This week a little birdie told me that Sonoma Grille had finally opened – a soft opening. Low and behold, I drove by on Sunday they were serving food and drinks to a busy crowd.
The new restaurant took over the former site of Meritage, which closed over a year ago so then owner Carlos Cavallo could focus on B&V Whiskey Bar & Grille.
Owned by Nima Sherpa, who co-owns St. Helena’s Himalayan Sherpa Kitchen, it has taken just over a year to complete renovations (no surprise, it is Sonoma, after all).
Sherpa couldn’t wait any longer to open the doors. Saturday afternoon, he was with his team, putting the final touches on the interior, and they decided: “let’s tear the window covers down and open!” As he relayed the story to me, I could tell Sherpa was just as excited as I was about the opening of the restaurant. (Yay, new restaurant in Sonoma!!)
A few hours later, Sonoma Grille hosted their first guests.
The menu is vast – appetizers, salads, raw bar and a large entree menu. Dishes are reasonably priced and hearty portions. The wine list is also reasonably priced, too. They also feature an additional wine list with reserve wines.
I had the shrimp cocktail and lobster risotto. The shrimp cocktail’s prawns were fresh and tasty, the cocktail sauce was mellow – I look forward to a more spicier option in the future.
The risotto was a huge portion and topped with beautiful lobster goodness. While a bit too many mushrooms in the risotto for my taste, the lobster was perfectly cooked and the risotto didn’t skip on the butter and good stuff that makes risotto a warm blanket of food goodness on a cold winter’s night.
They have a super nice bar, which is a bit longer than the old Meritage bar. They also have a huge outdoor dining area in the back, which probably won’t open until the spring. It’s huge and gives Hopmonk and Rossi’s a run for their money – it is hands down the largest outdoor dining area in Sonoma.
They’re also making beer – I was given a sneak peek at the beer tanks out back, and a outdoor bar will serve up local brews and Sonoma Grille’s own “Earthquake IPA”.
Granted, Sonoma Grille is still in soft opening phase, but, is already getting a large group of followers who were anxious for a restaurant to step into Meritage’s shoes and fill the gap for the lack of seafood restaurants in town.
Sonoma Grille is open from 5:30PM-9PM, Monday-Friday. 165 W. Napa St., Sonoma | 938-7542.
Great news. We are looking forward to trying it. Probably not the largest outdoor dining area though. The Depot Restaurant has a huge, gorgeous outdoor dining space.
Good point! The Depot surely gives it a run for its money – but, the space is more “beer garden” like than the beautiful Depot!!
Yeah BBaaby ! You go Nima . Was always one of our favorite places .I’m sure it’s still noisy .But was always consistently good food and service .