Some claimed this gas station food is the best restaurant in the SF Bay Area

[theking]

Yelp's best Bay Area restaurant is hidden in a gas station

Just off Highway 101 North on route to Rohnert Park is an unassuming storefront attached to a Shell gas station. The building is home to Vinoma restaurant, where a selection of handmade savory and sweet empanadas are prepared by the hundreds. If you don’t pull over, you might miss out on one of the best Bay Area restaurants to eat at right now.

I found myself at Vinoma on a recent drive to Sonoma County. The road to Rohnert Park isn’t exactly a quick trip from my East Bay home, but when I heard that an Argentinian restaurant attached to a gas station recently took the top spot on a list of 100 Bay Area restaurants, I knew that I needed to take the 80-mile drive north to see what the buzz was all about.

After a near 2-hour drive, I arrived at Vinoma ready to see whether the restaurant lives up to the title. A takeout menu is fixed on the main entrance and highlights an assortment of 15 empanada and canastita (open-face empanada) flavors that include traditional options (think spicy beef) and the nontraditional (like blueberry cobbler on the dessert section). Guests can opt to pay $3.89 for a single empanada or select a combination of 12 for $41.38. I chose the latter and took my seat at a shaded dining table outside, where I watched cars whoosh by on Redwood Drive.

“When most people walk up [to Vinoma] they don't know what to expect since they're at a gas station,” owner Brian Corrigan said, laughing. “Some people don't know what empanadas are. They have no experience with eating anything like this, but by the time they leave, they're usually ecstatic that they had something they've never had before.”

Corrigan shared that Vinoma’s location is convenient more than anything. For travelers commuting through the high-traffic area, Vinoma is an ideal pit stop since it's right off the highway. Corrigan shared that foodies are especially willing to take a detour to Vinoma on their way to other neighboring cities.

Vinoma had a promising start when it opened just before the pandemic in 2020. At the time, Corrigan was open for sit-down service, seven days a week. But as the months went by and fewer customers dropped in, he adapted to the changing times by cutting hours of operation to two days and shifting to a takeout-only model. The bumps along the way even led Corrigan to consider closing altogether. So, when he learned that Vinoma not only made Yelp’s top 100 list, but also beat out 99 Bay Area businesses for the top spot, he couldn’t have been more pleased and surprised about the timing. 

“We thought we would be on the list somewhere but to be No. 1 was a huge honor,” Corrigan said. “We got extremely busy after the announcement … and there's still some excitement in the air.”

What drew me most to Vinoma (besides the recent accolade) were the crispy canastita empanadas, which almost resemble a quiche tart. Much to my surprise, I had never seen nor heard of a canastita before my visit, and I was determined to change that.

When Corrigan brought out my order, he handed me my takeout box, which came with a reference sheet and two lovely dahlias from his backyard. The flowers are a special touch added to every order, while the reference sheet helps guide customers through the coveted treats inside.