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Farm-to-table Modern American cuisine is the prevalent style in the Napa Valley and Sonoma County, but this encompasses both the delicate preparations of Yountville’s Thomas Keller, whose restaurants include The French Laundry, and the upscale comfort food served throughout the Wine Country. The quality (and hype) often means high prices, but you can find appealing, inexpensive eateries, especially in Napa, Calistoga, Sonoma, and Santa Rosa.
Iron Chef star Masaharu Morimoto is the big name behind this downtown Napa restaurant where everything is delightfully over the top, including the desserts. Organic materials such as twisting grapevines above the bar and rough-hewn wooden tables seem earthy yet modern, creating a fitting setting for the gorgeously plated Japanese fare, from straightforward sashimi to more elaborate seafood, chicken, pork, and beef entrées.
The owner of this bright storefront restaurant and marketplace across from Sonoma Plaza's southern edge escorts her customers on a round-the-world journey via street-food mashups like tandoori “tacos” on naan and healthful “blue zone” salads for lunch, retaining many of these items for “supper,” which might also include berbere-spiced chicken thighs. The through line on the dishes is that all are baked (nothing’s deep fried), their ingredients from reputable purveyors employing sustainable growing practices.
Cindy Pawlcyn’s restaurant fills day and night with fans of her hearty cuisine, equal parts updated renditions of traditional American dishes—what Pawlcyn dubs "deluxe truck stop classics"—and fanciful contemporary fare. Barbecued baby back pork ribs and a lemon-lime tart piled high with brown-sugar meringue fall squarely in the first category, and sweet corn tamales with tomatillo-avocado salsa represent the latter.
Bookended by culinary gardens and constructed of corrugated-metal former shipping containers, redwoods felled by wildfires, and other recycled materials, this 3½-acre open-air hangout has a block-party feel, especially at weekend brunch or when area musicians perform. The gardens (like the restaurant temporarily occupying a site slated for development into a hotel-commercial complex) inspire the seasonal comfort-food menu, with staples like fish tacos, grilled chicken wings, and plant-based variations appearing year-round.
An architecturally significant century-old bank now houses the Nimble & Finn's artisanal ice cream parlor and a small room with historical Guerneville displays. Along with cups and cones of ice cream handmade from local organic dairy products, the shop sells cakes, candy, shakes, floats, and coffee drinks.
Built in 1881 as a general store, Oakville Grocery carries high-end groceries and prepared foods. On summer weekends, customers stocking up on picnic provisions—meats, cheeses, breads, pizzas, and gourmet sandwiches—pack the place, but during the week it serves as a mellow pit stop to sip an espresso out front, picnic out back, or taste wines at Oakville Wine Merchant next door.
Chef-owner and Napa native Tyler Rodde is ever on the lookout for fresh produce to incorporate into his rustic southern Italian cuisine. His restaurant, a brick-walled contemporary space with tall windows and wooden tables, is a lively spot to sample thin-crust pizzas and house-made salumi and pasta.
Chef David Bush, who achieved national recognition for his food pairings at St. Francis Winery, owns this tavernlike small-plates restaurant inside an 1890s storefront that incorporates materials reclaimed from the building's prior incarnations. Starters often include oysters, ceviche, and deviled eggs with Dungeness crab and homemade yellow curry, meant to be enjoyed before moving on to barbecued pork ribs, shrimp and cheesy grits, Moroccan-spiced salmon, and similar items.
Best for lunch but also open for dinner, Palooza pleases with many beers on tap, jazzed-up pub grub, and an often-packed covered outdoor patio. Pulled-pork and crispy chicken sandwiches and beer-battered fish and fries are among the popular items, with prawn and braised beef tacos and shredded kale salads with sliced apples for those seeking lighter fare.
A few blocks south of Healdsburg Plaza at the busy roundabout, Parish's chefs whip up beignets, gumbo, muffulettas, and heapin' po'boys—from fried oyster, shrimp, and catfish to roast beef, turkey, and ham and cheese—along with other New Orleans delights. Borderline decadent breakfasts served inside a white-trimmed yellow house or on its patio include bananas Foster French toast, egg po'boys, and the crawfish and andouille omelet slathered in Creole sauce.
Tourists and local loyalists mingle at this restaurant whose perpetually in-motion chefs fry, barbecue, and smoke their way through a Southern-tinged menu that also includes Italian chicken soup and vinegar chicken. The baby back ribs, fried-chicken sandwich, cheddar-cheese burger, wedge salad, deviled eggs, and fried pickles score high with patrons, who somehow make room for the Q lime pie, brown-butter chocolate brownie, and other desserts.
As the name suggests, the chefs at this restaurant with an expansive patio often packed on weekends are willing to experiment, starting with sushi plates that include spicy hiramasa (yellowtail kingfish) rolls with rainbow-trout caviar. Cedar-plank salmon, wild-mushroom meat loaf, the buttermilk fried chicken sandwich topped with Swiss, and a slow-roasted pork sandwich served with coleslaw are perennial favorites.
Inside a tall-ceilinged, brick-walled, industrial-looking space with reclaimed wood from a coastal building backing the bar, the chefs at Ramen Gaijin turn out richly flavored ramen bowls brimming with pork belly, wood ear mushrooms, seaweed, and other well-proportioned ingredients. Izakaya (Japanese pub grub) dishes like donburi (meat and vegetables over rice) are another specialty, like the ramen containing mostly local proteins and produce.
Regionally farmed fish and other foraged and cultivated Northern California ingredients go into seasonal plates, turned out in an open kitchen that faces a bar serving large-format cocktails and wines by up-and-coming producers and Wine Country mainstays. St. Helena–based designer Erin Martin supplied the mildly offbeat interiors, though most patrons dine on the Tuscan-theme courtyard patio in good weather.
Crystal chandeliers and fountains worthy of a French château supply the pizzazz at Restoration Hardware's street-side café, and the all-day menu's starters (charcuterie, crispy artichokes, burrata with charred peppers and sourdough), salads, and mains (from a burger modeled on one from Chicago's Au Cheval restaurant to whole grilled branzino) easily live up to it. The prosciutto is flown in from Italy, the greens are ever-so-fresh, and the plating impresses.
The makers of Pliny the Elder and Younger operate this cavernous brewpub with a vast lawn and outdoor patio on the site of their state-of-the-art brewing facility. Choose among 20 beers on tap to wash down beer-compatible pub grub—chicken wings with Pliny sauce, a malted-bacon burger with cheddar fondue, fish-and-chips, sliders and sandwiches, and a few salads.
Dark-wood walls, subdued lighting, and red-leather banquettes make for a perpetually clubby mood at this Rutherford hangout whose patio bar is a popular spot for drinks and appetizers. Many of the entrées served inside—steaks, burgers, fish, rotisserie chicken, and barbecued pork ribs—emerge from an oak-fired grill operated by master technicians.
The menu at this upscale roadhouse with a sloping wood-beamed ceiling focuses on seafood and meat—beef, lamb, chicken, duck, and other options—with many dishes in both categories grilled. Start with the classics, perhaps a martini and oysters Rockefeller or fried calamari, before moving on to well-plated entrées that might include crispy-skin salmon, wine-braised short ribs, a duck confit Cobb salad, or grilled rib eye.
Tourists, locals, and spa guests—some of the latter in bathrobes after treatments—assemble inside this casual resort restaurant or on its extensive patio for breakfast, lunch, bar snacks, or dinner. Lunch options include thin-crust pizzas, sandwiches, a cheddar burger, and entrées such as chicken paillard, with the burger reappearing for dinner along with fish, steak, the house-made pasta of the day, and similar fare.
The roadhouse decor—corrugated-metal walls, Mexican-tile floor, thick-wooden-slab tables, neon beer signs, and Edison bulbs hanging by ropes from the tall ceiling—contribute to this chipper soul food restaurant's let's-party ambience. Crispy fried catfish, buttermilk fried chicken, barbecued pork ribs, and the Yabba Dabba hunk of beef on a single bone top the entrée list; "lighter" fare includes several sandwiches and sides like deep-fried chicken skin with hot sauce.
Join Peruvian locals enjoying a taste of back home at this strip-mall restaurant whose name means "flavor" or "seasoning." Several ceviche appetizers—including one with ponzu sauce for a Japanese twist—show the range of tastes the chefs conjure up, as do the empanadas, lomo saltado (steak and fries), and arroz con mariscos, a velvety, turmeric-laced seafood paella.
The initials in this open-air mall bistro's name stand for "Southeast Asian," reflecting the cuisines beyond Thailand's the chef prepares. Glass chandeliers of jellyfish and schools of fish glow softly above patrons who sit at dark-wood tables, the rectangular onyx bar, or on the patio, enjoying comfort food like spring rolls and "street fair" rice noodles with chicken, bacon, and vegetables before moving on to distinctively spiced entrées.
Decorated in shades of brown and white and softly lit at night, the Grille is the type of spot where old-schoolers start a meal by washing down oysters on the half shell with a stiff gin martini or cut to the chase with vodka oyster shooters. The menu at lunch and dinner covers all the bases with grilled, baked, or roasted beef, lamb, pork, chicken, and fish dishes, plus risotto and pasta plates.
The chefs at this casual-contemporary, wide-windowed restaurant in downtown Forestville prepare two types of pizzas—thicker pies cooked in a wood-fired oven and thinner ones with cold-fermented dough baked in an electric oven. Tapas, meatballs, salads like the seasonal burrata-and-beets, and other small plates are among the non-pizza alternatives.
The versatile chef of this concrete-and-glass grazing spot anchoring the SOFA Santa Rosa Arts District satisfies her diverse devotees with American standards and playful variations on international cuisines. The dishes change often but might include a duck liver mousse or mushroom crepe appetizer and entrées like vegetable cassoulet, pasta with Bolognese sauce, flat-iron steak, and trout with French lentils.
Joel Gott of nearby Gott's Roadside purchased a downtown gas station and kept the pumps humming, spiffing up the interior retro style and adding shaded outdoor seating. Start the day with quiche, a chipotle bacon and egg biscuit, or avocado-and-egg or smoked-salmon toast, or drop by for lunch sandwiches, salads, and by-the-slice pizzas.
An offshoot of nearby Stellina Pronto! Italian bakery, café, and pizzeria (23 Kentucky Street), this storefront deli, market, and bottle shop sells salads, sandwiches, artisanal cheese and charcuterie boards, and bruschettas that might seem a little pricey until it dawns on you how good everything is. Order your meal to go or enjoy at one of the few tables.
Whimsical art and brightly painted walls set a jolly tone at this casual eatery whose assets include the verdant rear patio. Waffles, eggs Benedict and ham on a Model Bakery English muffin, and the soft-scramble buttermilk biscuit sandwich are among the breakfast hits, with grilled cheese sandwiches done four ways (traditional, chicken avocado, smoked ham, and Waygu steak) and a kale and chicken Caesar salad steady crowd-pleasers at lunch.
The owner-chef at this industrial-looking high-ceilinged spot pushes the envelope with crowd-pleasers like the 15-spice spare ribs with hoisin barbecue sauce and salmon tartare tacos with crispy wonton shells. He and his team also present sushi classics with style, the intricacy enticing as much as the freshness of the primarily local ingredients.
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