Napa Valley Restaurant Month runs from January 1 to 31, 2027, and it is the one time of year when the valley’s dining rooms compete on value rather than on reputation. Restaurants in all five towns publish special prix fixe menus, from a croissant and coffee to a Michelin-starred lunch, just as the harvest crowds have gone home. Here is how it works, what past editions offered, and how to build a January trip around it.
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- 2027 dates
- January 1 to 31, every day of the month
- Where
- Calistoga, St. Helena, Yountville, Napa and American Canyon
- What is on offer
- Prix fixe lunches and dinners, brunch deals, bakery specials
- 2026 price range
- From $9 for breakfast to $75 for a Michelin-starred lunch
- How to book
- Directly with each restaurant; offers are listed by Visit Napa Valley
- Getting around
- A car for the valley, a driver or rideshare for the evening
In this article
What Napa Valley Restaurant Month is
The event is run by Visit Napa Valley, the county’s official tourism organization. It began life as Napa Valley Restaurant Week, a single week of discounted menus in late January, and was relaunched as a month in January 2025. That first month was staggered town by town: the City of Napa and American Canyon first, then Yountville, St. Helena and Calistoga, one week each. Since 2026 every participating restaurant runs its offer for the whole of January, and the official Restaurant Month page already gives January 1 to 31, 2027 for the next edition.
The timing is deliberate. January is the quietest stretch of the Napa year: the grapes were picked months ago, the vines are bare and pruning is under way, and hotel and tasting room traffic falls well below the fall peak. Visit Napa Valley calls this part of the year Cabernet Season, and Restaurant Month is its opening act, a reason to come when the valley has the most room to welcome you.
For a wine traveler, that is the real draw. The same week that a three-course lunch costs less than usual, the winery you could not book in October has open slots, and the person pouring has time to talk. If you are new to the region, our Napa Valley wine country guide covers the four wine areas and how the valley fits together.
How Napa Valley Restaurant Month works
There is no pass, no wristband and no central ticket. Each restaurant decides its own offer and submits it to Visit Napa Valley, which publishes the full list on its website with a link to every restaurant. You choose, you book with the restaurant as you normally would, and you order the Restaurant Month menu when you sit down.
The format is loose on purpose. Visit Napa Valley encourages two-course lunches and three-course dinners with optional wine pairings, but restaurants can also run a brunch, a bakery breakfast or a bar menu, and many offer more than one special. Participation is open to every restaurant in the county, not only members of the tourism bureau, so the list mixes destination dining rooms with neighborhood places that rarely appear in a travel guide.
Two practical consequences follow. First, the menu is a set offer, so check what it includes before you book: some prices cover food only, with wine pairings as an add-on. Second, the regular menu usually stays available alongside it, which means a table of four can mix and match. The offers for 2027 had not been published when we wrote this; for the 2026 edition they were announced in late December.
What the 2026 edition offered
Menus change every year, but the 2026 edition gives a fair idea of the range. According to The Press Democrat, about 50 restaurants took part across the county.
- The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil, Rutherford: a three-course lunch for $75 in a Michelin-starred dining room, with optional wine pairings.
- La Toque, Napa: a four-course tasting menu for $75, with a different French region (Provence, Lyon, Normandie) as the theme as the month went on.
- Lovina, Calistoga: weekend brunch with a cocktail for $49, and dinner for $75.
- Harvest Table, St. Helena: a three-course dinner for $65, paired with Napa Valley wines.
- Bouchon Bakery, Yountville: a butter croissant and coffee for $9, or a ham and cheese baguette with tomato soup for $18.
Hotels joined in too. Carneros Resort and Spa offered a package with a cottage, breakfast for two and a three-course dinner at its restaurant, FARM, from $499 a night. Expect a similar mix in 2027, but treat these as examples, not promises: the restaurants set new menus and prices each year.
How to plan a wine trip around it
Book the headline tables first. The offers at the best-known dining rooms are the ones everyone reads about in the same December articles, and they fill fastest on Fridays and Saturdays. As soon as the 2027 list goes up, reserve the one or two meals the trip is built around, then fill the rest of the days with tastings and casual places.
Go midweek if you can. January weekends draw day-trippers from the Bay Area; Tuesday to Thursday is calmer at both restaurants and wineries. A long weekend that starts on a Wednesday gets you the best of both.
Plan lunch as the big meal. Several of the strongest offers are lunches, and lunch fits a wine day better than dinner: one tasting in the morning, a long lunch, one more visit in the afternoon, then a light evening. It is also the safer arrangement if someone in the group is driving.
Know what else January brings. For California residents, the Napa Neighbor program of the Napa Valley Vintners has offered winery discounts all January in recent years, with about 75 wineries taking part in 2026; check whether it returns for 2027 before you count on it. Late in the month, wild mustard starts to bloom between the vine rows, which the valley marks with the Napa Valley Mustard Celebration from January to March. Winter is also the rainy season, so pack a coat and keep one indoor plan per day.
For the tastings themselves, our guide to the best wine tastings in Napa Valley lists eight visits you can book ahead. And if you are still deciding between the two valleys, read Napa vs Sonoma first.
Getting around during Restaurant Month
Napa Valley is about 35 miles from end to end, and the five towns sit along two roads, Highway 29 and the Silverado Trail. Calistoga to Napa is a drive of roughly 45 minutes without traffic. A car is the simplest way to move between wineries during the day and to reach restaurants outside the town where you sleep.
Evenings are different. A Restaurant Month dinner with a wine pairing is not a meal to drive home from, so pick a restaurant within walking distance of your hotel, book a driver, or use a rideshare for the night. Yountville, St. Helena and downtown Napa all have enough tables on foot to make this easy. If you are flying into the Bay Area and want the car for the days in between, compare rentals before you go.
Compare Napa Rentals on DiscoverCars →
Where to stay during Napa Valley Restaurant Month
Choose the town first, then the hotel. If the trip is mostly about food, Yountville is the obvious base: it has the densest cluster of acclaimed restaurants in the valley within a short walk, and our guide to where to stay in Yountville covers six hotels there. If you want a spa and long mornings between meals, look at our Napa Valley wine resorts, from Carneros in the south to Calistoga in the north.
Calistoga is the quieter, northern end of the valley, with hot springs and a relaxed main street; our round-up of Calistoga wine resorts is the place to start if that suits you. Wherever you stay, January is low season, and some hotels add their own Restaurant Month packages, as Carneros Resort and Spa did in 2026. Ask the hotel directly when you book.
Common questions
When is Napa Valley Restaurant Month 2027?
From January 1 to 31, 2027, according to Visit Napa Valley. Offers run for the whole month at each participating restaurant, unless the restaurant states otherwise.
Do you need a ticket or pass?
No. You reserve with each restaurant directly and order the Restaurant Month menu at the table. Visit Napa Valley publishes the list of offers with links to every restaurant.
How much do the menus cost?
Each restaurant sets its own price. In 2026 offers ranged from $9 for a bakery breakfast to $75 for a three-course lunch at a Michelin-starred restaurant, with wine pairings often charged separately.
Is January a good time to visit Napa wineries?
Yes, if you can live with bare vines and some rain. Crowds are thinner than in the fall, tastings are easier to book, and California residents have often had extra winery discounts through the Napa Neighbor program.
Napa Valley Restaurant Month works best as an excuse rather than an itinerary: one or two meals booked early, the rest of the days left for wineries that finally have time for you. Start with where you will sleep, reserve the headline table, then add the tastings. When you are ready to book them, our list of the best wine tastings in Napa Valley is the next step.
