Meritage Martini Oyster Bar & Grille

The first time we ate here we had an amazing outdoor experience. The wine and oysters kept flowing and the service was great. The second time, not so much.
On our second visit, even though it was a Saturday (just like the time before) and the weather was great, they did not have the patio open. The staff was not quite as pleasant and once we got our food we were basically ignored. The food was definitely not anything to write home about (or give an extra star for). Maybe they were just having an off day, but it was definitely a disappointment after having such a great first experience.

Closed — I’m going to cry !!!
This was my all time favorite place for Martinis and Oysters at happy hour. We would drive up from the east bay just to do this before heading to the CIA above Napa for dinner.

CLOSED
This restaurant is closed.

I must warn you that my review of Meritage is not kind of biased. My fiancé proposed immediately after an incredible dinner here, so I have engagement-​colored glasses on as I write this review.
First, Meritage is in a great location. It’s on the southwest corner of the main square in Sonoma, but we walked there from our hotel. They have FABULOUS cocktails, and they grow their own mint! You can definitely taste how fresh the ingredients are. We got there at 4pm and took advantage of all the happy hour appetizers, which were delicious. We were having such a good time and the food was so good, we stayed and just kept ordering through dinner.
I am especially fond of their ceviche, which came in a huge, colorful shell and was portioned for giants. My now-​fiancé is not really a fish person but he loved it, too. We ordered seafood pasta dishes for dinner and they were both amazing. I loved the homemade spinach noodles on my dish! All the seafood was so fresh and tasty, and the staff there is amazing. I felt really taken care of and would definitely come back for an engagement-​versary!

Came here with a small group to celebrate a birthday during the week.
None of us had oysters. Three of us split a bottle of wine which one has a perfectly made gin martini. Three of us has the pasta in red sauce with clams, mussels, and prawns. Their pasta is homemade. It was a generous serving. Out other diner had the wild boar baby back ribs, which were pretty much falling off the bone and succulent.
For the birthday, our serve brought us some small eclairs with a candle. It was a great touch.
Service was good. Ambiance was slightly dressy and the overall restaurant is on the smaller side, so reservations are recommended.
Parking on the side lot.

Crappy food. Crappy service. Crappy generally
Went for my friends birthday party. 9 of us. They didn’t have 9 shot glasses! And they had 16 tables on the patio itself
Never come here

I love oysters so was excited when we decided to stop by here for a snack. We decided to get the oyster sampler which was $ 25 for 8 oysters. Pretty pricey if you ask me! Thankfully it was happy hour which included half priced oysters so it only came out to $ 12.50 for the sampler. We sat at the bar and my boyfriend ordered a cocktail which he said was «good». As we waited and waited and waited, I soon realized that our initial waitress wasn’t even there anymore. She must have left on her lunch break without saying anything! 20 minutes after we ordered the oysters (mind you, they don’t need to be cooked. They’re RAW) I finally had to ask the new guy if he could check on them. Turns out, they had been sitting there for awhile but no one had served them to us. How horrible is that! Waiting 20 minutes for raw food??? I hate to think how long it would be for cooked food!
Needless to say, there was no one that checked up on us during our quick slurp of a couple oysters. The oysters themselves were good but I wasn’t as impressed as I thought I would be, given that Sonoma is so close to the coast. 3 stars because although the service sucked and the food was just ok, the place itself was cute and cozy.

A group of us just finished an afternoon if wine tasting. While we were wandering the town we were told this was the spot to be for Happy Hour and oysters. Upon arriving we were notified that they still had oysters. But since it was a busy weekend (as there were various events going on) their inventory of certain types were running low. We appreciated our waiters proactive approached. We ordered the Sampler Platter (2 Of Each Kind): $ 20.00 — doubled up when they were out of a certain type.
A few of us couples enjoyed the chefs tasting menu:
* Trio Of Oysters — With champagne mignonette
* Grilled Tiger Prawns — With fennel, portobello mushroom salad
* Maine Lobster Ravioli In A Spicy Tomato Sauce
* Wild Boar Ribs, Polenta, And Seasonal Vegetables
* Warm Chocolate Torte — With vanilla gelato
The staff is friendly and made sure our water glasses were full — thumbs up!
Prices are reasonable and great environment for groups. Will definitely be back.

This place has the best oysters in the North Bay. The chef, Carlo Cavallo ended up catering our wedding, and the food is still talked about by all our friends years later. Ask for a «Thai Me Up and Spank Me» — it’s a tequila drink with Thai chilies and it’s fantastic! The food here is almost always fabulous, and generally, you can’t lose.

Meritage was recommended to us because it was known for it’s fun bar so we decided to give the restaurant a try. The power had been out all over Sonoma off and on all weekend so it seemed everyone was a little off their game. Not these guys. They were so welcoming and helpful.
We started with an appetizer with beans and prosciutto. It was so light and tasty! I wasn’t too hungry so it was my intention to order just the ceviche appetizer for my meal and my friends each ordered the special risotto. I secretly wanted the risotto but didn’t think I could eat that much. They brought out the ceviche and put it in the middle of the table and split the two orders of risotto for all three of us so we each got some! It was the perfect amount for everyone and everyone was happy. The ceviche was fresh and refreshing and the risotto, with shrimp and asparagus, was rich and creamy.
We had so much fun with the wait staff, and the table next to us, that we never even needed to go to the bar. The fun was right there with us. It was a perfect night.

Adorable little spot for Sunday lunch! Decided to drive up to Sonoma with the parentals and the idea of seafood & French cuisine called out to us! (Although they’re lacking in the French part.)
Seafood sampler which came with 2 of each oyster selections. They were out of one kind so they added on 2 of another. $ 23 for 8 oysters… I love oysters, so while I think it’s «worth it» the oysters were mediocre.
Soup of the day, minestrone. Delicious! They used dumplings (gnocci like) in the soup! I have a strong biased towards any warm comforting soup and it was a cold day. So maybe I thought this was better than it really was?
Pancetta pizza– not good. Pancetta was great, but the combination of flavors (pancetta, onions, gruyère) was just off. Pizza dough was a thin & crispy pita bread?!
Lobster salad– now THIS was the best item of the day. Lobster, cubed avacado, cucumber, and roasted tomato. SO fresh and zesty flavors!
Spinach linguini (with seafood.) Also delicious, with a surprising spicy kick! The sauce was a garlicky cream sauce but very light.
Overall a satisfying meal but with the ratings/​reviews I had higher expectations. The service however was impeccable! I might go back, if someone else was treating. :-)

Excellent food flavors. Seafood centric menu. Pretty plate presentations. Generous portions.
I’ve had meat and fish selections here. Also the pasta dishes are hand made fresh noodles. Tasty all around.
Wine list is fairly large. Features worldwide labels, though of course California wines predominate. By the glass selections number more than 2 dozen. Bottle prices are only 1.5X supermarket.
Desserts are marvelous. The crème brulle is a house signature dish. Profiteroles on special nights are creamy & crunchy goodness.
Service is superlative. Friendly, good humored, informative, punctual.
Been here in this location for 14 years. Packed with diners every night for good reason. Wonderful food at mid-​tier prices.

I was super excited to try Meritage Martini Oyster Bar & Grille because I love… martinis & oysters! Hence why my boyfriend made reservations.
In one of the reviews, someone described it as an upscale Cheers & I think that definitely fits the bill in terms of ambiance. We were seated right away in the bar area & outfitted with menus. We started with the oyster sampler ($ 23 for 8 oysters) & two martinis. My boyfriend & I were deciding between the wild board ribs (!!!), steamed lobster & salmon. He ended up getting the ribs (only because I more or less demanded it) & I got the ½ lobster. Because in addition to martinis & oysters, I also love lobster!
Cue where things get weird.
Right after ordering our mains, our oysters & martinis arrived. They serve the martinis in shakers with individual ice buckets (love) & the oysters were fresh & tasty. We barely had finished our apps when our entrees arrived. I’m talking maybe 5 – 7 minutes after ordering, so… you do the math.
While my boyfriend’s ribs were tasty with meat falling off the bone, my lobster had clearly been (barely) heated up. The meat was so tough & mealy I had a hard time getting it out. When you’re not ordering a whole lobster, I realize there’s a ⁵⁰⁄₅₀ chance of getting someone else’s lobster half heated up instead of a freshly steamed one but it was a disappointing main course — especially for the price. I was also surprised the waiter didn’t inquire about my meal since most of the lobster was left on the plate.
That said, I’d probably try Meritage again. The martinis were plentiful & the regulars were delightful to sit next to – but I’d stay away from order ½ of anything!

Happy hour looking good so far
It was ok. Had a drink, oysters and mussels. Drink good, mussels good, service good, oysters some great others poor.
Overall not a bad experience but I’ll try another Sonoma gem before I return for round 2

The wife and I wanted some oysters after wine tasting. Found this place on Unilocal and it had an oyster happy hour. The oyster selection was good, but a few minuses were that you could not order the cooked oysters individually. So we had to get 6 of each type to try them. Personally 1 – 2 per person is more then enough, no one needs 3 Rockefeller or casino’s.
Also all oyster happy hours I have ever been to charge $ 1 per raw oyster these guys charged. $ 1.50. We did 50 raw oysters and all 3 types they had were very fresh and tasty.
The Parmesan Truffle fries are to die for and worth going back for alone.
Next time we pass through I would consider stopping again.

This has been in my bookmarks since I first saw it in the show «Check Please!».
I’m going to start off by saying I passed up reservations at a Michelin Star rated restaurant at our hotel to come here. I’m so disappointed that I did.
It’s a tiny little place with little seating inside and a back patio. It was raining out so outside was closed.
Onion bread to start was delicious but the olive spread was disgusting. I just can’t do olives. They are nasty.
We started with the Oyster sampler. This was probably the only saving grace for this place. These were the freshest Oysters I’ve ever had. The Kumomoto were the best of all. Amazingly fresh and succulent. I’m not joking. The best ever.
My entrée of choice was the Homemade Black Fettuccine with Prawns. It was flavorless and I couldn’t finish it. Salt couldn’t even save this dish. I was so disappointed. This would be a two star dish.
The husband got the Lobster Ravioli. Too spicy for me. A lot of their menu options included spicy sauces. I can’t do spicy so that limited my options.
My husband imbibed a few cocktails. I didn’t due to being hungover. He said they were pretty good.
Service was very nice but very slow. At one point we were just looking around for our server to bring our check. They were busy but not thaaaat busy.
The bar was packed and we were seated right next to it. There were 40 something year old Real Housewives of Sonoma being obnoxious and doing shots.
Ladies, shots are for children. Please stop.
I saw two of them almost fall down and a third actually did land flat on her back on the sidewalk outside. So embarrassing for them.
I was admittedly dissatisfied with our experience and food. I will not pass up another opportunity to eat at a Michelin Rated restaurant again.

We ordered oysters and they were great. The cocktails were good and strong. The truffle fries were great.
I ordered the burger and the patty was a frozen beef patty and that ruined everything! It was thin as paper and plain! No one should be serving frozen beef patties at a restaurant, this wasn’t a fast food establishment.

Martini Oyster Bar & Grille is one of the many gems of Sonoma.
A fairly large group of us were there on a weekday night for dinner, and the restaurant was more than half full. A basket of bread was placed our table with a dish of tapenade. We all agreed that the tapenade was delicious, not too salty and not drenched in oil. It was so good I ended up spooning some of it on my salad and my entrée.
To start my meal, I had their goat cheese, fennel and beet salad. I asked for it to be lightly dressed and the salad was barely kissed with the vinaigrette. The goat cheese was mild and creamy and the beets were fresh and sweet. I decided to go with the bouillabaisse, a seafood stew with prawns, clams, mussels and fish in a spicy tomato saffron broth. Although I wouldn’t call this authentic, it was very good. All components of this dish was fresh and perfectly cooked. The broth was delicious and was screaming for bread to be dunked into it. For $ 20, I thought this was a complete bargain. They also offer a Venetian Brodetto with half of a lobster and half of a crab, clams, mussels, prawns, and squid for $ 36, which also looked tempting and would have been perfect if I had been hungrier.
Our table ordered a pinot noir, but unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of the winery from which it came. It was well received by all that tasted it. Per our resident wine afficionado, they had a good selection of wines.
Service was good and efficient. Our servers did a good job of handling all of our orders and our many special requests. We were all quite pleased with our meal and our experience. The drawings hung throughout the restaurant appeared to all be by the same artist and and add a local flavor to the space. The restaurant is known for their seafood and I would suggest sticking with that, as most patrons seem to be doing. A huge plus was sitting in a seat that faced the bar with a TV that happened to be showing the Giants game.
If I am in the area I ‘d be happy to make a return trip.

Can you give five stars on how great the menu looks (lobster ravioli!), good service and a delicious bloody mary? I’m not sure… but I’m gonna.
After touring 922 wineries on Saturday and Sunday, we needed some hair of the dog cleverly disguised as a healthy beverage. We skipped the V8 and dropped into Meritage Oyster Bar in the hopes of grabbing some of their half price oysters. We were a little TOO early for the happy hour (half price from 3 — 6) so we stuck with the bloodies and mimosas.
I’m a bloody mary snob and Beka made it perfectly with a spicy fresh house mix, crispy veggies, lots of vodka and a heavy salt rim. The moral of the story? If you’re on the square, looking to make a departure from wine, belly up and ask Beka for one of her famous concoctions.

Fantastic service and a great option to dine al fresco in Sonoma. The focaccia came with an olive tapenade spread– which was to die for!
We didn’t go for the oysters, but we ordered the chicken ravioli with a tomato based sauce and the salmon risotto special. Both were pleasantly light, which is perfect for an early autumn dinner. Meritage had an unusual take on the crème brûlée– sorta splashed out artistically on the plate, which made sharing fun.