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The Buckhorn Grill 1201 Napa Town Center Napa (707) 265-9508 www.buckhornsteakhouse.com
American Casual |
If you’re looking for a casual, lively eatery with plenty of space to meet with friends and/or associates, check out The Buckhorn Grill in downtown Napa. Part of the Buckhorn Restaurant Group, it’s one of seven Buckhorn Grills in the Bay Area (including Sacramento). This particular location has a main dining area, a patio for outdoor seating and a “Fireside Room” (complete with a large, stone fireplace), which is available for banquets. The restaurant also offers on-site catering (in other words, they’ll come to you).
Patrons order and pay for their meals at the counter, then choose a place to sit. The friendly staff brings you the order. The menu mainly has sandwiches, platters and salads, and the restaurant’s specialty is its char-roasted sirloin tri-tip. The beef is aged 21 days before it’s marinated and charred over a wood fire, then finished in a smoke oven. You can even take a whole one home for $19.95.
I started with the Roadhouse salad, which is mixed greens with crispy fried onions (sliced thin and piled high), string beans, cherry tomatoes, crumbled blue cheese and Mariani walnuts. Tossed with a dash of honey basil vinaigrette, it was a great mix of sweet and savory flavors and all sorts of textures. Coupled with some fresh grilled, melt-in-your-mouth (not kidding) salmon, it was a meal in itself. But oh no, the fun didn’t stop there.
Next came the tri-tip platter, which had two thin slices of the moist and deliciously smoky, peppery-flavored beef, garlic mashed potatoes with housemade gravy (perfect, not too thick or thin and very flavorful), a soft roll, au jus, and roasted fresh vegetables.
Next was the Cabo chop salad, which sat atop a crisp tortilla and had chopped romaine, avocado, black beans, corn, jicama, radishes, tomatoes and blue cheese. It was a very generously sized salad that could easily feed a large, hungry man. Not being a large, hungry man, I decided to keep going and try some sandwiches.
Every sandwich I tasted was wonderfully fresh and came on a soft roll with thin-cut fries on the side. The meat was tender and moist, and the portions were large. The ones that stood out to me the most were the Bacon Cheddar Buck (the red ranch sauce was excellent with the melted cheddar cheese, applewood smoked bacon and thin-sliced tri-tip) and the Chipotle Border Buck, which had tri-tip smothered in chipotle sauce and pepper jack cheese. It had a wonderful kick for those who like things on the spicier side.
There’s also the “Little” or “Big” Buck (I had the “little,” which was big to me!), which comes with caramelized onions or au jus dipping sauce; the Roadhouse Buck, which is tri-tip topped with red ranch sauce, Roadhouse onions and blue cheese crumbles (absolutely delicious, but not for those afraid of making a mess!). I’d mention the rest, but alas, I’m out of space. I will say, however, that I enjoyed absolutely everything I tried. Thank you, Buckhorn!
