It had been a while since I've been to Sonoma Grill but I suggested it as a place to meet some out of town friends for an early lunch. They wanted to meet somewhere at 11:00 in order to hit the road and Sonoma opens for lunch at 11:00. Notice I said "opens" and not serves. More on that in a bit.
Every time I walk in here I think, wow, I really should come here more often. This really is a nice space! Great bar, very good wine list, nice atmosphere. Why don't I come here more often? Then I order the food and that question gets answered. This visit reinforced my opinion on the food. The lunch menu was presented as soon as we sat down and looked really good. All four of us made our choices and waited for our server which took a few minutes and placed our order. Then we waited. And waited. 40 minutes go by and we haven't seen her at all. Knowing my friends chose an early lunch for a reason, I started looking for her and finally got her attention. I asked her what was happening with our food and she went to check. I also noticed that two tables who came in before us didn't have their food either. This is 45 minutes. So let me just say service was pitiful.
When the food did come it wasn't good. The "bowl" of curry chicken soup was pretty much a cup size and not particularly tasty. And it was barely lukewarm. My soft shell crab Po Boy was a nicely sliced bun stuffed with lettuce, slaw and slathered in remoulade (read mayonnaise). I had a hard time finding more than a bite of soft shell crab in there. I didn't know a soft shell crab could provide multiple servings. It was NOT good.
In summary, it's a good place to sit at the bar and have a drink. I don't recommend it for food. Or service. There are far better places nearby.