The Wurst, downtown Healdsburg’s go-to sausage and burger spot at 222 Matheson St., quietly closed its doors for the final time last weekend after nearly 15 years in business. And just as suddenly, the owners of The Wurst have announced they plan to open a different restaurant in the same space next month. I don’t know much about The Wurst’s replacement yet, but I do know it’s called The Burrow. According to its website, the new restaurant’s tagline is “Casual food. Serious beer.” And its Instagram bio says: “The Burrow provides responsibly sourced eats, unique wine selections and the best collection of independently brewed beers around!”
This rapid restaurant turnaround comes after The Wurst changed owners right around New Year’s. At that time, previous owners Melissa and Kevin McDowell sold the restaurant to another local couple, David and Elise Baeli, who used to run Southern food joint Hops & Hominy in San Francisco. Melissa said she planned to turn her full attention to The Wurst’s catering service — taking her pop-up tent around to street festivals, private home parties and winery events across the North Bay. Meanwhile, David and Elise were given free rein to do what they wanted with the brick-and-mortar location.
When I spoke with David over the phone last fall, he said he was going to keep running the The Wurst as it was for a while — but he did seem pretty eager to rebrand ASAP. He said he wanted to make some aesthetic changes, add healthier food items to the menu, launch a new craft beer and wine program and double down on the kid-friendliness of the place. In our interview, David said he and his wife Elise “identified The Wurst as being a super family-focused, approachable restaurant here in Healdsburg, which we don’t have many of right now.” He added of his own family: “We have a three-year-old, so we wanted to open up a small spot that focuses on community and has a real family-friendly environment.”
David and Elise were even thinking of adding a communal kids play area to The Wurst/Burrow, like the one Brewster’s used to have in Petaluma. Guess we won’t have to wait long to see what comes of their dream! In the meantime, if you want to know what your neighbors think about all this, check out this thread in the “Beverly Healdsburg” Facebook group; local sentiments run the gamut, per usual.
Note from Simone: This piece originally appeared in the weekly email newsletter I write for the Healdsburg Tribune, called Healdsburg Today. Subscribe here!
