The Aquarium

Had a great experience here when I visited. I sat outside with my wife and, while we enjoyed the…read morefood, the service is what will keep us coming back. The team there were personable, attentive and genuinely cared about giving their guests a great experience. We enjoyed the Caesar salad and calamari for apps, the teres major steak and fried chicken for dinner and then the lemon cheesecakes and peanut butter chocolate cheesecake for dessert. Our child is still just a baby but this restaurant is kid friendly but is still a good venue for couples looking for a date night. The only complaint I would have would be the people smoking outside of The Big Easy next door.

The waitstaff was amazing!!! They were attentive and very friendly…read more We ordered the caprese made with heirloom tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella, garnished with beautiful fresh basil leaves, the twist was drizzling a sweet basalmic vinegar instead of olive oil. Talk about happy tastebuds. Our main dish was a beautiful salmon fillet prepared perfectly with just a hint of lemon rubbed on, and presented on a bed of shelled brussel sprouts lightly roasted. The coup de gras was the dessert: a slice of peanut butter and a flourless chocolate cake. Luis recommended a sangiovese for my wife and she enjoyed it immensely. This restaurant I would proudly recommend to all my friends. I would have rated it higher than a five if I could have.

Chicken Dinner

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Outdoor dining

Barber Lee Spirits

4.8(67 reviews)

0.7 mi

The cocktails are top notch, Service is amazing and a great…read moreplace to chill, They just added the wine and cheese along with delicious desserts . We ended up joining the club, It is definitely worth it! Perfect place to start or finish your night! It is a very comfortable place to relax and sit back and have a drink , Cool and comfortable,along with friendly staff!

Friends of ours took us there and what a great find! Creative cocktails. Great charcuterie plates…read more Cheeses and chocolates to die for. Comfortable, friendly, casual atmosphere. Great place to hang out before or after dinner. So glad we found it!

Blood Lust cocktail.

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Whiskey tasting

Mario & John's

4.6(122 reviews)

Fantastic bar...excellent mixologists making phenomenal drinks, including my fav, a white Negroniread more

Fantastic bar with a top tier whiskey collection.. Calvin gave us some great selections.. A great…read morelocal spot and we'll be back for sure!!

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The Hide-Away

2.7(99 reviews)

Not a review for the place just for patrons to be respectful…read more Just fyi to those who are making a song request......Please do NOT ask more than once. This place is request friendly but If the dj has the song/video, then maybe he will play it maybe not. Do no agitate the dj and say he his rude. He has a set he needs to play based on bpms. One patron kept insisting on a song and wouldn't stop. He wasn't drunk. Just a spoiled kid. He even had his friend ask twice. So please be mindful to not make the dj mad.

What an awful experience. I like giving 5 star reviews because recognizing good people is…read moreunderrated these days, but this one doesn't deserve one. I'm not a local. Shouldn't matter. Definitely not a welcoming place ONLY because of the staff. People there were very cool to me and my friend, but as a female, the female staff were the absolute rudest possible. What an awful attitude and experience. Wow. I even had the real "pleasure" to talk to a couple girls that were there but off that night (employed there, sadly). Their pretentious attitudes wouldn't make it anywhere with any class... but apparently they get away with discrimination just fine. Outright discrimination and bullying. I won't describe here why, but ladies... if people there talk to you... they won't like you, because you take from their tips?! Apparently. The female bartenders I met are horrendous bullies. They seem like they never got out of high school. I literally cried there. Yea, not cool as a grown woman. Shame on them. So my kind message to them... if you want better for your lives and are THAT miserable to treat a human being or any life that way, DO better. Just do better for yourselves, and for the sake of others.

Always vodka soda

The djs needed

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Gale's Central Club

4.2(40 reviews)

We attended the NASCAR race in Sonoma over the weekend which was really fun…read more We decided to go up to Petaluma and went to Gale's Central Club and enjoyed really good food and outstanding drinks at a reasonable price. The bartenders not sure if they were the owners were incredibly nice and welcoming. Just like out of an episode from Cheers "Where everybody knows your name" at least it felt like that for a first time visitor! Great place!

We had friends visiting from out of state and we always find a dive bar to enjoy…read more I have been to downtown Petaluma, and in the general area a million times and I've never even seen Gale's. Julie the most fabulous, engaging and hilarious bartender, kept us entertained. There's a couple pool tables and modern juke box, the expected regulars and eclectic decor. PBR on tap, which the menfolk really liked. Always Tito's and soda for my friend and I. We spent way more time in there than we planned it was a great all around experience. Cheers to Julie!

The interior bar area.

Schlitz!

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Vitamin R!

Ernie's Tin Bar

4.5(172 reviews)

5.6 mi

Cool spot! Great selection of beers! Awesome Personnel!…read more Love it here! There's food trucks throughout the week. ( not sure what exact days) Our favorite is Mexikenz ( usually there Saturday afternoons) The tin bar is an old smith shop! Very cool

It's a place where you can get a PBR or a Pliny or just about everything in between. Pays homage to…read morethe local past, pre prohibition days while making a place for local musicians, residents and tourists to enjoy the present scene. No food - come to drink and purchase potato chips, pretzels and other salty bar snacks, there is also usually a food truck parked alongside the bar. The garage is untouched in the back, the long bar is spacious and the bartender is professional, friendly but is working hard so respect that. A no cell phone rule was posted but I did see one person use one lol. I did snap a photo, and my spouse bought a T shirt, high quality. Following them now on Instagram for our next local road trip visit.

Diverse beer board!! Snacks

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Pliny The Elder

The Grove

4.7(88 reviews)

3.8 mi

Everything was perfect! This place is a gem!…read more The burger was one of the best fancy burgers I've had in a long time. It looked like they ground their meat in house, but I forgot to ask so don't quote me on that. It was cooked a PERFECT medium rare topped with bacon, Cambazola, fig jam and frisse, served on a soft yet sturdy brioche style bun. The shoestring fries were like crack, super addictive, I couldn't stop! The wife had the steak frites, and it might be our new favorite restaurant for that dish. Steak was cooked ABSOLUTELY PERFECTLY!! Fries were out of control good. No notes! Nice craft cocktail menu, short but well curated wines by the glass list, and the bartender had a heavy hand with those pours. Had a few oysters on the half shell as an appetizer, and we split the fried green tomatoes too. Those were topped with fresh shaved corn and a cilantro cream.l.with a few cherry tomatoes for color. So good. The atmosphere is old school speak easy vibe. Classy but casual. It's a small restaurant and the bar is front and center but they have a few tables outside for when the weather is nice. Our server was Sam, and she was the greatest. Hat's off to you for your service, Sam!

Amazing friendly service, tasty food and cocktails, and gorgeous classy decor. We look forward to…read moregoing back. We had corn, burrata, and a couple of cocktails. The whole time we sat at the bar and chatted. It was a delightful night.

Most tables were reserved when we walked in at 4pm on Thursday

My friend raved about the steak skewers from their Happy Hour menu

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Most table we reserved when we walked In at 4pm on Thursday

Buckhorn

4.5(42 reviews)

1.3 mi

There's so much rude and mean women here especially the bar tender here seems not to care about me…read moreshe just mocks my t shirt and stuff if I can't find a bar or a place to fit in then I'm moving f this bar

The service and vibe/atmosphere for sure I also enjoyed the…read moreavailability of their pool tables, along with their whiskey selection without a doubt :)

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Lagunitas Brewing Company & Beer Sanctuary

4.3(2.5k reviews)

2.1 mi

We were on our way back from our Saturday trip north when we reached Petaluma and decided to stop…read moreat Lagunitas for a cold beer and some food. It had been a while since we had last come here, so it was fun to be back and enjoy some of our favorite beers. It was a beautiful day, and they had live music. They also had a couple of large-screen TVs set up showing the World Cup game. Our server was very helpful, answering our questions about beer and bringing us a couple of samples before deciding what to order. I asked for my favorite light beer, DayTime, and we decided to share an order of chicken wings, fries, and their P-Town Chop Salad. The beer was as good as I remembered, and the food was well-made and delicious, especially the wings (with Buffalo sauce). They allow dogs, as long as they are well-behaved and on a leash, so our little guy had fun saying hello to a couple of dogs that were sitting nearby in between his breaks from begging for treats from the table. We spent a couple of hours there before heading home.

We were there on a Sunday at open as a FAREWELL after a friend's wedding. The pitchers the groom…read moreordered were delicious -- but I am a massive IPA fan. The giant pretzel and potatoes were really delightful after a night of drinking and dancing, and the perfect amount to share before a drive back south to LA. I would love to come back and enjoy the patio area more -- there are so many gorgeous plants and it feels like a little slice of heaven.

Interior Bar

Fried Chicken Sando ($18 + $3/garlic fry upgrade)

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Lagunitas Burger ($18 + $3/garlic fry upgrade)

Brewsters Beer Garden

3.4(1.3k reviews)

0.7 mi

Cute spot. Has a large outdoor and indoor space. They had live music on a Saturday afternoon. We…read moregot the chicken sandwich and watermelon salad. It was good. Service was friendly. I like this place mainly for the ample seating and the outdoor space.

The food was horrible. Seriously, the chicken sandwich was a mess, tasteless, absolutely…read moredisgusting; I ended up feeding the chicken & bacon to my dog. My wife had the wings, they seemed ok but nothing to rave about. I also tried their own IPA, that was a mistake, I should have went with Lagunitas or Racer 5. The service sucked, I requested BBQ sauce for my wife's wings of course that was missing and our server was too busy feeding her face and socializing with her coworkers so I had to walk back to the kitchen and get it myself. They weren't at all busy so there was no reason for this, I can see why they weren't busy. The prices are way too high for what it is. I have no problem paying for good food and service but the $100 price tag for 2 chicken sandwiches, 1 chicken wings, 1 ice cream, and 1 16oz IPA that was all nasty horrible with bad service is just not right. The food was horrible. Seriously, the chicken sandwich was a mess, tasteless, absolutely disgusting; I ended up feeding the chicken & bacon to my dog. My wife had the wings, they seemed ok but nothing to rave about. I also tried their own IPA, that was a mistake, I should have went with Lagunitas or Racer 5. The service sucked, I requested BBQ sauce for my wife's wings of course that was missing and our server was too busy feeding her face and socializing with her coworkers so I had to walk back to the kitchen and get it myself. They weren't at all busy so there was no reason for this, I can see why they weren't busy. The prices are way too high for what it is. I have no problem paying for good food and service but the $100 price tag for 2 chicken sandwiches, 1 chicken wings, 1 ice cream, and 1 16oz IPA that was all nasty horrible with bad service is just not right.

Booze!

Sloppy spicy chicken sandwich. Impossible to eat like a sandwich. Too much sauce.

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Beer garden

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3 reviews that are not currently recommended

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Alana B.

4 years ago

This place is awful my disable unhoused friend was verbally abused and disrespected at this place. Shame on The Aquarium for allowing this behavior. Snobbery and spreading hate is unwanted. read more

Dominic R.

15 years ago

Great place, they always have something new on there special's menu. It's a great family bar and restaurant.

Lindsay M.

15 years ago

Wednesdays Osso Bucco special - cant beat it!

The Aquarium - tradamerican - Updated September 2026

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Volpi's Ristorante & Bar

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Great Hearty traditional Italian food. Family style food at reasonable prices. Good wine…read moreselection. I recommend reservations for a party greater than four. We showed up with a party of 7. Staff did their best to get us seated ASAP.

Glad I got to try this great restaurant in Petaluma. You can tell it has been a staple in the…read morecommunity for a while. We went on Saturday night for a birthday dinner so we had a preset menu. The salmon was nice and crispy, but still soft. The sauce also added a nice acidic touch to it. The polenta was my favorite part. The service was also excellent. The restaurant was full of flags everywhere and had the checkered table clothes so you know it is authentic Italian.

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Our first time going to The Shuckery today and we will definitely return! The Happy Hour menu was…read moreperfect for us. The food was delicious, the staff was friendly and knowledgeable- our server educated us on all the different oysters! Pretty decent portions for a Happy Hour menu too! It's a very nice place to have some good food and drinks without breaking the bank.

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Willowbrook Ale House

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Mario & John's

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Fantastic bar with a top tier whiskey collection.. Calvin gave us some great selections.. A great…read morelocal spot and we'll be back for sure!!

Plaza Tequila Taqueira Bar & Grill

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Stormy's Spirits & Supper

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