The Villa Restaurant

Great food, good service. Wonderful place for two or ten people to dine. The atmosphere is very old school Italian. It’s a bit run down inside. It could use a makeover. The Caesar salads for two are made right at your table.

Really a 2.5. The food was lack luster. The view was lovely. The restaurant is older not quite vintage but could be a real gem some day.
I went with a large group which made it a fine experience. The service wasn’t great but it was av friendly warm environment.
I really hope someone makes an investment in this place.

A solid choice. Large older Resturant with beautiful views from all tables. The service for our party of 17 was fantastic. The portions were large and I didn’t hear any complaints. We loved the cesar salad. I think this would be a great place for a date or a large party. The only reason for 4 stars is that the food is not fantastic. But it is very good. I reserve 5 stars for perfection.

Great happy hour menu! We are new to the villa and won’t stop going back. I hate all the negative comments about it looking old. That’s why we love going there and we’re all in our 20s. Thank you to Sandra and chuck for being so hospitable to us all the time. Your food is excellent and your happy hour menu is to die for. Thank you to everyone at the villa for making our experience special every time. We love you guys

Wow. Unbelievable. The waitress, Roxy, didn’t smile once. Her response to us for the things we asked (more water, a side of ranch, etc.) was «yep».
We asked how the sliders were. Without looking up, «They’re meatballs.» Oh. OK.
The guy that came to our table to help was excellent. If it wasn’t for him, we would have gotten up and left.
The popcorn shrimp and the fried green beans were good. The soda wasn’t «Coke», perhaps RC Cola? The drinks just tasted very watered down — gin and tonic — our only mixed drink — was not very good.
So… Did I mention the ants along the back of the booth? Yah. There was that too. It would’ve been cool if Roxy would’ve apologized for the ants and waited for us to move before wiping them up.
I won’t get into how the appetizer plates that had been handled by the folks at our table, but still stacked, were removed from our table, without being asked if we were using them, and placed back on the stack to be passed out to other tables?
Yah, that was pretty gross too.
Oh wait, one more thing…
We ordered a personal pepperoni pizza that must’ve been forgotten about since it was delivered almost 40 minutes after we ordered it. That kinda sucked.

How disappointing. We have spent many special occasion evenings enjoying the view, old-​fashioned vinyl banquette tables and mature «seasoned» servers. We went this Monday night for a casual early dinner, and won’t be returning. Service was unprofessional, slow, poorly trained and just unprepared to be in this dining room. The manager/​owner was unresponsive to our requests for consideration when presented with our concerns. Remarkable — a sad fate, though, for this Santa Rosa institution. Goodbye Villa. I look forward to the next establishment that can make this most of this beautiful site.

So I called up the captain, «Please bring me my wine»
He said, ‘We haven’t had that spirit here since 1969′ «
This place is the Hotel California. Starting with the Happy Hour crowd, which looks like something out of Cocoon.
It’s a sad place in a way. It’s from that high, 1960’s era, with a little cheap superficial remodeling in the 80s’. The owner must consider it a cash cow unworthy of putting money into. The view is outstanding, one of the best in the area. It’s a place that reminds you of how quickly life passes.
The Happy Hour menu is unexciting, with a cheap $ 3.00 wine from an undrinkable brand.
If you peaked in the 1960’s and want to go back into a time machine and meet other people who peaked in the 1960’s it’s a good place to go.
The lot that this place sits on is incredible. I can see the whole thing being bulldozed one day and replaced with a super high end place (at super high end prices).

Hand written tickets combined with inexperienced servers… A horrible combination. Waited a half hour to get our first round (which was 2 beers!) Waited 40 min for our check. But they did acknowledge this and comp our visit. This did redeem them a bit!

We have been here before quite some time ago. This time we found ourselves at The Villa celebrating my parents’ 67^th wedding anniversary. We had reservations for 5 PM on a Sunday (yesterday).
We were seated and greeted quickly enough. However went downhill from there. They seated us next to the big windows with a very nice view. The paint on the windowsills was peeling and rotting away, was quite unsightly. It seems to me this would be an easy fix I’m surprised they are ignoring such a glaring weakness in the décor. Our waitress came up did not tell us her name no name badge, she was very unfamiliar with the menu and the specials, she had to leave and go check on them. She was very inattentive. We ordered a Caesar salad for two which is absolutely coated with a very heavy dressing, was terrible. Three of us ordered the special which was spaghetti with prawns and scallops in a white wine tomatoes basil sauce. We all thought this dish had zero flavor. My wife ordered the polenta with eggplant. She said this dish was made for the senior citizen home. The egg plant was sliced very thin and it was very brown. It seemed as if the eggplant and the vegetables were previously frozen. And the polenta had very poor texture. And then she told the waitress that the dish was terrible and the waitress just said OK took her plate and walked away no apology no nothing. The rest of us barely ate any of the spaghetti in the special and she still did not ask how we thought the dish was. Needless to say we definitely will not be returning here again looks like this place is on it’s last leg in our opinion.
I will say this place very well COULD be very nice however, it looks like it has seen its best days.
We absolutely do not recommend going here.

Old school Italian family style love it. Happy hour pricing is sweet too. Calamari is off the charts

The best beef stroganoff and calamari steak ever. Great views … good service. We are never disappointed.

The Food is what you go out to eat for, and the villa wants you to suffer, greatly. The staff at the villa are as untrained in cooking as they are in eating, it is obvious that nobody here cares that they are stealing money from the middle class and serving them shit.
Looking at the menu, it becomes apparent that you have to be very knowledgeable about food or very old to understand the descriptions.(veal scallopine, sole doré, braised lamb shank, bouillabaisse.) better yet, these are all French dishes! Our waiter was fine, but when he brought us our food I felt like I had been served from a senior living facility cafeteria. The veal in one corner, steamed brocolli and carrots in the other and penne with cream tomato sauce in the other corner.
Who serves steamed carrots and broccoli when the plate costs 24.99!!! The veal was completely ruined with too much flour and unseasoned. As was the pasta which tasted like water was used to dilute whatever canned tomatoes they used for the sauce.
My partner ordered the veal, and 12 hours later his stomach is still aching from the horribly rancid, over saturated Demi-​glacé that went over the meat. He described it as taking a poor cute little lamb and ruining it.
The only redeeming factor of this meal is the dining room, which is stunning. The vaulted ceilings with the curved columns makes for a beautiful room. I can imagine this restaurant serving Exquisite, high end award winning food, only with a complete overhaul of the staff.
And to the other reviewers, if the only reason you eat somewhere is for the happy hour, consider buying Tanqueray and club soda and bring it and some friends home, you might be happier.

We had a party of 20 and the service was good for the size of our party. However the food was horrible. I ordered a calamari salad. Imagine pre bagged lettuces thrown on a raw squid with some olive oil and tomatoes. It feel like eat a salad out a squids ass… It was just slapped together with no direction or effort. No one at hour table was impressed by any of the food. They didn’t charge me I returned the food which earned them a start. My wife’s dish was incorrect we had asked for no cheese and they got it wrong we ended up sending it back also. I wouldn’t come back here for ANY reason.

Happy hour. Wish I could’ve given a five, but it’s closer to a 3.5. Growing up here, makes it special. The drinks and appetizers were pretty good (not the slider! Mystery meat)
And the server Fabian did a fantastic job, especially when you could see that they were understaffed. The most significant thing was the chatter inthe bar about the place closing and then taking a good look around and noticing the torn overhang, run down appearance, etc…
Hope things work out for the Villa!

Our first time here — for happy hour — and we won’t be rushing back. The view is quite lovely, the service mediocre, and good ok but so-​so. They have raised their prices quite a bit from older happy hour menus one can find online. Just a few items at the $ 3.00 price. Other things I was looking forward to are not discounted anymore like raw oysters. And their happy hour beers and wine are of the lowest quality. The steamed clams were pretty tasteless — like only in chicken broth — no butter or garlic. My husband did enjoy the chicken skewers though they weren’t particularly attractive. I thought the chicken wings were ok, not grand but ok. The fried calamari was quite good. The place is in major need of a make over — old and musty. So all in all not a terrible experience but nothing to rave about.

We repeatedly eat lunch there. The view is wonderful. The prices fair. Food is «good» to «very good.» Service has picked improved. The Villa looses a star for the interior looking tired and aged with concrete floors.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it to anyone.

Ordered take out for 7 people. Got to the restaurant, people were friendly. View was terrific. From there on, completely downhill. Slalom style. There was more taste in in my 3 day old golf socks than in the linguine vignole I ordered. The restaurant forgot two meals and garlic bread. I’ll stop at at that to be nice.
in closing, my suggestion is to pick up a domino’s pizza and bring it up to their patio, which has a gorgeous view.

We noticed the roadside sign for The Villa on our way home from Spring Lake the other day. I immediately Unilocal’ed it and discovered some delightfully horrible reviews. But, good views, good happy hour — we decided to check it out, with low expectations set. And, WOW, it’s a good thing we knew what we were getting ourselves into. Let me paint a picture…
We walked in, the host was texting his buddy and didn’t even so much as acknowledge us. Some other woman walked by and asked us if we wanted a table. But, we just wanted the bar and didn’t know where it was. She pointed us to the dark, dirty side of the restaurant.
We sat down at the bar, the bartender was surly as hell. We were confused about what the happy hour was so she handed us a couple menus and left. The happy hour beers were 1) Budweiser 2) Bud Light 3) Coors 4) Coors Light and 5) PBR. LOOOOOL We ordered some Racer 5’s (in a bottle) and amused ourselves with the eclectic clientele — a healthy mix of 70-​something «I’ll take three ice cubes with my Beringer White Zin» and 21-​something «I’ll take Shirley Temple with some well vodka» crowd. We soon spotted a patio and left the dungeonous bar out to enjoy the summer day.
We ordered the calamari and the mozzarella sticks. You know when you watch Restaurant Impossible and Robert Irvine makes this face ~~~D: and gags? It was pretty much that. Everything tasted like it came from a frozen bag, jar, or can. The marinara tasted like wet. If that’s even a flavor, I couldn’t tell.
All in all, amusing to people watch. But OHhMAN set those bars as low as can go. I mean, high school limbo low.
One star for the view and people watching. One star for potential. My design wheels were spinning like crazy. Desperately in need of an update at every level but could be a really amazing venue!

I visited this restaurant for the first (and last time) recently for my work Christmas party. First thing I noticed was the long driveway, which is fine but it was hard to see especially on a rainy day. The venue itself was very outdated with bad lighting. The outdated furniture, décor and lighting was a bit depressing. I forgot what I ordered but that might not be a bad thing. All I remember was it was nothing special. I could have done better at home for half the cost. I’m just glad I didn’t order what my boss ordered which was the beef stroganoff. It looked like it came straight out of a Chef Boyardee can. No lie!
Overall, this place wasn’t worth the 2 hour drive from the East Bay, nor would I stop by for Happy Hour if in the area. This place looks like it needs to be on Restaurant Impossible. Robert Irvine, help this place!

Have you ever run into an ex from high school or college and thought «OH MY GOSH. WHAT WAS I THINKING?!» This is the train of thought that boards my brain when I think about the Villa. I remember the Villa being this place on an unimaginably high hill, with HUGE windows, and sort of stuffy formality that you would take a prom date to, in hopes of wowing them. In 1941.
I have to admit, I have attended many a stuffy event at the Villa, so many anniversaries of parents, friends, and old people, birthdays, a Christmas time or two, and yes, the old high school date. I wasn’t one to really focus on the food back then, or even the ambiance for that matter, which is probably why I look at yesterday’s experience with horror.
Still located on the very high hill with the very tall windows and the ubiquitously stuffy atmosphere, the Villa exists in perpetual freeze. Literally nothing has changed in the over 10 years since I last visited. Upholstery is more faded, warn and saggy, wall hangings are just as wrinkled, more dusty, and bleak, and the menu is much the same as the accoutrements of the rest of the location.
We had a reservation for Mothers day at 7, and yet we still waited over 30 minutes to be seated. We then waited another 15 to get drinks ordered and menus on the table. We were then transferred waiters and the orders were mixed up in the delivery. New waiter complained about being worked too much and how he’d rather be working at a brewpub elsewhere. I had to agree with him that the Villa was outdated, down to how he pointed out that even the orders, accounting and billing was done (inefficiently, he added) by hand.
Food was less than unremarkable, mom ordered the Salmon with Polenta ($ 23.95) which was «boring but not bad.» Brother ordered the Cheese Ravioli with beef meatballs ($ 18.95) which was generous and tangy. I had the Chicken Saltimbocca ($ 20.95) which was sorely overcooked, rubbery, and over seasoned despite my request for light on the sauce.
Mom’s Italian Prosecco spritzer was watery and weak, just the way she likes her alcoholic beverages, and my Moretti was flat and definitely not as cold as I would have liked. My only positive memories of the Villa were desserts, so I asked for the dessert menu before we had even started on dinner. We settled on Raspberry Panna Cotta ($ 6.75), which I thought was too heavy and sweet, and the Zabaligone ($ 14.95), which had no stabilizer, so by the time I got to eat it, most of it had deflated to a $ 14 liquid in the bottom of my glass.
Once our informative waiter found out we were Unilocalers, he comp’d us one panna cotta, but even his generous offer didn’t save the experience, which I could barely wrap into a two star rating. Much like lost loves of yore, the Villa reminds me of the aging process, less than brilliant choices, and the effect that time can have on one’s memory. In short, you’re not missing anything by moving on, and moving up. Ta taa!