OVERVIEW

In Wine Country’s city of Santa Rosa, home to world-famous Sonoma County vineyards and wineries resides Emily’s Kitchen; a fan-favorite to locals, and serving well-behaved pets and their people in the outside “dog-friendly” patio area. If you’re looking for a pet-friendly place to eat at the gateway of Wine Country, go do the CANGO at Emily’s Kitchen.

IS THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCT/SERVICE WORTH A VISIT?

The food served at Emily’s Kitchen is delish and clearly fresh and homemade. The quality of food definitely felt like you were eating at someone’s house; in fact, both times I ate there, Emily was the one in the kitchen cooking all the food. The restaurant had a lot of locals and regulars which reflects its overall popularity in the Santa Rosa area- a good sign.

The warm, casual environment reflects the atmosphere of a small business with the owner on-site and one who takes pride in her work. The name “Emily’s Kitchen” also suggests a homey atmosphere and one of the perks that I appreciated was the ability to request small modifications; for example, I ordered the French toast with one banana bread and one cinnamon toast slice.

I tried and would recommend the following:

All American Breakfast (and fortunately she offers breakfast all day): Two pieces Costeaux Cinnamon Walnut Bread French Toast (I requested one piece banana bread), 2 eggs (your way) with choice of Applewood Smoked Bacon, Pit Smoked Ham, or Zesty Sausage. $11.95

Pomegranate Mimosa   $7.00

HOW PET-FRIENDLY IS IT?

The comfort level in terms of pet-friendliness is okay. I ate both inside by myself and outside with my dog, Lovie. The outside area is covered and has outdoor lighting and heating. To be fair I came at different times and with different levels of busyness. When I came by myself and ate inside, it was pretty empty after the lunch rush and I was able to receive direct service from the owner, Emily. By contrast, when I returned to film the review it was a zoo: it was packed and they were short a server so it was kind of hectic. Having been a server myself in college, I understand how chaotic and fast-paced the restaurant industry can be.

With the aforementioned as a context, our experience in the patio area was a little lacking. The server was friendly and nice, and clearly making the most of a challenging/ somewhat overwhelming situation. However, we were never offered water for Lovie or a treat, and they did not have any plain pet items on the menu. The absence of a treat or official pet-friendly menu items does not surprise me as much, but the lack of water does, and its absence contrasts the welcoming “dog-friendly patio” written on their standee in front of the patio/ main entrance. It also would have been nice if the server had not crowded us by seating another party close to us when there was ample room on the other side, but that was largely in part due to a customer who was dead set on sitting in the corner which forced me to set up again after spending 20 minutes getting the shot set up.

IS IT CONVENIENT OR A PAIN IN THE —?

Located in a strip mall, parking is very easy and free. The mall also lends itself to those who like to window shop, a perfectly pet-friendly activity. Valley Court also offers trash cans to dispose of waste at various locations throughout the mall.

Emily’s Kitchen is very close to (the Flamingo Resort and Spa,) a major thoroughfare, Farmers Lane, and Highway 12, so in addition to the probable mall policies, you would want to keep your dog on-lead for safety measures as well. Although the Valley Court mall is centrally located and easy to find, I did find it challenging to figure out where Emily’s was since it was not on the outer edge of the mall.

We visited a number of nearby pet-friendly activity venues (parks) including: Robert’s Lake located 8 miles south in neighboring Rohnert Park, Riverfront Regional Park located 15 miles north in Healdsburg (recommended by our friendly and helpful Terrace Room brunch server, Shannon), Rincon Valley Community Park located 3 miles away in Santa Rosa, and A Place to Play also in Santa Rosa just over 5 miles away from the hotel.

I found two nearby 24/7 emergency vets: Redwood Veterinary Clinic located just over 3 miles away on Santa Rosa Ave in Santa Rosa and VCA PetCare East Veterinary Hospital located just under 3 miles away on Mendocino Ave in Santa Rosa.

*[Please note: We provide the veterinary locations as a reference and resource, not a referral or endorsement].