Christopher’s Ristorante

Christopher’s has relocated to The City Hotel in nearby Columbia State Park with a similar menu and quieter atmosphere. Dinner for four this week reflected the same great service and great food (Seafood Stew, Chicken Parmesan and Hangar Steak). Room was full, I suggest reservations.

Visited Christopher’s in Sept. 2015. We were among a group of six; called in advance for resv. got there table was not ready. Our waitress was not very pleasant, but she got our salads out and started us. The busboy was very good, lots of water, and often. When my pasta dish arrived it looked great; I wish it was hot and not just luke warm though. The pasta was not completely cooked, and quite chewy! Our waitress was not to be found, and being in a small group I did not want to make a scene. The bill came on time, and of course the tip amounts are all noted for our convenience, I did the the lowest, 15%, and cut my loses. I left feeling exactly the opposite one should feel after a nice evening out, totally pissed!!!

Homemade pasta and homemade mozzarella cheese! A must stop for anyone wanting real Italian food. The mozzarella sticks with local tomatoes, garlic and basil. Yummy!

In searching for new places to eat, this establishment was highly recommended, finally made it to try this place ourselves. It is a darker, black tablecloth with candles, store front appearance, almost as if they removed the Woolworth’s and put in some tables. Not bad, just different, an interesting cross between formal and totally not. Nine plus tables, excellent service, wine and beer, good portions, hot food (!). We were glad we called for a reserve as the place was full by the time we left. Delicious and different appetizers, several salads, standard as well as unusual Italian dishes including manicotti. David had veal marsala, Jena had the stuffed portabella, I had salmon. All three dishes were superb. Dinner was $ 93 for four including one child and before dessert (the BEST Crème Brulee bar none) so it was a tad steep, but worth it.

We were staying at the Sonora Inn next door, and this restaurant was the highlight of our stay. The food was excellent, and the service was very good also. Our drinks never got empty, and we had a wonderful meal.

We read one reviewer’s comment that the restaurant doesn’t read it’s web reservation requests, so we called for a Saturday evening reservation at 7:15 P. M, just 30 minutes after our call. We arrived on time and were seated immediately. The server was knowledgeable about the different menu items and recommended the New York steak to me. It was one of the best steaks I’ve had in years. I dined with two lovely ladies; there was some confusion when they changed their orders and the lasagna one had ordered didn’t arrive, but the original item ordered did come. The server immediately apologized and offered to bring the lasagna later, even though «it would probably be boxed up.» We accepted; it was delicious, but we did take most of it home.
We highly recommend this restaurant for its food, ambiance, and service.

Christopher’s Ristorante apparently does not take reservations thru their website. They have a Reserve Now button which directs you to a webform so you can fill in your reservation request. But apparently they aren’t getting the Reserve Now requests, or else they are just too lazy to respond.
Twice I used their Reserve Now form (once last Friday and once this week) but I never heard a peep from them.
Hey Christopher’s — Want my business? Too bad, ain’t gonna happen.

4.3 stars. Went for friend’s baby shower/​brunch. Most of us were from out of town, and didn’t know what to expect. Pleasantly surprised! Delicious, fresh, tasty food.
$ 5 garlic fries– 5 stars! One of the best garlic fries we’ve ever eaten! Must try!
$ 5 house salad– surprisingly large mixed green salad with a few tomatoes, gorgonzola, red onions and 4 generous slices of garlic brushed bruschetta type bread. Super tasty! Very filling. House dressing was a whole grain mustard vinaigrette. A little heavy on the dressing, but very good!
$~ $ 10 breakfast entrees. Huge portions for the omelets, breakfast scrambles, etc. My friend was a bit disappointed w/​the biscuits, and the crepes were a little too think in my opinion, but overall, a great place for breakfast/​brunch.
Heard they make their own pasta. Unfortunately, the don’t serve it on for lunch, only dinner. Would love to come back and try it. Prices seemed very reasonable. Décor was a bit dated, but guess this is an old town place. Service was friendly and local. Great meal!

Wonderful food and great choice of wines. Really nice service too!
The only downer is the chairs, most uncomfortable chairs ever. Bring your stadium tush pillow and you’ll have a great evening!

Excellent food and service was great even though they were extremely crowded. Good thing we had a reservation! The staff was friendly and we had no wait at all. My husband ordered the special NY steak with mushrooms and Gorgonzola and I had the chicken special stuffed with pancetta and fontina cheese. Both dishes were delicious and I am not easily impressed! Great place for our date night!

This is a small Italian restaurant located inside the Inn of Sonora (historic hotel).
I ended up in this restaurant during a motorcycle trip (my other bookmarked restaurants were closed).
I was a bit reluctant at first to go to Sonora to have Italian food but eventually… I am very glad that I tried this place.
I had ‘today’s suggestion’: Lamb with asparagus and Marsala sauce, as well as an half portion of spaghetti al aglio (I was just curious in fact… since I had read that pasta were homemade) and a glass of Montepulciano.
What can I say? The meat was perfectly cooked exactly the way I asked (medium). A bit read but not too bloody. The accompaniment (pan fried potatoes and asparagus), seasoned, and cooked right. The sauce was delicate but too salty. The dish was definitely prepared by a real chef, someone who know how to accommodate lamb, who knows how to make sauce (fine delicate and a lot of perfume) and perfectly master his dish.
29 $ for that was worth it: tasty, delicious, well prepared and large portion. I had an all-​in-​one dish!
Spaghetti: al-​dente. home made, pure virgin olive oil, well spiced, lot of garlic: excellent.
I don’t give 5 stars only because the lamb was over salty. I mean it. Very very salty.
Came without reservation. waited 22 mins to be seated.
Very professional service.
Nice cozy atmosphere.

The first time I ever dined at Christopher’s was very disappointing. Service was great and friendly. That’s where the positive stops. The sauce on my pasta was terrible and tasted old. It would have been better if they used jar sauce. Someone needs to teach them how to make real Italian sauce. There’s a better place on Washington Street for Pasta, but I won’t say it here, because I don’t want it to seem like I represent them. Mostly I just make my own sauce and pasta at home and it’s way better than any restaurant downtown. I wasted my money and will never go back. No way this is «Italiano» ristorante. It was more like hospital food.

Great upscale menu compared to all the bar and grills in Tuolumne County, and friendly, professional service. Pasta is homemade, my first visit it was on the al dente side and the second visit it was perfectly cooked to my taste. The cream sauce is very rich, a nice treat but hard to finish the whole meal, so take a box home :) short ribs and risotto was very tender, slightly bland but something different. Fried artichoke hearts are unique and come with a delicious dip. Even the pizza is good! Try it out on Wine down Wednesday for a great deal if you don’t need to drive home any time soon ;)

Celebrating our Annoversary in Sonora last weekend, we discovered Christopher’s! We were fortunate to eat there 2 times, without reservation, since they are always very busy. The food & services are outstanding, the ambiance very pleasant. David, the host, is an incredibal courteous, caring young man. We had the opportunity watching him constantly corresponding with people waiting for a table, even appologizing for the wait! The 2 waitresses, Brie and Heather (being the owner with her husband, Christopher, & Chef in the kitchen), are amazing! As busy as they are, smiles on their faces, and service plus+++
I won’t go into the meals, we went thru the menues both times, sharing a lot, so we could try many different items.
It is hard to belief that a kitchen could create so much variety in food, and all sooo good‼ We are hoping to return soon for another getaway weekend, and being spoiled by the great team @ Christopher’s. Thank you

Drove an hour out of my way after a nice Yosemite hike only to find that their hours on Unilocal are not accurate. They are closed on Mondays.

This is great Italian food… service is sometimes pretty slow and the waitstaff could be friendlier and come by the table more often. I have ordered out several times but also ate in 4 times now. I call the pizza «adult pizza» due to the fancier Italian style recipes. They are delicious as well as many other menu items I have tried! Food is 5 stars. wait staff is 3 – 4 :-/

Incredible food, awesome service, chocolate/​pistachio/​cherry ice cream! When it comes to italian, this is the place to go. I couldn’t find pictures to for portion, our spaghetti plate was one order split onto two plates. Recommend to everyone!
Good for romantic evenings out, don’t forget to make a reservation. We snuck in during rush hour by ‘the hair on our teeth’ without one.

We went here for the first time. Four of us had a great meal. Crab raviolis were amazing and the portion was big. Baked wrapped steak for another – excellent and tender. Spaghetti Carbonara was yummy and again a large portion. The last meal was the short ribs – again, delicious. We had the table side Caesar salad for 3 of us… yummy. The potato and bacon soup was good but could have been warmer. Service was excellent. We will be back, for sure.

Very nice place adjoining the historic Sonora hotel.
We enjoyed our bolognaise and carbonara spaghetti.
The prices were reasonable and the staff was very nice and professional.

Visited here on a Monday night and got immediate sitting, right off the place has a good vibe and you feel like family. The place filled up and the pace of the meal was just right.
Portions were generous, we split a pepperoni pizza (delicious), a papardelli pasta dish (also delicious) and Cesar salad (yep.great). Wines were available by bottle or glass.
In the mood for a great Italian meal… this is the place.