How has Main Street's reopening affected Napa restaurants?

A bicyclist travels down Main Street in downtown Napa on Tuesday.

The city of Napa allowed cars and trucks back onto Main Street between Second and Third streets last year, after blocking traffic in 2020 to allow restaurants to serve guests outdoors during the pandemic.

Pedestrians are seen walking on Tuesday along the sidewalk near Main Street in downtown Napa, which was closed to cars for more than two years during the pandemic.

A produce delivery person is seen unloading items on Main Street in downtown Napa on Tuesday. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a block of Main was closed to motor vehicles and converted into outdoor dining space for restaurants.

Some merchants in downtown Napa complain that their businesses have yet to fully bounce back after the city ended a two-year vehicle closure of downtown Main Street last year.

However, city officials respond that businesses are performing about as well as they did before the pandemic that prompted the street shutdown three years ago.

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Nine months have passed since Napa reopened a block of Main between Second and Third streets to motor vehicles, and business owners on the street have reported lingering effects of the change.

The street reopened Dec. 3, 2022, after the expiration of an emergency ordinance that had made it pedestrian-only during the COVID-19 pandemic. Main Street was first closed to cars and trucks in August 2020 to allow businesses on the block to increase their outdoor dining capacity in accordance with public health rules that required greater distancing between patrons.

However, after the emergency rules expired, the city could not maintain the closure without recategorizing the street as a pedestrian mall, as it would be in violation of California’s vehicle code. The reclassification would require a $1.45 million renovation to bring the street in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act and make other necessary changes.

At the time, business owners began raising funds to complete this renovation in partnership with the city, but since December, there has been little discussion of completing the work and permanently closing the street.

With little apparent movement toward a lasting makeover for Main Street, restaurant owners on the block have been unhappy with the reopening.

Isaiah Lassiter, an employee at Quilt & Co. tasting room, said the wine bar has been greatly affected by the street reopening. He explained that Quilt & Co. and the next-door restaurant AVOW, both owned by Joe Wagner, shared an outdoor patio space during the road closure that added 15 tables. With cars allowed back on Main Street, both businesses were forced to give up that patio space, cutting down on the number of parties they are able to serve each day.

“We went from four tables in here and a little bar to literally like 30 seats out there,” Lassiter said. “(Now we're) back to just the four tables and a bar.”

Lassiter said that when the patio was open, Quilt & Co. averaged about 60 covers on a normal Saturday. Now, the wine bar averages about 30. While he mentioned this slowdown could be partly related to a looming recession, he said the tasting room has been forced to decrease the number of reservations and walk-in visitors it accepts.

With less seating, the wine bar has also had to cut down employees’ shifts. Lassiter said Quilt & Co. has not had to lay off employees, but has had to decrease their hours with fewer tables to serve.

While Napkins Bar and Grill down the street has been able to maintain its patio space, owner Cengiz Atis expressed disappointment that the city did not keep Main Street pedestrian-only. Atis said that Napkins was able to build a patio on the restaurant’s sidewalk before the pandemic, and so has not had to cut capacity with the street’s reopening. However, Atis remains in favor of keeping cars off Main Street, as it made Napkins’ outdoor dining experience more pleasant for those sitting on the patio.

“It would be nicer,” Atis said. “Because of traffic, there are so many cars going by. If there are no cars going by, the patio is quieter — and we have a bigger space.”

He added that when the street was limited to those on foot, tourists and locals walking on the street could better see those dining at Napkins, which seemed to draw more walk-in traffic into the restaurant. Overall, Atis said business has been slow.

According to Neal Harrison, the city of Napa's economic development manager, sales tax reporting indicates that businesses on the Main Street corridor have performed as well as or better than before the COVID-19 shutdown, depending on the quarter. Data from the first quarters of 2019, 2022 and 2023 showed a bump in revenue during 2022, in line with most businesses in downtown Napa and throughout the city.

However, Harrison added that anecdotally, he has noticed that "businesses that have been able to expand their businesses due to using parklets have been performing pretty well" compared to their pre-COVID levels.

As winter is not the peak season for outdoor dining, the restaurants will likely be better able to see the impact when data from spring 2023 becomes available in early September.

Take a look inside the new home to Napa's Bookmine bookstore. The shop moved from Pearl Street to Register Square, at 1625 Second St. in downtown Napa.

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A member of the the band CRV bangs on the drums during their performance at Porchfest in Napa in July 2022.

A man plays his accordion during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday, when the community music crawl returned to an in-person format for the first time in three years.

Spectators cheer while watching Sanho during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday.

People watched as VK Loungers perform during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday, when several thousand spectators flocked the festival in Old Town.

The drummer for High Noon performs during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. About 50 locations, including porches, front yards and Fuller Park, hosted musicians during the music crawl.

The guitarist for the Happy Accidents performs during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday

People gather to watch Rockbusters perform during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. The community music festival, held annually in the city's Old Town neighborhood, had been largely on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Thousands filled the streets to enjoy Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. The community music festival returned to the Old Town neighborhood, after pandemic-related safety restrictions had forced a pivot to a series of livestreamed concerts in 2020.

Al James performs during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. The community music festival, held annually in the city's Old Town neighborhood, has taken place outside local homes since its inception in 2011.

Jessica Conatser, Mike Momtesclaros and their son Leviathan dance along to Sanho during Porchfest in Napa on Sunday afternoon.

Spectators watch the Alta Heights All Stars perform at Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. The community music festival, held annually in the city's Old Town neighborhood, returned to live performance this year after being replaced by Zoom-based concerts in 2020, and after a planned Porchfest-branded concert was canceled last year.

Spectators sing along to High Noon at Porchfest in Napa on Sunday, which drew several thousand visitors to Old Town as the annual community music crawl became an in-person event for the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Sanho performs at Porchfest in Napa on Sunday, which attracted several thousand spectators as musicians played before live audiences at the event for the first time since 2019.

Sara Rodenburg and Kevin Radely perform at Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. The community music festival, which began in 2011, this year returned to its traditional format of community musicians playing on porches and yards in the city's Old Town neighborhood and inside Fuller Park.

Iris Divine performed during Porchfest as pedestrians walked past in Napa on Sunday, when the annual community music crawl resumed in front of live audiences for the first time since 2019.

A member of the band High Noon rallied the crowd during a performance at Porchfest in Napa on Sunday. The community music festival, held annually in the city's Old Town neighborhood, had been largely on hiatus during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a livestreamed substitute in 2020 and a planned concert that was canceled in 2021.

The rock band Off the Record performed outside a Randolph Street home in the Old Town neighborhood during the opening segment of the ninth annual Napa Porchfest music crawl in July 2019.

During their set at Sunday's Napa Porchfest, Mel Bearns (left) and Nancy Northrup of Painted Wind performed "Rolling Thunder," an original composition by Northrup. The duo was one of 113 musical acts to perform at the ninth annual Porchfest, which organizers said drew some 13,500 spectators to the Old Town neighborhood.

Ramble, led by vocalist Patrick Fitzpatrick (left), attracted more than 200 spectators during its set on Seminary Street during the Napa Porchfest on Sunday.

Otis & the Smokestacks performed outside an Oak Street home during the early slot of Sunday's ninth annual Napa Porchfest, which brought free performances from more than 100 musical acts to the historic Old Town district.

One of the several homes on Randolph Street participating in Sunday's ninth annual Napa Porchfest hosted The Last Resort, with Jenny Valassopoulos on bass and James McGee as lead vocalist. More than 100 acts performed on porches and front yards around the Old Town Neighborhood.

Alexis Gutierrez of Napa dances toward the end of a performance by Skunk Funk during Sunday's eighth annual Porchfest music crawl.

Sweet HayaH performs Sunday during the eighth annual Napa Porchfest musical crawl, which organizers said drew about 15,000 spectators to watch 125 musical acts to local porches and front yards.

Bicycles were the transportation of choice for many Porchfest spectators in Old Town Napa, where streets were closed to motor vehicles Sunday afternoon during a 4 1/2-hour slate of music concerts outside neighborhood homes.

Jeffrey McFarland-Johnson performs on the electric cello in front of an Old Town home during Sunday's eighth annual Porchfest music crawl in Napa.

Hank Collinson (right), 2, gets a mid-performance and up-close greeting from guitarist Dan Sisson of Way Out West during the band's set Sunday at the seventh annual Napa Porchfest music crawl.

While other Porchfest spectators walked, cycled or skateboarded from house to house on Sunday, Napa resident Sven Oja took to the Old Town streets in a wheeled reclining chair he crafted about eight years ago, before the free music festival's inception in 2011.

The band Audio Mynde was one of more than 120 musical acts to turn front porches and yards into musical stages Sunday afternoon during Napa’s seventh annual Porchfest crawl. Organizers estimated attendance at more than 15,000, the most in the event’s history.

Tatiana McPhee (center) is the lead vocalist of Way Out West, one of more than 120 musical acts to perform on porches and yards Sunday for the seventh annual Napa Porchfest.

Singer-guitarist Makena performs for Napa Porchfest fans outside the Migliavacca Mansion on Fourth Street on Sunday.

Gary T. Williams of the band Otis and the Smokestacks performs outside an Oak Street house during the first hour of Sunday’s annual Napa Porchfest music festival.

Robin McKee-Cant, singer for the band Circus Moon, performed outside a house on Franklin Street during the first hour of the sixth annual Napa Porchfest, which drew thousands of spectators to three city neighborhoods on Sunday.

Among the 64 homes that served as stages for Sunday’s annual Napa Porchfest was this duplex on Oak Street, where Otis and the Smokestacks performed.

Guitarist Dalton Piercey performs a program of Delta blues during Sunday's fifth annual Napa Porchfest music festival.

Porchfest spectators on Oak Street break into impromptu dancing while watching a performance by the Time Riders. Parts of four Napa streets were closed to accommodate the larger attendance, which was several thousand more people than in in 2014.

Don Carrillo (left) and Dalton Piercey perform "Parchman Farm" during their set of Delta blues, one of the performances from Sunday's fifth annual Napa Porchfest music festival. Organizers estimated attendance at more than 12,000.

The Amber Snider Band performs the Creedence Clearwater Revival hit "Have You Ever Seen the Rain?" in a tip of the cap to the California drought, before an audience on Franklin Street during Sunday's Porchfest event in Napa.

You can reach Katie DeBenedetti at 707-256-2212 or [email protected].

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