Gillwoods Cafe

Pop a baby aspirin (blood thinner), bring the defibrillator, for their wonderful artery clogging food. The chicken fried steak, with gravy, which has, not bits, but chunks of sausage, along with their hash browns, not just warmed up white pile of potato strings, but real browned hash browns, are, what all restaurants, should hold up as their poster child. Eat at your own risk, but you’ll want to return for more in a couple days. Sit where you want, the service is great, and you can have a beer, with breakfast if you’d like, or have some steel cut oatmeal, but that’s like going to Disneyland, and standing outside the gate. We’ll return!

Wonderful food at reasonable prices. Their omelets are excellent. Their French toast with a generous amount of sliced fresh strawberries and whipped cream is my favorite. The quality of their food is as good or better than any of the higher priced upscale restaurants in Napa Valley that we have been to.

First, let me just say that I am horrified at the lack of responsibly priced places to eat breakfast in Napa Valley. While Gillwoods Café had decent and quick foods it was just so overpriced (and mind you I lived in California for six years so I know what food prices there are). If anyone can feed me as well for less, please let me know.

Our hotel recommended this place for a casual breakfast. Food was decent, service was ehh and the atmosphere was also an ehh. This may be the best bang for your buck breakfast in the area but I would not go so far as to say it was a memorable experience. If you are just looking to get a quick breakfast in this place will do the trick.

Food was so delicious customer service was excellent and the vibe was very relaxing… cant wait to come back.

Great breakfast place!
I got Biscuits and Gravy. The biscuits were dense but not heavy and the gravy had great flavor. Came with hashbrowns which were perfectly crispy and two eggs any style.
My husband got the Chicken Fried Steak. It was really good! Came with potatoes, eggs, and toast. He got the sourdough and it was amazing! They make all their own bread there. It was delicious with the strawberry jam.
We both got the coffee, a special blend made just for them. It was good.
The service was fast and friendly.
I would definitely eat here again and I definitely recommend it!

Excellent service, great food, and superb experience.
Fairly reasonable prices (coming from San Francisco, these weren’t too expensive).
Keep it up!

Had a great time, delicious breakfast and great service.

Wanted to eat in a café setting and this restaurant does it right!
We ordered a turkey burger and archive omelette with veggies and both were delicious! The quantity is good for the price and I loved the fast service. The waiters were extremely friendly and even gave my toddler few extra coloring sheets just in case :)
This place is a bit cheaper than surrounding upscale restaurants and serves quality brunch if you are looking for the same.

Great American lunches with the friendliest service around.
I was visiting Napa when I decided to give Gillwoods a try. The staff was very polite and found my party a spot within the small establishment.
I ordered a Tuna Melt with a side of their soup of the day, Clam Chowder. The food came out at a decent time and I dug in. The tuna melt was ok. The tuna salad used too much Mayo and needed a bit of pepper. The soup was excellent, a rich and creamy broth with generous chunks of clam and a healthy dose of seasoning. I also tried a bit of the Chicken Pesto sandwich. It was better than the Tuna melt, but nothing special.
Gillwoods is a good restaurant for a quick and tasty lunch between your wine tours.

Great little find in the heart of St Helena. We stopped in for a quick breakfast on Monday morning before hitting the wine trail. The place was packed but easy to get a table. The service was quick and friendly, and the food delicious. We all ordered a variety of dishes and each were equally as delicious.
Make sure to stop in here for a quick and friendly bite to start your day!

Perfect little joint for breakfast or brunch. Our waitress Victoria was very nice and very attentive. I ordered the huevos rancheros which was very good. Only thing was I wish the tortilla was served to me crispy other than just placing a dry corn tortilla on there. My dad ordered the eggs Benedict which he LOVED. So overall a perfect meal with great service!

Gillwood’s is a delicious place to eat! My husband and I have gone there for 3 years and the service and food has always been wonderful. The portions are also quite large so it’s a perfect brunch place.
I don’t know what they season their potatoes with but they are made excellently and anything from the French toast to the egg scrambles is completely satisfying. If you are wanting a good sized meal that isn’t too expensive, especially for Napa Valley standards, Gillwood’s is the place to go! (We even saw Carlos Santana one of the times we went.)

This place is a joke. They hire some of St Helena’s rudest people, who don’t have people skills at all. I have been to this restaurant multiple time and it never ceases to fail how horrible their service is. There is a lady though that is sweet as pie (for that I give her a 5 star) she has bright red spiky hair.
The food is mediocre but I go since my friends enjoy their food.
I remember that I went this one time and was completely clueless as to what came on the eggs Benedict. I didn’t know that it came with ham and when I received my plate I have kindly asked the lady of she could have it sent back and have an alternative meat put on. She rudely took the plate and told me that I should know what comes on the dish. I also recently took my service animal in so that a friend and I could have lunch and instead of just requesting the animal have a vest or something showing she is at work, she told me that I couldn’t have my dog there, but that she would let it slide this once. She also asked me what service my dog provides.
I just think that this business needs to get their management and service together. Also to gain knowledge of what to and what not to ask.

Love this place. It is in the small town of at Helena and that small town feel is everywhere in the restaurant. There is even a community table where people can meet others while eating their meal. I usually get the gillwood or Napa scramble. Their wheat toast is to die for! Make sure you use the jelly too! I would also advise people to come prepared to wait for a table of you come in the early hours.

Lamb burger with rosemary aioli, feta and arugula on fresh baked roll with the best sweet potato fries I’ve had in the valley.
Breakfast and lunch delights, coffees, bakery, wine… Home style cooking made with healthy, local ingredients!

Gillwoods used to be a local chain. Napa had a sizable one with outdoor seating at its Town Center. I’ve dined at the St. Helena branch before, and the last time, it wasn’t disappointing. This time, however, while the service was excellent&attentive… the food left much to be desired. The toast tasted moldy to me. I got another batch, but it still tasted «off.» It’s a shame since they bake their own bread&they source from local purveyors. The breakfast potatoes and the «Acapulco special» (a chile Monterey jack cheese/​mushroom/​spinach omelette) were good, along with the coffee. What was more discouraging was that one man nearby complained about the taste of the onions in his dish; another complained about his oatmeal (he got a free breakfast) They had the wrong price on the chalkboard for the «Acapulco special.»
I remember when Gillwoods had great diner food. Their Huevos Rancheros&Eggs California were the perfect way to start the day. It was a sad thing to see the helpful, friendly waitress having to constantly return food to the kitchen&message complaints to the cooks. Unless Gillwoods improves, I’d rather go to Napa Valley Coffee Roasting or the Model Bakery. Gillwoods was oddly uncrowded during a breakfast rush. The Model Bakery nearby was hopping. The coffee shop in a converted railway car in Yountville would’ve been better. Has Gillwoods lost its magic touch?

We had to wait awhile to order despite it not being busy.
The waitress was unhelpful and unfriendly.
My wife had a scramble and I had an omelette. They were not good. The mushrooms and tomatoes tasted like they came from a can. Plus the waitress got my wife’s order wrong. (Strange, as we each only ordered one thing)
The toast was good.
Other people seemed to be enjoying their meals so maybe there are some good things here. We won’t be coming back to find out, though.

Ger here early.
No matter what you order, request a side of tomatillo sauce.
Skip the hash browns and home fries, get the roasted garlic tomatoes instead.
And above all, GET HERE EARLY.

Came upon this café while walking the lovely downtown area. This was a very average café but seems a bit out of place for the area. Here is my quick run down:
Food — One Star (The food was not very good. My boyfriend could not finish his patty melt and I have never seen him leave food on his plate before. Plus, he was the hungry one to begin with. It looked terrible but I didn’t dare try it. Also, I love my food dry as a bone but my BLT was so dry I couldn’t finish either and I had to take a drink with each bite to get most of it down. Fries were passable.)
Service — Two Stars (It’s seat yourself, so don’t expect a greeting, just pick a table and sit down. Staff looked a little «rough» for lack of a better term, not to be rude, but just more like what you would expect at a Stockton Denny’s, not wine country.
Décor — The café itself was cute. The bathroom was clean. The music was also good. There’s really just not too much else to say about this place.