List: Affordable restaurants from SF Chronicle's Top 25 Restaurants in Wine Country
affordable restaurants in wine country
If you are planning your next wine tasting trip and need some restaurant recommendations, look no further than the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top 25 Restaurants in Wine Country list.
The list was released Monday and, of course, features some fine dining spots. But you do not need to make a reservation or spend a fortune to find a good meal after a day at the vineyards. Chronicle Restaurant critics shared four picks from their list that will leave your wallet as full as your stomach.
affordable restaurants in wine country
Sign up for our NewslettersStarting in downtown Napa, consider grabbing a breakfast sandwich from Contimo Provisions. SFC head restaurant critic MacKenzie Chung Fegan recommends the pimiento cheese biscuit, while associate restaurant critic Cesar Hernandez likes the simple ham and jam.
affordable restaurants in wine country
The biscuits are drop-style, and the ham is molasses-brined.
Contimo co-owners Ryan Harris and Kevin Folan opened up their restaurant a decade ago after leaving fine dining. Their aim is for Contimo to be a place where locals and tourists alike can gather.
“There can be some aspects of both having something be finer and car about it, and also having it be very accessible and reachable,” Folan said.
In addition to specialty sandwiches (both breakfast and lunch), you can find various meats, broths and meals to take home and prepare yourself.
In Sonoma, you will find what Hernandez calls some of the best Mexican food in the Bay Area at El Molino Central.
Oaxacan dishes are featured on the menu, so you will find plenty of mole on enchiladas and tamales. They also serve beer-battered fish tacos. Like Contimo Provisions, you can also find prepared food to take home, including freshly made blue corn tortillas.
affordable restaurants in wine country
El Molino owner Karen Taylor said she wanted to create a place where people could relax after a day at the vineyards.
“It appeals to people whether they have kids, their dogs, they’re on a bike. They feel comfortable, they’ve been wine tasting all day, they, they can come here and fill up,” Taylor said.
If you find yourself in Forestville, Fegan says Bazaar Sonoma is one of the best new places to try in wine country.
“Bazaar sonoma is serving Chinese and Taiwanese food and it’s so good,” Fegan said. “They do these zhong dumplings. Zhong is a sweet, savory, spicy sauce and it’s just slathered all over these dumplings.”
If you are looking for a classic meal that you may want to take and enjoy from the comfort of your hotel bed, try Psychic Pie in Sebastopol. The pizza is a long skateboard shape and is served by the inch, with a three-finger-width minimum.
But just as good as the pizza is the ice cream, which the Chronicle food critics said is a must-try.
“I think we definitely pushed ourselves to find the folks who are not only just making good food, but they are kind of different from the pack,” Hernandez said about the list.
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