Winter coastal travelers are a hearty bunch. Between November and March, Sonoma and Mendocino’s wind-swept coasts are often blustery, rainy, cold and generally perfect for sitting around a fire. And for a certain kind of tourist, that’s not a bad thing. Crowds are mostly nonexistent, traffic is light, the ocean churns with spectacular fury, and it’s peak mushroom and Dungeness crab season. Personally, it’s my favorite time to get away.
I recently spent a long weekend traveling from Santa Rosa to Mendocino, with stops in Bodega Bay, Sea Ranch, Gualala, Stewart’s Point and Elk. And while there are many excellent restaurants along the route, my goal was to try some less-charted spots with plenty of local charm. Here are six of my favorite, off-the-beaten-path restaurants.
Sea Ranch Lodge, Sea Ranch
The weathered gray redwood homes of Sea Ranch are about being in harmony with the natural elements and the rugged coastal landscape.
The iconic community of 2,200 homes located 65 miles north of Santa Rosa centers around the Lodge, which underwent a radical overhaul in 2018 to embrace its groundbreaking 1960s design aesthetic. After languishing for years, the redesigned Lodge and its guest rooms are stunning, midcentury modern spaces with gas fireplaces, breathtaking views of the nearby Pacific and some of the best whale-watching on the coast.
Chef Ryan Seal, who has cooked at Napa’s Round Pond Estate, Solage, Calistoga Ranch and Morimoto, as well as San Francisco’s SPQR, recently took over the kitchen. Expect dishes like cacio e pepe with red miso butter, diver scallops with Beluga lentils, honey-glazed duck breast and oyster mushroom risotto. Seal’s food at Elk’s now-shuttered Greenwood restaurant was hugely impressive, and it’s good to see his cooking reaching a bigger audience at Sea Ranch.
Reservations recommended. 60 Sea Walk Drive, Sea Ranch, thesearanchlodge.com
Gualala Seafood Shack
You don’t have to go through a lumber yard to get to this hidden fish taco shop, but you certainly should. Hidden along the Coast Highway, just past the True Value Hardware and piles of lumber, is the Seafood Shack, also known as The Shack. The smell of French fries and fried fish will accost you upon entering. When you leave, you will smell like French fries and fried fish for hours, a sign of a good fish taco shack. Baja rockfish tacos ($6.75) are what you want, either fried or grilled (tip: get both). They’re massive handfuls of local fish, cabbage, pico de gallo and chipotle aioli piled into a corn tortilla. These messy monsters are worth the dry-cleaning bill. Also delish is the Dungeness Melt ($24) on a soft roll with melty cheese, mayo and a whole lot of sassy-spicy crab.
38820 S Highway 1, Unit 104, Gualala, gualalaseafoodshack.com
Twofish Baking, Stewarts Point Store, Stewarts Point
According to my mother, we had to be there before 8:30 a.m. or they would be out of sticky buns for the day. Elbows sharpened, I was willing to push small children from my path, should it come to that. Fortunately, when we showed up at 8:45 a.m., there were still plenty of sticky buns, morning buns, muffins, scones and other sugary breakfast carbohydrates left. The sticky buns are delightful, but I think violence would be ill-advised. You can eat at a community counter inside the charming Stewart’s Point Store or take your sweets to go.
32000 Highway 1, Stewarts Point, twofishbaking.com
Gnar Bar, Mendocino
With just a handful of countertop seats, Gnar Bar is all about fat bowls of tonkatsu, miso and vegetarian broth with noodles, bok choy, mushrooms and a jammy egg. It’s the perfect winter warmer if you’re toddling around Mendocino (average temperature 55 degrees). While you’re there, check out the fried chicken sandwiches, fresh sushi rolls, pot stickers, shumai, chicken katsu, Spam musubi, umami fries and poke bowls. This is where the cool kids eat.
10450 Lansing St., Mendocino, gnarbar707.com
Harbor House Inn
When the ocean is your kitchen pantry, nature decides what’s on the menu. And that’s precisely why chef Matthew Kammerer left San Francisco for a slip of a town on the blustery Mendocino coast.
Since 2018, Kammerer’s two-Michelin-starred Harbor House Inn has gained a reputation in haute dining circles for its obsessive sea-to-table ethos. He collects sand, seawater, kelp and lace lichen in a small private cove just steps from the kitchen. Fishermen come to his back door with their daily catch, and Kammerer keeps an Instagram diary of foraged ingredients like nettle and purple cress for curious diners.
Harbor House Inn, 5600 Highway 1, Elk, 707-877-3203, theharborhouseinn.com
Terrapin Creek, Bodega Bay
Sonoma Coast restaurants often walk a fine line, balancing culinary creativity with tourist expectations. Many visitors come seeking the coastal classics: clam chowder, fish and chips, oysters and Dungeness crab — and, of course, a burger for the kids.
That’s why Terrapin Creek in Bodega Bay encourages first-time guests to peruse the menu before being seated.
“They expect fish and chips, and (if we don’t have it), they just get up and leave. We got tired of resetting the tables,” said chef Andrew Truong, who runs the 17-year-old restaurant with his wife, Liya. Both have pedigreed culinary backgrounds from former Michelin-starred Michael Mina and Ame restaurants in San Francisco.
Bodega Bay is a world away from that haute dining scene, and the couple’s cozy, sunlit dining room perched high above the marina draws a loyal crowd of locals and regulars who come — not for the accolades — but for dishes like Hokkaido scallops, Mediterranean fish stew and pan-roasted Pacific swordfish.
Terrapin Creek, 1580 Eastshore Road, Bodega Bay, 707-875-2700, terrapincreekcafe.com
You can reach Dining Editor Heather Irwin at heather.irwin@pressdemocrat.com. Follow Heather on Instagram @biteclubeats.