemed busy, so we waited & waited while he served other people with leisure… like 10 minutes. I finally asked him again, nicely… He never came back with bread. I asked him for the third time. He barely acknowledged my request, came back literally threw a basket of bread from few feet away. I was like, «did he just threw bread at us?» What the hell?
My husband is generally much more patient than I am, but he was totally astounded by the inexplicable rudeness of this dude. I could’ve dealt with «not caring», but «intentional rudeness» was really unnecessary.
Anyway, it’s not like we live there or near there, so maybe that’s why he didn’t care at the end of a busy day. But if you have a chance to eat anywhere else, I suggest you avoid this place.

I first visited this restaurant in March with a friend who raves about this cute brewpub with pretensions of being an ‘upscale’ (whatever that means) restaurant. I have to admit — that first visit was charmed — the server was helpful, accommodating and the food was great. The soup of the day was a gorgeous tomato soup that was entirely vegan and possibly the best tomato soup I have ever had. The pizza was ok — but I’m not a big fan of most US versions of thin crust pizzas (dry, flaky — like a matzo).
A couple of weeks ago, I returned with another friend. The server was surly and unhelpful — in fact, he all but called me a liar to my face when he recommended pesto as a vegan option and I asked him if he could verify with the chef that it did or did not have cheese in it. He repeatedly insisted the Parmesan is sprinkled on top — and finally went to ask and return and confirmed that it was indeed made with cheese — without an apology or even suggestions.
I asked if they could just do plain pasta with some veggies, garlic & olive oil — he said the chef would not do any custom pasta dishes. I asked him to please ask — since it would make more sense for me than ordering several sides (ok — seriously?) and he returned with the same kind of snarky attitude to say «The chef said…» so, I ended up with a bowl of plain pasta, with a cruet of olive oil, asked for red pepper flakes and mixed in my own side of veggies, salt & pepper. and, of course, it was way more food than I needed to eat as an entrée.
That server really turned me off on this restaurant — he was just the complete opposite of the server on my first visit. Next time, I won’t waste my time or money at this restaurant. Prices & attitude make it totally not worth it.