California > Sonoma: The Sonoma Cheese Factory (The Butcherman)

[Richard S]

This building had a long history in Sonoma. For years it was a tourist trap destination. Then it was bought out and then closed by some shady investors who are now being investigated by the FBI. To the rescue came the current owners and they have a good thing going!



It is still a cheese shop but they have a lot of other offerings including legit BBQ. This place is right on the Plaza in Sonoma so it is very easy to find. I could tell as soon as we walked up and smelled the pit that we were in good shape.







I walked into the back section that has tables and TV’s and noticed the brisket being unwrapped. It looked beautiful. We ordered four brisket sandwiches. I chose no bun for mine. More on that in a minute.





Brisket was moist and flavorful as can be. My son got a side of mac and cheese. It looked good. Meat was definitely heavily peppered. It was a bit spicy. I love black pepper. Sauce was thin and not very sweet. More of a mop than a sauce. That is also something I like.





The only negative thing I noticed were the very fresh buns were not grilled. This made it a bit soggy for those that had the full sandwich. Sandwiches were $18 which given the amount of meat that were on them is a steal in the town of Sonoma. They also have pulled pork and some other sides. I was pretty blown away at the quality. Will definitely return!

 

[Chris Allingham]

I've heard good things about the BBQ at The Cheese Factory and need to get out there to check it out. The barbecue is being made by The Butcherman.

There's also a righteous place in Napa called Stateline Road Smokehouse that I need to get to.

 

[Chris Allingham]

Had a chance to eat at The Butcherman BBQ at Sonoma Cheese Factory on June 17, 2025 and didn't have quite as good an experience as Richard S had.

We arrived at about 12:30pm, so I was hopeful that fresh barbecue would still be available. You place your order up front in the grocery part of the store, then pickup your food in the back. There's an indoor seating area, nothing special about it, just kind of a repurposed space with a service area cobbled together in the corner of the room, and outside there's a long, narrow seating area with the smokers at the end nearest the street. Lots of flies buzzing around inside and out, which I don't like, but flies are always attracted whenever I make barbecue at home, so that's just how it is.

We ordered 1/2 pound brisket, 1/2 slab of pork ribs, a big bag of beef tallow kettle chips, and a 16 oz can of beer...with sales tax and 15% tip, the bill was $72.50. OK, I'm in touristy Wine Country so I'm not shocked, but I was surprised a little. (Brisket at $33/lb is not the highest price I've ever seen, we paid $36/lb at Goldee's BBQ in Fort Worth last fall, but that was the #1 rated joint in TX at the time. However, $60 for a slab of pork ribs was something I've not seen before.) The problem was there was a little slip of paper next to the register that read, "86 - Ribs", meaning that they were out of ribs. But the order taker took my order, ran my credit card, and within moments someone ran out from the kitchen reminding him that ribs were 86'd. The young man needed help from a fellow employee to figure out how to credit me for the ribs on the register. Then I ordered 1/2 pound smoked turkey breast ($10) and a Diet Coke for a total of $13.29 to make up for the ribs.

As we waited for our food, I noticed that the credit transaction did not include a credit for a portion of the sales tax or the 15% tip. When I went to the counter to pickup my order, there was again some confusion among the staff about my missing ribs, but a manager quickly cleared things up and I took the opportunity to mention that my credit transaction was incomplete. He said he'd take care of it, and in fact he refunded the entire original $72.50 transaction. I protested (but not too hard) and thanked him for being overly generous--I ended up paying $13.29 for the whole thing. So a D- on the order and refund process, but an A+++++ on the way the manager made things right.

Now, about the food. The turkey was moist and tender, but oddly it was a big pile of thin-sliced meat like for a sandwich. I would have preferred thicker slices. They offered a grainy mustard sauce that went well with the turkey. The turkey was the best thing we ate, as well as the tallow kettle chips.

The brisket looked good initially, but had several flaws. It was a bit dry and sliced diagonally, not across the grain. When ordering, I was not given a choice of lean or fatty or both and what we got was lean, lean, lean. A good barbecue sauce can cover a multitude of sins when it comes to brisket, but as Richard said the sauce was thin and not very sweet, I could not put my finger on its composition, and although OK I would have preferred something different. In fact, the mustard sauce was better but not what I associate with brisket. However, the kicker was that the bottom 3/16"edge of the brisket was burned and bitter. By the time I got smart and realized I could cut that part off, we had already eaten most of it.

In the end, we ate it all, so there's that, but I'd say the turkey was average and the brisket below average. I will note that the brisket sandwiches being served up looked like something out of a magazine--beautiful presentation. I just hope it was moist and without a burned edge.

The joint was doing a brisk business and I wish The Butcherman BBQ all the best, I always want to see BBQ joints succeed. You may want to give it a try if you're ever visiting the square in downtown Sonoma, here's wishing you a good experience.

Here are some photos of the place, the meats we ordered, as well as a few good looking sandwiches that we did not order, but maybe should have.











This was a much neater, more appetizing pile of sliced turkey before we started digging into it.



I missed getting the glamour shot as the freshly sliced brisket arrived at the table. We received four thick slices, and at the halfway point shown here it's really starting to get dry and oxidized. Dragging the slices through some beef tallow would have helped a lot.



I think this is a tri-tip sandwich. They were toasting the bread nicely in the oven.



A brisket sandwich on the left, I think. A generous looking sando.

 

[Richard S]

Had a chance to eat at The Butcherman BBQ at Sonoma Cheese Factory on June 17, 2025 and didn't have quite as good an experience as Richard S had.

We arrived at about 12:30pm, so I was hopeful that fresh barbecue would still be available. You place your order up front in the grocery part of the store, then pickup your food in the back. There's an indoor seating area, nothing special about it, just kind of a repurposed space with a service area cobbled together in the corner of the room, and outside there's a long, narrow seating area with the smokers at the end nearest the street. Lots of flies buzzing around inside and out, which I don't like, but flies are always attracted whenever I make barbecue at home, so that's just how it is.

We ordered 1/2 pound brisket, 1/2 slab of pork ribs, a big bag of beef tallow kettle chips, and a 16 oz can of beer...with sales tax and 15% tip, the bill was $72.50. OK, I'm in touristy Wine Country so I'm not shocked, but I was surprised a little. (Brisket at $33/lb is not the highest price I've ever seen, we paid $36/lb at Goldee's BBQ in Fort Worth last fall, but that was the #1 rated joint in TX at the time. However, $60 for a slab of pork ribs was something I've not seen before.) The problem was there was a little slip of paper next to the register that read, "86 - Ribs", meaning that they were out of ribs. But the order taker took my order, ran my credit card, and within moments someone ran out from the kitchen reminding him that ribs were 86'd. The young man needed help from a fellow employee to figure out how to credit me for the ribs on the register. Then I ordered 1/2 pound smoked turkey breast ($10) and a Diet Coke for a total of $13.29 to make up for the ribs.

As we waited for our food, I noticed that the credit transaction did not include a credit for a portion of the sales tax or the 15% tip. When I went to the counter to pickup my order, there was again some confusion among the staff about my missing ribs, but a manager quickly cleared things up and I took the opportunity to mention that my credit transaction was incomplete. He said he'd take care of it, and in fact he refunded the entire original $72.50 transaction. I protested (but not too hard) and thanked him for being overly generous--I ended up paying $13.29 for the whole thing. So a D- on the order and refund process, but an A+++++ on the way the manager made things right.

Now, about the food. The turkey was moist and tender, but oddly it was a big pile of thin-sliced meat like for a sandwich. I would have preferred thicker slices. They offered a grainy mustard sauce that went well with the turkey. The turkey was the best thing we ate, as well as the tallow kettle chips.

The brisket looked good initially, but had several flaws. It was a bit dry and sliced diagonally, not across the grain. When ordering, I was not given a choice of lean or fatty or both and what we got was lean, lean, lean. A good barbecue sauce can cover a multitude of sins when it comes to brisket, but as Richard said the sauce was thin and not very sweet, I could not put my finger on its composition, and although OK I would have preferred something different. In fact, the mustard sauce was better but not what I associate with brisket. However, the kicker was that the bottom 3/16"edge of the brisket was burned and bitter. By the time I got smart and realized I could cut that part off, we had already eaten most of it.

In the end, we ate it all, so there's that, but I'd say the turkey was average and the brisket below average. I will note that the brisket sandwiches being served up looked like something out of a magazine--beautiful presentation. I just hope it was moist and without a burned edge.

The joint was doing a brisk business and I wish The Butcherman BBQ all the best, I always want to see BBQ joints succeed. You may want to give it a try if you're ever visiting the square in downtown Sonoma, here's wishing you a good experience.

Here are some photos of the place, the meats we ordered, as well as a few good looking sandwiches that we did not order, but maybe should have.

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This was a much neater, more appetizing pile of sliced turkey before we started digging into it.

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I missed getting the glamour shot as the freshly sliced brisket arrived at the table. We received four thick slices, and at the halfway point shown here it's really starting to get dry and oxidized. Dragging the slices through some beef tallow would have helped a lot.

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I think this is a tri-tip sandwich. They were toasting the bread nicely in the oven.

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A brisket sandwich on the left, I think. A generous looking sando.

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Thanks for the write up and visit to my former home town! Sorry the brisket was not up to par. The difference in the quality I received and what you received is quite noticeable. Consistency is so important in a restaurant. It is one of the main reasons that I only eat out at a few different places these days.

Little known useless fact...when I was a kid my dad almost ran over Robin Williams in this crosswalk. I was riding next to him in our truck and he wasn't paying attention and I alerted him and he slammed on the breaks. We missed Robin and his kid he was pushing in a stroller by just a few inches.