Healdsburg
This beloved tapas restaurant is part of the distinguished Stark restaurant chain and serves up Spanish cuisine, including the ever-popular paella, on…
Must-see restaurants in Napa & Sonoma Wine Country
Healdsburg
Top Chef Masters winner Douglas Keane's gastropub is perfect when you’re famished but don’t want to fuss. Expect simple classics – mac 'n' cheese, pulled…
Sonoma Valley
With a gurgling fountain on the back patio and glorious views onto the neighboring hills, this little Kenwood joint is an excellent value, its dishes made…
Napa Valley
Inside a converted arts-and-crafts house with cathedral ceiling and gorgeous woodwork, Goose & Gander has a clubby vibe conducive to drinking, excellent…
Russian River Area
Like its sister restaurant in Glen Ellen, this places serves up spectacular Indian and Nepali dishes, but unlike the Glen Ellen location, this one offers…
Napa Valley
This beloved taco truck operates out of the parking lot in front of the dive bar Pancha's, offering delicious tacos with fillings such as beef cheeks,…
Napa Valley
We love Market's big portions of simple, fresh American cooking, including hearty salads of local produce and soul-satisfying mains such as buttermilk…
Napa Valley
Wiggle your toes in the grass and feast on quality burgers – beef, turkey, ahi or veggie – plus Cobb salads and fish tacos at this classic roadside drive…
Sonoma
For a festive evening, book a garden table at this French-provincial bistro, with good small plates ($14 to $16), including steamed mussels with…
Napa Valley
French bistros by classical definition serve comfort food to weary travelers and that’s what French-born chef-owner Philippe Jeanty does here, with…
Napa Valley
Testing skills and knowledge they've picked up in culinary school, students serve prix-fixe meals at this elegant restaurant on the Culinary Institute of…
Napa Valley
An offspring of parent restaurant Ad Hoc, Thomas Keller's Addendum provides boxed lunches of finger-lickin' buttermilk-fried chicken, BBQ pork ribs and…
Sonoma Valley
Reputed to be the best Italian in town, this small restaurant offers up amazing home-made pasta. To do things right, bring your own bottle of wine and…
Bounty Hunter Wine Bar & Smokin' BBQ
Napa
Inside an 1888 grocery store, Bounty Hunter has an Old West vibe and superb barbecue, made with house-smoked meats. The standout 'beer-can chicken' is a…
Russian River Area
We love the farm-to-table ethos of Zazu – it grows its own pigs and sources everything locally – but some dishes miss and the industrial-style space gets…
Russian River Area
A superior Santa Rosa bakery, with delicious vegan banana-walnut cookies, three-cheese knishes and supernutritious lunches such as the 'warrior bowl,'…
Napa Valley
Yes, it’s part of a chain (Houston’s), but its bar at lunchtime provides a chance to rub shoulders with winemakers. The food is consistent – ribs,…
Sonoma Valley
The Fig’s earthy California-Provençal comfort food includes flash-fried calamari with spicy lemon aioli, fig and arugula salad and steak frites. Good wine…
Sonoma
The waiters have been here forever and the ‘specials’ rarely change, but Della Santina’s Italian-American cooking – linguini pesto, veal parmigiana,…
Sonoma
Inside a cozy 1836 adobe, this casual bistro uses local ingredients in its changing menu, with simple soul-satisfying dishes such as grilled Liberty Farm…
Russian River Area
Locally sourced ingredients inform the seasonal, Cali-smart cooking at this tiny, always-packed, New American bistro, with cheek-by-jowl tables that fill…
Russian River Area
K&L serves earthy provincial Cal-French bistro cooking in a convivial bar-and-grill space with sidewalk patio. Expect classics such as mussels and french…
Russian River Area
One of our favorite Alexander Valley stopovers, Jimtown is great for picnic supplies and sandwiches spread with housemade condiments. You can also forage…
Napa
This busy storefront wine bar and restaurant makes inventive, flavorful small plates, from simple skewers and flatbreads to elaborate ostrich burgers,…
Sonoma
This happening gastropub and beer garden takes its brews seriously with over a dozen of its own and guest beers on tap, served in type-appropriate…
Sonoma Valley
Inventive French place in downtown Petaluma, with an industrial-chic atmosphere and a delicious tender duck dish that comes with glazed radishes, turnips…
Russian River Area
Before wine-tasting in Dry Creek Valley, stop at this vintage general store where locals and cyclists gather for coffee on the creaky front porch. Perfect…
Calistoga
It looks like a white-tablecloth soda fountain, but All Seasons makes very fine meals, from a simple lasagna to composed dishes such as scallop, prawn,…
Russian River Area
Inside a converted 1903 railroad station, Hopmonk’s serves 76 varieties of beer – served in type-specific glassware – that pair with a good menu of…
Russian River Area
A country-Americana diner in a 19th-century grange, Cape Fear is visually charming, but it's erratic – except at weekend brunch when the kitchen makes…
Russian River Area
This unfussy cafe serves everything from grass-fed burgers to macrobiotic wraps, stir-fries to huevos rancheros (corn tortilla with fried egg and chili…
Sonoma Valley
Taste organic Sonoma and Marin cheeses, buy a scoop of lavender ice cream, or order a tri-tip barbecue sandwich or fresh spinach salad at this small…
Healdsburg
Ideal for lunch while wine tasting in Alexander Valley, Diavola makes outstanding salumi and thin-crust pizzas, served in an Old West, brick-walled space,…
Sonoma
Contemporary Portuguese cuisine is the focus at this just-off-the-plaza restaurant that serves excellent-value, proper sit-down meals, including a…
Napa Valley
The valley’s original and always-packed roadhouse makes platters of crowd-pleasing, wood-fired, California comfort food: roasted meats, lamb shanks, pork…
Calistoga
Locals crowd the outdoor beer garden on Sundays. Midweek we prefer the country dining room's big oakwood tables – a homey spot for simple American cooking…
Russian River Area
Pie’s the thing at this roadside bakery – and yum, that flaky crust. Apple is predictably good, especially in autumn, but the blueberry is our fave, made…
Russian River Area
Part general store, part cafe, Willow Wood serves knockout California comfort food such as smoked-trout salad, polenta with goat's cheese and roasted…
Calistoga
The sheriff dines at this indoor-outdoor barbecue joint, which serves smoky ribs, chicken, tri-tip steak and burgers, plus beer and wine. It closes early…
Napa
This lively gastropub, styled with reclaimed wood and tufted-leather banquettes, is good for a burger and beer. Great fries and plenty of seasonal…
