Gerard's Paella

I had a bowl of their chicken and shrimp paella at the Gravenstein Apple Fair. It was by far the most appealing-looking regular meal food available for lunch. They cook it in these huge paella pans, with chicken thighs in a separate pan, and then put a heaping load, with a generous serving of chicken on top, in a large bowl.

I should have taken the option of the aioli sauce, because while the ingredients were of good quality and the serving of most generous size, the paella was rather bland and the rice kind of dull and sticky. I could only eat about half of it.

I tried their shrimp and chicken paella at the Sonoma Plaza Farmer's Market in September of 2022. The flavor is rich; the guys preparing and serving the food shared that usually there's a bottle of Sriracha on the serving/utensil table for those seeking a bit of a kick with this dish.

It was delicious and it's served with a slice of lemon, which is a great idea. Protein pieces were generous. Would definitely hit this place up again, whether at a market or else, next time I'm in Sonoma.

There was no line to this vendor because all the food was prepped and ready and they just scoop up a heaping helping for ya in a to-go container and garnish it with lemon. Great elevated street food with no wait. Sign me up, and then sign me up again!

We got Paella at Hardly Strictly. 3 stars. It was quite bland until we added sriracha, and the rice was pretty mushy, no crisp.

I was able to get a taste of this paella when I went to BottleRock Festival. We tried plenty of the food offerings there, and I would have to say that their paella is easily on the top of my list! It was really delicious. It came piping hot and the serving feeds two people. Would I eat this again? Most definitely!!

So I had the pleasure of getting to work a first aid tent at an event called BLENDED in San Diego. Let me tell you this Paella is amazing - legitimately one of the best I have ever had. Can't say the best as my grandmother made the best ever. But my crew & I got to watch behind the scenes from our medical tent. These men are culinary magicians with the largest paella pans I have ever scene. The serving was a good size & packed full of chicken & shrimp. Total must try if you get the chance.

Had the pleasure of being introduced to Gerard's at Bottlerock Napa, I had the chicken and shrimp bowl and it was incredible. The bowl was jammed pack with deliciousness tons of chicken and shrimp, collard greens and great spice. This was my first time trying this dish and I'm now hooked. I am very thankful for them taking the time to come out and bring this wonderful cuisine to the event!

Gerard's was fantastic and the guests are still talking about how good and authentic the food was. They were timely, to the exact calculations of serving, food was amazing and they even gave explanations of how and why the food was prepared to the guests who were curious, cleaned up and off they went. Thank you!

Yum yum yum! We ordered their family size traditional paella for take out last nite and it was GREAT! They say it serves 2 to 4 but I'd say it easily serves 6 - we will be having it again tonite and still had plenty left over to freeze for a future dinner. We just love supporting our local restaurants during this time - their food is fabulous.
Order in advance and pay online - then park out in front, give them a call and they bring the food out to your car.
Do this! you won't be sorry.

I grew up eating paella and was delighted to find Gerard's last month. It's so rare to find a place that not only specializes in a delicious international dish like this, but does it amazingly well and in so many exciting varieties!

I hosted some vegetarian guests for dinner, so I ordered that kind of paella and even though I'm not a vegetarian, I honestly enjoyed it just as much as any seafood version I've ever had. Actually, I think I prefer it now! The dish was a beauty to behold with mushrooms, kale, chickpeas, peas, and purple cauliflower, and really easy to heat up with no fuss. I loved that the veggies weren't overcooked and still had a little crunch to them. My guests raved about it and now mention paella whenever we talk about them visiting again.

I was sad to see Gerard's downtown location close right after I discovered them, as it seems the pandemic hit them hard, but I will be supporting Gerard's at their weekly pop-up locations because no one else in the area does what they can.

How do you welcome guests flocking from all over the country to celebrate your wedding? To the point that everyone's eyes widen and a "wow" emanates from their lips?!

Well, that's what Gerard's did for me. My relative's wedding welcome party was held at a private winery. As we walked up a path to the dining area, there were two huge metal pots steaming with a bright orange stew or soup (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=MVy-aDv_gIwfxYKzXZcS6Q&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q). Curious, I walked up and asked one of the persons tending the pot what is was and my ears perked when his said "paella". Asking the difference between the two pots, he explained the smaller one was a vegetarian one (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=51YuTq7grX4bXxuFTICF0g&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q) while the large one was chicken and seafood (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=sdVr5SH1UBpoEArJm_kJFg&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q).

After everyone was seated, I noticed a menu on my table setting. After the salad was served and removed, the wait staff guided guests by tables to the paella station where we picked up our entrée choice. Looking at my plate (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=EJFz-XSGnN-P-gq_1bY3qQ&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q), I couldn't wait to dig in. Let's just say that it met all expectations and then some. The best part was, being famished from the trip up, that I was able to greedily get another plate (https://www.yelp.com/user_local_photos?select=P4rizZHQo8G1pG9PR4xe-g&userid=saJuyv784apZzH--psHZ3Q)... I could only finish about half of this... guess most of the seafood was devoured already.

Wonderful event, wonderful venue, wonderful occasion, and the best way to describe Gerard's paella... yes, wonderful!