Meaty News from Petaluma: It’s Barbecue Season!

Bon vivant Petaluman Houston Porter serves up some tasty tips from Petaluma and dishes out the latest on the local food scene.


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Ribs for Kids is coming up on Saturday, June 18. Presented by the Petaluma Active 20-30 Club, this event raises money to help disadvantaged youth. I look forward to judging the event, as I did last year, when teams offered up quite a tasty selection of ribs. This year’s venue is the First Presbyterian Church, which offers space for fun and games, and allows families to bring to their kids.

Speaking of ribs, my food crew and I finally had the chance to try Roy’s Chicago Doggery’s Friday night BBQ and found it to be excellent. A limited number of plates of brisket or ribs are available each Friday evening, usually selling out by around 7 p.m. As the regular readers have read before, I spent five weeks last summer driving around the U.S. eating as much BBQ as possible and can honestly say that I never came across ribs that were any better than Roy’s.

My crew and I can’t wait to try the brisket next time around.

More Tasty News…

ucy O' Dea working the meat counter at Thistle Meats in downtown Petaluma. (Erik Castro / The Press Democrat)
Lucy O’ Dea working the meat counter at Thistle Meats in downtown Petaluma. (Erik Castro / The Press Democrat)

Thistle Meats Reopens
Speaking of meat, Thistle Meats has reopened after a drunk driver plowed through the front window on Valentine’s Day. The white pig is back in his spot on out front, and the deli cases are again full of the area’s best meats. Sandwiches are available daily, and freshly grilled burgers are usually available on weekends. Welcome back Thistle Meats!

Sausage of the Month
After a well deserve week off, Francesca and Johnny at Yanni’s Sausages in Penngrove have brought back their much-loved Holy Moly Spanish Chorizo as their monthly sausage sandwich special. They use their spicy sausage, topped with mango salsa, Queso Fresco cheese and Petaluma’s own F.A. Nino’s Holy Moly Hot Sauce, which is made with Lagunitas Censored Ale.

New Chinese Cuisine
Fantasy Restaurant Hong Kong BBQ has opened at Round Table’s former location at 1520 East Washington St. A “Grand Opening” banner hangs over the door, but I have yet to hear any reviews. Thanks to reader Mark Davidson, who makes a pretty mean tea-smoked duck and char-siu baby back ribs himself, for this heads up.

Thai Issan Update
Contrary to earlier rumors, Thai Isaan does not appear to be closing. Instead, after cooking dishes from her native Thailand for the past 19 years at this location, Bounleuth Bounson Xiong, known as “Boon” to her loyal fans, is handing the restaurant over to her daughter Samantha Xiong Arellano.

Feed Mill District
J.M. Rosen Cheesecake is listed as the applicant for a change of liquor license application currently in the window at Zodiac’s Petaluma Boulevard North location. Originally interested in Thai Isaan’s space, maybe the “Brew Pub” license at Zodiac’s gives them more options.

With Buffalo Billiards next door and Brewster’s Beer Garden opening two doors down, Petaluma Pete’s dream of a distinctly recognizable “Feed Mill District” might actually come to fruition.

Along those lines, check out “Feed Mill District Park Renovation” at GoFundMe.com in order to help Petaluma Pete renovate the little space at the corner of Petaluma Boulevard North and Washington Street. It’s a simple plan, but it will go a long ways toward prettying up one of the main intersections that we, and our out of town guests pass through on a regular basis.

It would be nice to have something other than an asphalt covered space filler.

Candy Shop Work
The Sweet Zone, formerly Powells, is currently hiring. Two of their employees are moving on to college so this is a rare opportunity for a young person to get some great work experience. Schedules are flexible, it pays better than minimum wage, and best of all, they offer employee discounts.

(Contact Houston Porter at houston@avant-larde.com)

John Vrattos cooks a sausage on the grill as his wife Francesca prepares Greek fries at their Penngrove restaurant, Yanni's Sausage Grill. They have been married for 35 years. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)
John Vrattos cooks a sausage on the grill as his wife Francesca prepares Greek fries at their Penngrove restaurant, Yanni’s Sausage Grill. They have been married for 35 years. (Christopher Chung / The Press Democrat)