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Port Townsend reigns as the foodie capital of the Olympic Peninsula, where Pacific Northwest coastal cuisine prevails. For a small town, it features an impressive collection of casual yet upscale dining options, some with sweeping bay views. Influences include Mediterranean, Latin, and Southern American cooking. Many restaurants and pubs offer straight-from-the-farm organic herbs and vegetables as well as locally crafted artisanal breads and cheeses and, of course, shellfish and salmon from local waters.
The entire Olympic Culinary Loop—from Port Townsend, Sequim, Port Angeles, and Forks to the Long Beach Peninsula(www.olympicculinaryloop.com)—is best known for its seafood, fresh from local bays and inlets or wild caught in the Pacific Ocean by local fishermen. Many restaurants along the route feature fish-and-chips, chowders, oyster or salmon burgers, crab cakes, cioppino, clams, and mussels. The peninsula also offers many family-friendly and down-home eateries, from hearty burger and breakfast joints to authentic Thai, Japanese, and Mexican restaurants.
You'll find Hama Hama oysters, which are harvested from this Hood Canal shellfish operation that's been going strong since 1922, at some of the top restaurants in the Pacific Northwest. Here at the farm store and in the open-air (dress warmly on cool days) saloon, you can enjoy these fresh-shucked bivalves—along with clams and mussels raw or wood-roasted with chipotle-bourbon butter—and other tasty pub fare at lunch. Save room for the warm-chocolate fudge brownie.
This hip, counter-service seafood bar with a mod-industrial vibe serves Puget Sound oysters and clams on the half shell—either raw or baked with seasonal compound butters—and several beers and ciders on tap to wash them down. Oyster shooters are another favorite, and there's a short menu of other fish-centric dishes, from steamed Dungeness crab with clarified butter to chowder made with local clams, but nothing fried.
With tall windows overlooking Ilwaco's marina, a high timber-beam ceiling, and a friendly crowd of locals and visitors, this upbeat gastropub in At the Helm Hotel is perfect for a bite to eat before or after hiking and beachcombing at nearby Cape Disappointment State Park. Highlights from the seafood-intensive menu are a platter of house-pickled fish, rich Dungeness crab bisque, lingcod fish tacos, and a Reuben with pastrami-spiced albacore steak and beer-braised sauerkraut.
This friendly, no-frills seafood spot has a simply furnished dining room as well as picnic tables and Adirondack chairs on the beach overlooking the Strait of San Juan de Fuca. On warm days it's an idyllic spot to enjoy fresh fish-and-chips (your choice of salmon, halibut, prawns, or oysters), plus hearty seafood chowder and Dungeness crab when it's in season. It closes at 7 pm, so plan accordingly.
With memorable views of John Wayne Marina and Sequim Bay, this is a fun place to watch boats placidly sail by while diners nibble on Dungeness crab fritters, steamed clams, bouillabaisse, cioppino, and seafood pastas. The kitchen also serves an excellent cedar-plank rib-eye steak, coffee-rubbed and served with jalapeño-garlic butter.
Operated in partnership with the nearby Alderbrook Resort, this restored market at the Hood Canal Marina is open most days for gourmet snacks and to-go items, local beer and wine, and nicely curated nautical souvenirs, and its Hook & Fork waterfront eatery serves afternoon appetizers on Friday and leisurely brunches on weekends. A juice bar doles out freshly squeezed concoctions, and the rotating brunch menu features baked oysters, smoked-trout toast, and crab BLTs and Benedicts.
