The first time I went to Taylor’s Refresher must have been over 10 years ago to have lunch with the wonderful Toni Sagakuchi. I am not a great fan of hamburgers but if Toni wanted to eat there, the place had to be good. And it was. Ever since, I have made sure to eat there when in Napa. This time I was lucky. My hotel was right opposite and I ate there before the conference started and the day after it finished, ordering the same thing: Wisconsin sourdough hamburger and sweet potato fries.
As you can see from the picture, the hamburger is really fat and to eat it elegantly is a challenge but thankfully no one out there is worrying about you having sauce smeared over your cheeks or nose, and the pleasure of eating the hamburger would be seriously diminished if you didn’t get a little of everything (bread, meat, bbq sauce, cheese, mushrooms & bacon) with each bite! My first hamburger was a little overcooked but I was there when they were very busy whereas I went early for my second one and both hamburger and fries were just perfect, as was the toasted sourdough bread. I took some ketchup thinking I would have it with the fries but I ended up asking for extra home-made ranch sauce (the white sauce on the left which is slightly sour and perfect with the sweet potatoes — am still not sure what it is made of; perhaps sour cream).
The place had changed hands before my first visit but the owners, Joel and Duncan Gott, were allowed to go on using the Taylor’s Refresher name until they fell out with the Taylor daughters. They have now called it Gott’s but the old sign is still there, and I and many others still refer to it by its old name!
