Sonoma County Restaurants You Might Not Know About

There are wineries and restaurants that keep showing up on the wine, food, and travel sites. "You've just got to eat at The Girl & The Fig!" While there's nothing wrong with The Girl & The Fig or any of the other couple dozen places getting all the write-ups, there are many other choices. Some lesser known spots that can be quite good and often less expensive. Some of these aren't so well known to travelers just because they are in locations that don't see as many visitors as towns like Healdsburg and Sonoma.

Catelli's homemade raviolis
Pair it with a local zinfandel

Cloverdale

Trading Post - They call themselves a California Cafe with a small, but decent, local beer and wine list.

Granted, if you're from out of the area the town of Cloverdale may not be on your radar, but if you are around there are a few good spots in this small town. It won't be as expensive or crowded as Healdsburg.

Geyserville

Catelli's - Owned by the third generation of the family, specializing in pasta and pizza with a very good list of local wines.

For a place with a block long downtown, there's a pretty nice selection of eateries here.

Forestville

Canneti - Cal-Italian using local ingredients.

Healdsburg

Agave - A Mexican taqueria, it's pretty authentic. Also, El Farolito and Guadalajara are very good.

Parish Cafe - Cajun & Creole. According to people I've talked with from Louisiana it's authentic.

If these don't work for you, there are dozens of excellent restaurants in Healdsburg. Prices are generally a bit higher than other, less touristy, towns.

Occidental

Negri's - Serving pretty much the same family-style Italian dinners for several decades. Come hungry. A long way from nowhere, but a local institution. Note that the other Negri's Restaurants in Santa Rosa are not as good as the original.

This tiny town has several good spots to eat.

Petaluma

This town is out of the way for most visitors and it's a shame. It has a nice downtown with easily a couple dozen restaurants worthy of your time. There's a lot of inspiration in the menus of many eateries here. Just Google something like "best restaurants in petaluma" and you'll get seafood, steaks, lots of Italian, etc. A good bar scene here, also.

Brewsters, Petaluma. A local favorite

Santa Rosa

Francettis' - Pizza, pasta, German, something for everybody. Wine and beer list is mostly European.

La Gare - They call themselves Swiss French. I call it excellent. Note it's not the typical California cuisine.  

Lococo's - Home style Italian.

Riviera - Family-run Cal-Italian.

Rosso - Wood-fired pizza and other goodies. Nice wine selection. A local favorite since it opened 15 years ago.

Toad in the Hole - English pub.

There must be 150 restaurants in Santa Rosa. You'll find something to your liking.

Sebastopol

Gravenstein Grill - California Grill. Food and wine selections are top-notch.

Sonoma

The Depot - Italian

El Molino Central - A favorite spot of the locals.

As the San Francisco Chronicle put it in 2017,
"El Molino Central in Sonoma Delivers the Bay Area's Best Mexican Food."

Yes, you'll find lots of Italian and Mexican eateries because that's the history of the area. This is only a smattering of what's available in Sonoma County's vast restaurant scene.