Healdsburg Bar & Grill
Charlie Palmer put Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon on the menu at $25 and deglazes it with beef stock instead of red wine. He cooked next to her on PBS.1
Why go
HBG opened in 2001, a block from Dry Creek Kitchen and the year Palmer opened that too, and it was the room where a family could eat for under $50 while the plaza filled up around it.1 Douglas Keane of Cyrus and his partner Nick Peyton ran it from 2008 to 2024.1 Owner Danya Richter, a local hairdresser and a family friend of the Palmers, asked Charlie Palmer for help after Keane left, and Palmer's own account is that it started with a few tweaks in the kitchen and ended with the whole place redone.1 Hugh Dyer, formerly sous chef at Dry Creek Kitchen, runs the stove now.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the Beef Bourguignon, $25. Caramelized meat and vegetables deglazed with beef stock, which is Palmer's one change to Child's recipe and it pushes the umami.1
- Order: the Bucket O' Fried Chicken, $34. A whole bird, ten pieces, long-brined and double-fried, in a paper bucket.1
- Order: the HBG Burger, $17, Angus with American cheese, special sauce and bacon marmalade on brioche.1
- Avoid: the side salad that comes with the $28 Bar Steak. The reviewer would swap it for more of the bistro fries and an aioli.1
What locals & experts say
- Sonoma Magazine, on the relaunch (January 2026): the reviewer says the food is better right away and noticeably so.
In recent months, things had started to slip, with dishes that felt phoned in.
On the bourguignon:Tender beef, pearl onions, potatoes and carrots drift in a sauce you'll want to mop up with bread.
1 - Charlie Palmer, on what he is aiming at:
Our goal is really to make this a place for families to go, to keep it affordable. A lot of people who used to come after games and school are coming back and takeout is getting traction.
1
Good to know
- Open 11:30am to 9pm Wednesday through Monday, closed Tuesday. Brunch runs 10:30 to 2:30 at weekends.1
- Happy hour is 3 to 6pm Sunday, Monday, Thursday and Friday: wings $6, fried chicken or pulled sliders $8 to $10, poke bites $9, queso with chips and salsa $7.1
- Wednesday is trivia night and the room fills with local teams. The enclosed patio is the quiet option, and it is dog-friendly.1
- Every signature and classic cocktail is $13.50, on a list Steve Alkire rebuilt. The Fresa-Rita uses black pepper-infused tequila.1
Verdict
could-visit — This is the cheap room on a plaza that stopped being cheap, and it has just been rebuilt by the chef who made the plaza expensive in the first place. Charlie Palmer opened Dry Creek Kitchen a block away in 2001, the year HBG opened; he now runs both menus, and he has put Julia Child's boeuf bourguignon on this one at $25, deglazed with beef stock rather than wine. Sonoma Magazine's reviewer says the food had been slipping and is noticeably better since the December refresh, and both halves of that are worth having. A burger is $17 and a bucket of double-fried chicken is $34.