Augie's French
Classic French bistro cooking in an intimate, polished room from James Beard-nominated restaurateurs Mark and Terri Stark. The quiet end of a downtown evening.
On the list →Downtown Santa Rosa has quietly become one of Northern California's most interesting restaurant corridors, farm-to-table kitchens, James Beard-recognized chefs, and the kind of neighborhood wine bar that takes its list seriously.
The restaurants in downtown Santa Rosa fit into a few square blocks, which is why so many visitors to Sonoma County end up staying in the city rather than driving out to it each evening. Old Courthouse Square sits at the center of it, and the kitchens fan out from there along 4th Street, Mendocino Avenue, B Street and into Railroad Square.
Density is the argument. Santa Rosa is the largest city in the county, so it carries a working restaurant scene rather than a handful of destination rooms, and most of it is close enough together that you can change your mind at the door and be somewhere else five minutes later. Wine country dinners usually involve a car, a route and a designated driver. Here you leave the car where it is, walk out, and eat.
Browse the full restaurant list →Book the one dinner that matters before you arrive, and leave the rest open. Tables at the busiest downtown rooms go first on Friday and Saturday evenings, but midweek the walkable core absorbs walk-ins comfortably. Guests at Hotel E on Old Courthouse Square and at Art House Santa Rosa are close enough to try the door before committing to a table.
The square does most of the heavy lifting. These three sit within a few minutes of each other and cover three different kinds of evening.
Browse the full restaurant list →Classic French bistro cooking in an intimate, polished room from James Beard-nominated restaurateurs Mark and Terri Stark. The quiet end of a downtown evening.
On the list →A proper steakhouse with a live oyster bar, just off the square. This is the room people book when the meal itself is the occasion.
On the list →Modern tavern cooking built around small plates, with Asian, Jewish, Southern and East Coast flavors on one menu. Suits a group that wants to keep ordering.
On the list →Four kitchens with nothing in common except the same short walk. That range inside one district is a large part of what makes people ask where to eat in Santa Rosa and then never leave the downtown grid.
Downtown does not shut down the moment dinner service winds up. Ausiello's 5th Street Bar & Grill is the neighborhood answer after a concert or a long drive back from the coast, and on 7th Street HanBul Korean BBQ and Haku Sushi sit close together. Belly Left Coast Kitchen keeps the bar side of the evening going near the square.
Sonoma County grows a great deal of what its restaurants cook, so menus shift with what is available and harvest, late summer into fall, is the busiest stretch at the tables as well as in the vineyards. The rhythm that works is simple: spend the day out among the wineries near Santa Rosa, come back into town, and eat within walking distance of where you are sleeping. Hours move by season, so check the restaurant directory before you walk.
Start on 4th Street and around Old Courthouse Square, where Augie's French, Loro di Napoli and Bird & The Bottle sit close together, with Stark's Steak & Seafood just off the square on Adams Street. Beer Baron Bar & Kitchen is a few doors along 4th Street. The full directory is on the restaurant list page.
Most of the downtown scene. Augie's French, Loro di Napoli, Bird & The Bottle and Belly Left Coast Kitchen are on 4th Street, Stark's is on Adams Street, Kalimera Bar & Grill is on B Street, and Eddie's Kitchen and El Coqui are on Mendocino Avenue. Railroad Square sits a short walk further west.
For weekend dinners at the busier downtown rooms, yes, and more so during harvest, which runs late summer into fall. Midweek you can usually walk in. Book the one dinner that matters and leave the others flexible.
Away from the obvious. El Coqui and Eddie's Kitchen on Mendocino Avenue, Kalimera on B Street, HanBul Korean BBQ and Haku Sushi on 7th Street, and Ausiello's for a late one. The dining guide article goes into more detail on this.
Yes. Ausiello's 5th Street Bar & Grill, Belly Left Coast Kitchen on 4th Street, and HanBul Korean BBQ and Haku Sushi on 7th Street all run later than a standard dinner service. Hours vary by night and by season, so check the restaurant map before you set out.