Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar

Willi's Seafood & Raw Bar opened in fall 2003 on Healdsburg Avenue, a block off the Healdsburg Plaza, among the first restaurants from Mark and Terri Stark, whose Stark Reality group now runs seven across Sonoma County. It followed Willi's Wine Bar in Santa Rosa and borrowed its sense of fun: plates built for sharing, a lively bar and an easygoing room that feels like a seaside party in the middle of wine country. Mark Stark remains executive chef, with Rocio Valentin as chef de cuisine. More than two decades on, Willi's is still where Healdsburg locals go when they want energy rather than ceremony, and many of the regulars have been coming nearly as long. Its forty-seat outdoor patio makes a warm evening here one of the town's simple pleasures.