Sonoma’s Schellville Grill for sale

Business, equipment and property, all in, listed for $1.2 million|

The Schellville Grill on lower Broadway is back on the market. The restaurant, located at 22900 Broadway, is for sale for $1.2 million, which includes the 1930s era 887-square-foot roadhouse on a 6,415-square-foot lot. The sales price of $1.2 million includes all equipment and furnishings.

The restaurant has been serving Austin-style barbecue for more than 16 years. It was featured on an episode of the TV series “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” in 2010. Chef and owner Mathew Nagan has also been featured on “Guy’s Grocery Games” with Guy Fieri.

Nagan bought the former Ford’s Café at the juncture of highways 12 and 121 in 2001 and opened Schellville Grill in 2002.

The property includes a large kitchen with recent upgrades, inside seating for 66, outside seating for 100-plus on a partially covered patio, a small detached patio casita or potential beer garden for patio special events. A landscaped yard also includes a small stage for live music. A Type 41 beer and wine license is included.

According to listing agent Mike Nova of Santa Rosa Business and Commercial, there was a complete ADA upgrade in 2018 that includes a parking lot, ramps, doors, seating area and bathroom. Nagan said that he spent almost $65,000 on those improvements.

The property, which is located at 22900 Broadway, also includes a detached modular residence of 1200 square feet with two bedrooms, one bath and kitchen and a living room. Nagan currently lives in that space on the property.

In mid-2016, Nagan put the restaurant on the market, but planned to keep the property. This time around, both are for sale.

Nagan, 58, plans to move to Italy, and said that his bags are basically packed.

“I’ve been visiting Italy for more than a decade and made friends there,” he said. “Sixteen years [in Sonoma] is a long for a person to hang their hat up in one spot. The world is out there, I don’t want it to pass me by.”

The restaurant will be open for lunch daily and for dinner on Friday and Saturday until the sale.

Nagan said he would love it if someone from Sonoma bought the place.

“Sonoma has changed so much and so fast in the past two years,” he said. “It would be really nice to have a local person buy it and keep the place shabby chic and funky.”

When asked about the rainy-day flooding of the intersection of Broadway and Highway 121 outside the restaurant, Nagan said that while the road does flood, the restaurant itself hasn’t flooded since 2005.

He laughed and said he looks forward to heavy rains.

“I love it when it floods. I get a day off,” he said.

Email Lorna at lorna.sheridan@sonomanews.com.

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