The Abridged version:
- Freelance writer Keyla Vasconcellos fell in love with Lodi for its lack of pretense and underrated food and wine scene.
- The Central Valley city has more than 85 wine tasting rooms, including its renowned visitor center.
- Head for Pietro’s Trattoria for a Lodi classic, Guantonio’s for wood-fired small plates or Americana House for farm-to-table fine dining.
You can have a lovely day in any neighborhood or suburb across the Sacramento region, as we explore in this series. Want to tell us what a beautiful day in your neighborhood looks like? Email abridged@kvie.org with your recommendations.
Since moving to Sacramento two years ago from Los Angeles, I’ve loved exploring Northern California. Lodi quickly became one of those places that surprised me in the best way, a pocket of the Central Valley that punches way above its weight in food and wine.
There’s no pretense here, just people who care about what they’re growing. Drive past the farmland and rows of vines and you’d never guess how much good eating and drinking hides in plain sight.
Morning
When I go to Lodi, there are a few musts. First stop: Maison Lodi, part of Charlie Palmer’s Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa. If you haven’t heard, the Appellation hotel brand recently took over the beloved Wine & Roses (Russ and Kathryn Munson remain the property’s longtime and current operating owners), and it’s still the same place locals have loved for years, now with a more elevated food and beverage program.
OK, back to this bakery. Hear me when I say: The ham-and-cheese croissant here is one of the best I’ve had outside of France. Perfect lamination. Creamy, almost cream-cheese-like filling. Salty ham. If it’s all over you when you’re done, you know it’s a good croissant. Order it with a cappuccino and it’s a delicious pairing. The team trained under Healdsburg’s Quail & Condor, a James Beard Award-nominated bakery that The New York Times once called one of the best in the country, so no wonder it’s this good.
Now that there’s food in your system, the next stop is wine tasting. Coincidentally, right next to Maison Lodi is the Lodi Wine Visitor Center, but it’s much more than a visitor center. It’s part wine shop, part tasting room, and my favorite part is that it carries over 200 bottles from 70 producers. If you’re not sure where to start, manager Paul Marsh and his team can point you toward a few local favorites. Tastings are $12, a reminder of how refreshingly affordable Lodi still is.
What’s grown here says everything about Lodi’s range. Old-vine zinfandel still leads the way with some vines dating back to the 1800s, the oldest collection in the country. You can taste that depth in the wines. There’s also chardonnay, verdelho and Greek whites like assyrtiko along with a growing number of Italian and Spanish varieties. Here are a few wineries that show off what Lodi does best.
For something big, family-friendly and easy to love, start at Michael David Winery. The place feels like its own little world with bocce courts, a café, fresh pies, a chicken coop and a playground for kids. Their lineup leans bold with zinfandels, juicy cabernets and easy-drinking blends that show off Lodi’s ripe fruit. A few miles away, Harney Lane Vineyards offers a calmer pace. Their tasting room sits among estate vines where you’ll find balanced chardonnays, velvety zinfandels and elegant albariño poured by a sixth-generation farming family.
Then there’s Acquiesce Winery & Vineyards, founded by Sue and Rodney Tipton with Sue and Christina Lopez leading the winemaking. They specialize in Rhône-style whites like picpoul blanc, roussanne, grenache blanc and the Belle Blanc blend that’s earned a loyal following for good reason. Three stops, three very different vibes, each distinctly Lodi.
Afternoon
At this point, you’re probably getting hungry, and if you’re looking for one of Lodi’s true food institutions, it’s Pietro’s Trattoria. The Murdaca family has been doing this since the 1950s, first in Vacaville and, since 1985, in Lodi. The dining room always feels alive with servers moving fast, drinks being shaken and conversations spilling from one table to the next.
If you’re wined out, order a martini. It feels completely acceptable at any hour here. Although the handmade pastas are usually the move, don’t miss the pizzas, especially the Super Special with crushed tomatoes, scamorza (a soft Italian cheese similar to mozzarella), sausage, pepperoni, onion, basil and chili honey, finished with a snowfall of shaved Parmesan on the crust right out of the oven.
And here’s some breaking news: After nearly 40 years on Kettleman Lane, Pietro’s has moved. The restaurant reopened on Nov. 7 in a new 300-seat space in Reynolds Ranch, complete with the region’s first pasta lab where guests can watch the team make fresh pasta and bake bread. The space will be bigger, brighter and an exciting next step for a restaurant that’s been part of Lodi for decades.
After lunch, you can head out for more tastings. There are more than 85 wineries in Lodi, after all. Or take a break and explore Lodi Lake Park, featuring a man-made lake, where you can kayak, paddleboard or walk the nature trail along the Mokelumne River before the evening begins.
Night
For many, Pietro’s might be the one-and-done food stop of the day, but if you’re like me and want to get a real feel for Lodi’s food scene, I like to turn it into a progressive-style eating situation. Have an appetizer at one spot, maybe a drink and dinner at another. My two go-tos are Guantonio’s and Americana House.
Guantonio’s is tucked into a corner of Lodi I’d never have found if someone local hadn’t mentioned it. Nick and Marissa Guantone run it with serious dedication. The menu shifts with the season, the dough is naturally leavened and the produce comes from farms just down the road.
Yes, the pizzas are top-notch, but the wood-fired small plates are what really grab me. Think rich, playful combinations rooted in the land, like charred cabbage with sesame and sourdough breadcrumbs, or smoked hot wings with Calabrian chili, fennel and pizza dip. Check their social feed before heading over, because they’re only open Wednesday through Saturday evenings and what they’re cooking changes every week.
I mentioned Appellation Wine & Roses earlier with Maison Lodi, but I’d be remiss not to call out one of Charlie Palmer’s more upscale spots in town, Americana House. You can keep it casual with a burger at the bar, but if you’re in the mood for something elevated, head to the dining room. Like many restaurants in Lodi, the menu highlights what’s growing nearby, with produce from Honest Acre Farms, fruit from Golden Bear Ranches and cheese from Spenker Farms.
The concept blends Palmer and his team’s fine-dining roots with Lodi’s agricultural heart, creating a restaurant that feels thoughtful and true to its surroundings. The staff will even waive corkage if you bring a bottle from a Lodi winery.
The best part? You can book a room at the hotel if you’ve had a little too much fun.
This story was updated at 11:17 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2025 to list the full name of Appellation Lodi – Wine & Roses Resort and Spa and to note its recent change of ownership.
Keyla Vasconcellos is a Sacramento-based freelance journalist.