Putah Creek Cafe
Essential Information
Although this downtown Winters institution—housed in a historic building that dates back to 1904—is unpretentious, it is has amassed a legion of devotees including Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives host Guy Fieri, who visited the eatery in 2010 and raved about everything from its signature cioppino (packed with crab legs, clams, mussels, and prawns) to its popular wood-fired pizzas. Those delightfully crisp pies (made with organic California-grown wheat milled in nearby Woodland) are perfectly cooked in an outdoor oven and come with fixings like brick-roasted chicken and seasonal greens. In true farm-to-fork fashion, some of the pizza toppings, as well as other ingredients for the cafe’s diverse lineup of salads, sandwiches, burgers and more, are grown within a literal stone’s throw of the restaurant at its own private garden across the street. And although the line here is sometimes lengthy, especially for breakfast on the weekends, don’t be dissuaded: service here is speedy and amiable, and the comforting fare worthy of any wait.