Diavola Pizzeria & Salumeria
Dino Bugica cures prosciutto, salumi, sausage and lardo on the property, and the board of it costs $30. There are pig skulls in the back garden.25
Why go
Bugica spent over ten years in Italy learning butchery and cucina povera, and he came home to cook at Santi in Geyserville before opening his own room next door in 2008.54 Santi was Franco Dunn and Thomas Oden's restaurant and it trained three cooks who went on to open their own: Bugica, Ari Rosen, who ran Campo Fina in Healdsburg until it closed in 2022, and Liza Hinman of the Spinster Sisters.4 Trippa alla Fiorentina was on Santi's menu and it is still on this one.4 Every table gets a bottle of chili oil and a glass of breadsticks rolled that morning.1 Geyserville is quiet, and then on a Friday night people are standing three deep inside this one door.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the House Cured Salami & Cheese, $30. Jeff Cox got three salamis on a slab of tree trunk, Genovese, soppressata and Toscana, with a paste of pork and hot peppers pounded spreadable. It was the only dish he gave four stars.15
- Order: the Dictator, $25. Marinated short rib, garlic, mozzarella, scallions, serrano chiles, kimchi, Kewpie mayo and shichimi on a wood-fired base.5
- Order: the lardo pizza if it is on. BiteClub's whole review was fresh slices of house-cured lardo over the oven, with a few tomatoes.2
- Avoid: arriving hungry and in a hurry. Cox waited an hour between ordering the salumi and getting it, and the room was not full yet.1
What locals & experts say
- Jeff Cox, The Press Democrat, Sonoma Living:
Diavola is a temple of down-to-earth, hand-made, real Italian food.
On the salumi:I say hooray for chef Bugica for building inimitable character into his salumi. Believe me, it's rare.
1 - Sonoma Magazine's BiteClub column:
Two words: Lardo pizza. Or pig-fat pizza.
2 - The MICHELIN inspector, on the room:
Its home in downtown Geyserville has a Wild West appeal, and the interior, styled with vintage film posters and antique tools, has a playful yet smart vibe.
3
Good to know
- Michelin gave it a Bib Gourmand in 2019 and the live guide entry today carries the inspector's text with no distinction attached.63
- Reservations run Monday to Thursday only, and only for eight or more. Every other night is walk-in.5
- Open seven days, 11:30am to 9pm.3
- Sonoma Magazine put it in the county's 25 best for 2025.4
Verdict
should-visit — Bugica cures the meat himself, and that is the reason to drive to Geyserville rather than eat pizza closer to home. He spent ten years in Italy learning butchery, and Jeff Cox gave the House-Cured Salami and Cheese board his top score in the Press Democrat while marking the pizzas well below it. Michelin gave Diavola a Bib Gourmand in 2019, and the live guide entry today carries no distinction at all. Sonoma Magazine put it in the 2025 county 25 on the Santi lineage. Held below must-visit because Cox wrote a decade ago and the service complaint in his review was specific.