Spoonbar — Restaurant in Healdsburg

Upside: My dining partner said her dinner was delicious. Her New York steak was a thick, medium rare and accompanied by thick asparagus with an excellent bernaise sauce. She thoroughly enjoyed her steak frites.

My meal was delicious, with a simple, rich, buttery vegetable broth. The mussels were perfectly cooked and fresh. The scallops, though scant, tough and dry, were fresh.

The shishito peppers were very good, but I would skip the icky mayonaisse-packet flavored supposed to be aioli(?) dip that came with it.

My leek and potato soup with black garlic was velvety, creamy and delicious. I enjoyed its wonderful flavor, yet would have enjoyed it more had it been served hot instead of arriving lukewarm/tepid, as if it sat too long in the kitchen (The restaurant was less than half full, and the private affair in the back room and patio was about over). The soup came with two squares of pleasant, crumbly bread, not quite focaccia.

Our wines were delicious. The winelist was refreshing with a good variety of many wineries that were new to me instead of the staples on so many winelists in the Bay Area wine country.

The feeling of the place was festive, and fun. Our waiter was very nice, and we would return in spite of the glitches.

Downside:

My "Scallop Cioppino" was improperly named and described on the menu (See attached photo). With three small scallops, 2 clams and about 6 mussels, and a small amount of sauce (not cioppino, more like a bouillabaisse with mirepoix, which was delicious, yet surprising). Perhaps if the dish were called mussels with scallops and 2 clams instead of scallop cioppino, it would be more honest.

Since my meal of mainly mussels was served in a wide bowl without a plate underneath it, there was no place to put my cutlery, which kept slipping into my soup. I ended up shoving my spoon and dinner fork between the empty shells of the tiny bowl for shells. Also, the shellfish meal was served without a fishfork, which was eventually supplied when I requested one from our waiter, who was delightful.

The two slices of grilled bread served to sop up my sauce were inedible as they tasted purely of burnt charcoal.

Although I wrote that this was a birthday dinner on the Open Table reservation, mentioned it to the host upon arrival, and again to the waiter at some point, when we received the chocolate pot de crème my mom ordered (Which the waiter assured us was quite large, and enough to share), it arrived without a candle, and was simply placed upon the table. Pot de crème. Very small amount of chocolate crème (see photo I uploaded today, May 24, 2025), donut-hole took up most of the coffee cup, but delicious. Waiter said the kitchen just shrunk the size this week, after it was much smaller than described, too small to share.

The decaf French press coffee seemed like burnt beans, and was...

My husband and I were sadly VERY disappointed after our New Year's Eve experience. Upon seating I had to request a candle as our spot in the rear (poolside) was dark and not at all festive as the New Year's invite offered. Our 1st course arrived just a moment after our drinks did and then the main course arrived moments after we finished those leaving us feeling quite rushed and imagining the assembly line in the kitchen. The lobster bisque was very sparse and flavorless without lobster flavor. The scallops were good which helped, but the bisque was a tease. The chickory salad was uninspired with large pieces of chickory and just a few 1/2 slices of persimmon and nothing more. The dressing was ok but seemed like a cheap oil (canola?) was used, was sparse, and very salty. I like salt, but it was borderline too much. The beef tenderloin was overcooked (medium and not med-rare as requested), quite tough and dry. The potato pave as the side was skimpy and had little flavor. The very thick piece of swordfish was overcooked just enough that it was dry and tough. The reduction sauce was minimal. The baby root vegetables seemed unseasoned and skimpy too. Our server checked in after quite awhile by saying "are you enjoying?" as she walked by. We stopped her to share that our two entrees were both overcooked. Her response was that she would "have to keep an eye on these entrees coming out of the kitchen". Lastly, the apple tartine was bad w/a very hard pastry bottom which was difficult to cut even with a knife, along with mushy apple, loose creme fraiche, and sickeningly sweet. And we were never offered coffee or tea. The $355 bill (including tip and 3 drinks) was outrageous for what we experienced. Our plates looked nothing like any of the beautiful photos on your website. It was our first Spoonbar experience and we had anticipated so much more.

I wonder if anyone in management even cares about our poor experience as there has been no response after over 2 weeks? This makes the experience even sadder and more disappointing. I would have written directly to a manager or owner directly rather than posting publicly, but I did not see a...

My first time at Spoonbar. We made reservations through Open Table for Thanksgiving Dinner at 2pm we arrived roughly 20 minutes ahead of schedule. The hostesses sat us right away. I felt a little under dressed. I wasn't cooking this year so I was a little bummed. Our table for two was right by the windows ceiling to floor beautiful!!!! We were greeted right away by our server who took our drink order while another server brought us drinking water. I had a Moscow Mule which was made to perfection. Our server explained where and how the buffet style Thanksgiving table flowed ...the locations of the carving station and the desert buffet. It was laid out picturesque. I tried just about all of the sides. The carrots were cooked just right .,...not overdone just the right amount to keep the nutrients...... scrumptious,a mushroom and onion medley that was wonderful, brussel sprouts were grilled fork tender mashed potatoes as good as my own ,gravy and stuffing that was not like my own but very good . The turkey was tender ...a go again kind of meal. A lovely place. The cranberry relish was not what I expected as it was too acidic because of the orange rind or something made my mouth burn. I am not a chef but the balance was soo off I did not eat another bite of it. Cranberry relish is so hard to get right. The deserts were cute hand 2 to 4 bitesize little pieces of decadence my fav being the pecan bar . I wish I had that recipe instead of my homemade pecan pie. I also ordered a cappuccino.. outstanding...great with desert choices,mini eclair....mini pumpkin pie....another torte All were fabulous I am still stuffed and would recommend this place to anyone. Our bill to include drinks ,cappuccino and a well deserved tip was just a bit over 300. I had a great relaxing Thanksgiving Dinner with my dearest friend in the world at a Great place . I recommend thanksgiving dinner at Spoonbar...