Restaurants You Should Book in the Next 60 Days

Juju's — French-Moroccan Pop-up at Acorn Cafe

Chef Jason Pringle — formerly of Healdsburg's Montage — is running a French-Moroccan dinner pop-up in the Acorn Cafe space right on the plaza, Thursday through Sunday after the cafe closes. The menu draws from his grandmother Juju's recipes, shaped by Morocco under the French protectorate: lamb shank tagine with ras el hanout, apricots and almonds; poulet rôti with harissa potatoes and petit pois; cheese cappelletti with beet, mint and Meyer lemon; a grilled Caesar with grated mimolette; and creative cocktails including a Marrakech Garden and Atlas Spritz. Covered by The Press Democrat the week it opened.

• No reservations listed — walk in or check Instagram for booking details
• Patio dining on Healdsburg Plaza with a full Moroccan-spiced menu — nothing else like it in the county right now

Folia Bar & Kitchen — Appellation Healdsburg

Reed Palmer runs the kitchen at Appellation Healdsburg with a three-course prix fixe leaning hard on Sonoma sourcing — Mt. Lassen trout, Mary's chicken, estate garden vegetables, seasonal pastas. One of the most striking new resort properties in Wine Country, and the kitchen is earning its place in the county's top tier. The Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience uses this venue May 14–17 — a good way to see the space at its most charged.

• Good for a special-occasion dinner that doesn't feel stiff or formal
• The rooftop bar program and panoramic plaza views are strong on their own

Folia Bar & Kitchen — Appellation Healdsburg

Reed Palmer runs the kitchen at Appellation Healdsburg with a three-course prix fixe leaning hard on Sonoma sourcing — Mt. Lassen trout, Mary's chicken, estate garden vegetables, seasonal pastas. Pigs & Pinot used Appellation as its venue for the 2026 edition (March 20–21), confirming the property's arrival as a major Healdsburg destination. The resort itself is one of the most striking new properties in Wine Country and the kitchen is earning its place in the top tier.

• Good pick for a special-occasion dinner that doesn't feel stiff
• The bar program and panoramic views are strong on their own
• Note: Pigs & Pinot used this venue — the next big event here is the Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience May 14–17

Jordan Winery — Spring & Summer Events

The March 27 Spring Collaboration Dinner has passed, but Jordan's event calendar runs strong through summer — Spring Yoga and Breakfast in the Vines (April), Afternoon Tea in the remodeled dining room (May 8 and 9), and Sunset Supper at Vista Point (June 20). Restrained, seasonal food, Jordan wine poured correctly, one of the most beautiful properties in the Alexander Valley. Upcoming events are for Jordan Estate Rewards members; tickets go fast.

• Afternoon Tea May 8–9 is the next accessible entry point — elegant but not stiff
• Sunset Supper at Vista Point (June 20) is a bucket-list Alexander Valley evening

Bricoleur Vineyards — Savoring Spring Dinner

Executive Chef Todd Knoll's multi-course spring dinner on one of the most beautiful properties in northern Sonoma County is sold out for April 4 — but Bricoleur runs a full calendar of dinners and events through the season. Check the events page for upcoming dates. If you can get on a waitlist, do it — the estate at golden hour and a Todd Knoll tasting menu is a very good spring evening.

• April 4 dinner sold out — check events page for next available dinner
• The estate is also bookable for private events and overnight stays

The Matheson — Taste of Alexander Valley Dinner

Four courses. Five Alexander Valley winemakers. Forty guests. Dustin Valette cooks in his rooftop kitchen with one of the best views in Healdsburg. The easiest book-it-now card on this list.

• Forty seats means you actually talk to the winemakers — that is the whole point
• Roof 106 rooftop bar is a strong add-on before or after

Passport to Dry Creek Valley

Three days, 50-plus wineries, 30-plus grape varieties, celebrity chefs, local food bites, and live music across one of California's most beautiful wine valleys. Zinfandel is the anchor but the food program has gotten seriously good. Sells out every year — buy tickets now.

• No door tickets — buy ahead or miss it
• Preferred hotel: Hotel Trio, 10% off with code PASSPORT10

Barndiva Pink Party

Every spring, Barndiva opens its garden for rosé, small bites, live music, and flowers. The food has always earned the setting — this is not a backdrop restaurant. One of the most reliably fun spring evenings in Healdsburg.

• Good for birthdays, anniversaries, or a great spring Saturday
• The garden is the best outdoor dining room in Healdsburg

John Ash at Vinarosa — Mother's Day Brunch

Vineyard views, seasonal seafood, prime rib, and a dessert spread that holds its own. The clean, polished answer for Mother's Day in Sonoma County. Book now — this fills by mid-April.

• Book early — this fills well ahead of the day
• The vineyard setting makes everything feel right

Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience

The fifth annual Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience runs four days — Welcome Reception at Appellation Healdsburg with chefs Maneet Chauhan and Duskie Estes, a Beringer 150-year anniversary seminar, and Sunday's Pizza & Pinot Party at Copain Wines with Joe Sasto and Ari Weiswasser. Over 150 wines poured, Sonoma County at peak spring. Tickets on sale now.

• Reserve Lounge at The Matheson Rooftop runs all weekend
• Individual events sell out weeks before — buy early

Bistro Lagniappe

Chef Jacob Harth took over the embattled Campo Fina/Molti Amici space and turned it into one of Healdsburg's best new rooms of 2025. Wood-fired farmhouse cooking on Sonoma County ingredients — pasture-raised meats, line-caught fish, regenerative farm produce. McFarland Springs trout, lamb cassoulet, roast chicken. The bocce patio is still there.

• Rockfish dumplings in concentrated lobster bisque are already a signature
• Book ahead on weekends — the heated patio fills fast

Acorn Cafe

Chef Beryl Adler opened this all-day breakfast and lunch cafe in the old Oakville Grocery space right on the Healdsburg Plaza in 2024 and filled a genuine void. The tiramisu French toast with whipped mascarpone and coffee ice cream is the headliner. Huevos rancheros, a banh mi-inspired fried chicken sandwich, shakshuka with eggplant and pistachio tapenade, rosé on tap in the afternoon. First come, first served — the dog-friendly patio fills fast but the indoor room is large. Note: Thu–Sun evenings the space transforms into Juju's, the French-Moroccan pop-up from chef Jason Pringle.

• Tiramisu French toast is the order — unambiguously the right call on a first visit
• Open Mondays — one of the best breakfast options on the plaza any day of the week

Troubadour / Le Dîner

By day, Troubadour is a sourdough bakery and sandwich counter — the bread comes from the same team behind Quail & Condor, and the sandwiches are exactly as good as you'd expect. By night, Thursday through Sunday, the space transforms into Le Dîner: a 20-seat French-California tasting menu restaurant run by ex-SingleThread chef de cuisine Sean McGaughey and pastry chef Melissa Yanc. Michelin-listed. Seven-course prix fixe in the main room, 11-course Chef's Table in a private study stocked with vintage cookbooks and a record player. Menu changes with the season and is built around Sonoma County farms. Prepaid reservation through Tock only — $125 per person.

• The Chef's Table (11 courses, private study) is one of the most singular dinner experiences in the county
• Bakery sandwiches are excellent and require no reservation — a daytime walk-in worth making on any day

Folia Bar & Kitchen — Appellation Healdsburg

Reed Palmer's three-course prix fixe at Appellation Healdsburg — Mt. Lassen trout, Mary's chicken, seasonal pastas, estate garden sourcing. One of the most striking new resort tables in Wine Country. See the Short List card above for full detail.

Valette

Ten years in and still the most reliably excellent dinner table in Healdsburg. The tasting menu rotates around an estate farm plot 100 yards from the restaurant. Spring means asparagus, fava beans, and early stone fruit on this menu. The scallops en croute in Champagne beurre blanc has been a signature dish for a decade for a reason.

• Groups of seven or more commit to the five-course chef's tasting
• Spring is the right first-visit season — the farm drives the best dishes

SingleThread

Three Michelin stars, five consecutive years. The full tasting journey built around SingleThread Farm's estate gardens. Spring — asparagus, fava beans, early garden herbs — drives some of the kitchen's most beautiful work of the year. There is no other room in Sonoma County where you feel this much intentionality in every single course.

• April reservations open April 1 — May reservations open May 1
• Set a calendar reminder and move quickly when the window opens

Baci Cafe & Wine Bar

The warm, pretty Healdsburg table that does not get enough attention. Rotating seasonal menu, a wine list leaning on small Sonoma producers, and a room that feels like a celebration before the first bite. Spring means asparagus, spring onions, and fresh chèvre doing serious work here.

• Good for a date night, small celebration, or solo bar dinner
• The best Monday dinner answer in downtown Healdsburg

Little Saint

100% plant-based restaurant, coffee bar, cocktail lounge, and live performance venue in one downtown building. Spring menus built on early citrus, strawberries, and Sonoma County farm produce. Works for groups that mix omnivores and plant-eaters without drama — the cocktail program is strong enough that nobody feels like a second-class citizen.

• Check the spring lineup before you go — events book fast
• Open Mondays when most of Healdsburg is dark

Jimtown Store

The historic 1895 country store and deli tucked into the vines of Alexander Valley on Highway 128. Fresh-prepared food, homebaked goods, great coffee, local products, and the famous chocolate pudding that people drive out of their way for. Not a restaurant — an institution. The perfect anchor for any Alexander Valley wine day.

• Open Mondays — one of the only quality food stops in the valley on Mondays
• Pack a sandwich and eat among the vines on the way to or from a tasting

Stella

Ari Weiswasser (Glen Ellen Star) and chef de cuisine Bryant Minuche opened this Italian-California room in the old Cafe Citti space on Highway 12 in March 2025. The pasta program is the reason to go — Roman tonnarelli, lumache with spring pea pesto and morels, rigatoncini Bolognese, all made daily. The wood-fired hearth handles whole fish, chicken, and steak. The mozzarella bar (burrata with brown butter walnuts and 12-year aged balsamic) is its own argument for going. The Baked Gelaska is one of the great spring desserts in the county.

• Open every night of the week including Mondays — exceptional on the Sonoma Valley corridor
• Pork chop Milanese with Meyer lemon-caper sauce is the meat order

Poppy

The Girl & The Fig's Sondra Bernstein and John Toulze transformed the old Fig Café into this French countryside room in May 2025 — one of the year's best openings. Crispy poulet rôti with vin jaune jus, Coquilles Saint-Jacques with pork rillons and pastis, asparagus salad with local strawberries and lemon curd, and a bread service with duck liver mousse. Family-style prix fixe dinners Wednesday through Friday include wine in the price.

• The asparagus salad with Sonoma strawberries is spring on a plate right now
• Wed–Fri prix fixe includes wine — good value

Glen Ellen Star

Ari Weiswasser's original Glen Ellen room — the wood-fired table that put the Sonoma Valley back on the serious food map. Brick chicken with parsley and lemon, whole branzino, ember-roasted vegetables, and deceptively simple seasonal dishes. Much of the produce comes from a farm directly behind the restaurant.

• The brick chicken and tomato pie are the orders
• Good companion to Stella for a two-night Sonoma Valley food loop

Enclos

Chef Brian Limoges (Quince, Atelier Crenn, Birdsong) opened Enclos inside a restored 1880 Victorian half a block from Sonoma Plaza in late 2024 and earned two Michelin stars and a Green Star in its first year — one of the most stunning debuts in California fine dining in recent memory. The 11-course tasting menu is grounded in Stone Edge Farm's organic gardens with nods to New England and Japan. Reservations open on Tock every two months and sell out in minutes.

• Single seating only — no rush to vacate, which is rare at this level
• Set a Tock alert for the next reservation window opening

Bijou

Chef Stéphane Saint Louis (Michelin-recognized Table Culture Provisions) opened this French bistro in the former Easy Rider space in June 2025. Steak frites with sauce au poivre, cod brandade croquettes, duck with orange sauce, and gâteau St. Honoré from pastry chef Sylvain Parsy. Serious food in a casual room. Open almost every night of the week including Mondays.

• Open Mondays — almost unique at this quality level in the county
• Note: 5% staff service charge automatically added

Table Culture Provisions

The Michelin-recognized 7-course tasting menu from chefs Stéphane Saint Louis and Steven Vargas in a small downtown Petaluma space. Hyper-seasonal California cuisine walking between comfort and haute cuisine. The menu changes constantly, the room feels like a dinner party, and this is one of the best value tasting menus in the county. Social Hour Wed–Thu 4–6 PM offers à la carte at approachable prices.

• Reservations strongly recommended — the dining room is tiny
• Social Hour is the easier entry point on a Wednesday or Thursday

Seared

Petaluma's go-to for steak, seafood, barrel-aged cocktails, and a happy hour that locals treat as a standing appointment. Beeman Ranch beef, line-caught halibut, and a wine list leaning heavily on Sonoma County producers. The hanger steak with truffled parmesan frites is the order.

• Happy hour Tue–Sun — a genuine local institution
• Stemple Creek grass-fed burger is one of the better bar burgers in the county

Della Fattoria

The family-owned Petaluma bakery whose bread shows up on half the menus in this guide. Breakfast and lunch available daily. The rosemary boule and wood-fired breads are reasons to detour off the 101. This is where both Stéphane Saint Louis and the TCP team did their early training.

• A good Monday breakfast or lunch stop on a Petaluma day
• The bread alone justifies the visit

The Shuckery

Bohemian "Best Restaurant for Oysters" two years running, inside the historic Hotel Petaluma. Chef Matt Meyer and owner Jazmine Lalicker run an oyster-forward room with a wine list that won "Best in Sonoma County." Spring is peak season for Tomales Bay oysters — order widely. Bar seats 18 first-come if dinner fills.

• Spring is peak season for clean bay oysters — the best time to visit
• Bar walk-in is a strong option when the dining room fills

Lagunitas Brewing Company

The flagship Lagunitas taproom in Petaluma — open-air seating, live music calendar, rotating one-off brews from the on-site Disorderly House brewhouse, and a food program that punches above taproom expectations. Line-caught fish, grass-fed beef, Rocky free-range chicken. Bring the dog. Spring is one of the best seasons to be in this outdoor space.

• Brewery tours available — book ahead
• Jumbo Bavarian pretzel and smoked chicken wings are the food orders

Rosso Pizzeria & Wine Bar — Santa Rosa

The beloved Sonoma Plaza original expanded to Santa Rosa in fall 2025. Same wood-fired pizza program — and a fried chicken with smashed potatoes and caramelized pancetta that is already among the best casual bites in the county. Good salads, a thoughtful wine list, and a price point that makes it an easy weeknight yes.

• Fried chicken with mashed potatoes and pancetta is the order on a first visit
• Fungi limone pizza and the margherita alongside

Augie's French

Mark and Terri Stark's lively French bistro on 4th Street. Steak frites, mussels, classic bistro sauces, and a room built for date nights and small groups. The wine list tilts French and local, which is exactly right for a bistro in Wine Country.

• Good for downtown Santa Rosa energy at its most fun
• The Stark team runs consistent operations — service holds up

Bird & The Bottle

The Santa Rosa table for shareable plates, a busy bar, and wood-fired cooking. Spring means lighter preparations — grilled vegetables, quick-seared fish, and good acid in everything. Best with a group that wants to order widely and pass everything around the table.

• Good mix of comfort and surprise on the menu every visit
• The bar stays lively through the week

Goldfinch

Modern American bistro cooking around an open wood fire in Sebastopol's Livery on Main. Chef Rodrigo Mendoza kept the exposed brick of the old K&L Bistro and added an open kitchen that anchors the room. Seasonal, local, polished without being stiff. One of the strongest additions to the Sebastopol dining scene in years.

• Works for both lunch and dinner
• Good pick for a Sebastopol weekday that doesn't feel like a compromise

Acre Pasta

House-made pasta every morning, honest prices, rotating menu that takes the produce seriously. Spaghetti with Sunday red sauce is $12. The lumache with porcini cream is the sleeper hit. Honest prices in a region where they are increasingly rare. Watch for Acre Pizza's Healdsburg location at The Row, still expected this spring.

• Easy casual lunch or early dinner stop after The Barlow
• Acre Pizza Healdsburg still expected at The Row this spring

Fern Bar

Modern American food, zero-proof cocktails, spirits, and live music in a plant-filled Barlow room. The zero-proof program is one of the best in the county for non-drinkers in a mixed group — thoughtful, not remedial. Spring menus pull from Sonoma farms.

• Best if part of your group wants excellent non-alcoholic drinks
• Easy to stretch a 3 PM arrival into a full dinner

Ramen Gaijin

A Sonoma County ramen shop and izakaya built around house-made noodles and a seasonal menu that takes local farms seriously. The broth tastes like someone spent two days on it. Spring brings lighter, brighter bowls alongside the deeper anchors.

• Happy hour 2:30–4:30 PM — a good deal on a cool spring afternoon
• Izakaya small plates worth ordering alongside the bowl

Underwood Bar and Bistro

The longtime West County anchor in the tiny village of Graton — steak frites, flatbreads, a serious bar, and an easy stop on the way to or from the coast. The flat iron steak frites with mushroom-shallot butter and chipotle sauce is a dish that has earned its place on the permanent menu.

• Good stop on any Bodega Bay or Sebastopol day
• The bar is a neighborhood institution with a wine list that tilts local

Grata Italian Eatery

Chef-owner Eric Foster's Italian kitchen is one of the most underappreciated rooms in north Sonoma County. House-made gnudi, burrata with preserved lemon honey, caramelized pear and endive bruschetta. The pasta program is serious. Also watch for Foster's forthcoming casual saloon-style pub at the old Windsor Brewery — expected this spring or summer.

• Strong pick when Healdsburg feels too expensive or crowded
• New Windsor Brewery pub from the same team still coming

BaSo Annex (Bazaar Sonoma)

After a devastating fire hit the original Bazaar Sonoma in fall 2025, chef Sean Quan and Jenny Phan opened an interim cafe with their best dishes — zhong dumplings with house chili crisp, Taiwan braised pork rice, mapo tofu, beef noodle soup, Shanghai soup dumplings. Prices are a genuine bargain at $9–$24. One of the most interesting kitchens in the county at the most honest price point in the county.

• Zhong dumplings with house chili crisp are required eating
• Toothpick beef with peanuts and gai lan with garlic-sesame are the other orders

Farmhouse Inn Restaurant

Breaking change this week: following its acquisition by Bill Foley's Foley Entertainment Group, the Farmhouse Inn has stepped away from the Michelin-starred tasting menu format that defined it under chefs Steve Litke and Craig Wilmer. New chef Julio Aguilera now runs an upscale à la carte menu — burrata with greens, Caesar salad, grilled broccolini with prosciutto, steak with pommes purée and lobster butter, roasted chicken, salmon. Still a beautiful property and a good Russian River Valley dinner. Just a different restaurant than it was.

• No longer a tasting menu experience — now upscale casual à la carte
• The setting and the valley drive remain as good as ever
• Verify current hours — new ownership often means schedule adjustments

boon eat + drink

Crista Luedtke's farm-to-table California bistro has anchored Guerneville's food scene since 2009. Primarily organic ingredients, a house garden, sustainable meats, and a menu that genuinely shifts with the season. Spring means the garden is waking up — asparagus, peas, and early lettuces start showing up on the menu around now.

• Spring menu reflects whatever is coming out of the garden right now
• Good base camp for a Russian River Valley food and wine weekend

Cyrus

Douglas Keane's multi-act dining experience — champagne and canapés, interactive kitchen chef's table, the main dining room, and a dessert room with a molten chocolate fountain. The Kisetsu ramen popup in the Bubbles Lounge and Sunday Family Meal (gochujang fried chicken) give you two much easier ways in without the full commitment.

• Kisetsu reservations release Sundays — set a reminder
• Sunday Family Meal is the most fun $55 in Sonoma County right now

Diavola

The loud, delicious Geyserville table for pizza, pasta, and house-cured meats. Chef Dino Bugica has been making salumi and working that wood oven for years without losing the plot. It is hard to order wrong here. Best stop after a day of tasting in Dry Creek or Alexander Valley.

• Good for groups that want to share widely and drink Zinfandel
• The house salumi justify the drive to Geyserville on their own

Terrapin Creek Cafe

A Michelin-recognized neighborhood restaurant in Bodega Bay with a kitchen that punches far above its coastal roadside setting. Pan-roasted Hokkaido scallops with sunchoke purée, charred octopus with roasted cauliflower, Dungeness crab cake, Mediterranean fish stew. One of the only Michelin-quality rooms in the county open on Mondays.

• Open Mondays — exceptional for this quality level
• The intimate fireplace room is one of the best coastal dinner settings in California

Rocker Oysterfeller's

Southern comfort cooking on Highway 1 celebrating the immediate area's ingredients — grassfed smashburgers, buttermilk fried chicken with Lagunitas ale and caraway gravy, wild Gulf shrimp étouffée, and Tomales Bay oysters raw or grilled. Dollar Oyster Mondays make this one of the great Monday food stops in the county. Live music Sundays.

• Dollar Oyster Mondays — the best reason to drive Highway 1 on a Monday
• Grassfed smashburger is the casual food order

Saltwater Oyster Depot

Reservation-only dinners in a small coastal room in Inverness, directly across from Tomales Bay. Tomales Bay oysters and locally sourced seafood, prepared with care and without pretension. Spring means the bay oysters are at their cleanest. Open Mondays for dinner — worth planning a coastal Monday around.

• Monday dinner is a strong coastal Monday anchor — open when most coastal spots aren't
• Small room — book ahead even for Monday nights

Hog Island Oyster Boat Bar

The outdoor oyster table right on the water in Marshall. Raw oysters, BBQ oysters, seafood specials, and the bay as your setting. Spring is one of the best times for this drive. Reservations required. Open Mondays.

• Book online — standby list fills quickly
• Farm tours add a good second act

Nick's Cove

Sustainable coastal cooking from Marin and Sonoma farms in one of the best bay settings on the California coast. Live music through spring means the whole evening feels handled. Good for a solo lunch, a date dinner, or a group with a shared love of the coastline.

• Check the happenings calendar for live music dates
• Open Mondays — strong coastal Monday option

The Fork at Point Reyes Farmstead Cheese

Not a restaurant. A reservation-only food experience on one of the county's most beautiful working dairy farms. Spring is the best season for fresh chèvre and young cheeses. This is what farm-to-table actually feels like — an actual farm, with cows, a cheese cave, and a story you can eat.

• Good for a slow weekday outing or a deliberate food-focused day trip
• Bay light in spring from this property is exceptional

Station House Cafe

The newly renovated Station House is the easy full-meal answer in Point Reyes Station when you want something local, seasonal, and relaxed. The renovation brought fresh energy without losing the longtime warmth. Live music and specials run through the spring calendar.

• Good lunch, dinner, or bar stop on a coastal day
• Check the calendar for live music dates