Gott's Roadside

Northern California restaurant chain

Gott's Roadside is a Northern California restaurant group with seven locations in the San Francisco Bay Area.^[1] It is a family-owned diner concept restaurant with influence from California cuisine.

About

The family-owned company's niche is fast food made with ingredients from local purveyors cooked to-order, including hamburgers and Ahi burgers, salads, French fries, and milkshakes, plus seasonal specials like the “Seoul” pork burger with kimchi and the B.L.T. with heirloom tomatoes. On July 25, 2017, Gott's started serving the vegan Impossible burger.^[2] Food & Wine magazine has labeled it as an “idealized version of the American roadside stand”.^[3]

History

When the owners of a burger shack in St. Helena—Taylor's Refresher—decided to lease out their 50-year-old property, brothers Joel and Duncan Gott capitalized the opportunity to run their own restaurant. The restaurant became Taylor's Automatic Refresher when the first location re-opened in St. Helena in 1999, and (in the aftermath of a trademark dispute, and over the protests of the Taylor family) was renamed in 2010 as Gott's Roadside.^[4]

The restaurants embrace a California-casual cooking style, featuring microbrewed beer and wines alongside chili cheese dogs and mini corn dogs.^[5] In 2004, a second Gott's opened in the Ferry Building Marketplace in San Francisco, and in 2007, a third opened in the Oxbow Public Market of Napa.^[6] The St. Helena spot is a drive-in, with seating at red picnic tables on the lawn, while the other two locations are built in an urban, retro diner-style. In 2013, a fourth location opened in Palo Alto.^[7] The newest Gott's Roadside location is now open in Greenbrae in Marin County. The company remains privately owned.

In 2006 Taylor's received the James Beard Foundation Award designating them as one of America's Classics.^[8] In addition to The New York Times and Food & Wine, Taylor's/Gott's has been featured in USA Today,^[9] Bon Appétit,^[10] Gourmet,^[11] Travel + Leisure,^[12]^[13] Robert M. Parker Jr.'s The Wine Advocate.^[14] and the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives Season 1, Episode 9

Gallery

Impossible Burger with fries and ketchup at Gott's Roadside
Hamburger with sweet potato fries

References

^ "The 13 Best Local Food Chains In The Bay Area: SFist". SFist. 2017-06-29. Retrieved 2023-04-12.
^ "Gott's Roadside Now Serving Plant-Based, Meat-Like Impossible Burger". 25 July 2017.
^ "Eat Facing the Highway". Food & Wine. March 2002. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ Finz, Stacy (March 27, 2010). "Taylor's Refresher name change draws family ire". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2013-02-20.
^ "A Most Adult City Has Plenty of Appeal for the Young, Too". New York Times. May 1, 2005. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "Gott's Roadside expands to Palo Alto (ahi, anyone?)". The Mercury News. 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2020-08-12.
^ Lucchesi, Paolo (September 27, 2013). "Gott's Roadsite ready to open in Palo Alto". Inside Scoop SF. Retrieved 2013-09-30.
^ "JBF America's Classics". JamesBeard.org. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "Where to find bargain bites in San Francisco". USA TODAY. February 26, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "Taylor's Automatic Refresher". Bon Appétit. September 2005. Archived from the original on 2012-09-07. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "MENU, Urban Markets". Gourmet. February 2005. Archived from the original on 2013-01-25. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "Taylor's Automatic Refresher". Travel + Leisure. September 2004. Archived from the original on 2010-07-04. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "Kate Spade's Wine Country". Travel + Leisure. September 2004. Retrieved 2010-03-17.
^ "Issue 142". The Wine Advocate. August 31, 2002. Archived from the original on September 18, 2012. Retrieved 2010-03-17.