‘If those booths could talk there would be trouble’: Santa Rosa movers and shakers met at Topaz Room

With its elegant clam shell booths and sparkling crystal chandeliers, the Topaz Room was not only a hip dining establishment from the 1940s to the 1980s, but for a time it was basically an extension of Santa Rosa City Hall and a place where deals were cut.

Topaz Room was located downtown across from the old Sonoma County Courthouse on Hinton Avenue, a street that no longer exists in Santa Rosa but used to intersect with Fourth Street. It also used to be next to City Hall and the sheriff’s office and police department.

The restaurant’s opening night was on Jan. 16, 1945, and in its public invitation it claimed to be “where the finest people meet.” The next day it was described in the Press Democrat as the “swankiest” dining establishment in town.

“And by closing time at midnight, the scores of Santa Rosans who enjoyed the opening night in the beautiful establishment were convinced that this city now has one of the most elaborate restaurants on the west coast,” the PD reported.

A few years later it went through an expansion, adding large crystal chandeliers imported from Czechoslovakia, gray draped ceilings, a new air conditioning system and a new amplification system for the restaurant’s organ player, Verna Wales.

Appetizers and hor d’oeuvres served in the 1940s included baked oysters (50 cents), Romanoff caviar ($2), crab gumbo (30 cents) and chopped chicken livers (40 cents), according to an old Topaz Room menu in the Museum of Sonoma County Collection.

The 1940s menu had French influenced dishes like crabmeat en brochette ($1) and a poulette sandwich (70 cents). Desserts included crêpe Suzettes ($1.35) and cherries flambee au kirsch ($1).

Photos of the restaurant’s early years indicate customers dining in were predominately white.

In 1958, Neil Blumenthal became the Topaz Room’s owner. Courthouse Square changed dramatically during his tenure, including the loss of the county courthouse.

Blumenthal, known for his discretion with high-powered customers, also navigated the restaurant’s survival against urban renewal efforts in the 1970s. Topaz Room closed in 1985.

“New people don’t understand the history and what this restaurant has meant to this town,” Blumenthal told the Press Democrat in 1985. “If those booths could talk there would be trouble.”

Do you have memories of the Topaz Room? Share them with us at onlineidea@pressdemocrat.com. Please be sure to specifics, like what you liked to eat there. Please also include your city of residence.

See the gallery above for old photos of Santa Rosa’s elegant Topaz Room from the 1940s to the 1980s.