Inside Look: Napa Rose Reopens at the Disneyland Resort

Following an extensive nine-month renovation, Napa Rose — located at the Disneyland Resort’s Grand Californian Hotel and Spa — reopens on Feb. 6 with a reimagined menu, an updated dining room, expanded outdoor terraces and a new personalized Chef's Counter experience, continuing its 25-year legacy of elegant California cuisine.

While clients who enjoy fine dining can find elevated culinary options inside Disney theme parks, it’s outside the gates where they can truly satisfy their sophisticated palates.

“Napa Rose is often a guest’s very first experience in the fine-dining world, and we wanted to protect that,” said Nick Hockman, general manager of Disney’s Grand Californian Hotel. “We wanted to make sure it was refined, but we didn't want it to feel ostentatious — so, if this was one of our guests’ very first fine-dining experiences, they would feel comfortable here. But at the same time, if you've traveled the world and dined in some of the world's finest restaurants, we wanted you to be able to recognize this as a fine-dining experience.”

Reimagined Napa Rose

Walt Disney Imagineering has completely redesigned the restaurant to tell the story of California wine and complement the hotel's Craftsman-style architecture.

“When we were thinking about what the new restaurant would look like, of course, we had to stick to Grand Californian’s craftsman roots, but we designed it for a modern-day audience,” explained Katrina Mosher, Imagineering creative director “Walt [Disney] was a storyteller; this place tells a story and has a sense of place, of both the Grand Californian and of Napa Valley.”

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Replacing the restaurant’s white tablecloths and 2001 decor are updated Craftsman-style wood furniture and new curved booth seating upholstered in warm earth tones. The focal point of the dining room is large light fixtures with round bulbs representing grape varietals grown in the Golden State. Glass cabinets are another new feature, displaying the restaurant's impressive 3,800-bottle wine collection.

But Disney fans will be happy to know that there are also Disney details hidden throughout the space, including handmade tiles on the lounge fireplace.

“We took leaves from the Golden Vine Winery [inside Disney California Adventure], and sent them to our tile maker, who pressed them into the tiles,” Mosher said. “It’s a very subtle Disney detail that if you were looking at it, you wouldn't know, but if you know the story behind it, it really means a lot.”

New Seasonal Menu

At the helm of Disneyland Resort’s signature restaurant since its opening in 2001 is chef Andrew Sutton, Disneyland’s culinary director of signature dining. Sutton — along with Napa Rose’s executive chef, Clint Chin — has developed the all-new menu to showcase California wine country cuisine. The menu will also change every few weeks to highlight seasonal ingredients

The Chef's Tasting Menu, served in the main dining room and on the outdoor terrace, is a multi-course seasonal prix-fixe menu with multiple options per course. A curated wine pairing is also available.

Chef Sutton says the restaurant's seasonal menus will take advantage of “opportunities.”

“When it's strawberry-rhubarb season or asparagus season, I don't want to miss it,” he said.

My meal at Napa Rose began with the restaurant's signature mushroom cappuccino, which, according to chef Sutton, is a guest favorite. From there, the experience included sauteed South-Pacific Hiromasa (yellowtail kingfish) with lobster toast and lemon bubbles; American Wagyu steak with grape mostarda; pasta in California crab broth with Pacific uni espuma; and swordfish with ancient grains, black lentils and hijiki (a type of seaweed). And for dessert, I sampled the restaurant’s signature Valrhona chocolate bar with hazelnut praline.

The Napa Rose Chef's Counter (accommodating up to 18 guests) offers a unique opportunity to dine with a front-row seat as chefs prepare a personalized, multi-course meal. Chef Sutton notes that diners at the Chef's Counter will also have dishes not available on the regular menu.

“Sometimes we can only get a handful of [an ingredient], so those guests get that premium experience,” he said. “It's also very intimate, because we're right there sharing the stories of what was made, where it came from, how we found it and how we developed the menu.”

Napa Rose Bar and Lounge

For a more relaxed dining experience, the renovated Napa Rose Bar and Lounge serves an a la carte menu of small bites, including green turkey mole stuffed inside a zucchini blossom with a pepita crust, a unique dish created specifically for the lounge. The a la carte menu is also offered on the lounge’s outdoor patio.

“[Napa Rose] is an iconic restaurant to the Disneyland Resort, one that carries so much tremendous history and heritage, just like the resort itself,” Hockman said. “Disney is about the stories we tell and the manner in which we tell them; it's about the way we spend time with our families. And that's what this restaurant represents.”

Michelin and the Mouse

In 2024, Victoria & Albert’s in Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa at Walt Disney World won Disney its first Michelin Star — and Napa Rose may be Disneyland’s chance for a star of its own.

However, the resort has also attracted several Michelin-starred chefs to Anaheim, including chef Carlos Gaytan, who opened three Mexican restaurants in the Downtown Disney district in May 2024: Paseo (fine dining), Centrico (casual table service) and Tiendita (quick service).

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Later this year, a new gastropub in partnership with seven Michelin-starred chef Gordon Ramsay will also open in Downtown Disney. Arthur & Sons Steak and Bourbon, an upscale steakhouse, and the quick-service Pearl’s Roadside BBQ — both from Michelin-starred chef Joe Isidori — are currently under construction in the district.