Something worth noticing has happened on the Plaza this year. The two most talked-about restaurant openings both come from chefs who already live and cook here, taking over spaces that had been part of Sonoma's identity for decades. Add a free Sunday concert series that runs through October and the return of the Tuesday Night Market, and the square starts to look less like a stop on a wine tour and more like a shared weekly calendar for the people who live within walking distance.
This is a resident's shortlist. Where to go, when to show up, and what the openings actually tell you about how the Plaza is being remade from the inside.
The corner Maya used to sit on
For years the northwest corner of the Plaza belonged to Maya, a family-run Mexican restaurant that closed after its owners retired. The team behind the girl & the fig quietly took the lease in September, and the concept coming into that space is not another Sonoma-French bistro.
