BBQ Smokehouse (photo courtesy of Facebook)
Two longtime Sonoma County restaurants are closing their doors.
The Villa, an old-school Italian restaurant perched atop a hill in Santa Rosa’s Bennett Valley, quietly shuttered last week. The iconic eatery opened in 1976, but couldn’t survive the pandemic shutdowns that severely hampered all restaurants across the county. Twelve employees were laid off. And in Sebastopol, BBQ Smokehouse has posted on their social media that they will cease operations by mid September. Pit Master Larry Vito is retiring after serving up delicious food in Sonoma County for 26 years. The restaurant is looking for someone to take over, but if no one steps forward, it will close for good.