On this Thursday in Sebastopol, every daytime kitchen in this story is open: the new bagel counter on South Main, both Wild Poppy cafes, the burger spot with the Bay Area following and the bakery at The Barlow. Come back next Tuesday morning and only the bakery is open.
This fall's openings gave Sebastopol a breakfast-to-lunch day that runs from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. They also landed almost entirely between Wednesday and Sunday. The clock got longer and the week stayed short.
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bonnie Bagels & Co., 280 S. Main | 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. | ||
| Sarmentine, The Barlow | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. | 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. |
| Wild Poppy Cafe & Marketplace, The Barlow | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | |
| Wild Poppy Creekside, Bodega Hwy | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. | |||
| Lunch Box, 128 N. Main | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. | ||
| Sebastopol Farmers Market, downtown plaza | 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. |
These are the hours each business has posted. Small kitchens change them, so check before you head out.
Seven O'Clock on South Main
The earliest new door in town is at 280 S. Main St. Bonnie Bagels & Co. held its grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 24, and opens at 7 a.m. Wednesday through Sunday. It closes at 1 p.m.
Founder Michael Sousa is a longtime Sebastopol local. He named the shop for Bonnie Lane, the street he grew up on in Lowell, Massachusetts. Executive chef Gregory Kalergis is also from the Northeast and worked in French pastry and Neapolitan-style pizza before taking on bagels. The bagels are hand-rolled, cold-fermented and kettle-boiled, and there are gluten-free options. The cream cheese list goes from Caper Dill and Maple Pecan to Green Olive Medley and Chili Crisp, with dairy-free versions too. The sandwiches stick to the classics: bacon, egg and cheese, lox, and avocado toast. There's a patio, a full espresso bar and local beer and wine, which counts for something at a shop that closes at 1 p.m.
Bonnie's hours fill a gap in the morning. Before it opened, the main early option downtown was Sarmentine, which opens at 7:30 a.m. every day of the week. Bonnie now has South Main for that first half hour, Wednesday through Sunday. On Monday and Tuesday it's closed, and early breakfast goes back to The Barlow.
The Barlow Gets a Second Brunch Room
At 10 a.m. the action moves to McKinley Street. Martin and Danielle Maigaard opened the first Wild Poppy Cafe in 2024 at 9890 Bodega Highway, in a small roadhouse in west Sebastopol with a creekside patio. Sonoma Magazine reported in October that the cafe "became a rarity in the restaurant business: a runaway success," and that the couple still wanted more kitchen space and more parking.
They found both at 6780 McKinley St., Suite 160, in a 3,500-square-foot former brewery at The Barlow. According to Sonoma Magazine, the build-out took about six months of welding and sawing. Martin, who has spent years renovating homes, did much of it himself without a contractor. The new cafe keeps the Baja fish tacos and Cosmic Queso nachos and adds fancy toasts, salads, a salmon burger and rice bowls. The marketplace sells local and fair-trade pottery, spices, blankets and linens, and a deli case is being stocked with grab-and-go soups, dips and salads. To drink there's coffee, beer, wine and a house turmeric lemonade.
The magazine describes the room as a relaxed, brunch-friendly spot for "work-from-home days when you don't actually want to work from home." The schedule backs that up. The Barlow cafe is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday through Monday and closed Tuesday. The Bodega Highway original, now called Wild Poppy Creekside, is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.
That gives Monday something new. Among the new arrivals, the Barlow Wild Poppy is the only one serving on Mondays, so a sit-down brunch at The Barlow is now an option on Mondays.
Wild Poppy has plenty of company on that block. Sarmentine bakes pastries at 6760 McKinley, in the space Red Bird Bakery left. Sonoma Magazine also lists Taylor Lane for coffee, plus Acre Pizza, Sushi Kosho and Genero's. Chippy, a fish-and-chips cafe, took over Acre Pasta's space at 6751 McKinley, Suite 130, in mid-June.
The Line on North Main
The afternoon belongs to 128 N. Main St. Derek and Megan Harn opened Lunch Box there in October 2022 after running it as a pop-up. It's known for in-house ground beef and scratch-made cheeses and sauces.
In July, KQED's Check, Please! Bay Area spent its July 23 Wine Country episode on Lunch Box, The Mill at Glen Ellen, Napa's Carabao and the Napa Valley Taco Trail. The guests ate the Oklahoma fried onion burger: two smashed patties grilled on top of onions, with melted cheese on a brioche bun. In August, The Press Democrat reported that daily business was up 50% to 100% after the episode aired. Lines ran out the door onto North Main, and some days the kitchen sold out and closed early to restock. The biggest jump came mid-week, normally the slowest stretch, and the Harns were hiring prep cooks, line cooks and front-of-house staff.
Lunch Box's own site lists 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Those late weekend hours give the day its far end. No other spot here serves past 4 p.m., so from Friday through Sunday a late lunch on North Main is the last stop of the daytime run.
Like everything else here, Lunch Box closes Monday and Tuesday.
Sunday Stacks Up
Sunday is the busiest day for daytime food in town. Everything in the table is open, and the Sebastopol Farmers Market adds its own hours on the downtown plaza. The market runs every Sunday, rain or shine, all year, from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., so it keeps going through November and December.
A Sunday downtown can now go like this:
- Bagels and espresso at Bonnie Bagels on South Main from 7 a.m.
- The farmers market on the plaza once it opens at 9.
- Brunch at either Wild Poppy from 10 a.m., on the creek or at The Barlow.
- A burger at Lunch Box on North Main as late as 6 p.m.
You can eat downtown from 7 a.m. until early evening without driving out of town, and that day is a lot fuller than it was a year ago.
Monday and Tuesday, Still the Quiet End
Early in the week the picture shrinks. On Monday, the bakery and the Barlow Wild Poppy carry the day. On Tuesday, Sarmentine is the only one of these kitchens open, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Look outside this group and there's one more 2026 opening to know. Alesta Modern Mediterranean opened in mid-April in the former Piala space at 7233 Healdsburg Ave., and Sonoma Magazine says its meze plate is big enough for lunch. Check its current schedule before planning a weekday around it.
Bonnie Bagels closes Monday and Tuesday. Wild Poppy keeps one location open Monday but none on Tuesday. Lunch Box, already hiring to keep up in August, takes Monday and Tuesday off. So the fall's new hours went to Wednesday through Sunday, and Sarmentine is still the place to go on a Tuesday.
At Poppy Real Estate, we keep track of which corner bakery opens first and which patio stays open latest, because that's what a West County home is like day to day. If you're thinking about what your Sebastopol home is worth, or how to present it so buyers can picture their own Sunday, let's start with a complimentary home valuation and marketing plan. Cultivate your dream with us.
