Where to Buy Picnic Food in Sonoma County: Delis & Picnic Boxes

The easiest Sonoma County picnic lunch is one you order ahead. Sonoma Market sells boxed lunches for $20–$22 with 48 hours' notice, Costeaux packs them in Healdsburg and Petaluma, and Criminal Cafe & Bakery does them in Santa Rosa. To walk in and shop, the classics are The Sonoma Cheese Factory on Sonoma Plaza, Dry Creek General Store in Dry Creek Valley, Big John's Market in Healdsburg and Andy's Produce Market in Sebastopol.

Below, town by town, is what each place does best, its hours as of September 2026, and the nearest place to eat.

Quick picks

• Boxed lunches to pre-order: Sonoma Market, Costeaux, Criminal Cafe & Bakery, plus email catering orders at Dry Creek General Store.
• Cheese and charcuterie: The Sonoma Cheese Factory, Journeyman Meat Co. (house-cured salumi) and Petaluma Creamery (cheese made on site).
• Bread and dessert: Basque Boulangerie, Della Fattoria, Troubadour, Wild Flour Bread and Mom's Apple Pie.
• Open late: Oliver's Market (10pm), Sonoma Market, Whole Foods Sonoma and Petaluma Market (9pm), Big John's and Andy's (8pm).

Sonoma and the Plaza

• The Sonoma Cheese Factory (daily 7am–5pm), directly across West Spain Street from the Plaza: a cheese counter, The Butcherman BBQ counter for smoked meats and sandwiches, wine, and ready-to-go cheese and charcuterie platters for one, two or four. Its last published prices, from 2023, were $18, $36 and $72. There's a back patio.
• Sonoma Market (daily 6am–9pm): a scratch deli, cheese, bakery and wine, plus boxed lunches ($22 specialty, $20 build-your-own) ordered online at least 48 hours ahead.
• Basque Boulangerie Café (from 7am daily), facing the Plaza: baguettes, country loaves and lunch sandwiches for about $10–$16. Order online to skip the line.
• Sonoma's Best (from 7am), east of the Plaza: sandwiches, salads and a bottle shop of small-production Sonoma wines. Its bookable Garden Table has a $100 minimum spend.
• Whole Foods Market Sonoma (daily 8am–9pm): made-to-order sandwiches, sushi and a cheese counter.
• The Sonoma Valley Certified Farmers Market, Fridays 9am–12:30pm all year, beside Depot Park.

Vella Cheese Co. is gone: it sold its last cheese on September 4, 2026 and says its shop is permanently closed.

Where to eat it: Sonoma Plaza has shaded lawns, a duck pond and a rose garden, and wine is legal there from 11:30am until sunset (dogs aren't allowed on the Plaza, even on a leash). Depot Park, a couple of blocks north, has tables and bocce under the same alcohol hours. Free Bartholomew Park, about 5 minutes east, has three picnic areas, and its estate winery sells bottles and tumblers for picnickers.

Carneros and Vineburg

Angelo's Wine Country Deli on Arnold Drive (Highway 121) makes sandwiches to order and sells Angelo's jerky and garlicky condiments. It's closed Tuesdays and closes by 3:30–4pm, so stop in the morning. Larson Family Winery, about 2 minutes away, allows outside food with a forkage fee ($25 for up to five guests) when you buy its wine.

Vineburg Deli on Napa Road opens at 6am Monday–Saturday (closed Sunday) and grills tri-tip and chicken over an outdoor wood fire for its sandwiches. Call ahead at (707) 938-3306; there's a covered patio.

Glen Ellen and Kenwood

Glen Ellen Village Market (daily 6am–8pm as of 2025; call to confirm) has a deli, salad and hot bars, and rotisserie chicken. Jack London State Historic Park is a few minutes up London Ranch Road ($15 per car), and Sonoma Valley Regional Park has oak-shaded tables. Both allow wine. Wineries nearby that welcome your food include Benziger (one bottle per two guests; terrace tables March–October), Mayo Family Winery, Imagery and Loxton Cellars.

In Kenwood, buy food in Glen Ellen first or use the wineries' own kitchens: VJB Cellars has a deli and pizza oven, and Ledson has a marketplace. To bring your own, Hamilton Family Wines welcomes outside food with a glass or bottle, Kenwood Plaza Park is free (no restrooms), and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park has creekside tables with barbecues.

Healdsburg, Dry Creek and Alexander Valley

Downtown Healdsburg, all within a few blocks of the Plaza:

• Costeaux French Bakery (since 1923; café from 7:30am): boxed lunches (a sandwich, sweet, fruit salad and kettle chips) ordered online with two days' notice.
• Journeyman Meat Co.: house-cured salumi, boards and sandwiches to order ahead; closed Tuesdays.
• Troubadour (9am–3pm): sandwiches on house sourdough. Its sister bakery Quail & Condor (7am–3pm) does pastries.
• Shelton's Natural Foods Market: made-to-order sandwiches until about 2pm and a salad bar.
• The Healdsburg Farmers Market: Saturdays April–December (8:30am–noon), plus Tuesdays May–September.

Big John's Market (daily 7am–8pm), at the north end of Healdsburg Avenue, has a huge sandwich menu you can phone in ahead, salad and hot bars, cheese and wine; party trays need 48 hours' notice.

Where to eat it: Healdsburg Plaza allows drinking inside the park (not on the sidewalks around it), while other city parks don't. Seghesio, a few blocks north, welcomes your food in The Grove when you buy a glass or bottle.

In Dry Creek Valley, Dry Creek General Store (1881) makes build-your-own sandwiches until an hour before closing (4pm, or 5pm Friday–Saturday) and takes email catering orders with 48 hours' notice. Its porch and back gardens are for customers. Next door, Dry Creek Vineyard has a tree-shaded picnic ground with bocce. In summer only (roughly Memorial Day to Labor Day), Dry Creek Peach & Produce sells organic peaches.

In Alexander Valley, the old Jimtown Store address on Highway 128 is now Jimtown and Then Sum, an Asian-fusion café (dumplings, banh mi, sandwiches) that's closed Wednesdays. Soda Rock Winery, about a mile away, has picnic grounds around a historic barn.

Sebastopol, Freestone and the coast

• Andy's Produce Market (daily 8am–8pm): farm-stand produce, a from-scratch deli with grab-and-go "picnic packs," cheese, beer and wine. Ragle Ranch Regional Park (barbecues; wine allowed) and Taft Street Winery are each about a mile away.
• Mom's Apple Pie (daily 10am–6pm): whole Gravenstein apple pies, with seating by the orchard.
• Wild Flour Bread in Freestone (Friday–Monday, 8am–6pm): wood-fired loaves and sticky buns, sold at the counter only, with a garden to eat in (no pets).
• Community Market's Sebastopol store at The Barlow has the co-op's full-service deli; its Santa Rosa store doesn't.

For the coast, shop before you go: Fort Ross sells no food, and Stillwater Cove is under a boil-water notice, so bring water too. Doran Regional Park is minutes from Bodega Bay's shops.

Santa Rosa

• Oliver's Market (daily 7am–10pm, with stores at Stony Point and Montecito in Santa Rosa, plus Cotati and Windsor): a big deli, taqueria and cheese counter. Order sandwiches online; party trays for 12–24 people need two days' notice.
• Canevari's Deli (since 1929; closed Sunday): hot and classic Italian deli sandwiches and daily specials. Its family platters are take-and-bake, so they're better for a rental kitchen than a picnic.
• Criminal Cafe & Bakery (daily 7:30am–3pm): its separately run catering side packs $16–$20 boxed lunches with at least five full days' notice.
• The Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, running since 1967: Saturdays all year and Wednesdays March–December, 8:30am–1pm.

Where to eat it: Spring Lake Regional Park has grills everywhere and allows wine. At Howarth Park, drinking is legal only on weekday evenings after 5pm, weekends and holidays, and never from glass.

Petaluma

• Della Fattoria (Thursday–Sunday, 8am–2pm): famous slow-fermented loaves and sandwiches ($12–$23).
• Ray's Delicatessen & Tavern (since 1947; Tuesday–Sunday, 11am–5pm): big sandwiches ($11–$17) and platters.
• Petaluma Market (daily 7am–9pm): a scratch deli, salad bar and cheese, plus platters with 48 hours' notice.
• Petaluma Creamery (daily 9am–5pm): Spring Hill cheeses made on site, free samples and a $5 grilled cheese.
• Lombardi's Deli & BBQ (daily 10am–7pm): tri-tip sandwiches and family dinners for four.
• Costeaux Petaluma (daily 6am–4pm, cards only), in Hotel Petaluma: Costeaux boxed lunches with three days' notice.

Where to eat it: Helen Putnam Regional Park, about 4 minutes from downtown, allows wine and has ridge-top views. Downtown Walnut Park hosts a Saturday farmers market from May to November, but Petaluma's parks ban glass, and alcohol needs a permit.

Before you go

Wineries that welcome outside food almost never allow outside wine, so plan to buy a bottle where you picnic. See can you bring your own food to wineries and which parks allow wine.