Napa's Timeless Tap: Downtown Joe's - Where History Meets Hops

By Ethan Wescoatt

For the beer lovers who may feel a bit out of place in Napa, locals will point you to Downtown Joe’s: a neighborhood spot that prides itself on unpretentious fun, a friendly atmosphere, and a shared love of quality food and beer. Located in the Oberon Building on the corner of Main and 2nd, the microbrewery has roots that date back to a time before grapes were king.

At its inception, the Oberon Building was not a restaurant or a brewery, but a saloon. Built in 1893, when Napa was a small frontier town that had little more than a harbor and a main street, the Oberon was the social epicenter of downtown. As the self-proclaimed hang-out spot for boxing legend Rocky Marciano, the building sported a barber shop, a bar, a florist, a shoeshine station out front, a card room in the back and an Oasis Magazine and Cigar Shop. In 1988, the longtime brewery San Francisco-based Hamms family opened a 7-barrel brewery in the building—the first microbrewery in Napa. Then in 1993, it was purchased—staff and all—by locals Joe and Nancye Peatman alongside third generation Napan restaurateur Joe Ruffino. The brewery was christened Downtown Joe’s.

 Before it became a world-renowned culinary and enological tourist destination, Napa was a sleepy town where storefronts turned in before evening and downtown closed on Sundays. But the Peatman and Ruffino’s had the foresight to understand what Napa would eventually become. Flood reinforcements along the Napa River and infrastructure redevelopment were key signs that times were changing, and Downtown Joe’s served as a herald to the people. Acting on its mission to serve good food and beer, create an atmosphere that’s welcoming to both locals and visitors, and—above all else—stay open late, the microbrewery became a community classic that oversaw Napa’s renaissance. What was once 1 of 3 restaurants downtown is now one of 37, as culinary experts and restaurateurs from around the world recognized the same vision that the Joes had from the beginning.

As the first to open and last to close, the oldest operating microbrewery in all of California continues its mission to serve all of the Napa community, old faces and new. With plans to renovate its outdoor seating and install a rooftop patio overlooking the Napa River and Veteran’s Park, the best of Downtown Joe’s is yet to come.