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We've compiled the best of the best in The Oregon Coast - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
This friendly gastropub in Old Town Florence—a couple of blocks north of the riverfront—specializes in locally sourced, creatively prepared American fare and offers a well-chosen list of Oregon beers on tap, plus local spirits, iced teas, and kombucha. Stop by for lunch to enjoy the lightly battered albacore fish and hand-cut fries with tartar sauce, or a cheeseburger topped with Rogue River blue and served with marinated vegetables and local greens.
Well-prepared Pacific Rim–fusion fare and fun tiki-inspired cocktails complete with paper umbrellas, are the draw at this hip, supercasual spot festooned with surfboards, Hawaiian shirts, and tropical artwork. Boldly flavored dishes like Hawaiian-style loco moco, pineapple teriyaki chicken, and Spam musubi may have you feeling like you've been airlifted to Maui, and there's tasty sushi, too.
Sustainable, line-caught wild seafood—including albacore, cod, halibut, and, when in season, Dungeness crab—straight from the owner's boat is the draw at this festive weathered restaurant with colorful indoor and outdoor seating areas. Fish-and-chips of all stripes, including clam and salmon, are served, but the fish tacos and a sinful dish called slumgullion—clam chowder baked with cheese and bay shrimp—are the most popular choices. You can also buy fresh fish to go. There's a second location 15 miles up U.S. 101 in Seal Rock.
Next to the little post office in Charleston Marina, this canary-yellow food stand dispenses delicious burgers, fish-and-chips, seafood tacos, and other freshly made short-order fare, which you can enjoy at one of the outdoor tables or take with you for a picnic at one of the beach parks nearby. Specialties include Tsunami burger with jalapeños, grilled onions, bacon, and blue cheese, and the clam roll sandwich topped with a calamari dressing—be sure to order a side of the crispy garlic fries.
Late in 2022, this wildly popular Italian restaurant and its neighboring sister restaurant, the Firehouse Grill, restructured and combined into one bustling, inviting space—called Nonni's Bistro—that features hearty breakfast and lunch fare, including fluffy biscuits with gravy, salmon Benedicts, cinnamon French toast, and meat-loaf scrambles early in the day. At night, tuck into well-prepared Italian classics like lasagna Bolognese and linguine in a garlicy white wine sauce tossed with local crab, salmon, and prawns.
In a rustic 1915 building on the beach, this café, brightened with candlelight and fresh flowers, sits opposite Three Arch Rock, a favorite resting spot for sea lions and puffins. The seafood-intensive menu includes fresh and simple preparations of halibut, scallops, and salmon with lemon-herb butter, oyster burgers, and shrimp melts, and the meal's not complete without one of the homemade desserts.
Serving consistently well-prepared modern seafood fare, Tidal Raves uses local and sustainable fish and shellfish in preparations inspired by places far and near. A few steaks and vegetarian dishes round out the lengthy menu, which also includes such local classics as Dungeness crab cakes, panko-crusted razor clams, and rockfish and shrimp green curry with steamed peanut rice, and the inviting bi-level dining room has tall windows overlooking the ocean.
One of the best features of this cheerful café in sleepy Nehalem village, just down the road from Manzanita, is that the kitchen offers just about anything you might be in the mood for at breakfast and lunch, from fancy egg dishes and comforting cinnamon French toast to Cobb salads and burgers on homemade brioche buns—it's a remarkably varied menu for such a small place. There's also a full bar with a great selection of drinks and craft beer and Oregon wine as well.
The dazzling beach and ocean views, especially at sunset, are just part of the story at this casually elegant restaurant at the Surfsand Resort; it's also a reliable if very traditional destination for a leisurely feast of local seafood and steaks, such as panko-breaded Pacific razor clams with rémoulade, seared Chinook salmon with risotto, and the prodigious 22-ounce "tomahawk" rib-eye steak with sweet potato–andouille hash. There's a nice list of Oregon wines, and breakfast—featuring delicious crab cake Benedicts and cinnamon roll French toast—is offered daily.
