Sonoma-Meritage Martini Oyster Bar and Grille, a downtown Sonoma fixture for 15 years, will close its doors on Saturday, June 8, according to owner Carlo Cavallo, who recently opened a second restaurant, Burgers & Vine, across the Plaza.
Meritage, half a block off the Plaza at 165 West Napa Street, has had two locations in its long Sonoma run, but Cavallo said Tuesday the current site will be the last.
“This is the end of my 10-year lease in this building,” said Cavallo. “And due to financial considerations, I decided to close.”
Cavallo said a new lease would have meant a rent increase and the building was in “dire need of renovation,” an expense he did not want to undertake, especially in light of what he called “the ridiculous remodeling experience I just had with Burgers & Vine in reference to the permit process the City of Sonoma made me endure.”
He added that the anticipated construction of a proposed new hotel next door would have also impacted his business “in a negative way during construction.”
Cavallo provided a kind of statistical track record as a measure of the success of Meritage, including more than 1 million oysters shucked (an average of 1,500 a week); 12 times voted the best seafood restaurant in Napa and Sonoma counties; three years in a row voted winner of the annual Martini Madness competition; four former chefs and managers have opened their own restaurants; 2013 and 2014 received Best Chef America nominations; winner of the Best Beef in America contest in 2009, sponsored by the National Cattleman’s Association.
Cavallo said he is proudest of his customer ratings from Open Table, which gave him an overall rating of 4.3 out of 5, besting the Bay Area Average.
Beginning Monday, May 26, Cavallo said he will be “personally cooking some of my best dishes every evening, in the form of three-course and five-course meals.”
He also said his catering company – C4 catering – will continue operation, and that some of his Meritage menu items will migrate to Burgers & Vine.
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