The Matheson

We came here for our anniversary and were so touched by their hospitality. Although we booked at the last minute, they customize the course menu for us to be Pescatarian and changed the wine pairing. The waiter Yvette was so sweet and flexible and she made all our requests possible. Their sommelier is super talented that the wine pairing was so perfectly matching. Every dish had a little bit of surprise and was using seasonal/rare ingredients that made our experience much more fun and intriguing. We recommend this place for all the aspects!

The wine wall has many good selections of wine, happy hour is from 4-6 pm with fair selections of food. Overall, the foods are well prepared and taste good, and the waitress is very friendly.

To me, The Matheson seems like four different experiences that co-exist under one roof. On the first floor, there are three distinct spaces - the bar area/wine wall, the chef’s counter, and the dining room. Then there is the rooftop bar (Roof 106) on the third floor which has its own listing on Google Maps, but often gets reviewed here as well. I think to really enjoy this place, you need to choose your space carefully. We were at The Matheson from about 4 to 7 PM on a Tuesday, and this is how I would describe the different areas. The bar/wine wall quickly filled up with Gen Z and Millenials who were drinking cocktails, pouring from the wine wall, and ordering from the Happy Hour menu (the burger and the beef tartare seemed particularly popular). Very different from the chef’s counter which felt like the retirement home of the restaurant (basically old couples). The first floor dining room was mostly empty until about 6 PM when it started filling up quickly with a mixed crowd of all ages. The rooftop bar was mostly 20-something tourists and middle-aged hipsters until about 5 pm when it started getting loud when the locals started showing up. Just my impressions. We had pre-dinner drinks at the rooftop bar and then had dinner at the chef’s counter. This is a review of the chef’s counter. So just to clear up one thing - this is not a chef’s table or an interactive experience where the cooks are serving you the food. This is counter-style seating that looks directly at the open kitchen with waiters serving everything. The super-personable Chef Valette came over a few times to chat which was nice, but it’s more of a voyeuristic experience. With that said, the food was very good and generously portioned. The 3 course Spring Menu for $55 with accompanying wines for $28 is a very good deal right now. We ordered a la carte though and asked the sommelier to pair wines by the glass with our food and were not disappointed. If you enjoy wine, I would highly recommend that you ask for suggestions because they have lots of by-the-glass offerings, and you may find a wonderful combination that you would not have tried otherwise. As far as prices, given the restaurant is located right on the square in super-bougie Healdsburg, I thought it was reasonable. If you are price conscious, there is the Happy Hour menu (which actually looked pretty good) but it’s only available at the bar from 4-6 PM (daily). Overall, the service was friendly and professional, but then again, we were seated at 5 PM, so it was still relatively empty and quiet for most of the time we were there. We ate at Valette (Chef Valette’s other Healdsburg restaurant) the night before and personally, we liked The Matheson better because of the bigger selection of wines and the open kitchen. But the food is great at both places. The Matheson is just a louder, livelier venue.

We visited the Matheson on July 25th. What a fabulous establishment! We sat at the inside rooftop bar. Liz was SO sweet and accommodating. She made a half caffeinated espresso martini for me. She even added chocolate per my request! And Jon Jon also provided excellent service! We ordered the taco special and the chicken wings. Delicious! Very tasty! We moved outdoors to a fire table and ordered a margarita pizza with sausage sprinkled on top. Maddie was super patient with our group! All in all, I highly recommend the Matheson. Wonderful food, atmosphere, and employees.

ALEXANDER

Amazing Experience at The Matheson! We recently took a short trip and ended up in Healdsburg — an absolutely stunning town. While exploring, we decided to grab a bite and found The Matheson. I can honestly say that the 2.5-hour drive was completely worth it! This is a truly exceptional restaurant — “restaurant” with a capital R. From the moment we walked in, we were surrounded with care and attention. The staff were incredibly attentive yet never intrusive, making us feel as if we were dining somewhere in Europe. The service was refined, thoughtful, and simply outstanding. Five stars just aren’t enough. The ambiance, the food, the presentation, and the overall atmosphere were all unforgettable. The prices are slightly above average, but that only highlights the restaurant’s quality even more. I wholeheartedly recommend The Matheson. A must-visit!

rashmi

Great food! Senior Valette had come to us to chat and he was really sweet - we were there for our anniversary and he wished us - appreciate the hand signed card by the staff as well Some of the dishes we loved and were perfect were - caviar toast, bone marrow bacon jam + ciabatta, tuna tartare, steak frites. Even their NA drink - Honey phosphate was just perfect! Their pappardelle was really hyped up by our server, Nico - rabbit ragu was very salty when I first got it. They did “fix” it but the ragu was very poorly made - watery, salty and did not seem well prepared overall. I have never had a watery ragu before. There were hardly any bits of rabbit in it and the pappardelle was handmade (which I appreciate) but the pasta needed to be rolled slightly thinner. Overall disappointing dish. Service is where this restaurant needs A LOT OF work!! Our server Nico needs to be more attentive and to not act like we are inconveniencing him when we called him for help - we were trying to get his attention about the salty pasta dish or the fact that all our dishes including main course had arrived but my drinks were nowhere to be seen. He did apologize and checked on us after which I appreciate. There was another woman server who rolled her eyes - There was probably some miscommunication with her and the staff - we had already done the wine tastings and she got us 4 more of the same set of wines. We informed her honestly that we had already done the tastings and she rolled her eyes and walked away with an attitude. Her name was Gaby or Cathy or something like that.

Natalie Caldwell

Hats off to The Matheson. An understated building right off of the downtown Healdsburg square, this restaurant takes over a large portion of the block, but you would never know. We started off at their rooftop bar, Roof 106, for drinks before dinner. This is a happening place, so make sure you either have a reservation or come early, otherwise you may be waiting for a bit. For dinner, we opted for the Chef's Counter to make it extra special since we were celebrating a birthday. From beginning to end, the staff treated us with a balance of family and elegance, always there for a friendly recommendation but keeping an eye on every detail. We did the Chef's Picks, which if you can, I would HIGHLY recommend. Over five courses, we were able to watch the kitchen at work and appreciate every bite and course. In tasting menus, you worry, will it be enough food? Will I like all the courses? Will I need a hamburger at the end of this? This was the perfect balance of rich and light, full but not engorged. And we can't leave out the wine! Their 88-bottle wine wall is a sight on its own, but their selection is nothing small or short of impressive. If you have the opportunity, do the wine pairing. As big wine fans, the wines we maybe were hesitant about were perfect with the food they were paired with. Seems intuitive, but often not always the case. All in all, thank you for making this birthday celebration extra special and 'wow'ing us. We cannot wait to come back again.

Andrea Ikata

Great stop in Healdsburg with delicious cuisine, warm service and a cool vibe. Glad we made a reservation for Sat: most walk-in small and large groups were turned away swiftly and the bar was standing room only. We sat at the chefs counter and enjoyed seeing dishes come flying off the line to preview what we should order. Everything we had was tasty, the right temp, and served relatively promptly. Drinks were a bit slower but it was a busy time, and cocktails were balanced and unique. They have a very cool wine preservation program, which we did not take advantage of trying some hard to find wines, but will next time. Our server Nico was thorough, warm, and had great recommendations. Overall dinner met the high expectations and would definitely return.

Blake Wall

To type everything that i enjoyed about the food at this place would take way too long (i got to try my food plus some of each fish in the 5 course menu and everything tasted great), so I'm just going to say that the dungeness crab pasta was the best pasta I've ever tasted. Probably second favorite dish was the bread service. You could put that cheese on a flip flop, as they say. The servers were also very lovely and great at their jobs! Highly recommended. Next time I'm trying the burger for sure. PS - not too much of a wine drinker but the sparkling rose was really light, bubbly, and refreshing!

Gabriel Munoz

Had a lovely experience visiting The Matheson a couple nights ago for dinner. It was late but I hadn't eaten, showed up maybe 30 minutes before they were officially closed. The staff was super cool and made me feel comfortable staying for as long as I needed. Started off with a superb whiskey sour made the right way with egg whites. Then enjoyed a super tender filet mignon, definitely one of the better steaks I've had lately. And then finally had some super fluffy churros with espresso. Will absolutely go back, and I highly recommend visiting if you find yourself in Healdsburg.

Vijay Patel

What can I say , I read about tge beginnings of the journey these two brothers took . Came to Headlesburg to discover their wuest and what they have created . I was not able to visit Vallette , however I had two evenings visiting Rooftop 106 and Matheison . Its just awe inspiring entering the space ghwy have created , the atmosphere and ambiance service are outstanding. I have to mention a young lady Jessica, she runs the front, greeet you and checks you in , My observation over the two visits was how hard this young lady was working , cleaning and setting up tables for the next guests besides running the front,the bar was also run by an incredible ypung lady , all the cocktails , I had three were mixed very proffesionaly. Than the food yhat We ordered was just satisfying, prepped perfectly and presented pleasingly. What an amazing experience.

Frika B

We visited the Matheson on July 25th. What a fabulous establishment! We sat at the inside rooftop bar. Liz was SO sweet and accommodating. She made a half caffeinated espresso martini for me. She even added chocolate per my request! And Jon Jon also provided excellent service! We ordered the taco special and the chicken wings. Delicious! Very tasty! We moved outdoors to a fire table and ordered a margarita pizza with sausage sprinkled on top. Maddie was super patient with our group! All in all, I highly recommend the Matheson. Wonderful food, atmosphere, and employees.

Liann Amagan

Made a reservation here via OpenTable for a Monday night in January for a friends birthday. He found this spot because it was highlighted on a local KQED show highlighting their special home made pasta experience. Which was something I had to try! Their Happy Hour menu is from 4-6pm and they didn’t expect it to be a busy day but it sure did get busy for a Monday night and our server to great managing all of her tables! My friends got some stuff on the happy hour menu- their pizzas, bread, a burger- margaritas and an old fashioned. I got an espresso martini and I opted for the pasta menu tasting. Which I thought was a good amount of food and portions, by my last pasta I was stuffed! And it ended with a cannoli. Since it was my friends birthday we did the churros and ice cream for dessert. Perfect place to stop by if you’re in the Sonoma Valley for wine tasting or visiting around healdsburg. Great ambiance with tons of seating. There’s plenty of street parking and some lots nearby.

Karl Hucke

Everything about this place is awesome. Wine wall, 360 bar, multiple levels, knowledgeable and friendly staff, interesting menu. Wife and I had a delicious tomato stack appetizer and wagyu strip. Both were very good! Check out their happy hour deals

Walter Wilson

This was my first time to the Matheson. Food was epic, service was phenomenal. All the dishes had unbelievable flavor with deliberation and execution. The wine list is wonderful with options ranging from domestic and old world. I will be back.

Mai Akiyoshi

We came here for our anniversary and were so touched by their hospitality. Although we booked at the last minute, they customize the course menu for us to be Pescatarian and changed the wine pairing. The waiter Yvette was so sweet and flexible and she made all our requests possible. Their sommelier is super talented that the wine pairing was so perfectly matching. Every dish had a little bit of surprise and was using seasonal/rare ingredients that made our experience much more fun and intriguing. We recommend this place for all the aspects!

Emily S

The wine wall has many good selections of wine, happy hour is from 4-6 pm with fair selections of food. Overall, the foods are well prepared and taste good, and the waitress is very friendly.

VT A

To me, The Matheson seems like four different experiences that co-exist under one roof. On the first floor, there are three distinct spaces - the bar area/wine wall, the chef’s counter, and the dining room. Then there is the rooftop bar (Roof 106) on the third floor which has its own listing on Google Maps, but often gets reviewed here as well. I think to really enjoy this place, you need to choose your space carefully. We were at The Matheson from about 4 to 7 PM on a Tuesday, and this is how I would describe the different areas. The bar/wine wall quickly filled up with Gen Z and Millenials who were drinking cocktails, pouring from the wine wall, and ordering from the Happy Hour menu (the burger and the beef tartare seemed particularly popular). Very different from the chef’s counter which felt like the retirement home of the restaurant (basically old couples). The first floor dining room was mostly empty until about 6 PM when it started filling up quickly with a mixed crowd of all ages. The rooftop bar was mostly 20-something tourists and middle-aged hipsters until about 5 pm when it started getting loud when the locals started showing up. Just my impressions. We had pre-dinner drinks at the rooftop bar and then had dinner at the chef’s counter. This is a review of the chef’s counter. So just to clear up one thing - this is not a chef’s table or an interactive experience where the cooks are serving you the food. This is counter-style seating that looks directly at the open kitchen with waiters serving everything. The super-personable Chef Valette came over a few times to chat which was nice, but it’s more of a voyeuristic experience. With that said, the food was very good and generously portioned. The 3 course Spring Menu for $55 with accompanying wines for $28 is a very good deal right now. We ordered a la carte though and asked the sommelier to pair wines by the glass with our food and were not disappointed. If you enjoy wine, I would highly recommend that you ask for suggestions because they have lots of by-the-glass offerings, and you may find a wonderful combination that you would not have tried otherwise. As far as prices, given the restaurant is located right on the square in super-bougie Healdsburg, I thought it was reasonable. If you are price conscious, there is the Happy Hour menu (which actually looked pretty good) but it’s only available at the bar from 4-6 PM (daily). Overall, the service was friendly and professional, but then again, we were seated at 5 PM, so it was still relatively empty and quiet for most of the time we were there. We ate at Valette (Chef Valette’s other Healdsburg restaurant) the night before and personally, we liked The Matheson better because of the bigger selection of wines and the open kitchen. But the food is great at both places. The Matheson is just a louder, livelier venue.

Was surprised to be seated immediately at a counter overlooking the kitchen. Love watching the food come out. Was give 46 different menus for all the different things. Ok it was like 6, but still, thats a lot! Had a few different servers help me, which was nice but also a little confusing on who my actual server was. Yvette ended up being the one to help for the rest of the meal and she was awesome! I ordered the 6 Oz filet. Beautiful presentation. Perfect cook, but was unevenly seasoned and (for me) needed the accompanying sauces. The bed of mushrooms and shishito peppers were a nice addition. Chimichurri and XO was super good. 12/10 good. The bernaise sauce, for me was meh. For dessert, I ordered the Matheson Float. I ordered mine with the rum shot, strictly for research purposes, and it was the perfect way to end the meal. Overall a fantastic meal, great service, and an inviting atmosphere. See you again soon!

My friend chose this restaurant and it was fantastic. We shared appetizers and desserts, which were delicious and I had the crab pasta for a main. While the service was impeccable and food terrific, I felt it was overpriced compared to other restaurants in town.

First time eating at this 3 Michelle star resturant. Waiter was good,bus service very slow and No one from the front end staff stopped by our table of 6 to see how our night was going. The starters cheese boards and such were flavorful yet very sparce. Dinners looked and tasted great except for the rolls on the 2 burgers which tastes like left out rolls dry and stale. The 4 deserts were very small, good, but well over priced. Are we glad we went, yes. Would we go back? NOT unless the attention to the things that matter changed. I am sure at one point that this was worth the 3 Michelle stars, but tonight they fell way short. It would have been nice to speak to the front end management team but they never made their way around.

This place by far has the best customer service we have experience in all fine dining. Let me start with the host, very polite and friendly to our very that oftens checks with us and when there was something we didn't like she was immediately took action and to someone who we think could be a manager that approached our table, asked us if everything was okay then poured our glass with some water. We never had that kind of experience from the restaurant across the way the next day. The food was amazing and we'll definitely be back to try things on the menu.

Josh Peukert

Was surprised to be seated immediately at a counter overlooking the kitchen. Love watching the food come out. Was give 46 different menus for all the different things. Ok it was like 6, but still, thats a lot! Had a few different servers help me, which was nice but also a little confusing on who my actual server was. Yvette ended up being the one to help for the rest of the meal and she was awesome! I ordered the 6 Oz filet. Beautiful presentation. Perfect cook, but was unevenly seasoned and (for me) needed the accompanying sauces. The bed of mushrooms and shishito peppers were a nice addition. Chimichurri and XO was super good. 12/10 good. The bernaise sauce, for me was meh. For dessert, I ordered the Matheson Float. I ordered mine with the rum shot, strictly for research purposes, and it was the perfect way to end the meal. Overall a fantastic meal, great service, and an inviting atmosphere. See you again soon!

David H

First time eating at this 3 Michelle star resturant. Waiter was good,bus service very slow and No one from the front end staff stopped by our table of 6 to see how our night was going. The starters cheese boards and such were flavorful yet very sparce. Dinners looked and tasted great except for the rolls on the 2 burgers which tastes like left out rolls dry and stale. The 4 deserts were very small, good, but well over priced. Are we glad we went, yes. Would we go back? NOT unless the attention to the things that matter changed. I am sure at one point that this was worth the 3 Michelle stars, but tonight they fell way short. It would have been nice to speak to the front end management team but they never made their way around.

Dianne Secchitano

This place by far has the best customer service we have experience in all fine dining. Let me start with the host, very polite and friendly to our very that oftens checks with us and when there was something we didn't like she was immediately took action and to someone who we think could be a manager that approached our table, asked us if everything was okay then poured our glass with some water. We never had that kind of experience from the restaurant across the way the next day. The food was amazing and we'll definitely be back to try things on the menu.

We had reservations here on a Wednesday night. The restaurant wasn't too busy. We chose to sit at the kitchen bar. Service was excellent. The young man waiting on us was very nice in explaining items accurately. He checked back with us frequently and did a great job at bringing food and removing plates. The food was good...it was just a bit over salted for us. The mushrooms were very good. The breading was a little thicker than we anticipated, and the marinade used must have been the culprit for the salty flavor. The ravioli app, pear salad, churos, and sea bass were all very good and well plated but a little too salted for our taste. You can't beat the wine list. We were fortunate to be able to purchase a glass or three of vineyards we plan on visiting. The red wines were served at a great temp but the white was a little too room temp for us. We would definitely recommend this restaurant for a nice dinner out.

Bon L.

We had reservations here on a Wednesday night. The restaurant wasn't too busy. We chose to sit at the kitchen bar. Service was excellent. The young man waiting on us was very nice in explaining items accurately. He checked back with us frequently and did a great job at bringing food and removing plates. The food was good...it was just a bit over salted for us. The mushrooms were very good. The breading was a little thicker than we anticipated, and the marinade used must have been the culprit for the salty flavor. The ravioli app, pear salad, churos, and sea bass were all very good and well plated but a little too salted for our taste. You can't beat the wine list. We were fortunate to be able to purchase a glass or three of vineyards we plan on visiting. The red wines were served at a great temp but the white was a little too room temp for us. We would definitely recommend this restaurant for a nice dinner out.

The service is good but the food is so so and over priced. Their cook doesn’t have the talent at cooking at all. We had an oily fried mushroom ( they claimed it’s tempera but I strongly disagree). Other two dishes of fish or burger were just below average.

Chao Ding

The service is good but the food is so so and over priced. Their cook doesn’t have the talent at cooking at all. We had an oily fried mushroom ( they claimed it’s tempera but I strongly disagree). Other two dishes of fish or burger were just below average.

Catherine Cheung

Worst dining experience. While our waiter Adam provided attentive service and the food was decent for the price, the restaurant’s operations were chaotic. The Matheson called late morning on the very day of our reservation — booked over two months in advance and fully prepaid for six prix fixe menus — to tell us they could no longer honor it due to a private event scheduled for 8 PM. Our original reservation was for 6 PM, and they claimed the prix fixe meal would take three hours, leaving insufficient time before their event. We had flown in as a party of six to celebrate a milestone birthday, which they knew at booking, yet they had the nerve to cancel on us with only a few hours’ notice. It was far too late for us to find another fine-dining option in Healdsburg that evening. After extensive back-and-forth and little initiative from their end, I was the one who proposed starting earlier at 5 PM to accommodate their event. Only then did they agree — and to keep our prepaid menu — but this came after unnecessary stress and wasted time that could have been avoided with proper planning and communication. The billing process was just as disorganized, a complete fiasco. The check ignored our $809.96 prepayment, and the staff couldn’t clearly explain the actual total. They added a confusing 3% “menu fee” still labeled for COVID workers years after the pandemic ended — and included that fee in the subtotal before calculating the 20% service charge and taxes, effectively double-charging customers. The per-person price also inexplicably increased from $100 to $110 without explanation. For a restaurant aspiring to Michelin standards, this was an embarrassing lapse in professionalism, transparency, and integrity. The lack of coordination, accountability, and basic guest respect completely overshadowed what should have been a memorable celebration.