Wine Spectator Greystone Restaurant

10/06/08

Great service with flair!

by eminamy

This is the one of the restaurants that everybody should try at least once! Very creative menu that changes often, only uses freshest produce and meat! Great service and attention to detail is superb! Great place for special celebration such as birthday or bridal shower!

• Pros: Great service, delicious food & wine!

11/10/07

Been here numerous times and NEVER disappointed

by dliu621

I first tried Greystone only because I saw it on someone's internet blog claiming it was one of the best restaurants they had been to. I took my fiance there for her birthday two years ago and it was EXCELLENT. Everytime we have gone to Napa, we always stop by Greystone for either lunch or dinner. This place never disappoints us. I don't understand how the person who reviewed two down from me complained about their reservations because they are always spot on for me. Either call or make one online. It's not rocket science. I was call to comfirm a week or few days before the date and always get a nice greeting and comfirmation. Service there is always excellent and very attentive. One thing we always get is the manila clams. The broth is so good and you can barely taste any of that "seafood taste" you usually expect from clams or other shellfish. The scallops are absolutely wonderful and so are the chicken/steak. If you love dessert, you will love their creme brulee and chocolate molten lava cake. Also, you get complimentary olives and fresh bread to start off your meal. You can't lose with this place and we never have, so do yourself a favor and go to Greystone.

• Pros: EVERYTHING: Service, food, atmosphere.
• Cons: Nothing at all.

Extravagant dining on scenic Wine Country's Culinary Institute of America campus.

by Contributor

In Short
An enormous cobblestone castle boasting a large oakwood door and a spacious European-style terrace welcomes diners to this restaurant located within the Culinary Institute of America's prestigious St. Helena campus. An open kitchen is surrounded by a bar, which seats excited patrons admiring the classically trained chefs at work. The menu features offerings that remind diners that they are on the campus of one of the most sought-after culinary institutes in America--everything from seared foie gras to fresh fruit from the market is offered.

06/07/07

Great food in a wonderful setting.

by aarone

I've been to Greystone twice in the last year and everytime I take the drive up to the Napa Valley, it relaxes the senses. I've enjoyed the food/wine and atmosphere. The service is top notch and the food a good value. I'm going up again shortly.

• Pros: Beautiful atmoshpere with good food.
• Cons: Large restaurant, gets a bit noisy during peak dining times

01/29/07

Who's incharge here-literally?!

by activities

I was in charge taking a group of 8 to a nice wine country lunch. I had been to this restaurant & was comfortable going again. I email the reservations desk 3x as directed on the web site in early Dec. for late Jan. event. Never got an e-response. Started making calls & took notes on 8 calls to two responses. Only kept calling because every time I seemed to have the res. dialed, I'd get a perplexed call to confirm. Could not reach ANYONE over the schools 2 week break so I tryed to find a manager. Called a friend, graduate of the school, who said what everyone at the school had said, "Good luck, the restarant is run by Wine Spectator and really has nothing to do with the School!" So, I went to the source and got the turce responce that WS Greystone Restaurant is not on The Wine Spectator's list of recommended restaurants. Re; what another reviewer mentioned here, these are not CIA students, my friend who graduated from the school informed me that she never worked in this place nor did any of her fellow students!

On another note, the lunch was better. We were escorted, by a very nice concierge from the front desk up an elevator to an accessible (My group were seniors) entrance were seated promptly, though the young lady lacked warmth, at a very nice table. Our server was friendly but could have been more helpful to my, admittedly sometimes befuddled, group. Again ref. what another reviewer wrote, the appetizers are not a good value, this menu takes wine country pricing seriously, other high end spots don't fall into this trap for lunch. I had 2 app.s, Apple Salad & Steamer Clams (in red sauce, not steamer broth & with a tange that must have been vinegar, none of this made apparent by the menu) for a satisfying lunch. Others in my group had the French onion soup & raved about it and the scallops & oysters were also good.

For dinner prices, & the weight of being associated (if by location only) w/CIA I want alot. This doesn't stack up!

• Pros: handsome dining room, good location
• Cons: Reservations process, Customer Service, Over All Experience

10/23/06

Really Lousy Customer Service

by lilybart80

I went with a group of five last Saturday night. Our reservations were for 8pm, we arrived at 7:30pm. At 8pm we were shown to a table that was closer to the kitchen than the dining room, even as we were seated, servers were asking us to move our chairs so that they could get by. We moved as far as we could, but found that 3 of the 5 seats were under very hot, very bright lights. We asked for a manager and asked for another table. We were told that the wait would be 45 minutes. We told the manager that that would be unacceptable, if she could not do something in less time, we'd be happy to leave. She said no, she'd be able to sit us sooner, and absolutely we were not to leave. At 8:30pm I checked in with her, and once again, made it very clear that I did not want to be sitting down to dinner at 9pm. She said our table was just about ready, and for us to be patient. At 8:50 we still were not seated.

Now, had the manager been honest with us, had she said it was that table or nothing until 9pm, we would have been perfectly happy to leave and eat somewhere else. At 9pm our options were significantly more limited.

If you are looking for a special meal, there are better options. Especially with a group.

• Pros: pretty surroundings, lovely outdoor patio for a drink
• Cons: really bad customer service, the group tables are awkwardly placed and uncomfortable

08/06/06

Really amazing dining experience

by groverloaf

Who are these people writing mediocre reviews of this place? They must either not enjoy food or have been too drunk on wine-tasting to remember. This restaurant was ridiculously fantastic in every way. To start, the building itself is amazing, this massive castle-like building. The ambience was very nice, as you dine in what used to be a wine cellar. Thus, the dining is mostly in one very large room, so it was a tad bit noisy and not exactly intimate. However, the service was good, very attentive, and not at all kitchy. Then there was the food--obscenely good. We started with oysters in a Romanescu sauce, and I mostly wanted to marry it. Ten I had the lamb, which was cooked to perfection and so very tasty. The rest of my party agreed that the food was absolutly top-notch. For dessert we shared an enormous, decadently delicious chocolate souffle. My one complaint was that the wine list was a little pretentious and rather expensive. I had a couple wines by the glass which were only above average. But otherwise, it was a really fantastic dining experience. I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND.

• Pros: Really amazing food
• Cons: A little pricey

05/13/06

A sea of mediocrate

by eight

Service was okay, food was way way way over priced for the taste. Seems as though master chef just throws sauces on meat with a combo of vegetables that either match or not. My veal was tough. The over all ambiance was that of a nice restaurant in Disney Land. All who worked there seemed miserable. THere was a manager yelling at her staff on the floor. The bright spot was the wine list.... For a wine spectator list I was suprised that they had blurbs about the wine on list. ONe of them even insisted that I have champagne or sparkeling with my meal. I guess I am not cool enough for them. I would not recommend this place to anyone. over all this had a yuck factor of 8 while I would give the experience a two of five. Best part of the meal was leaving

• Cons: managers yelling at, staff

03/21/06

All hype and little substance

by housemaidsknee

The ambiance was great - as was the parking. But the food was terrible. We enjoyed very little of what was served in the three course meal. The wine was average but the main courses were terrible. The dessert was mediocre and at the end of it, my fiance and I left feeling we did not get anywhere near our $100 worth out of that dinner.

Very pricey, nice atmosphere but mediocre food ruins this. We're never going back.

• Pros: ambiance
• Cons: food, food, food

11/10/05

Our experience

by chefcarla2004

Overall it was an excellent dining experience with so much to chose from. For a lunch hour, very noisy.Food was excellent along with our experience with the cooking lesson. Plus it's right down the street from Duckhorn Winery - WOW!!

• Pros: exc. wine list, exc. food, exc. service
• Cons: not for kids, champagnes-more varie, great parking