More of this Feature • Part 1: Gulf Coast, East Coast • Part 2: East Coast • Part 3: East Coast, Great Lakes • Part 4: West Coast
Related Resources • Cruising/Chartering Index

WEST COAST

Buster’s Beach House Grill & Longboard Bar
807 W. Harbor Drive (in Seaport Village), San Diego, CA
Phone: (619) 233-4300 www.bustersbeachhouse.com
Breakfast: $5; lunch/dinner: $5 to $20

A cool beach house complete with decorative surfboards and Beach Boys’ tunes. Chow includes Hawaiian rice bowls, lobster potpie, and great pizza. Save room for awesome Todos Santos dessert: a triple chocolate brownie plopped in whipped cream and topped off with a Surfer Dude sugar cookie.

Claim to Fame: the gnarly, ’67 VW bus in the bar.

The Landing
El Encanto Market Place, Catalina Island, CA
Phone: (310) 510-1474
Lunch: $8; dinner: $15

The nearby Casino Dock Cafe is great for tying up, but The Landing boasts a killer Avalon Harbor view from its second-story deck (walk up from the marina). Gourmet pizzas and baby back ribs complement microbrews, including Catalina Gold Ale.

Claim to Fame: Best view in town.

The Tides Wharf & Restaurant
The Inn at the Tides, 800 Highway 1, Bodega Bay, CA
Phone: (800) 541-7788 www.innatthetides.com
Breakfast: $7; lunch: $12; dinner: $18

The Tides is the family-style restaurant in this terrific seaside locale, featuring an Oyster Bar, bait and tackle shop, gift shop, deli, and fish market. Watch fishing boats and sea lions while washing down Pacific red snapper with the perfect Chardonnay from the local wine country.

Claim to Fame: Alfred Hitchcock used The Tides in The Birds.

Newport Bay
0425 SW Montgomery Street, Portland, OR
Phone: (503) 227-3474
Lunch/dinner: $6 to $15

Chow down on Alaskan razor clams, hazlenut halibut, or smoked salmon linguini. Landlubbers can choose from five types of burgers in this nautically decorated spot with a great view of the Wilamette River.

Claim to Fame: The place to moor up in Portland. The dock at Riverside Place boasts the best boats in town—not to mention a seaplane or two.

Tides Tavern
2925 Harbor View Drive, Gig Harbor, WA
Phone: (253) 858-3982
Lunch and dinner: $8

Tie up dockside and dine on the waterfront deck near the south end of Puget Sound, 50 miles south of Seattle. Casual fare includes fish and chips, sandwiches, salads, and pizza.

Claim to Fame: The view. Mt. Rainer appears to burst skyward from the water.

Railway Cantina (seasonal)
One block from the Seward Small Boat Harbor (for docking information, call the Harbor Master (907-224-3138), 4th Avenue, Seward, AK
Phone: (907) 224-TACO
Lunch and dinner: $7

These guys put a little si si si in their salmon. Great Mexican food washed down with all the right beers.

Claim to Fame: gourmet tacos.

M.B. Roberts is a freelance writer living in Nashville, Tennessee, and the author of several books with her husband, photographer Ronald C. Modra.

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