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Redding, the urban center of the Far North, and college-town Chico have the greatest selection of restaurants. Cafés and simple eateries are the rule in the smaller towns, though trendy, innovative restaurants have been popping up. Dress is always informal.
The chef here gained experience working in top San Francisco restaurants before moving north to prepare adventurous Mediterranean fare with a French influence. Appetizers like a recent menu's mozzarella-stuffed arancini with a piquant tomato-based sauce hint at the level of refinement on display, as do entrées that might include cassoulet or roasted steelhead trout.
Many Reddingites consider this softly lit restaurant with black-linen-topped tables and artworks for sale adorning the walls their town's best fine-dining option. The menu tilts heavily Italian (gnocchi, lasagna, chicken Marsala) and American (braised short ribs, pan-seared fish, an elk burger), but the chef ventures across the Pacific for dishes that might include a pork-belly appetizer or Thai coconut curry entrée.
This restaurant in a white-clapboard home, framed by a picket fence and arched trellis, offers an eclectic menu, starting with bananas Foster French toast for breakfast. The varied lunch and dinner selections might include spicy Mongolian chicken salad, herb-stuffed fresh trout, pad Thai, filet mignon, and always several burgers.
With its burgundy carpet, white linen tablecloths, and mellow lighting, this is one of Chico's coziest restaurants. The Mediterranean-influenced menu, inspired by fresh local produce, with vegetarian and pescatarian fare in addition to meat and poultry dishes, changes seasonally—steak au poivre, bucatini and clams, grilled meat loaf, and pan-seared halibut are among recent offerings.
With items like Shanghai dumplings and Taiwanese sausage fried rice, this pan-Asian restaurant decorated with contemporary flair tilts heavily Chinese—the chef's from the mainland, the owner Taiwan—but Japan and the rest of Southeast Asia are amply represented. Some dishes seem tweaked to broaden their appeal, but they're generally well executed, and even on busy nights the staffers remain pleasant and efficient.
For more than two decades, the chefs at this downtown pan-Asian restaurant and bar have served up sushi, sashimi, rolls, "hot bites" like Korean tacos (short ribs with kimchi aioli), and build-your-own poké bowls. Chico being an inland destination, the sushi might not always be as absolutely fresh as on the coast, but even then it's close, and the nonsushi options show flair and imagination.
Patrons of this comfort-food haven across from downtown's 1935 Cascade movie palace wash down elevated pub grub with classic and craft cocktails and wines and beers from California and beyond. The fare includes salads, sandwiches, rice bowls, a locally revered mac-and-cheese, truffle burgers, fish-and-chips, and a few heartier entrées.
Beloved on social media for its sticky buns, addictive two-cheese tater tots, and bacon-jalapeño and other 100% grass-fed burgers, this festive, brightly painted joint wins most diners' hearts with its house-made ingredients, dozens of beers, and upbeat staff. You'll pay more than expected but will likely leave feeling you got your money's worth.
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