Oakville Grocery has been in Napa since 1881. That they suddenly expanded to a second location – to the Cannery no less – is a bit of a surprise. Maybe it's the first in a major expansion. No doubt... More

Oakville Grocery has been in Napa since 1881. That they suddenly expanded to a second location – to the Cannery no less – is a bit of a surprise. Maybe it's the first in a major expansion. No doubt the store, with it's classic Napa provisions of produce, wine, cheese, preserves, and other things in quaint jars would be a hit. Especially if they opened up anywhere else besides the pitiful Cannery. I'm bummed though because while they've kept the worst thing about the store (expensive) they've got rid of the best thing (extensive free samples). The tourists won't know the difference, but now that I can't go and eat for free to my heart's content and then leave without buying anything, I really don't think they can count on my being a customer anymore.
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Oakville Grocery, that famous, tasty, tiny gourmet grocery store, perched just off the pavement of Highway 29 in Oakville, California for more than 100 years, serving as the gateway to Napa Valley... More

Oakville Grocery, that famous, tasty, tiny gourmet grocery store, perched just off the pavement of Highway 29 in Oakville, California for more than 100 years, serving as the gateway to Napa Valley wine country, recently opened its doors in another historic building, San Francisco's Del Monte Cannery. For the residents and visitors of San Francisco the store will once again prove to be a gateway to great things gourmet. The new location and design, which has married and merged the feel of the old and quaint with the robust metal and modern offers customers a comfort from vine country blended with a San Francisco air. A welcomed neighbor, according to those residents of Russian Hill who quicklywalked down to peruse the prepared food cases and purchase products from the floor to ceiling shelves, the store was quickly welcomed with open arms by the locals. THe cheese selection is one of the best in San Francisco and the made tgo order brick oven pizza is the most flavorful The City has to offer. when they put salami on the Oakville pizza its the $18.00 a pound stuff. Larger than the tiny gem that sits directly in front of the Opus One Vineyard, the Del Monte Cannery location shouts food. The closest the city has come in emulating a New York City Zabar's, Oakville has twelve feet of prepared foods, a selection of cheeses that would make the population of Point Reyes give a standing o, and a grab and go counter filled with salads, sandwiches, pre-washed fruit and of course piazza fresh from the open hearth oven. But this Oakville, unlike its cousins in the communities to the north and south, offers room to roam and browse at the tremendous selection of purchasable product that doesn't have to be eaten by days end. The still hard to find anywhere else jams and chutneys. Salsa's and sauces are available, but this Oakville has a variety of gifts and baskets for gift baskets that you will not find in the other locations. And, of course- flagship stores- as all stores in San Francisco have become known - have to have something different than other locations in a group. The wine tasting bar Oakville offers is the perfect place to go after a long walk down the hill. The other day as I passed through the eatery, I noticed four women who had just finished shopping on Polk St. sitting down with a bottle of wine and four glasses, discussing the purchases they made at Brown Dirt Cowboy. If that isn't cosmopolitan, what is? If you have not had the time to browse the newest Oakville Grocery, stop in - you'll like what you see. A well known Napa valley resident was shopping in the store last week. When asked what she was doing in the store she comically said, "We love it. It gets us down to the city."
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