Good places to eat in and around Healdsburg?

originally posted by BJ:
Good places to eat in and around Healdsburg?Nice for dinner, veggie oriented or at least friendly.
Click to expand...

Dunno what your budget is like, but Cyrus gets a lot of buzz and has a vegetarian tasting menu. I don't usually dine that far up in Sonoma, so I end up at Willi's in Santa Rosa quite a bit, which is usually good for a satisfying meal and some good wine selections.

Mark Lipton
 
i spent thankgiving 2009 week in healdsburg and ate at the following:

cyrus- great food, vegetarian tasting menu is an option, really expensive. great service but some upselling goes on that can be annoying if that bothers you. they try and sell you caviar and champagne from the caviar cart to start for example. a nice splurge meal if you are up for it.

madrona manor- beautifal older victorian mansion just outside of town. i think this place has a michelin star. we ate thanksgiving dinner here, so didn't get to see the regular menu. i thought this place was wonderful and would love to return.

willi's- the santa rosa location may be good but the healdsburg location was a disappointment for me. oddly, for a wine bar and considering it's in wine country, the wine list is boring. i drank beer. food was decent.

bistro ralph- right on the square and lots of fun. i love this place. decent wine list and i am sure they can have vegetarian options. in december it is likely to be full of locals. the bar next door, pete and zekes (?) is a cool place to hang out if your table isn't ready.

oakville grocery- on the square with lots of options for take out.

two excellent bakeries. one is on the square, one just off the square near willi's. worth checking out.

small but excellent cheese shop called"healdsburg cheese" i think. good selection and knowledgable staff.

outside of healdsburg in geyserville is a excellent place for pizza. i will dig up the name for you. i think its called dante's. one of the best pizza's i have ever had.

good taquerias in healdsburg too. one across from oakville grocery is excellent.

we didn't eat at barn diva but the bar is really nice for a cocktail if you need a break from wine. although i am sure they have good by the glass selection of wine. next door is their home furnishing shop which is worth a look.

not wine or food related but, go for a hike in the alexander forest. 20 minute drive from healdsburg this is a redwood forest that is beautifal.

hope this helps.
 
Bill, was the Healdsburg outpost of Oakville Grocery under different management, or is this the new ownership? I remember the problems they had (to put it mildly), so if it's new ownership has it changed in significant ways?
 
I'd avoid Madrona, Willi's and Ralph's. In general, I'd avoid any restaurant in wine country that uses a person's name in its own.

Jimtown store, in the heart of Alexander Valley, is great for lunch.

Geyserville is also home to Santi, which is a rollercoaster place. Not sure if it's on an up or down swing. Try a search on Yelp or something.

What's the name of Coppola's new place? I'd see what it's doing.

The taco place is The Hat (El Sombrero to us Yanquis). The ceviche is excellent.

Oh and Barn Diva is sometimes good sometimes horrific. But always fun for a glass of something.
 
originally posted by Thor:
Bill, was the Healdsburg outpost of Oakville Grocery under different management, or is this the new ownership? I remember the problems they had (to put it mildly), so if it's new ownership has it changed in significant ways?
Click to expand...

i don't know. sorry. i know the problems you are speaking of and i
was a little suprised to see them in business, but what i had to eat there was decent.
 
If you go to Madrona Manor do NOT get the wine pairings. Really.

I thought I remembered reading that someone bought the Oakville Grocery after the troubles and some googling seems to bear it out:

Loading…

www.gourmetretailer.com
 
originally posted by Jay Miller:
If you go to Madrona Manor do NOT get the wine pairings. Really.
Click to expand...
Has anyone ever seen a menu where the wine pairings are worth getting compared to what you can do on your own? It's damned, damned few that I see that are even passable.

About the best for pairing that I see is Acquerello, and that's because Giancarlo is really, really passionate about wine. E.g., here. But I still feel that I can do more interesting off his list (maybe because he has to play to a wider audience for the pairings).
 
Scopa, on the square. Young cook who worked with relatives in the Piedmontese Alps for a bit. Very good and genuine food. Very small so definitely book ahead.
 
Has anyone ever seen a menu where the wine pairings are worth getting compared to what you can do on your own?
Click to expand...
Given a situation where multiple bottles aren't possible (a large enough group), you mean? Yes, a few times at No. 9 Park back when it was the heart of the Barbara Lynch group, and definitely at Marcuccio's when Chuck Draghi had freer purse strings than he does these days at Erbaluce. I'm sure Levi would be on this list, but the only time I asked him to do pairings I'm pretty sure he was well off any sort of standard-for-the-evening script (if he even had one), so I can only presume.
 
Not one of those foodie places, but a wonderfully kitsch Western place we European types love for lunch any time we're around Healdsburg is the Dry Creek General Store on the Dry Creek Road a few miles out of town.
 
originally posted by Claude Kolm:
originally posted by Jay Miller:
If you go to Madrona Manor do NOT get the wine pairings. Really.
Click to expand...
Has anyone ever seen a menu where the wine pairings are worth getting compared to what you can do on your own? It's damned, damned few that I see that are even passable.
Click to expand...

At El Celler de Can Roca last year, the wine pairings were interesting and explored wines that I would not have otherwise considered. Left to my own devices, I would almost certainly have gone with the conservative option of one of the excellent Rieslings on the list, but then would have missed my Godello epiphany, among other things.

Mark Lipton
 
Very few sommeliers in the world are as savvy as Pitu Roca (not to mention being the leading German wine importer in your country at the same wime...).
 
Scopa definitely. You might want to eat there every night.
Santi's in Geyserville.
I hear that Gina Gallo cooks somewhere one night a week and that could be a hoot.
Rosso in Santa Rosa.

Fun scene at the H2 Hotel, but avoid the main dishes and the wine list is lame.
 
From May through October every Thursday night Gina Gallo and Gia Pasalaqua cook at the Dry Creek Store. $15 for dinner and bring your own wine.
 
originally posted by Alice F.:
Scopa definitely. You might want to eat there every night.
Santi's in Geyserville.
I hear that Gina Gallo cooks somewhere one night a week and that could be a hoot.
Rosso in Santa Rosa.

Fun scene at the H2 Hotel, but avoid the main dishes and the wine list is lame.
Click to expand...

Santi is now in Santa Rosa.

Diavola in Geyserville is excellent, too. Excellent pork cooking, also pizza.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top