3 Best Brunch Restaurants in Sonoma County

There’s something simultaneously civilized and relaxing about Sunday brunch. It’s the best of breakfast and the best of lunch, and often in Sonoma County, there’s some lovely sparkling wine and cocktails involved.

Here are our three choices for the best of the, um, brunch:

Girl & the Fig, Sonoma

In the last few years, this restaurant expanded by enclosing its patio. That’s a good thing since there are usually lines out the door. The lure is lovely plates like breakfast tartine of housemade chicken sausage, veggie scramble, white cheddar, smoked paprika hollandaise, salsa verde, and grilled French bread; baked eggs Provencal with garden tomatoes, fennel, leeks, organic eggs, gremolata, and grilled bread; and a decadent pork belly sandwich with fennel aioli, apples, and cabbage on a brioche bun, served with crispy fries. Brunch served Sundays.

Willow Wood Market Café, Graton

Open since 1995, this café remains a wildly popular local secret. It’s the place to see and be seen with Sonoma County winemakers who make it their regular haunt. Everything’s good, but some Sunday brunch standouts include exceptional huevos rancheros and the gorgeous Monte Cristo featuring challah French toast stuffed with Black Forest ham and Jarlsberg, fried and smothered in toasted hazelnuts, strawberries, maple butter, and syrup.

Spinster Sisters, Santa Rosa

Spreading the joy over both Saturday and Sunday, chef-owner Liza Hinman cooks a comfort-chic spread ranging from playful (Spinster Onion Dip with local King salmon caviar, bagel chips, and pickled jalapeno), to exotic (soba noodles with kimchi and poached eggs).

Joe’s Benedict brings a pretty plate of poached Petaluma Farm eggs, prosciutto, red onion, arugula, avocado, and herb hollandaise on challah, while Dave’s granola waffle is crunchy happiness smothered in whipped local butter and maple-agave syrup. Chocolate doughnut holes dunked in blackberry sauce – well, what more do we need to say?

Written by Sonoma Insider Carey Sweet