Joining the growing number of lists on which Sonoma ranks in the top whatevers, we now have several of what Amy Copperman of Thrillist.com calls “The 11 Best Dive Bars in Wine Country.”
There were more real “dive” bars here when we moved here 40 years ago, but we have lost the Parkside on the Plaza and others where questionable (read dangerous) events occurred.
Somehow those listed below don’t seem much like dives, but if you are in New York or San Francisco rating country bars, maybe they look like dives to you. Here they just seem like local bars. Each has its own clientele, ambiance, smell, and following, and some attract more motorcycles or Corvettes or Ford pintos than others.
Blue Moon Saloon
A former “card room” and the scene of fights and general rabble-rousing, Blue Moon Saloon now has a fun paint job and a whole set of regulars, some of whom show up early in the morning. Sundays bring Sunday Blues music featuring loads of local musicians such as Stuart Sperring, Nick Cordellos, Sean Carscadden, Phil Herrschaft, Zakk Murphy, Ryan Tatarian, and Steen Berrig. Good drinks, good prices. In fact that is true of all of our “dives.”
El Verano Inn
Located in the heart of “downtown” El Verano, once the home of resorts and hotels and many “hot spots,” El Verano Inn does not have hotel rooms, but has been a great gathering place since 1887 when it was the local General Store and Post Office. Since at least the 1950s it has been a popular neighborhood bar where locals and vacationers drop in for a good, cheap drink, sports on and off the big screen and music – along with lots of big tales of the day and bigger tales of days past.
Ernie’s Tin Bar
It’s not really in Sonoma Valley, but lots of Sonoma folks drop in on their way to or from Petaluma and points south. Once a kind of rough can-of-beer joint, it has been yupped up a bit with outdoor seating, flowers, new tin siding since a truck plowed through the west end of the building, and excellent barbecue. Pints $1.75 on up.
Olde Sonoma Public House
Actually, it isn’t old at all, but a great idea and gathering place in the Fiesta shopping center with a good, substantial Mexican restaurant next door to ply your system before or after drinking. Enjoy darts, pinball, karaoke, live music, pool, sports events on big TVs, and great beers.
Steiners Tavern
Several years ago Steiners moved up the street from where Harvest Moon Café is now located to a bank building, and thankfully took its original swinging doors along. Steiners is the ultimate local bar that attracts a crowd that has been going there every day for decades – plus young almost hipsters, wedding parties, motorcyclists and general noise makers. Lots of deep fried foods, burgers, and even a good shrimp Louie salad on the menu all the time.
What they missed:
Somehow Thrillist missed one of our old standards, the Town Square, supposedly fire fighter themed, but the guys who built our house hung out there, and you see the same trucks in front every day. Ages ago when it was called the Wayfarer, a Hawaiian lady played Hawaiian and country music on a broom handle on a horse bucket and she strummed the rope connecting the two. Town Square is very generous with its St. Patrick’s Day free corned beef and cabbage lunch.
They also missed Rossi’s 1906, which has been a neighborhood bar for decades, as well, and has been revitalized tremendously by Bay Area barman Max Young, with a full menu of food and barbecue, beer garden, and all the sports trimmings.
Other bars included by Thrillist were Billco’s Billiards and Darts, Green Door, Henry’s Cocktail Lounge, and Stone’s Sports Bar in Napa and Susie’s Bar in Calistoga.
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