Sonoma Casual Dining

The ground floor of a parking garage is the venue for Sonoma Casual Dining, a restaurant serving breakfast, lunch, and early dinners to Downtown office workers and visitors. Sonoma's slogan is "inexpensive elegance." Given Sonoma's casual feel, it would probably be an overstatement to call the restaurant's large L-shaped space truly "elegant." Nevertheless, the restaurant is clean, airy, and newly renovated. Most of the room is taken up with self-service seating for customers who order and pick up their food at the restaurant's counter. There is also a bar at which customers can not only buy a drink, but also enjoy a full service dining experience from the same menu as the rest of the restaurant. Sonoma is located just across the street from the Van Buren / Central Avenue (northbound) and Van Buren / 1st Avenue (southbound) stations.

Sonoma is based on a California restaurant concept known as the "Sonoma Chicken Coop," and, true to its pedigree, Sonoma's menu highlights rotisserie chicken, served in both half and quarter-bird sizes with a variety of sides and sauces. The menu is diverse, however, and also incorporates pasta dishes, salads, and sandwiches (right photo below). The preparations and ingredients are all familiar. Clearly, Sonoma is not trying to introduce customers to the unknown. Instead, Sonoma's cuisine could be described as slightly upscale California /Southwestern /Mediterranean comfort food. Most of the dishes may not surprise, but they are generally well prepared from fresh ingredients. A penne primavera dish (center photo below), for example, is nicely al dente and not swimming in oil as it would often be at other restaurants.

A breakfast menu is available each morning from 7 AM until 10:30 AM. Breakfast choices include breakfast burritos, French toast, and egg dishes. There is also an espresso and smoothie bar that opens half an hour earlier. The only items missing seem to be basic cereals like oatmeal and orange juice that is fresh-squeezed rather than bottled. These would round out the breakfast menu nicely. After 10:30, Sonoma serves a lunch / dinner menu until 8 PM. The bar stays open until 10 PM, but one major shortcoming is that Sonoma currently has absolutely no weekend hours. Most meals at Sonoma seem to average around $10, not including alcohol and desserts. Catering and delivery services are also available.

25 W Van Buren St., Phoenix, AZ 85003
(602) 252-3858

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