HopMonk Tavern (The Abbey)

If you are looking for the gold standard of gastropub live music venues in the North Bay, HopMonk Tavern Sebastopol sets the bar and rarely drops it. Housed in a rustic stone and timber building that dates back over 100 years, this is the original HopMonk location and the one that set the template for everything the brand stands for: top-shelf craft beer, a serious food program, and a music calendar that consistently books both celebrated local acts and nationally touring artists at a level that regularly surprises first-time visitors. The dedicated performance space known as The Abbey features a 260-square-foot stage, a dedicated bar, warm acoustics, clear sightlines, and the close-to-the-stage intimacy that makes every show feel like it was meant for you specifically. When the weather cooperates, the world-class outdoor beer garden adds fire pits, open-air sets, and a festival-style atmosphere that is hard to beat anywhere in Sonoma County. The weekly programming calendar is impressively deep: open mic on Tuesdays, DJ nights on Mondays and Thursdays, live bands on Fridays and Saturdays, free outdoor beer garden sets on weekend afternoons in spring and summer, Songwriters in the Round on the fourth Thursday of each month, and a monthly comedy open mic on the third Sunday. Past performers have included Petty Theft, Eric Lindell, Monophonics, Bone Machine, Tempest, Mustache Harbor, and dozens more. One frequent reviewer called it hands down the best music venue in the region, and it is hard to argue.