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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.
Tabletop linens and lights softly twinkling from this ruby-red roadhouse restaurant's low wooden ceiling raise expectations the Parisian-style bistro cuisine consistently exceeds. A starter of cheeses or French onion soup awakens the palate for entrées like chicken cordon bleu, steak au poivre, or seafood dishes that might include scallops in a rich yet somehow delicate gastrique or subtly sauced wild Alaskan halibut.
First in a historic roadside haunt that perished in the 2017 wildfires and now in a strip mall location more urbane than its exterior suggests, Willi's serves inventive globe-trotting small plates paired with international wines. Pork-belly pot stickers represent Asia, the Mediterranean inspires Tunisian roasted local carrots and Moroccan-style lamb chops, and curried crab tacos straddle two, maybe three, continents.
The owners of Willi's Seafood, Bravas Bar de Tapas, and other Sonoma County favorites operate this "modern tavern" serving global bar bites and comfort food in a multiroom, nostalgic yet contemporary space that evokes home, hearth, and good cheer. Shrimp wontons, matzo-ball soup, Cobb salad, pork belly, and skirt steak all go well with the wines, craft cocktails, and artisanal beers and ciders.
The menu at this homage to Jewish delicatessens plays the greatest hits—blintzes, latkes, lox, chopped liver, and knishes, plus pastrami, corned beef, and Reuben sandwiches all on house-made breads—but mashes things up with chicken shawarma kebabs, fish-and-chips, and other atypical deli dishes. It's all executed with panache, and the retro-eclectic decor (black-and-white ceramic tile floors, colorful tropical-bird-print wallpaper, chunky stone fireplace) feels nostalgic yet of the moment.
A dress-up multiroom special-occasion establishment that debuted in 1980, John Ash bills itself as Sonoma County's first farm-to-table restaurant, but its legacy extends even further: the namesake founder, no longer involved, was among several pioneering Wine Country chefs who tailored their cuisine to the region's wines. Though eclipsed as a destination restaurant by rivals in Healdsburg and elsewhere, this remains a worthy stop for well-crafted dishes like rack of lamb, pan-seared dayboat scallops, and brick chicken.
Ask local wine pourers where to get the best pizza, and they'll often recommend Rosso, a sprawling strip-mall restaurant whose chefs hold center stage in the large open kitchen. Two perennial Neapolitan-style pizza favorites are the Moto Guzzi, with house-smoked mozzarella and spicy Caggiano sausage, and the Funghi di Limone, with oven-roasted mixed mushrooms and Taleggio and fontina cheese.
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.
The low lighting, well-spaced tables, and gas fireplaces at this Railroad Square Historic District restaurant create a congenial setting for dining on steak, raw-bar seafood, and sustainable fish. With entrées including 20-ounce prime rib and dry-aged rib eye—plus a shareable 56-ounce rib eye—there's no chance meat eaters will depart unsated, and nonsteak options like ahi tuna tartare and tamarind barbecue prawns surpass those at your average temple to beef.
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. Separated on the menu into three main categories—ocean, garden, and pasture, each with a selection of appetizers, salads, and entrées—the dishes change often but might include trout with French lentils, hanger steak with kale gratin, Tuscan-style St. Louis ribs, and mushroom hand pie with leeks and ricotta.
A Cali take on a Peruvian cevicheria, this downtown Santa Rosa restaurant with exposed-brick walls and a dizzying tile floor beguiles patrons with nimbly spiced ceviches, empanadas, and other starters that demand one of the two-dozen citrusy craft cocktails on offer. The mains include classics like steak and fries, bean stew, paella, a few pasta dishes, and shredded chicken in a yellow pepper sauce.
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