Windsor's Town Green Has a Big Spring Coming — Here's What to Put on Your Calendar
March 26, 2026
March 26, 2026
Most towns this size have a park. Windsor has something that functions more like a flywheel. The Town Green draws enough people — from Windsor and well beyond — that good operators who open a restaurant here tend to stay and open another one, rather than graduate to a bigger market. That pattern is about to become obvious in 2026.
Two significant openings are coming. A major race and a half marathon land in April and May. And the Summer Nights on the Green concert series — now in its 24th year — kicks off June 4 with 10 shows scheduled through August 13. If you've lived here long enough to remember the green before it had this kind of programming, the spring calendar reads like a different town.
The Summer Nights on the Green series can pull up to 60,000 people over its run — measured against 15,000 Windsor households, that's a draw that is plainly regional, not local. Visitors from Santa Rosa, Healdsburg, and Rohnert Park fill the green on Thursday evenings all summer. They eat before. They drink after. That foot traffic is the reason Windsor's food scene has compounded steadily around the green rather than stalling out.
Grata Italian Eatery chef-owner Eric Foster figured this out. He opened Grata just off the green, built a following, and is now expanding — not to Healdsburg, not to Santa Rosa, but deeper into Windsor. According to Sonoma Magazine, Foster and his team are opening a casual, saloon-style pub at the long-vacant Windsor Brewing Co. at 9000 Windsor Road. The concept leans into an "upscale Yellowstone lodge" aesthetic with a grazing menu — ceviche, chips and dips, seasonal salads, cured meat and cheese boards, and barbecue — plus a full bar, live country music, dancing, and karaoke. The message is that the same operator who proved the green can sustain a sit-down Italian restaurant thinks it can sustain a second, completely different concept nearby.
For years, the Windsor Golf Club dining room was one of the few spots in town where you could take out-of-towners and show them a real piece of Sonoma County — lake views, wine, and competent cooking. When Charlie's Restaurant faltered, the void was felt beyond the fairways. Regulars who once filled community food groups with brunch photos were warning friends to stay away.
The club's owners brought in Jim Goff. If you ever grabbed a preflight meal at Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport, you already know him. Goff ran the Sky Lounge Steakhouse & Sushi Bar there from 2007 to 2022 — a 15-year run that became a local institution by mixing comfort food with sushi, steaks, and a solid wine list. Jimmy's Lakeside Café opened October 1 at the golf club under his watch. The lakeside patio is the ace; Goff has signaled plans for live music, tastings, and menus tied to local events. The dining room is not just for golfers. It never was.
The openings make more sense when you know what they're joining. Around and near the green, a small but coherent set of restaurants has been running long enough to stop being discoveries and start being institutions.
KIN, founded in 2011 by JC Adams and Brad Barmore, anchors the family-friendly end of the green. The seasonal menu runs from artisan pizza and sandwiches to a Lasagna Bolognese and the house "Windsor Sour" cocktail. Maison Porcella fills the gap for anyone who wants a serious weekday lunch — the French bistro from chef Jean-Baptiste sources local, organic charcuterie and has built a reputation around what some have called Sonoma's best Croque-Monsieur. Open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, dinner Tuesday through Friday. Sweet T's has held the Southern comfort and Memphis BBQ corner since 2011. The Himalayan Restaurant earned the Press Democrat's pick for best Indian restaurant in Sonoma County in 2023 and has the tandoori and adjustable-spice curry menu to back it up.
For evenings that don't start with dinner, Tasting Notes Wine Lounge Collective runs comedy nights and live music throughout the year — the kind of low-key programming that fills a Tuesday.
Three events put the green on a different register before summer even starts.
April 26 is Levi's Gran Fondo. Thousands of cyclists start and finish the race on the green. If you're planning to drive downtown that morning, don't. Walk or bike instead.
May 16 brings the Windsor Half Marathon, 10K, and 5K, starting at 7:30 a.m. from the Town Green. This is the kind of event that fills the surrounding restaurants for the rest of the day — runners and their families looking for a long brunch after a long morning.
June 4 is when Summer Nights on the Green begins. Ten Thursday evening concerts run through August 13. The series is put on by the Town of Windsor and the Windsor Farmers Market, and it has the attendance numbers — up to 60,000 over the summer — that turn a local tradition into a regional draw. If you haven't been in a few years, the green on a concert evening feels busier and more settled at the same time.
Not every Windsor weekend needs an event. The Windsor Town Green Community Garden, tucked at the corner of Windsor River Road and Joe Rodota Drive in the Town Hall complex, runs Second Saturday work mornings where plot renters and volunteers tend the shared areas together. The Windsor Garden Club keeps Master Gardeners on hand at community events to answer questions. The Best Hope Pollinator Garden, planted with native water-thrifty species, sits just outside the garden fence.
The Windsor Farmers Market returns to the green on the first Sunday of each month from September through December, bringing local restaurants, artisans, and vendors. It's a smaller footprint than the summer concerts, which is part of the appeal.
Windsor does not usually get the press that Healdsburg does. The restaurants here aren't chasing the same press cycle or the same price point. What Eric Foster is doing — opening a relaxed pub next to a successful Italian restaurant because the neighborhood can hold both — is a quieter version of what the more-covered wine-country towns do loudly. The difference is that when you live here, you don't need the coverage. You're already at the table.
If you're curious what the current market looks like for Windsor homeowners — whether it's a good time to reassess what your home is worth or think about a move — Ashley McSweeney offers free home valuations and consultations with no obligation. She's been working this market long enough to know the difference between a neighborhood that's adding amenities and one that's actually changing. Reach out whenever the timing feels right.
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