There are a suspicious number of entries for Handline restaurant on my credit card statement this summer. They’re all for the same amount: $7.13, the price of a large chocolate-and-vanilla cone from the soft-serve window where I spend far too much time standing.
It has become my after-kayaking reward, hot-day cooldown and “I made it through Monday” consolation. And it is worth every darn cent as I sit in my car licking the brown-and-white Straus soft serve, made with 8% butterfat, before it melts down my hand.
Handline is synonymous with summer in western Sonoma County: beer-battered fish tacos, seasonal sweet-corn esquites, raw oysters, cheeseburgers, cold beer and a sprawling covered patio filled with dogs and sticky-faced children, many of whom are just as devoted to the soft serve.
Parking can be a challenge, but somehow everyone manages. And while the lines can be long, they move quickly.
Located in a former Foster’s Freeze, the restaurant turns 10 this year. Over the past decade, it has become both a Sonoma County destination and a locals’ favorite, largely because it pulls off the rare trick of being casual and genuinely good.
The fast-casual format is simple: Order at the counter, find a table and wait for your food. Several menu items have devoted followings, including oysters, vegetable tostadas, fish and chips, and hand-cut fries.
But the fish tacos are the gravitational center.
“It’s hard to get around it,” said chef-owner Natalie Goble. “I don’t know — it’s a mystery to me — but the tacos get people in the door.”
The tacos start with housemade masa. In a dedicated masa room, corn is nixtamalized, then each tortilla is pressed by hand and cooked on a flat-top grill until it develops brown spots.
Then comes beer-battered rockfish, chipotle aioli, shaved cabbage and avocado. The result is the kind of fish taco that can make an entire meal seem like an afterthought.
Seasonal produce has always been central to the menu. Nearby farms supply nearly all of the vegetables, including butter lettuce, arugula, corn, summer squash, shishito peppers and cherry tomatoes.
Goble, who grew up on a nearby family farm, is particularly committed to just-picked produce and to keeping Handline connected to the farms and fishermen around it.
Seafood is the other anchor. Much of it is sustainably sourced from nearby waters, and the menu makes good use of the catch: grilled oysters with spicy mole and garlic butter, rockfish ceviche, smoked trout and a hearty fisherman’s stew made with the daily catch.
“People want local fish from the coast, and we just bring it a little closer to town,” Goble said.
That sense of place extends to the restaurant itself. The sprawling patio seems designed for a west county summer, with enough room for families, dogs and lingering over another beer.
And then there is the soft-serve window. After fish tacos, oysters and perhaps a cold beer, there is really only one sensible way to finish: a chocolate-and-vanilla swirl.
My credit card statement can confirm.
Fun fact
Handline’s 5-foot fish tank is more than an aquarium. It is an art installation.
How long in business
Handline turns 10 this year.
Most popular dish
Baja-style fish tacos.
The can’t-miss hits
Rosarito’s Ceviche, $19: Clean, simple rockfish ceviche without bells or whistles.
Pollo Correcto Tostada, $18: Shredded chicken, high-class beans and mole on a tostada. Taqueria-good with cheffy, locally sourced ingredients.
Monterey Trout Salad, $22: You will never look at salmon the same way after you’ve tried smoked trout. The pink flesh is less oily, but full of flavor. Served with apples, greens, pickled onions and buttermilk dressing.
Esquites, $10: Not always on the menu, so grab it when it appears. Grilled corn, lime, cilantro, crema and sheep’s milk feta with dried chile. So good.
El Coronado Tacos, $17: Fish tacos. Done right.
Inglewood Burger, $18: Grass-fed beef with Toma fonduta cheese sauce and Thousand Island dressing. Pair it with hand-cut fries with ketchup, chipotle aioli and Thousand Island sauce.
Fish & Chips, $17: One of the better versions in Sonoma County.
The vibe
Casual, open-air and family-friendly, Handline blurs the line between indoor and outdoor dining. Order at the counter, find a picnic table on the patio and let the kids burn off some energy while the tacos arrive. It’s coastal California distilled into a roadhouse: unpretentious, sun-bleached and easy.
In winter, the big windows close, turning the restaurant into a cozier refuge during the darker months. Fish stew season becomes something to look forward to.
The deals
Happy hour runs daily from 3-5 p.m., with a small-bites menu built specifically for that window. It includes oysters, à la carte tacos and snacks that don’t otherwise appear on the regular menu.
It’s an easy way to sample the kitchen without committing to a full meal.
The price
Prices vary widely, from small bites and tacos to larger seafood dishes. Most of the everyday menu falls roughly between $3 and $15, while ceviche, seafood stews and larger platters cost more.
The spot
Handline is at 935 Gravenstein Highway S., Sebastopol; 707-827-3744, handline.com. It is open from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with hours extending to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday during summer.