Downtown Napa has a new kind of weekend scene, and it comes with shrimp and grits. Lil Sista’s Goody’s, a full-service soul food restaurant opened by cousins Ann Groux and Sheneen Brown, is serving Louisiana staples like shrimp and grits, oxtails and a big Sunday buffet on Main Street. Diners and local reporters say the spot has quickly turned into a buzzy addition to the city’s dining map.
KTVU FOX 2 aired a feature today, spotlighting the cousins’ story and describing Lil Sista’s as “Napa’s first and only female-minority owned soul food restaurant.” The segment showed a lively dining room, music in the background and a crowded Sunday buffet, underscoring how the owners say community and culture sit at the heart of the business.
Early praise from critics
A December 2024 review in The Press Democrat praised the shrimp and grits and oxtails and highlighted the Sunday buffet as a signature draw. The paper also noted the owners’ claim that Lil Sista’s is the city’s first female- and minority-owned soul food restaurant, adding that its reporters could not find a clear predecessor in Napa’s restaurant history.
Owners and roots
According to the restaurant’s website at Lil Sista’s Goody’s, Groux and Brown built the concept after years of catering and pop-up events under the name Catered With Class, bringing family recipes from Louisiana into a permanent storefront. The site traces the Lil Sista’s name to the women who raised them and lays out weekly specials, private-event rental options and booking rules that many diners now factor in when planning visits.
What “first” means here
That “first” label carries some weight in a wine-country city where Southern soul food has not been a regular presence on downtown menus. The Press Democrat reported that its team found little evidence of full-service soul food restaurants previously operating in Napa, which helps explain why this opening has stood out to local diners.
Menu and reservations
The kitchen sticks to classic Southern comfort with a California touch, with dishes like six-cheese mac and cheese, mascarpone mashed potatoes, gumbo, deviled-egg flights and a shrimp-and-grits entrée that reviewers repeatedly single out. As outlined on the business’s booking pages, the restaurant runs a time-limited Sunday buffet, asks for reservations for larger parties and requires a deposit and 20 percent gratuity for groups to help manage demand. The schedule and booking details are listed on the menu section of Lil Sista’s Goody’s.
Local reaction
Review aggregators and directory listings point to steady interest. Customers frequently praise the atmosphere and often describe the food as worth the wait. Local review pages compiled by map and directory sites collect positive comments about service and the weekend brunch scene, which has helped keep those weekend seats full. MapQuest lists hours, contact details and user reviews for anyone looking to check out the basics before heading over…