Anidel Hospitality — the company that recently acquired the Sonoma Cheese Factory and Sonoma’s Best Modern Mercantile from embattled developer Ken Mattson — has announced plans to take over a beloved piece of Cloverdale history.
Pick’s Drive-In, a nearly century-old hamburger stand, will become Pick’s Roadside later this summer, according to Amber Lanier, a Cloverdale resident working with Anidel to renovate the iconic eatery.
“Pick’s has always been more than just a restaurant,” said Lanier. “It’s a gathering spot, a piece of history and a place that has shaped the memories of so many in Cloverdale.”
A fifth-generation Cloverdale resident, Lanier told The Press Democrat that her grandmother used to go to the drive-in as a little girl in 1923, when it opened as Reed and Bell’s Root Beer Stand — an offshoot restaurant chain of the A&W Root Beer franchise founded by Lewis Reed and H.C. Bell.
Over the years, Pick’s Drive-In has seen several changes in ownership. Claudia Clow purchased the iconic drive-in in June of 1990 and operated it for nearly three decades. In 2016, she sold the business to David Alioto, owner of Healdsburger restaurant.
According to Alioto, the sale was “a very friendly transaction.” At the time, he expressed a commitment to preserving “the charm of the 1923 restaurant,” including its secret red relish recipe, while incorporating Healdsburger’s menu and quality standards. (Although Clow sold the business in 2016, she said in a June 9 email to The Press Democrat that she retained ownership of the property and leased it to the new operators.)
In August 2021, Alioto sold Pick’s to Mark and Angela Garcia. Their daughter, Nicole Hinchliffe — a U.S. Air Force veteran and former employee of the renowned SingleThread restaurant — stepped into the kitchen and introduced handmade potpies as a way to help sustain operations during the slower winter months.
By August 2024, Hinchliffe announced on Facebook that Pick’s Drive-In was up for sale. She noted the restaurant would remain open until the family found a suitable new owner.
According to Amber Lanier, Anidel Hospitality — led by San Francisco-based software developer and venture capitalist Chris Fanini, founder of Weebly — plans to preserve the restaurant’s vintage charm while introducing thoughtful, modern updates.
“We’re putting a lot of love and care into the space and making sure that the heart and soul of Pick’s remains at the core of everything we do,” Lanier said.
This is a developing story.