Your Guide to Restaurant Week

During the shoulder season, there isn’t a better time to get your fill of great food.

(photo by Conner Jay)

For the sixth year, Sonoma celebrates all things delicious during Restaurant Week 2015, March 9-15.

More than 100 restaurants from Petaluma to Geyserville (and all points in between) participate, serving prix-fixe (fixed-price) lunch and dinner menus ranging from a thrifty $10 two-course lunch to more elegant $39 three-course dinners. Each restaurant selects its own price point, with lunches at $10, $15 and $20 (tax, tip and beverages not included), and $19, $29 and $39 for dinners.

So how to choose? The best way to make your way through Restaurant Week is by doing your homework. Scan the Sonoma County Restaurant Week website, sonomacountyrestaurantweek.org, where menus and prices are listed. Reservations are highly recommended, since many restaurants book up in advance.

Go with a sense of adventure! Most restaurants offer a few different choices for each course (usually with a vegetarian and gluten-free option), but the menus are usually a creative outlet for the kitchen to really showcase what’s great about the restaurant — and get you to come back. If you’ve got a prix-fixe party pooper in your group, most restaurants also offer their usual menus, so no one goes home hungry.