Downtown Santa Rosa Restaurant Comes Back to Life

See who's going to re-open the prime real estate restaurant in downtown Santa Rosa

The closed Rendez Vous Bistro on courthouse square in Santa Rosa will be reopened by the Chandi Restaurant Group. (JOHN BURGESS / The Press Democrat)
The closed Rendez Vous Bistro on courthouse square in Santa Rosa will be reopened by the Chandi Restaurant Group. (JOHN BURGESS / The Press Democrat)


Hallelujah! The downtown Santa Rosa restaurant with million-dollar patio space is about to rise from the dead.

The long-vacant Rendez-Vous Bistro space in downtown Santa Rosa is coming back to life. The Chandi Restaurants Group, who own Stout Brothers, Bibi’s Burger Bar, County Bench and several Mountain Mike’s Pizza shops (including one in development in Bennett Valley) are re-opening the bistro space as Booze Barrel.

With a planned opening in early 2017, the CEO Sonu Chandi said the restaurant will feature cocktails, beer, wine and Indian-inspired small plates. They’re hoping to be able to utilize the outdoor patio space as a vibrant part of the new downtown Courthouse Square. More details coming soon.

Rendez-Vous was previously owned by restaurateur Nino Rabbaa, as was the Bibi’s Burger space.

Comments

24 thoughts on “Downtown Santa Rosa Restaurant Comes Back to Life

  1. I’m glad someone is finally reopening such a prime spot. Indian food sounds okay (if it’s good), and it’s perfectly fine for them to benefit from their liquor license. But “BOOZE BARREL?” Seriously?
    A restaurant with such a prominent location (and the most beautifully tiled floor anywhere) will now be called the Booze Barrel? Yikes!
    I cannot ever imagine myself inviting friends to meet at the Booze Barrel. Just typing it 3 times in this comment was yucky….

  2. Good on the Chandi family for making a go in spaces that seem to have a hard time succeeding as restaurants. Really glad to see fellow locals thriving and contributing to our economy, especially in a tough and competitive industry. I’m also not a fan of the name, but bring on more Indian, especially from the south. Dosa and vegetarian ftw!

    1. I love Indian food, bot the name Booze Barrel? I am a senior and I would be embarrassed to go into a place with that name. Surely you can come up with something more “Courtly and Indianish”!
      …Pick a city in India and add” Court” to it
      . This restaurant is going to be in our new court house square… glad you are coming!

  3. Horrible. Downtown needs healthier options. Too many places selling alcohol, bread, and deep fried items. Then we wonder why people are so fat.

  4. Who cares about the name. Happy to see it re-open! Good food! Good service! & great location! Wishing you guys the best!!…& personally, I happen to love Indian food so yay for me?

  5. Yep, the name sucks.

    But, they have improved the burger place on 3rd, by far; and improved the spot that is now County Bench. So, besides the sucky names, they are doing o.k.

    Somebody has to pay the rent or buy the building. It’s not as if so,so food with o.k. drinks wont fit in on 4th. Russian River pizza bites?

    If you want better food, just go to one of the Starks’ places on the West End or further East on 4th.

  6. Oh goodie… More sub par dining from this group of opportunistic hacks. Turning downtown Santa Rosa into nothing more than an expensive Mall Food Court with ‘kitschy’ names. What’s next?… Wine and Wieners, Tito’s Taco Tavern and Salsa Saloon, Yogurt Yurt. Sysco Foods must be rolling in the ‘frozen’ dough!

  7. This doesn’t sound appealing at all. First off there’s plenty of indian restaurants already a block away. Small plates? Like tapas? That’s spanish food not Indian… and just another way to suck money out of people. Then there’s the horrible name that, let’s face it sounds like a gross dive bar. It’s trying to be too many things….no no no. Awful

    1. Then don’t go. Or as Elise suggested below, “Lease the restaurant yourself and come up with something ‘better’.”

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