San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Finally, a Bay Area restaurant dedicated to breakfast tacos
Ray Ray’s brings a taste of Texas to Wine Country
The signature breakfast of Texas has landed in Wine Country. Ray Ray’s Tacos, the only restaurant dedicated to breakfast tacos in the Bay Area, opened recently in St. Helena at 1304 Main St.
The farmers market standout-turned-restaurant comes from chef-owner Rachel Williams, who moved to San Francisco from Austin, Texas, with her family. Upon arrival, she quickly realized that burritos abound, but her beloved breakfast tacos were nowhere to be found.
“It’s the thing we missed most about leaving Austin,” said Williams. “Breakfast burritos just didn’t cut it for me.”
Worse, despite their simplicity — typically scrambled eggs, cheese and a choice of meat in a flour tortilla — Bay Areans didn’t seem to know what breakfast tacos were. “They still called them burritos,” she said.
In 2019, after her family relocated to Napa Valley so she could attend the Culinary Institute of America, Williams debuted Ray Ray’s as a pop-up at the St. Helena Farmers Market. From the beginning, long lines formed at her booth where she was “cranking over 200 tacos” every Friday. She continued at the market for the past two years while renovations for the brick-and-mortar location, on the middle of St. Helena’s main drag, were underway.
Williams names her tacos after women from history and her family, even the Father Jan with refried beans, which is a nod to Williams’ mother’s nickname. The Dolores ($5), is Williams’ tribute to the Papas, Egg and Cheese with mashed potatoes from Tacodeli, her favorite Austin breakfast taco chain. The Debbie ($6) features shredded brisket, which is braised, rather than smoked.
The brisket is also in the Biddy ($7) — named after Biddy Mason, a nurse and philanthropist born into slavery — alongside a cucumber dill slaw, pomegranate seeds and cotija cheese. It’s one of Ray Ray’s lunch tacos, which don’t have scrambled eggs. Another lunch option is the Angelina ($7) with braised carnitas and pickled kumquats; Williams named it after Angelina Eberly, a little-known Texas heroine who fired a cannon in 1842 and effectively helped keep the state capitol in Austin.
After a lengthy search for a crucial component of her tacos, Williams settled on Lake County’s Tortilleria La Unica for sourcing handmade flour tortillas. Tacos can be customized
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle with four salsas of varying heat levels, which Williams makes from scratch (and has named for Beyonce lyrics).
Ray Ray’s menu also includes a salad, with the option to add fajita grilled chicken ($15), sides — guacamole, queso and black beans — and dessert, like espresso double chocolate chip cookies. Drink options include two Austin legends: Shiner Bock and Topo Chico. The counterservice restaurant offers all-day breakfast, lunch and brunch on Saturdays featuring special items like chilaquiles and churro pancakes. Williams plans to add dinner service later on.
In keeping with St. Helena’s posh vibe, the interior of Ray Ray’s looks like a sleek and modern taqueria with concrete floors, wood-paneled walls and teak picnic tables that seat 30. Williams also preserved several elements of the historic 130-yearold building, like the original
Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle
stone wall.
Ray Ray’s is the latest addition to an exciting food and wine renaissance in the small Napa Valley city. It follows Charlie’s, from French Laundry alum Elliot Bell; C29, the sister restaurant of Santa Monica’s famed Capo; Noma, a stunning cafe and design collective; and a gelato shop. The Model Bakery and Orin Swift tasting room recently reopened following extensive makeovers and the famously eccentric vintner Jean-Charles Boisset launched yet another one of his extravagant tasting rooms on St. Helena’s Main Street.