Sonoma County Wow Dishes: Burger from Healdsburg Bar & Grill

Healdsburg Bar and Grill is just off the main square in Healdsburg (which was recently included in a list of the 10 best small towns in America).  It’s an unassuming place in a town filled with lots of nice restaurants.  The menu is not large, but it has a range of choices and is a great stop for a quick lunch while wine tasting. 

I almost always get the HBG burger. The bun is perfect – not too hard, not too spongy and it comes from Costeaux Bakery which is also in Healdsburg. The meat itself is juicy and tasty. You can add toppings such as Fiscalini White Cheddar, bacon, heirloom tomato, etc.   The pickles on the side are right combo of tart, sweet and spicy and local, they come from Sonoma Brinery.  Garlic aioli is the perfect condiment. Fries with chipotle seasoning are nice on the side.

Fries with Chipotle seasoning

Try This: Sonoma Brinery Pickles

Outrageous Bread & Butter Pickles from Sonoma Brinery

Barbeque season is in full swing here in Sonoma County and it will last well into the fall.  Given the long season, I periodically tweak my standards because if not, things can get old.   

I recently made Sonoma Brinery’s Outrageous Bread & Butter Pickles my go-to pickles for burgers and I could not be happier. I first discovered them in a restaurant as a side to what else, a burger. I tracked them down and found out that they are sold at my local grocery store.

Packaging for Sonoma Brinery pickles

The Outrageous Bread & Butter pickles are simply pickle chips and thinly sliced bits of onion.  They have a bit of heat and bit of sweetness and are downright addictive.  I like that they are local (the company is working on national distribution, go here to check where in your area you can buy them) and they are fresh (look for them in the refrigerator section of the grocery store).  The pickles are great with a burger and are also good chopped and stirred into tuna.  Or, you can just eat them straight out of the container. I won’t tell.

P.S. July is national pickle month, so yet another reason to expand your pickle repertoire and give a Sonoma Brinery Pickle a try!