Napkins Bar & Grill, a longtime fixture at 1001 Second St. in downtown Napa, has closed its doors for good. Owner Cengiz Atis says difficult economic conditions made it impossible to keep the restaurant running, calling the decision heartbreaking.
Atis shared the news in a Facebook post dated Nov. 6, 2026, writing that economic conditions had made keeping Napkins open an insurmountable struggle, according to The Napa Valley Register. He thanked customers for the dinners, celebrations and evenings spent at the restaurant, saying those patrons gave it its life and that he would always be grateful.
The closure lands Napkins in a rough club: it is the second downtown Napa restaurant to announce it is shutting down in recent weeks, the paper reports. Just days earlier, Oenotri, the First Street Italian spot chef Tyler Rodde opened in 2010, announced it would close permanently on Saturday, Nov. 14, according to The Press Democrat. That restaurant, located at 1425 First St., said it planned to keep welcoming customers right up through its final day.
Owner Reflects on Impact to Staff and Community
Atis didn't shy away from the human toll of the closure. He acknowledged that it affected employees and their families, and told staff directly that they deserved better than the way the restaurant's run was ending, the Napa Valley Register reports. He also said, more broadly, that restaurant closures like this one cost people jobs, hurt families and harm the local economy.
Atis urged Napa residents to keep supporting other local businesses even as Napkins exits the scene. The sentiment echoes struggles he described years earlier, during the pandemic shutdown, when he said takeout orders and federal payroll assistance weren't enough to keep the restaurant fully afloat, per East Bay Times. That 2020 report also noted Atis had opened the restaurant seven years earlier; Napkins' grand opening date was December 31, 2013.
A Timeline Muddled by Conflicting Ownership Dates
The Napa Valley Register recently reported that Atis has owned the restaurant since 2021, while the 2020 East Bay Times report named him as its owner that spring, during the pandemic reopening.
What is clear is that downtown Napa is now absorbing the loss of two established dining spots within the same stretch of weeks, a sign of the economic pressure Atis described weighing on local restaurant owners. For now, Napkins joins Oenotri on the list of downtown Napa mainstays closing their books, leaving regulars to find new places for the dinners and celebrations Atis said once filled his dining room.
