Red Hen, Napa 1959

This fine-looking fowl was on the front cover of the Red Hen bar and grill in Napa, California. Advertising the cocktails and dinner service, it’s a great example of the whimsy and humor of vintage menu art.

The customer who kept it as a souvenir (and gave ratings on the dinner service) wrote down the date they dined there – 1959.

The menu contains an interesting snapshot of some of the 15 to 20 wineries operating in Napa and Sonoma at that time.

Beringer, Charles Krug, Beaulieu, Louis Martini and Souverain all remain iconic Napa wineries today but Christian Bros, run by a Catholic teaching order, sold its historic Greystone Cellars and 1,200 acres of prime Napa Valley vineyards to the Heublein company in 1989.

Heublein sold off parts of its wine business in the 1990s. In 1991, the company donated the historic Greystone building to The Culinary Institute of America.

We’re not sure who owned the Red Hen during this period but in the 1980s, we believe it was owned by Norman Sawicki and his wife Christy. There were two locations: first at 5091 Solano Avenue, north of Napa, and later at 4174 Solano Avenue.

The Red Hen closed for good in 2019 after the owners of premises decided not to renew the couple’s lease. A popular spot for locals, it was a bitter blow after the Sawickis’ 37-year run. In press interviews, the couple said they were being priced out of the rental market.

The Red Hen with its welcoming neon sign is long gone and we believe the Hotel Indigo is now at this location.