Gott's Roadside Party - Napa, Burgers

Oxbow Market
644 First Street
Napa CA 94559
(707) 224-6900
Parking: in shopping center parking lot
Hours: 10:30am - 9pm

http://www.gottsroadside.com/

Last Visited: March 26, 2010

Food: tonight was free, and not made to order, so it's unrated
Atmosphere: 3 stars
Service: 4 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

After ten years of being Taylor's Automatic Refresher, the Gott brothers have decided to change names to Gott's Roadside "Tray Gourmet." To celebrate the name change, they held a party at each of their three locations in San Francisco at the Ferry Building, at Oxbow Market in Napa, and in St. Helena. I found out about the party on Twitter after seeing a brief tweet about the name change and looking around to investigate the reasoning behind it.

I took to the street and decided to check out the party firsthand. The doors opened at 6pm and I was standing in line at 5:30 along with the folks in this picture. I happened to meet Richard and his friend and a nice elderly couple, all from Napa. The great thing about this area is the friendliness of people around. We stood around chatting with each other about other great places to eat as well as the generosity of the Gott brothers to throw this party.

Tonight's dinner was free with a choice of a Seoul burger (pulled pork with non-spicy kimchee and a touch of hoisin sauce on a bun), Ahi burger (seared ahi with ginger wasabi mayo and asian slaw on a toasted egg bun, a cheeseburger and fries. We also had a choice of soda, beer, or sparkling wine. Lastly, a generous neopolitan ice cream sandwich was also served.

Make no mistake, everything was served full size. Upon opening at 6pm, the assembly was going full blast in the kitchen and the people were making their way through the line, first to get their free Gott's T-shirt, featured above and then to the counter for a drink. Tables were set up with the various types of burgers available and we were on our way.

- Seoul burger - This is a nice change if you want to try something a little different. The pulled pork is well-flavored and the kim-chee gives a nice crunch. Since tonight's burger wasn't made to order, I have a feeling that it would be hotter in temperature if normally ordered. Interesting stuff.

- Ahi burger - The ahi is a five ounce portion. Although this too was served at room temperature, normally, I suspect it's a little warmer. The ahi is tender and the wasabi is mild. Typically, this is sold for $14.99 (how generous of the Gott's to share this burger with us tonight).

In any case, although this isn't exactly my normal type of review, the good will of the Gott's was made apparent and Napa has a lot of love for them. That ice cream sandwich really hit the spot too!