The Villa - Italian, Santa Rosa

3901 Montgomery Drive, Santa Rosa, CA 95405
(707) 525-7755
Parking: in parking lot

Last Visited: December 26, 2005

Food: 2 to 3 stars
Atmosphere: 3 to 4 stars
Service: 2 to 3 stars
Price: $$ to $$$

The Villa has been around for a long time. It’s known for its excellent views of Santa Rosa, the multiple dining areas, and the reasonably priced food. Set atop a hill, the restaurant offers a view of the city lights which are particularly nice on clear evenings. Parking is ample.

The dining areas are spacious and work well for small tables and groups. There is a separate dining room that is ideal for larger parties. The setting is pleasant and in winter, there’s a cozy feeling about the place. Most of the rooms have large windows bringing in lots of natural light during the day. In the evening, the mirrors placed along the large columns create a nice effect while making the room brighter by reflecting light from the lamps above. The high ceilings give the restaurant a nice elegance.

There is also a bar featuring sports programming. Multiple dining areas are available.

White tablecloths adorn the tables. Upon arrival, you’ll receive bread and butter. All entrees include choice of salad or soup which seems less common these days, so that’s certainly part of the appeal.

The dishes at The Villa vary. The fish of the day is usually a safe bet. It’s typically salmon or a mild fish and served with a lemon butter sauce. The pasta is not as good. It’s usually gone past the al dente stage and is too soft. The sauce also gets watered down by the pasta water and the pasta dishes I have tried are typically disappointing. The cuts of meat are average, but I think the fish is their specialty.

The Villa is great for those seeking a bargain, but food quality can vary. Atmosphere is nice, and service is good, but not outstanding. Also if you plan to eat here and are on a budget, the local newspaper offers a 2 for 1 deal every week.

After my most recent visit, I revised the comment about the meat. Both the prime rib and lamb were very nicely done. See comments below.

I selected the salad today, and the salad was very fresh. Fresh romaine, a cherry tomato (although one of the salads didn’t have any tomato), and cucumber slices were part of the salad. Great. The only down side was that as our salads were presented, some waiters offered freshly ground pepper, but ours did not (and I like fresh cracked pepper on my salad).

- Prime Rib – A prime rib is cooked to your taste and served with a small cup of au jus. A baked potato and vegetables accompany the meat. The potato and prime rib were just about perfect. I asked for medium and got between medium and medium well. The vegetables weren’t very good though, at least not to my taste. The broccoli was overcooked. The portion was quite satisfactory, and great for the price. ~$14

- Roasted Rack of Lamb – Three lamb chops are served with penne pasta and vegetables. See vegetables comments above. The lamb was very nicely done, not overcooked, but juicy. Mint jelly accompanies the lamb. The penne would be better on its own rather than accompanying the dish (in fact, I ate it the next day and preferred it this way since it didn’t detract from the lamb). I would have preferred a baked potato over the penne. Another great bargain. ~ $15

Both of the dishes I tried this evening were good value and the meats were good quality. I’m not sure of the pizzas and pastas, but I would still recommend the fish since multiple visits have proven that safe. Service this evening was fair. There was a narrow walking area behind one of our seats, and the staff continued to use it despite other routes being available. This was distracting as you could feel them brushing against the seat each time they passed by. I observed the bussing staff having good rapport with one another and working well together in general, but the waiters were fair in their service. See salad comment above. Also, my steak knife was not clean, and it took a while to grab the attention of the staff to get a replacement. Our water glasses were not checked frequently and the check took a long time to come to the table. Service was downgraded from three stars to the two to three star range. The food this evening was better than past experiences, and the specials menu is a great value since they come with soup or salad. Fortunately, the setting is nice in the evening. The Villa has a lot of room for improvement, but it’s a good bargain overall.