North Napa Inn Seeks Breakfast Partner

, next to the shuttered at Highway 29 and Trower Avenue in north Napa, has been offering its guests a continental breakfast since its abruptly in May.

But longtime hotel manager Jim Engstrom said providing the food means "extra work for the staff.

"We are doing what we can,” said Engstrom, who was left in the lurch when Callender's closed without warning.

For years, guests at John Muir Inn -- which promotes itself as having low room rates in the Wine Country -- received a breakfast voucher they could spend at Callender's, which shared a parking lot with the 60-room hotel.

The bankruptcy of the restaurant chain's parent company has left a breakfast void in north Napa: No single restaurant has stepped forward to fill the role Marie Callender’s played, Engstrom said.

He declined to say how much more it is costing the inn to provide breakfast rolls, muffins, juice, coffee and the like for its guests. He also declined to say where the food comes from.

Engstrom said he has not heard what is happening with the former Callender's site.

“Not a thing. Not a thing at all,” he said, adding “We have to take care of our guests.”

Engstrom said a couple of other have decided to open for breakfast. But none of them are offering meal discounts or working directly with his inn.

If no local restaurant can fill the guests' breakfast needs as Marie Callender’s did, hotel management “may have to rethink” serving up a morning meal to guests, Engstrom added.

A banner on the building that formerly housed Callender's names the real estate agent showing the space as Gil Marino, who has an office in the Burlingame/ Palo Alto area, according to his website.

Marino’s website also says he deals in commercial, retail and residential properties throughout the Bay Area.

Marino did not return a series of phone calls and emails from Napa Patch.