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A few restaurants with national reputations, plus several more of regional note, entice palates on the North Coast. Even the smallest cafés take advantage of the abundant fresh seafood and locally grown vegetables and herbs. Attire is usually informal, though at pricier establishments dressy casual is the norm. Most kitchens close at 8 or 8:30 and few places serve past 9:30. Many restaurants close for a winter break in January or early February.
At the Sacred Rock Inn's fine-dining restaurant, meals are served in intimate room with an open-truss ceiling, hardwood floors, and tables inlaid with abalone-shell fragments. The chef prepares seasonal California coastal cuisine based on garden-grown and foraged produce sourced from impeccable purveyors, and the menu usually includes duck, fish, beef, and vegetarian dishes.
The chef at this ocean-bluff inn's redwood-paneled dining room describes the Mendocino Coast's most intricate meal—an 8- to 12-course, prix-fixe extravaganza—as "hyperlocal" seasonal cuisine revolving around seafood and vegetables (many of the latter grown on-site). The artistry displayed in every dish lives up to the raves the restaurant has received from local and national food writers.
You'll often see cyclists sitting on benches outside Elk's general store, wolfing down well-made salads and deli sandwiches after scaling the coastal highway's hills. The staffers at this modest pit stop for all travelers are consistently welcoming, and the ocean views is a bonus.
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