Goose & Gander

I went on a Friday evening. The food was delicious and the ambiance was great. However I must drop one start from 5 because my server was not exactly friendly. When I asked questions about the courses on the menu she looked at me like I was asking the obvious and her response was patronizing.

As a french fry connoisseur the duck fat fries are mandatory!
Usually when I come here though it’s not for food so much as the WONDERFUL speakeasy-​esque bar downstairs. Such a cool, cozy space with a long list of cocktails! The drinks come out quickly, which is surprising based on how beautifully they are crafted and garnished. Also a great outdoor space for the summer!

This is my very favorite restaurant AND bar to go to while up in Napa County. They have the the best atmosphere, a great wine and spirit selection, and their bartenders know their cocktails! The food is amazing too. I’ve had both a sit down 4 course meal upstairs, as well as happy hour bites and late night cocktails downstairs. I always try to stop by if I’m up tasting in the area

Up to St. Helena this afternoon for a little lunch on this cold rainy day and it’s pouring and this place was recommended by our Hotel Concierge. Quite a ride from downtown Napa but this old home is turned into a two floor Gastro Pub with two floors with full bar downstairs and dining area upstairs. Without a Reservation they were able to seat us on this very packed day.
Menu is smallish for lunch but the Burger is highly recommended along with the Buttermilk Chicken sandwich and breast of chicken dish. Also the Cauiliflower appetizer is very different with a taste that certainly as not the norm.
the Chicken Breast Dish was excellent.
Burgers top shelf with goose fat fries
Chicken sandwich was off the charts…
Cauliflower app was different not my taste.
Waiter was a little missing in action and wines by the glass ordered were corked and had to wait some time to get them replaced.
No coffee or desert were tried.
Certainly a great place to visit especially when all your outdoor venues you normally go to are outside seating. I’d repeat.

Had dinner here for the first time this week, but it’s always been my favorite for cocktails in the valley.
The bar downstairs makes a great drink and has really good small plates. The dining upstairs wowed… the mushroom soup was the best I’ve ever tasted.

Came here as a recommendation from someone we met in Napa. The food gets 5 stars but the price gets three stars.
I thought it was quite expensive. I came with my one friend so we split the hamburger and ordered the wild and tame mushroom on bread appetizer. The mushroom appetizer was amazing! I would come back here just for the appetizer.
The restaurant has outdoor seating and has heat lamps around the tables which was great. We visited in March so that nights get chilly.
The wait staff was great as well. No complaints there.
Overall, this place gets four stars because they are very expensive. But if you are going to share an entrée and appetizer than it is not too bad!

The downstairs bar is charming. Part lodge. Part speakeasy. And while the food is definitely above average, Goose & Gander’s primary draw, and the reason I’d go back, is their cocktails, which are excellent.
Bottom line, it’s a great spot to pop into for a drink if you’re grabbing lunch or dinner in St. Helena.

Came here after wine tasting and it was close to our last winery and we were starving. Me and my cousin got the G&G burger which was amazing! My aunt and cousin got the shrimp and grits which they thought were just okay. We got a bottle of wine for dinner as well. Wish there was a chicken option on the menu the night we went. There was one on the lunch menu that day, but they weren’t able to make it for dinner. Also, the ambiance was very cute, both inside and out! Downstairs to the left of the restrooms there is a cute room that has the bar.

Excellent cocktails and food!
The burger is a must, as is the mushroom soup made the way Martini’s used to make! (Martini’s was in the location until 2006 or so…) The sous vide chicken on the chicory Caesar was incredible! Will def be back!

We stopped into the Goose & Gander based on a recommendation from someone who comes out to Napa on a quarterly basis and has great taste in food and wine. We had gone to two wine tastings and were looking forward to a light lunch before we continued with our wine tastings before dinner. The restaurant has a pub atmosphere and was really comfortable especially with the fireplace going. Our group shared the cauliflower as an appetizer and really enjoyed it. My husband and I shared the fried chicken sandwich with duck fat fries… I loved that they actually split the meal and served us our own plates — nice touch! Our friends thoroughly enjoyed the grilled octopus and the burger too! Looks like you can’t go wrong at this place!

My wife and I just celebrated our 14^th wedding anniversary and we went here to enjoy a fine meal. We were not dissapointed!
Great food, great service and great atmosphere! Our server was outstanding and very entertaining.
Highly recommended!

Another visit to St Helena and we decided to stop into the Goose and Gander. Three years later it seems things are still on the right track.
Food was great this time around. Mushroom soup and the Sturgeon are a must. Wonderful wine list really enjoyed the Tres Sabores Cab!

We popped in to Goose & Gander for a quick pre-​NYE dinner drink. The place is just off the main drag in dt St. Helena. It was a dark, unassuming walk to find it, but well worth it. Once you enter the main restaurant, you’re transported into a cozy, intimate, yet lively dining atmosphere. Downstairs is a completely different story but equally enjoyable. The bar area just down the stairwell is a mix of pub /​1920 era feel. Perfect for cozying up to the bar for a pre-​dinner libation or enjoying a few apps at one of the 5 or so two-​top tables. We each ordered one of their seasonal NYE drink specials, chock-​full of fresh fruit and pickled veg. Yep, you read that right. Delish! Friendly service, creative, tasty drinks at fair prices. Would easily return when in the area.

Early Saturday night and some serious wine tasting out of the way we decide to dine at Goose & Gander. The décor of this restaurant is rustic and gives you the impression you are in a lodge or rustic cottage. We are sat and then notice that our waitress is Shelly, who waited on us at Rodney Worth’s Pear Southern Bistro that day at lunch. We loved Shelly! Bingo! Shelly opens our wine and brings us a dish of fried olives and pistachio’s. Go Shelly! We all start with the mushroom soup. It is big, rich and full of flavor — some of the best I have ever had. I order the G&G burger with duck fat fries medium rare. The burger comes out and looks delicious. I bite into the burger and see red uncooked meat. Shelly comes by and sees the uncooked burger and immediately takes it back and tells the chef to make me another burger. She apologizes for the error and tells me she will take care of it. Some time passes and my table finishes their meals and my burger comes. I cut it in half to see how it is cooked. This time it is medium. Go to eat it and find the pickle, condiments and bun are extremely warm and bun is now hard. Did they microwave the new burger? Did they run the whole plate through the salamander? I ate some of the burger and some of the dried out fries and gave up. The burger that had great hope was almost non edible. The manager came by the table and took a defensive posture going on to argue they make the best burgers around. I suggested they might have had an off night and left it at that. Shelly, our wonderful waitress and new friend took the $ 18.00 burger off the bill, apologized again and all could tell she was sincere.
Rating: Mushroom soup — 5 stars, Service — 5 stars, Burger — 2 stars, Managers attitude — 1 star, feedback from my table mates — 3 stars. I will give them a generous 3 stars because of the service (Shelly) and the soup.

I would rate this as an A-​OK restaurant. It’s nice if you’re in the area, but in my opinion (and I’ve lived in San Francisco and live in Los Angeles, both major metropolitan cities and culinary meccas) it’s not quite the calibre restaurant i’d consider «destination dining» where you’d make it a point and special trip to visit and revisit.
The cost is about $ 50 – 75 per person for a meal.
The service was okay or even good (attentive for proactive water refills).
The food itself had its hits and near misses. The beef crackling Chicharrone appetizers were delicious, probably the highlight of the meal in terms of unique dishes.
The bone marrow was good, but is $ 8 for a single bone, ‘tho enough to share for taste.
The cioppino at $ 38 was okay, fish was not deboned and might have been overcooked as the meat was a bit more tight than tender. For $ 8 more you can order a side of Pasta (if you don’t like the dipping bread) to add to the meal and use the seafood stew as a tasty sauce.
The NY Steak @ $ 38 was a bit pricy for a cut that wasn’t great (a bit too high ratio of meat to inedible fat and tendons). It was not as good as steaks I’ve had at fine steakhouses in the same price range.
The burgers looked to be the best deal at $ 18 with an order of Duck Fat Fries that came with the order, priced as a side at $ 7., making this the beat bang for the buck in quality and quantity on the menu.
The duck fat fries I’m pretty sure was «previously frozen» type fries (as opposed to fresh cut) and were okay, but a bit disappointing in portion (per price) and quality (expecting hearty hand cut styled) where the duck fat, in a blind taste test would probably not be evidenced, so it’s kind of a trendy preparation that’s touted at a lot of hip restaurants that’s somewhat meaningless everywhere.
Drinks average $ 15 around that $ 13 – 18 range for alcohol.
Parking is easy, it’s St. Helena, a sleepy artesian town that has most of its retailers close by sunset around 5−6pm.

So disappointed! I have been looking forward to going there for the marrow alone but was sorely disappointed…
My boy and I ordered:
–the beef chicharrones– fun texture but the spice they use to coat them made for an odd aftertaste.
–roasted bone marrow– Okay, I have been spoiled at Il Posto as they serve more marrow and coat it with yummy roasted garlic purée but here it’s a small amount that’s topped with dijon mustard… it was okay, not worth the drive, though.
–grilled Spanish octopus– really odd aftertaste… tender, though…
–charcuterie (sm) — their selection was okay… reminded me of everywhere else…
I had every intention to order more food but was so disappointed we left and drove back into town and went to Oenotri… oh, well…

Everything about this restaurant is wonderful. It has a gorgeous outdoor patio area which is the first thing you see. Then you walk up the steps of a cute cottage-​like house and inside completes the very comfortable home-​like ambience of the place. There are huge lovely leather booths and dark wood all over. There are nice touches of décor like the geese and the bookshelves.
We came in for lunch after hitting up some wineries on an empty stomach so we were hungry. Of course we started off with some cocktails and the Manhattan was the best I’ve had. We started of with the cheese plate and bone marrow which was also super yummy. My partner ordered the G&G burger with bone marrow added and a side of duck fat fries. I took a niblet of the burger and it was melts-​in-​your mouth juicy and a great blend of flavors. The duck fries were very crispy and gave a different texture contrast to the softness of the burger. I ordered the fried swordfish sandwich and it was also delicious and perfectly cooked and placed on a bed of a creamy veggie blend and tartar sauce all between a toasted French roll bun. The side for it was malted vinegar chips also good. The dessert finale was insanely good as well and I can’t describe the great blend of textures and flavors that were in it. It was a Basque cake (not sure if I’m spelling that right) and it was just slightly crisp on the outside but very soft in the middle, placed alongside a nice fall medley of I think sautéed fruit, and a scoop of vanilla ice cream abed some graham crumbles.
Our server was outstanding, super nice, knowledgeable of the menu, and smiley. We definitely will be back on our next trip here.

My family and I went to Goose and Gander for dinner and loved everything we tried. We decided to sit outdoors and enjoyed the warmth and scenery.
We ordered duck fat fries because really, how could we resist trying something like that? The fries were very crispy and aromatic.
I ordered the Heritage Sakura Pork Chops which was a nicely cooked pork chop with curried spaetzle, cauliflower, peaches, bacon, and candied garlic. The flavors were so delicious, and while I wasn’t sure I’d like whole cloves of garlic, their candied garlic was so aromatic and sweet. It complemented the pork chops well.
Other dishes that we ordered were the Dayboat Scallops with Blue Corn Grits, Lardo, Padron & Jimmy Nardello Peppers. Scallops are so easy to overcook but these were perfect. And great for a light meal.
G&G Burger with Gruyère and Bacon and Duck Fat Fries. I don’t eat beef so I couldn’t try this dish. I also couldn’t try the Roasted Bone Marrow with Toasted Bread or the Grilled Flat Iron Steak with summer beans, pancetta, king trumpet mushrooms, and piccolo farro. But they looked good.
Bodega Bay Black Cod with daikon, Tokyo turnip, broccoli and black garlic. The black cod was so perfectly cooked. It was so tender and flavorful.
The servers were very attentive and friendly. They constantly came back to check on us to see if we had questions.
I would definitely return to try some of their other dishes.

Food (*** out of *****); The burger is good. The meat is grass fed and moist. The buns are baked in house of a bread that is kinda like a big pretzel roll. It’s kinda chewy. You might like it, but I’m not crazy about it. It is special. I’ve never seen that used as a hamburger bun before. They also put a scrap of foie gras in the burger, about an ounce of foie gras. If you like pretzel roll buns, give this category 4 stars instead of 3.
The duck fat fries did not have any duck fat aroma nor taste. They were just greasy fries with normal grease on it. They probably just used normal oil with just a tiny bit of duck fat in it to fry it with.
Service (** out of *****); Mcdonald’s level service in a place that serves $ 33 hamburgers. If I paid $ 2 for a hamburger, I’d expect to get whatever they cook up. I don’t expect to get it «my way». If I paid $ 32 for a hamburger, not including tax, tips, and drinks, I expect a bit of customization in my burger, within reason. The waiter and/​or the chef refused to budge one bit. They did not make any substitutions for my food allergy. I requested that they put a bit of fried or oven crisped duck skin on my burger instead of the bacon. In a restaurant that specializes in serving duck and goose, that’s entirely a reasonable request. The waiter said, «I’ll see what I can do,» but did absolutely nothing and did not bother to explain why. All he did was bring food out like a Mcdonald’s employee or a «special» person.
Atmosphere (**** out of *****); My friend and I ate with her doggie in the outdoor seating area of the restaurant. They are dog friendly.
Conclusion (** out of *****); Very poor value. I’m not crazy about the buns as they were hard and chewy. Poor customer service. Expensive prices. You could literally throw an entire party McDonald’s for the price I paid for one burger here. Average was 3 stars, but I deducted a point for poor value as it is overpriced for what you are getting. The burger is good, but just overpriced, given their lack of customer service. I told the waiter the hamburger buns were chewy and he just shrugged. If he had replaced the buns with another bread that they had in the kitchen and substituted crisped duck skin instead of bacon in the burger, this place would’ve gotten 5 stars. I’m usually not this picky, but when I’m paying $ 33 for a hamburger, I can afford to be picky about what I eat.

I still can’t stop thinking about the Scarlet Gander… I wish I could go back to have one again.
The spot is very cute, quaint, and has an amazing outdoor patio for food and drinks. Prices are very reasonable. Their cocktail list is extensive and impressive.
We started off with the scarlet gander, Walters Manhattan, and an order of fried olives and pistachios. Both drinks were to die for! The Scarlet Gander honestly tastes like fruit punch, but don’t be fooled, it has a nice kick! I could drink it for days! The fried olives were tasty, but seemed unhealthy and a tad oily. Loved them nonetheless. :P
Then went on to the small charcuterie platter. The Coppa was the best part. All meats were good quality though!
Entrees were the Burger and the Roasted Chicken. We also had the Bali spiced old fashion and the pear shrub. Pear shrub is very heavy on the Rosemary flavor. So if you don’t like Rosemary, beware. Bali spiced old fashion is the best whiskey drink they have in my opinion.
Burger was definitely decent and flowing with juices, but the showstopper was… the Chicken! I don’t think I’ve EVER been impressed with a chicken dish at a restaurant, EVER. I mean… It’s chicken!!! But wowowowWOW, this chicken dish was so savory, so delectable, so juicy and tender!!! Mind. Blown. How is it possible to make chicken that delicious?!? Tell me your secrets!!! Please??!
Ok, enough rambling. Moral of the story = this place is a must visit!!!