Sonoma Speakeasy - Sonoma, California

Travis Cloud

Had a great time a few weeks past! Read there was Karaoke & brought a few friends that were visiting from out of town. Long story short we all ended up having a blast.

The atmosphere at the bar was great. Was nice you could have your own table and space if you wanted, but the bar is intimate enough that you feel like you’re singing for friends & mixing with others felt easy too.

Speaking of friends we found a new one in the bartender Sean! Was a busy night, but Sean managed to be an amazing host nonetheless. Some bartenders snap between social/fun to busy/stressed depending on bar flow but Sean juggled both like a champ! I’ve seen bartenders fold when a big party or two all rush the bar, but he held up like a champ.

All in all a very fun bar whether you’re a local or from out of town. We were surprised how many talented people are in Sonoma when it comes to Karaoke, but we were just as pleased that seemed to extend to the service too!

Sarah Stierch

Great bar and one of the best places in Sonoma to hangout with friends or solo. Strong cocktails made by cool bartenders. Great sparkling wine selection. Interesting and talented musicians from throughout the region. A true gem in town.

Gaye Freeman

We were there two weekends ago when the band Deja blue was playing !! what a phenomenal little place and what a great band. The owners were lovely people who made everybody feel welcome, and one of them (Jodi) sang along with the band for a few songs.. You couldn’t ask for better drinks, because they recruited Scotty from The Reel and you can’t find a better bartender in town. We had such a fantastic night there, and everybody in the place was having a fabulous time!

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K O'Reilly

Best Bar Ever! Visited from England for the holidays & found this great little venue. Treated like family by Jodi - had amazing drinks served by Jose & Scotty and was entertained all night by Patrick the charismatic DJ. Met truly wonderful people - came as a stranger left as a friend - will be back again at Easter!

Eddie Ranchigoda

This is one of my favorite bars in Sonoma. Love their karaoke nights and live music and Jody and the team walk around with free chip treats to keep us happy (and thirsty;). I saw recently that someone posted about “racist” treatment. As a person of color, I’ve never felt anything but welcome there.

Raquel

I rarely write a review but I feel extremely obligated to let anyone thinking about visiting this place know about the extremely rude employee, Jody, and owner, who would not give his name, who both mistreated and harassed my group of friends on 7/22/22.

Please read the related reviews posted just prior to this one. The posts are not hard to spot, although there are now quite a few “5 star” ratings suspiciously written after the fact to mask the truth of this incident that I’m describing now. These previous posts describe my friends being unjustly harassed and mistreated for showing respect by finishing their desert OUTSIDE of the business before entering the establishment.

This businesses' actions prove to be nothing short of prejudice and racism. What's worse is that the owner did not do their job to try to make anything right. It's very disappointing to hear that this kind of behavior is happening at all, let alone Sonoma. I love going to Sonoma and I love the vibe. But this incident is unfortunately staining Sonoma's reputation.

How unfortunate for the rest of the business owners who work hard to maintain a lively and wonderful atmosphere for their visitors. What a shame, Sonoma Speakeasy. Their unacceptable behavior should NOT be supported. I was shocked that not only ONE OF THE EMPLOYEES BUT THE OWNER AS WELL participated in this disrespectful and racist behavior. Sadly, this is not the first incident of this nature to happen at Sonoma Speakeasy. There are some older posts on Yelp where customers of color describe being mistreated by the staff and owners.

I urge anyone reading this post, please DO NOT SUPPORT THIS "BUSINESS".

Lady C

I had to wait two days to write this review so that I would not taint it with my anger, embarrassment, and utter disappointment.
I can't really tell you what the place is like because I never made it inside the establishment. A woman named Joey who works there had accompanied another coworker outside to write on their board. Joey begins to be disrespectful to my nephew as he finishes his dessert before we go inside.
My niece told her there was no need for her to be rude and instead of adjusting herself Joey begins to scream at her as if she had done something to her. So I position myself between them because she also was starting to invade her personal space and I asked what is the problem which Joey escalated even more, so much so, that my husband started to record her; when she caught sight of this she grabs her coworker, who has said not one word and yells and screams things at me as if I was saying something to her. ( she was literally having a double sided argument with herself at this point) because I had turned to see what she was looking at to start the erratic behavior of saying and responding to herself because I literally had not said anything since what's the problem? When I opened the door to go inside; because at that point I wanted to speak to a manager or someone who doesn't have psychotic behaviors. Joey yells at me, pulls the door and locks me out. I take a flyer off the wall which is in a box with lots of other flyers. She swings door open yells at me, snatches the flyer out of my hand and the others out of the box and returns inside. As if this whole bizarre incident was not bad enough. After we left my nephew called the establishment to make them aware of what had taken place. A man ( wouldn't give his name) who claimed to be the owner threatened, yelled obscenities and hung up on him.
In all of my 50+ years I have not observed and experienced such a disregard for basic human civility and respect.
The message was clear " if you are non-white don't come here."

Valerie Garwood

The Speakeasy is a favorite place for my husband and I. We love to go listen to live bands, dance and sing Karaoke!! Jody and Gary are awesome! They are always welcoming to everyone. Unless you're a jerk!!