Wild Goat Bistro — Restaurant in Petaluma

I am sad to say that after a delicious Get Chopped Salad at Wild Goat, I had a stomach ache that continued through the night, I was completely nauseous with intense pain and could not sleep. I then was weak and could not move the entire next day as I vomited and had diarrhea (apologies for the visual) but it was the worst food poisoning I have ever experienced. I have no allergies, and I have never gotten sick from any restaurant in the USA. I had to miss work and couldn't get out of bed. By the end of the day I felt better and called Wild Goat to report what had happened. The woman who answered, started by asking me if it was allergies, and then offered a vague apology and that was it. This is not the response I would give to someone who got food poisoning the first time they ate at my restaurant. Needless to say I won't be eating here again, and have let others know about my experience. For me the saddest part was the complete apathy and lack of responsibility. I apologize for the graphic picture, but aside from paying for a salad, getting food poisoning and missing work, I also spent an hour cleaning my bathroom of throw-up...I am not happy with...

This place is fantastic, but for more than simply the food. I ordered the large potato dish, a large meatball dish, the Farmers Daughter salad, Shepard's Pie, margarita pizza (not pictured), a strawberry rhubarb dessert, and a carrot cake. All the food was well prepared, fresh ingredients, and very satisfying (especially the salad and those taters!) but what especially stood out was the service.

I picked up the order and after I got to the hotel where my wife and 5 week old were, we realized there was no pizza. After calling and the owner picking up, she offered first to deliver it to me herself after work, then to refund the entire order (like almost $140 after tip!). I thought that was excessive and declined because the food looked and smelled amazing and that's not what small business owners need to do to win my business. We had a longer conversation than will be shared here, but suffice to say the high quality of the food is reflective of the high caliber of the operation as a whole and its leadership.

We will...

We enjoyed our lunch at this little restaurant. Service was decent, although it did seem a bit off between the kitchen and the servers. We had a good view of the kitchen from our table, and I saw our server have to ask the chef to set aside a pizza that he'd put up to go out, as the table had literally received their starter salads only 2 minute prior.

Our salads were pretty large. We could have easily shared a half size of one salad, especially as it was lunchtime, and we had ordered a pizza to split as our main course. We were on our way out of town, so we couldn't take leftovers with us. Our server recommended we each order our own salad, and after we received them, that recommendation seemed tip-related/upselling-related more than customer service related.

This is a tiny place, but has lots of options for seating out and around the restaurant, too.

Food was delicious, and well priced. Overall, if we lived in the area, I'd definitely return to the Wild Goat...