Name: The Plaza Bistro
Address: 420 1st St E, Sonoma, California, 95476, US

The Plaza Bistro

Italian / Mediterranean

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420 1st St E

California

95476

Sonoma Plaza

$$$

Mon–Fri 11:00am–9:00pm; Sat–Sun 10:00am–9:00pm (weekend brunch)

Reservations accepted

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Facing the square from First Street East, The Plaza Bistro is a low-lit locals' room with a full bar and sidewalk seats. Italian and Mediterranean cooking runs to daily chef's specials, seafood linguini, risotto, gnocchi, chicken piccata and schnitzel, with a burger that has its own following. Boutique Sonoma and Italian wines; brunch on weekends.

Outdoor Seating

Brunch

Full Bar

The Plaza Bistro sits at 420 First Street East, on the east side of the Sonoma Plaza, where sidewalk tables look across to the trees and lawns of the historic square. Inside, a warm, low-lit dining room and a full bar give it the feel of a European bistro set down in wine country. It is a locals' room first, unassuming and unhurried, where nobody rushes the check. Open every day for lunch and dinner, with brunch on weekends, it serves as a dependable neighborhood table a short walk from City Hall, the Mission and the tasting rooms around the square, equally suited to a glass of wine at the bar or a long dinner with friends after a day in the valley.

Menu Highlights

The kitchen cooks Italian and Mediterranean dishes built around daily chef's specials, house pastas and risotto, and a roster of comfort plates such as gnocchi and a burger with a loyal following. Lunch is the easy, sunny hour to take a sidewalk table and watch the square; dinner moves indoors when the evening cools, and the bar keeps the room lively. Weekend brunch, served from 10 a.m., draws a mix of visitors and residents. The wine list is short and personal, a selection of boutique Sonoma and Italian bottles chosen to suit the food, and the full bar covers the aperitivo hour. Prices are fair for a Plaza address, and reservations are accepted through OpenTable. It is a place for generous plates and good company rather than ceremony, and a welcome constant on a square that changes quickly.

Kitchen Lead

Sample profile: The Plaza Bistro will introduce the person who leads its kitchen here.

Martin Chavez

Founder & Owner

Martin Chavez founded The Plaza Bistro in 2003, a hospitality veteran who had worked every side of the business (kitchen, bar, and front of house) since the mid-1980s. When a 2006 fire gutted the historic building on Sonoma's Plaza, he rebuilt over five months rather than walk away, and the family-owned Italian-Mediterranean bistro has anchored the square ever since.

The Plaza Bistro

The Plaza Bistro

Kitchen Lead

Martin Chavez

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