Sonoma Grille — Restaurant in Sonoma

Outstanding service and food! We had a large family birthday gathering here, and enjoyed a wonderful, very leisure evening of excellent dining on their beautiful patio. I had the Rib Eye with Port Reduction which was cooked to absolute perfection. The flatbread appetizer was delectable too; covered with feta, mushrooms, pesto, sun-dried tomatoes and artichoke hearts. ((yum)) I also give kudos for the truly excellent coffee. Coffee may seem trivial, but to this coffee lover, it is a noteworthy pleasure to be served such delicious coffee after a meal. (Recently I went to an over-priced farm-to-table type breakfast place and was stunned by how poor the coffee was-- it very much degraded my dining experience. I don't take it for granted). Every aspect of the meal was a delight. The service we experienced was a big part of what made the meal even more outstanding. A great meal is made or unmade by the service and the staff here were all remarkably wonderful; very adept and attentive and delightfully pleasant. Even long after we finished the meal and were enjoying extended lingering conversation, they continued circle back to bring water and make sure we had what we needed-- something I find many restaurants fail to do; more often then not, many seem to cut you off after a certain point, sometimes seeming to intentionally ignore you. My only, very petty, minor wish is that they hadn't spelled the name "Grille" which "is a grating used as a screen or barrier on a window or on the front of an automobile". It just comes off as pretentious and ignorant- alas, too many restaurants seem to fall into this trap. But I definitely won't hold that against them. This is easily one of the nicest meals I've had in Sonoma for...

From the moment we stepped into the restaurant it was a letdown. The service was horrible and the food was mediocre at best for a ridiculous price. When we first arrived it was really busy and we waited for about 10 mins for someone to come to the front to take our name for our reservation. When they seated us outside our table was dirty and they left us standing there waiting while they cleaned off the table, instead of cleaning it before seating us. We were seated with only one menu to share, no big deal it was two of us, but the waiter said he’d bring a second one and never did. Then we waited for 20 mins with not a single server coming to take our drink order let alone even bring us water. Servers were all around us serving other tables (our table was outside right in the middle), and while we were obviously looking around for someone to come to our empty table, no one seemed to notice. We finally flagged someone down and placed our order immediately. $17 beet salad was two beets and a handful of arugula and flavors were lacking in other dishes as well. Waitress never came to check on us or how our food was and we sat with empty plates until we finally decided to go inside and request the check to leave. I would normally assume the issue is that they were understaffed, but it was very frustrating to see waiters flocking left and right to all the tables surrounding us, yet we did not have anyone helping us. We will not return here and will not be recommending this...

Nice place. Food is expensive for very small portions. Spent $139 on three plates that I could have made better at home. If you want bland steak or chicken with unseasoned vegetables you are better off doing some of your own season and lemon at home. Cheese cake was comparable to what would get a grocery store in the frozen section, the difference is they put two black berries on it. Beer is $15 a glass to wash down the bland food. Salad dressing is water flavored and comes with full leaf Romain strait from the bag with blackened edges that you have to cut like your steak. Chicken is well cooked tender but tastes like they put thanksgiving cranberry sauce on it. Bread is good but the butter is melted or not pliable to spread. Loco IPA is good but glasses are kind of small for a $15 beer. Water is warm no ice. Ravioli is $20 and you get 6 of them in a watered down sauce, had to share my plate with my son so he could get close to full from the $139 meal. Long story short we could have gone to an Applebees and got better food and service at half if not a quarter of the cost of this place. Anyways you only live once and I thought I would try it. Will likely never return, it’s just not worth the price vs the portion and quality of the food. But hey we are tourist I guess we are meant to get ripped off. I’m sure the locals know better and can refer better quality if you ask.

Thanks...