Healdsburg recommendations

[subatomic]

I am spending the upcoming weekend in Healdsburg. Any recommendations for lunch and dinner?

subatomic

[iamadonut]

I've heard plenty of good things about Cyrus. (One person I know prefers it hands down to French Laundry and she's eaten at both more than a couple times.)

The mint ice cream at Bovolo is divine. Real mint leaves steeped in the milk! Their house cured meats are fantastic, too.

[lvnvflyer]

Cyrus if you can get in. It's terrific. We were there this last weekend; the service and the food is simply fantastic. We also went to Barndiva; good for small plates, but I would stick to the appetizers, which were much better than the entrees. Preston Vineyard is great to take a picnic to; so is De la Montoya, a very nice small vineyard off west side road. the Healdsburg farmer's market is Saturday mornings, and you can get some nice cheeses and other stuff there to do a picnic or to have as snacks. The Pug's Leap goat cheeses are very good.

[Tom Hall]

Santi in Geyserville, the bar at Ravenous for a burger on Saturday, Ravenous and Zin for dinner, Syrah in Santa Rosa, Bovola for snacks or lunch.

[Melanie Wong]

Here's my photo of a Ravenous burger -
http://static.flickr.com/26/46236974_...

though I'll say that I like Zin's burger better (lunch time only).

[Tom Hall]

Unfortunately Zin, as so many other wine country restaurants, does not do lunch on Saturday.

[The Dive]

I second Cyrus -- especially for a splurge meal.

[answerman]

Cruise a few miles north to Geyserville and hit Santi.

Great Italian.

[Maya]

Definitely Cyrus for a splurge dinner.

www.cyrusrestaurant.com

[Melanie Wong]

This afternoon I bumped into my friend Jim Rollston, sommelier at Cyrus, at Scherrer winery. That's how nutty he is about wine, spending his day off taking his wife to wineries! Anyway, I mentioned to him that I'd not yet been to Cyrus and asked for tips on keeping things to a non-splurge level. Jim said that the ala carte bar menu has been popular with locals for repeat business. There are 8 seats at the bar and a few tables are kept open each evening for drop-ins. Also, at the bar, locals aren't charged corkage for local wines they bring in. He said it's not something they go out of their way to publicize, and no, they don't ask for ID. So that can help keep the tab down too.

Then he mentioned that Krug Champagne is poured by the glass. At that point we agreed that I best not step in the door until I can indulge. (g)

Maya's comments on Cyrus -
http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/...

[mcgeary]

I had a great dinner at Ravenous back in February. I'd also recommend hitting The Cheese Shop to stock up for a picnic and heading out to the Preston organic winery if the weather's nice. They have a great courtyard with picnic tables where you can eat if you buy a bottle of their wine. Preston also makes beautiful organic olive oil (I'm still working my way through my souvenir bottle) and bakes artisan breads.

http://www.doraliceimports.com/cheeseshop/
http://prestonvineyards.com/index1.html

[Maya]

Dry Creek Road is a great place to do wine tasting. Preston is wonderful, beautiful grounds, very mellow vibe, one of my favorites.

http://www.viamagazine.com/top_stories/articles/healdsburg06.asp

http://www.sfbg.com/38/40/x_bottle_ro...

[chr]

Cyrus

[roxie]

Well.for lunch it depends on your desires. We were underwhelmed by Willi's and frankly like either Bovolo
(pizza,sanwiches and just good food) on the Plaza in the food court or El Sombrero(across from Oakville Grocery) good Mexican food in a joint favored by Mexicans-many of whom know the town well and work the vineyards.

For dinner I will always recommend Ravenous. Make your reservations for dinner NOW.

[sfmags]

I second the Willi's suggestion. I also liked Barndiva, which had a hip vibe and great food (kind of small portions though). Dry Creek Kitchen was fabulous when it first opened but has since disappointed.
Pick up lunch at Jimtown Store and bring to a local winery for a picnic.

[dsl]

On the recommendation of a NY Times food article about Healdsburg about a year ago, we went to Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar (last October). The lobster roll was quite good (sweet lobster slathered in herbed butter on a white roll) and the oysters were fresh and delicious.

[Chubby]

Casual lunch at the Downtown Bakery and Creamery