Restaurant in Napa, United States
Serious wine list, earned occasion price.
A Pearl Recommended, OAD-ranked contemporary French-American restaurant in Napa with a 2,500-selection wine list and structured tasting format. At the $$$$ tier, La Toque earns its price through a validated kitchen, serious sommelier program, and one of Napa's deeper cellars. Book well in advance — availability is limited and demand is consistent.
Expect to spend well above $66 per person for dinner at La Toque — the $$$$-priced contemporary menu positions this as a serious occasion restaurant, not a casual wine country stop. What you get for that spend is a kitchen under Ken Frank running French-American tasting-format cuisine with enough critical validation to justify the commitment: Opinionated About Dining ranked La Toque #158 among North American restaurants in 2025 (up from #80 in 2024), and it carries a Michelin Plate alongside Pearl Recommended status. For first-timers considering a high-investment dinner in Napa, La Toque clears the bar — with caveats around booking difficulty and what you should order when you arrive.
La Toque operates out of 1314 McKinstry St in the Napa River Inn complex, a converted historic building that gives the dining room a grounded, architectural quality you do not get at the newer glass-and-terrace spots in the valley. The room reads as formal without being stiff , appropriate for a tasting-format meal where you will be sitting for two hours or more. For a first-timer, it is worth knowing that this is not a patio-and-vineyard experience. The draw here is the interior dining room and the wine program, not a view. If outdoor Napa scenery is your priority, The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil delivers that more directly. At La Toque, the room is a setting for the food and wine to do the work.
La Toque's contemporary French-American format means the meal is structured as a progression , courses building from lighter to richer, with the kitchen's French technique applied to California-sourced ingredients. Chef and owner Ken Frank has been running this program long enough that the menu arc feels considered rather than arbitrary: you are not getting a trend-driven parade of small plates, but a sequenced meal with a clear logic. The current seasonal framing matters here, because the kitchen works with what is available in Napa now, and late-year menus in California tend to lean into heartier preparations and the valley's autumn harvest produce before the lighter spring menus return.
For a first-timer, the practical question is whether to commit to the full tasting format or look for a shorter path through the menu. La Toque is built around the tasting experience, so arriving and ordering selectively will give you a partial picture of what the kitchen does. The full progression is where the value case is strongest: the price-per-course ratio improves, and the wine pairing through sommelier Jacob Dobbs and wine director Mike Lee is one of the genuine differentiators in Napa at this price point.
The wine list is a serious asset. With 2,500 selections and 23,000 bottles in inventory, La Toque runs one of the deeper cellar programs in Napa Valley dining. Wine pricing is $$$, meaning many bottles exceed $100, but the corkage fee of $50 makes BYOB viable if you want to bring something specific from a winery visit earlier in the day , a detail worth knowing given the number of Napa wineries within easy reach. Strengths are California (expected), Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, Rhône, and Spain , a list that reflects classical French training applied with Californian breadth. The Star Wine List recognition from 2021 (White Star) is the formal credential, but the inventory depth is what makes the program practically useful for wine-focused visitors. If pairing is central to your evening, La Toque rewards it more than most Napa options at this price tier. Comparable depth in a pairing context requires going to The French Laundry, which operates at a different price point and booking difficulty entirely.
Booking difficulty is rated Hard. La Toque operates seven days a week, 11:30am to 9pm, which is more accessible than many tasting-format restaurants , but demand relative to capacity means you should not count on availability within a week of your target date. Book as far in advance as your travel plans allow. General Manager Megan Menicucci runs a formal front-of-house, so direct contact is worth attempting for groups or special requests, though a contact number is not publicly listed in our current data. For group bookings, see the FAQ below.
If you are building a Napa itinerary around La Toque, the venues below are worth considering alongside it. For a lower-stakes French meal in Napa, Angele is the practical alternative. For American comfort food in a Thomas Keller context without the French Laundry price, Ad Hoc is the move. For the full Napa picture, see our Napa restaurants guide, Napa hotels guide, Napa bars guide, and Napa experiences guide. For comparable tasting-format ambition in other cities, Lazy Bear in San Francisco and Single Thread Farm in Healdsburg are the nearest reference points. Further afield, Le Bernardin in New York City and Providence in Los Angeles operate in the same serious French-influenced contemporary tier. For internationally minded reference, Alinea in Chicago is the high-concept benchmark, and Jungsik in Seoul shows how French technique travels across culinary traditions.
Dinner is the primary draw if the tasting format is your goal , the full progression of courses and the wine pairing program make more sense as an evening experience. La Toque opens at 11:30am daily, so lunch is an option if your schedule requires it, but the atmosphere and pacing of a tasting meal generally work better without an afternoon ahead of you. If budget is a consideration, lunch may offer a shorter or lighter menu at a lower entry price, but the wine program's depth is harder to justify at midday. Book dinner unless logistics force otherwise.
Tasting-format restaurants at this level routinely accommodate dietary restrictions with advance notice , this is standard practice in the category. Contact the restaurant directly when booking to flag any requirements. The French-American format means the kitchen works across a range of proteins and preparations, so adaptation is more practical here than at a highly concept-driven menu. No specific accommodation details are available in our current data, so confirm directly when you reserve.
Three things: arrive with time, engage with the wine list, and book well in advance. La Toque is a tasting-format restaurant at the $$$$ tier , it rewards guests who come prepared to stay for the full meal rather than rush a course. The wine program (2,500 selections, 23,000 bottles, strengths in California and Burgundy) is one of the leading reasons to be here, so ask sommelier Jacob Dobbs for a pairing recommendation rather than ordering ad hoc. And with OAD ranking it #158 in North America in 2025, this is a validated destination in the Napa fine-dining tier , not a neighbourhood restaurant you can walk into on a Friday night.
A $$$$ tasting-format restaurant with a formal front-of-house is generally capable of handling groups with the right advance planning, but La Toque's capacity details are not in our current data. For groups of six or more, contact the restaurant directly as early as possible , high-demand venues at this price tier often have private dining or semi-private arrangements that are not advertised online. Given the Hard booking difficulty, groups should be especially proactive about lead time.
Yes, with a specific condition: the value case is strongest when you engage with the wine pairing. The tasting menu architecture at La Toque is built around French-influenced course progression, and sommelier Jacob Dobbs's pairing recommendations against a 2,500-selection list is a meaningful differentiator from Napa contemporaries at a similar price. Ken Frank has run this program long enough that the kitchen's French-American tasting format is well-calibrated rather than experimental , you are not paying a premium to be a test audience. OAD's 2025 ranking of #158 in North America (and a climb from #80 in 2024 in the Leading Restaurants list) supports the value case independently. If you want a shorter or less structured meal, the tasting format here may feel like more commitment than you need , in that case, Angele or Ad Hoc are better fits.
At the $$$$ tier in Napa, La Toque earns its price more clearly than several competitors at the same level. It holds Michelin Plate recognition and Pearl Recommended status in 2025, and OAD's dual-list ranking (Leading Restaurants and Cheap Eats , the latter a separate recognition for value within the category) suggests the kitchen delivers more than you might expect given the price point. The direct comparison to consider: The French Laundry is significantly harder to book and costs more; Kenzo operates at the same tier but in a Japanese format. La Toque sits in the middle of the Napa fine-dining market as a more accessible, wine-program-forward alternative to the valley's most stratospheric options. For the price, you are getting a validated French-American tasting experience with one of the deeper cellar programs in the region. That is worth the spend if this format matches what you are after.
| Venue | Cuisine | Awards | Booking Difficulty | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| La Toque | Contemporary | La Toque is a restaurant in Napa, USA. It was published on Star Wine List on December 2, 2021 and is a White Star.; Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America Ranked #595 (2025); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #158 (2025); Michelin Plate (2025); WINE: Wine Strengths: California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, Rhône, Spain, Port Pricing: $$$ i Wine pricing: Based on the list\'s general markup and high and low price points:$ has many bottles < $50;$$ has a range of pricing;$$$ has many $100+ bottles Corkage Fee: $50 Selections: 2,500 Inventory: 23,000 CUISINE: Cuisine Types: American, French Pricing: $$$ i Cuisine pricing: The cost of a typical two-course meal, not including tip or beverages.$ is < $40;$$ is $40–$65;$$$ is $66+. Meals: Dinner STAFF: People Mike Lee:Wine Director Wine Director: Mike Lee Sommelier: Jacob Dobbs Chef: Ken Frank General Manager: Megan Menicucci Owner: Ken Frank; Pearl Recommended Restaurant (2025); Opinionated About Dining Cheap Eats in North America Ranked #570 (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Ranked #80 (2024); Michelin Plate (2024); Opinionated About Dining Top Restaurants in North America Highly Recommended (2023) | Hard | — |
| The French Laundry | French, Contemporary | Michelin 3 Star, World's 50 Best | Unknown | — |
| Kenzo | Japanese | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| The Restaurant at Auberge du Soleil | $$$$ · Californian | Michelin 1 Star | Unknown | — |
| Ad Hoc | American | Unknown | — | |
| Bouchon Bistro | French Bistro, French | Unknown | — |
Comparing your options in Napa for this tier.
Dinner is the format La Toque is built around. The kitchen runs a contemporary French-American progression that takes time to unfold, and the 2,500-selection wine list with 23,000 bottles in inventory is better suited to an evening commitment. That said, La Toque opens at 11:30am seven days a week, so lunch is a genuine option if you want the same kitchen at a slightly lower-stakes pace — useful for wine country itineraries where you have afternoon plans.
La Toque's contemporary tasting format typically allows for dietary accommodations when communicated in advance — this is standard at $$$$ prix-fixe restaurants in the Napa category. Call or note restrictions at booking; the kitchen is structured around a fixed progression, so last-minute requests are harder to execute here than at an à la carte restaurant.
Budget well above $66 per person for dinner — the $$$$ price range puts this in serious occasion territory. The wine program is a genuine reason to come: 23,000 bottles in inventory and a corkage fee of $50 if you bring your own. Booking is rated Hard, so plan at least a few weeks out. La Toque holds a Michelin Plate (2025) and ranks #158 on OAD's Top Restaurants in North America (2025), which should calibrate expectations: this is a credentialed room, not a casual drop-in.
La Toque can accommodate groups, but the tasting-menu format and high booking difficulty make advance coordination necessary. For larger parties, check the venue's official channels well ahead of your target date. The $$$$ price point means group dinners here represent a real per-head commitment — parties looking for a lower-pressure group option in Napa should consider Ad Hoc instead.
Yes, if the format fits you. La Toque's OAD ranking of #158 in North America (2025) and Michelin Plate recognition put it among Napa's most credentialed kitchens, and the wine program — 2,500 selections, California and Burgundy strengths — is a legitimate draw on its own. If you prefer à la carte flexibility or want a lighter spend, this is not the right room; but for a structured tasting evening with serious wine, it earns its price.
For the right diner, yes. La Toque ranks #158 on OAD Top Restaurants in North America (2025) and holds a Michelin Plate, which puts the $$$$ pricing in context. The wine list — 23,000 bottles, deep California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, Piedmont, and Rhône coverage — adds value that most Napa competitors at this price can't match on depth alone. If you're comparing against The French Laundry, La Toque offers a more accessible booking window and a less ceremonial experience at a lower price point. If pure value is the priority, Ad Hoc or Bouchon deliver Ken Frank's broader Napa context at a fraction of the cost.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
