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Stinson Beach Grill
Categories: Restaurants American (New) Restaurants Seafood American (New), Seafood [Edit]
3465 Shoreline HwyStinson Beach, CA 94970
(415) 868-2002
- Hours:
Mon-Thu 11:30 am - 8 pm
Fri 11:30 am - 8:30 pm
Sat-Sun 11 am - 8:30 pm
- Attire:
- Casual
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Parking:
- Street
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- Yes
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- Yes
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good For:
- Lunch, Dinner
- Alcohol:
- Full Bar
- Wheelchair Accessible:
- Yes
Norman B. said: "What a find near Union Square! Great atmosphere, great food, great prices. The menu is limited so, in two visits, I've experienced much of it. However, I'm told it changes regularly. The menu is well-constructed so there always…" read more »
46 reviews for Stinson Beach Grill
Review Highlights
"Again, a great outdoor patio to sit and people watch."
(in 3 reviews)
"...BBQ oysters are great, the clam chowder is so good and they..."
(in 9 reviews)
"The oysters are tasty and so is the rice pudding."
(in 9 reviews)
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46 reviews in English
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Review from Marina C.
Vancouver, WA
1/22/2011
Well, based on the reviews this restaurant was absurdly hit and miss, that's for sure. My own experience here, however, was decidedly on the hit side of the line. I was starving to death and hadn't eaten anything substantial since about 8 PM the night before, and it was around one in the afternoon.... Did that influence me? Probably a little, and so I'm taking that into account as otherwise I'd be one of the four-star people.
I had a chicken sandwich--which was quite good, and certainly high quality meat as far as I was concerned--with perfectly normal diner fries. The coffee had free refills, the quirky wooden interior was charming enough... It has an old style order system of go up front to order but then sit down and your food is brought to you. The guy running the place -- I wonder if he's new, since a lot of these reviews are old? -- was polite and helpful and let us take our time in ordering, and service was very prompt.
All in all, it seemed a charming and enjoyable lunch spot with decent drip coffee and good chicken sandwiches/burgers which is very enjoyable when one just arrived from driving the 1 from the 101 (having started in Petaluma after a long night) and feeling irritated that you're the only person who seems to know how to engine brake and being stuck behind minivans ruins some of the fun of the highway. Though, it was a perfectly nice place to grab lunch before a long afternoon and evening drive up highway 1 to Fort Bragg, and I have no complaints about recommending it--a normal and average seaside town cafe, local, quirky, and with decent food and service. -
Review from Evan L.
San Francisco, CA
12/8/2008
First trip to Stinson Beach and I thought a hamburger sounded like the best thing in the world.
We looked at the Stinson Beach Grill and thought "that looks cute and there's even a little patio, this is so f'ing perfect."
Inside there's a "wait to be seated" sign. We wait. "I'll be right with you guys." She refills some guys drinks at the bar, small talks, puts some money in the register. Waitress goes outside, takes an order, fills up some glasses of water. "Just one minute guys." Proceeds to make another drink, goes back outside and chats more with tables. By this point is had been nearly 10 minutes and the line was decently long. Some old couple behind us was getting grouchy and I said a decently loud "FUCK THIS" (because you know, sometimes you want to be passive aggressive) and left.
Seriously, WTF was up with that. If you don't have time to seat people just have us seat ourselves. There were already napkins and menus on the table.
After reading these reviews though, I'm glad we didn't eat here.Listed in: I WILL EAT YOUR…
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Review from Shari D.
1/7/2007
My hubby and I had been beach combing at Stinson Beach all morning, and by 2:30 pm, we were Starving! We drove up the road a ways from the beach parking lot to where all the little shops and cafes are, and found this little spot to eat.
We were seated right away, next to the wood burning stove, which was nice because it was a little chilly outside. The hostess gave us our menus in a very nice, friendly way, and told us that our waitress would be right with us. She wasn't. However, the hostess came back, asked if we'd been seen to yet, and then took our drink orders until our waitress got there about 30 seconds later. (I ordered their special Bloody Mary, and DAMN, it was GOOD. Spicy, flavorful, and standard with Kettle One, my favorite... nice.)
The waitress was nice and took our orders, and brought out our clam chowders and a basket of warm, crusty rolls right away. Delicious chowder with lots of fresh clams in it and a kind of dill flavor that I've never had before in a chowder: I like it! The rolls were yummy, too, crusty outside and warm and soft inside... perfect with our chowder!
My sandwich was the chicken and bacon on focaccia and my husband got the French dip. The fries were yummy! My sandwich was a little bit dry, probably needed some mayo or something, but my hubby's sandwich was really good. Only problem was that after the chowder and rolls, he could only eat half the sandwich. I only had the cup of soup, but was filling up quickly, anyway. I had to finish that delicious Bloody Mary, didn't I? So I didn't finish the sandwich, but since it wasn't absolutely fabulous, I didn't feel so bad.
All in all, it was a good experience, and their food is pretty darned good! Next time I'm just going for a bowl of the chowder and a couple of those Bloody Mary's and call it a day! -
Review from Elissa D.
Berkeley, CA
5/29/2007
This weekend I paid $20 + tax for 12 oysters.
I paid $6 for a glass of IPA.
I would have been ok with this had it not been for the food poisoning that attacked me with a vicousness not seen since the Conan the Barbarian movie, which was filmed back when the Governator was still Juicing on the 'roids.
That is $26 + that I would like back. Also: I do not think that I will be able to look another oyster in the idea and consider eating it.
I know Oysters are dangerous business, but still. Thanks so much Stinson Beach Grill.
UPDATE! LATER THE SAME DAY!!!!: Fuck it! I just looked at my credit card statement online and they charged me TWICE!!! They poisioned me AND they double charged me!!!! DO NOT GO HERE!!!!! -
Review from Angie R.
San Francisco, CA
3/3/2008
I think that the Stinson Beach Grill pulled their floor staff out of a halfway house. Either that or life in Stinson Beach is incredibly rough on the locals. I haven't seen such a collection of sunken cheekbones, broken blood vessels and abnormally slow reaction time in one place since I worked down at 6th and Mission.
I suppose you can surmise by now that the service we received was not good. We must have waited 15 minutes to get water, and probably close to 30 before we actually placed our order. There were several servers, busboys and assorted staff shuffling around the patio where we were sitting, and there were only a few other tables, yet we sat there, invisible. At one point a server looked at us and said "You haven't placed your order yet, have you?" then proceeded to ignore us and an entirely different server took our order a good 10 minutes later.
I guess I should have suspected something when we were put on a wait list at 2:30 p.m. when there were about 10 empty tables on the patio. Honestly though, the floor staff looked so rough that I really believe this was the best they could do.
I ordered the veggie sandwich which was not memorable at all, even after a strenuous 5 mile hike, when hunger generally would have made anything taste good. The fries were excellent, though, and they have Lagunitas IPA on tap. The atmosphere is great- you can't really go wrong with an outdoor patio in the sun on a gorgeous spring afternoon, surrounded by the Marin Headlands and breathing the fresh ocean air. If you can be Zen about the zombies who are serving you, it's a decent place to grab a beer and a bite after a hike or an afternoon at the beach.
Stinson really doesn't have a lot to choose from in the way of eateries. Normally I would ask myself where the locals go, but in this case I think I am scared to know. -
Review from Celeste M.
San Francisco, CA
1/22/2007 3 photos
After a tiring, but fun 7.3 mile Matt Davis/Steep Ravine/Dipsea Loop hike with fellow Yelpers (DYK crew), we (16 of us) walked to Stinson Beach Grill for some grub.
Before I even looked at the menu, I rushed to the bar for a mojito. It was a perfect drink after the hike -- cool, refreshing and minty. It was a decent drink, but I would have preferred more alcohol and less ice, club soda, and lime juice. For an $8 drink, it deserves at least half a glass of rum, I think :-)!
At our table of 8, we shared serveral dishes including different kinds of oysters (sampler, BBQ and wasabi). I really liked the plain oysters because I like to make my own sauce concoction (lemon with green pepper Tabasco sauce, pepper and salt) -- so good! The clam chowder soup was yummy, creamy and not too salty. I also had half of an ahi tuna sandwich with spinach and a side of fries.
I'll probably never go back here again just because of where it's located and the food was so-so, plus the service was S L O W considering it wasn't that crowded inside. Plus the waitress said that she was going to bring us back some warm bread, but she never did... oh well :-(.Listed in: Mo-mo-mo-MOJITO :-)!
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Review from Michael W.
Pleasant Hill, CA
4/13/2008
If I could give negative stars, I would...
We went there last saturday, one of the first amazingly wonderful summer / spring days at stinson beach left us very happy, mellow and to some degree hungry, looking for some food. Stinson Beach Grill seemed like a good choice since it was right there, they had heat lamps on the patio, and a small live jazz trio that was truly wonderful.
Unfortunately the staff was not up to the task. It started with us being in line for being seated for 20 minutes - not because there where no open tables, but just because they did not make it a priority. Once we where seated got a waiters attention to order, we thought everything was on track.
We where enjoying the music, and after a while noticed that the family next to us had bread+butter. We asked how they got it and they said they had to go and beg for it at the kitchen door. So my wife did the same and after a while came back with bread and butter. It was getting colder and no food was coming. We tried to get a waiters attention to maybe turn on the heatlamps but at that point the waiters where avoiding peoples eyes. Some guests got up and tried to put on the heatlamps themselves.
My wife was joking that this must be a do-it-yourself-kind-of-place. It got worse from there. Some more outspoken (to put it nice) people at the next table where starting to demand their food, having waited more than half an hour, using strong language, and the waiter told them to get the f*** out of his restaurant but pay up for what they got so far first.
So they started yelling and cussing at each other, pulling whatever stereotype they could, calling the waiter a nazi simply because of his bald top head - never mind the beard that gave him more of a cowboy/harley look, but I guess it gave them a simpler aim to look at him that way.
The family next to us decided to leave because the kitchen apparently forgot about the food for the children and had only prepared the adults food, and seemed to get increasingly uncomfortable with the tension.
We finally also told them that we are going to leave (waiting almost two hours by then) and the waiter seriosly wanted to charge us the $2.11 for the milk he brought in the beginning. My wife had already gotten the go ahead from the manager to leave without paying and so we did.
When we left a fireman showed up and asked about the shouting, and we told them it was the waiters yelling at rightfully unhappy customers - which he did not seem to be too surprised about.
I agree with Angie R.'s review of the staff, I have the very same impression. What a miserable place. -
Review from Sarah W.
San Francisco, CA
4/7/2008
I've never had a bad meal here, and was really surprised to see sub-par reviews. I try to stop in and eat everytime I go down to Stinson Beach. I absolutely love the outside deck (especially when its heated) and have been a few times when they have had live music. Nothing better on a beautiful day. I also remember loving the art inside.
The peach mojitos are a MUST!! -
Review from Kara B.
East Bay, CA
4/28/2008
Let me start my story right. I ordered the tenderloin skewers, and when I got them they were beyond rare, pretty much inedible. The waiter comes over and asks how my skewers were, I say, "They are a little rare, and I don't eat rare." He says, "Well, what are we going to do about this?", I don't really respond, as I was expecting him to offer cooking them more, but instead he says, "So how about you take them home and pop them on your grill? How does that sound?"
Did he realize what he was saying? He wanted me to take uncooked meat home, and then cook it myself. Seriously? So I ask if he can cook them some more, and so he takes it back. Five minutes later, he comes back and says, "Now should we take a picture? Look at how good those look?" I slice open my meat, and guess what, they are still rare!!! He comes back about five minutes later, and asks how they were, I say rare, and that I don't want it. Instead of offering a free dessert or to take my meal off the tab, he does nothing. Literally nothing. He brings us our check 10 minutes later and then never comes back to pick up the credit card.
Things to know when going here:
1. Do NOT get Paul as a waiter, he offered me the worst service I have had in awhile, very slow and unaccommodating. He also liked to rub my boyfriends shoulders in a way that made us both uncomfortable.
2. No free re-fills on the soda and when you order a soda, it is all ice.
3. The clam chowder is probably the only thing worth eating on the menu, the rest of the food is pretty mediocre.
4. Overpriced for the quality of the food.
I would not recommend this place to anyone, ever, go to the snack shack and get a milkshake instead. Or wait a little longer and eat elsewhere. -
Review from Vikram A.
San Francisco, CA
1/23/2007
After a good hike, our group (about 14 people) wanted to grab some food before heading back to San Francisco. We didn't wish to drive anywhere, so we stopped in at the Stinson Beach Grill. It was about 4:00 on a Sunday, and they were able to quickly put together a few sets of tables to accommodate our group.
The food itself wasn't the greatest, but the service was good. Water glasses were quickly refilled, the rolls they provided were really tasty, and the burger filled my need for that post-hike hunger. -
Review from Eugene F.
San Francisco, CA
1/19/2009
My gf and I came here after a January day at the beach. We were hungry, not particularly picky, and with a beagle, so we needed a place that would be okay with serving us on a patio with our dog. This place let us in with the dog, even though it's technically against the rules. This is the last nice thing I have to say about this restaurant.
The food was okay. Not spectacular, but not terrible either. Decent burgers, sandwiches, etc.
The service, on the other hand, was abysmal. My water glass went unfilled for so long that we ended up using our own water bottle to fill our water glasses. The coleslaw I asked for never arrived. And the waitress had a rather flippant attitude to us in general.
Good customer service isn't hard -- we weren't demanding anything out of the ordinary. It continues to surprise me how many places fail at it. -
Review from Cynthia D.
San Francisco, CA
9/2/2008
Food/Quality:
A group of friends and I stopped here for a quick lunch on our way to Point Reyes for a day of hiking. My lunch was a hamburger, which was nothing special. One of my lunch companions ordered clams and her meal did not come out with ours. We were told that the clams had not been delivered yet for the day, but that the dish would be out soon. After receiving her dish, the clams did not taste fresh and it was disappointing for the wait.
Service:
I wondered why our server did not mention to our friend when she ordered that the clams were not quite available. She would have ordered something else, and our plans for the day would not have been held up an extra 20 minutes or so.
Atmosphere:
Our table was outside on the patio, which seemed like a great idea with the sunlight and fresh air.
Value:
There wasn't anything special about the food here. There is a grill across the street that I would recommend over this when in the area. -
Review from Andrew C.
1/23/2007 1 photo
I was part of the post-DYK linner (half lunch, half dinner) crowd that converged on this place. I came in to this place expecting more. By "more," I mean "higher quality" and "better service," not "more money." Let's start with the food:
- "BBQ Oysters" should bar-b-qued, not steamed and then slathered in KC Masterpiece. Gross gross gross.
- White bread is pretty nasty to begin with. Cold, stale dinner rolls are even worse. The waitress promised us some fresh stuff, but that never materialized.
- Evidently "grilled onions" really means "raw sliced red onions" at this place. Way to ruin a chicken sandwich.
- I figured it was pretty obvious I was trying to eat light(-er). I ordered the chicken & bacon club sandwich without bacon on wheat bread. I guess they wanted to make up for the calories of the bacon by slathering my bread with butter and then burning it on the nasty grill for who knows how long. Whatever they did, it was gross.
The service:
I guess there was a scuffle about the bill. We were divided up into two tables, but they put us all on one bill. It made splitting the bill somewhat of a pain. When we asked for a separate check (for our table, not per-person), she gave us a pen and asked us to circle our items and divide it up on our own.
I know, I know. This is Stinson Beach. You have maybe two restaurants to choose from. It doesn't make this place any less LAME. -
Review from A to the C.
San Francisco, CA
1/15/2007
I'm really wondering if I ate at the same Stinson Beach Grill as everyone else?!?All of the reviews sound nothing like the place I ate, in terms of food. My boyfriend and I stopped here for a quick snack on our way out of town. We split a burger and were ready to call it a day. To be honest it was the worst burger I had ever tasted. I don't know if the meat was bad, or what was going on, but I was definitely sick for the next few hours.
Putting the food aside. The service was very good: quick and fast, just like I like it. The staff was also very friendly, which is pretty much what saved this review. With the limited number of sit down places in Stinson, I'm sure I will be back and will not order the burger. I hope to be able to update my review later. Maybe with a nice paragraph about how great the outdoor patio was as well. -
Review from pat l.
San Francisco, CA
10/4/2009
After an amazing 7 mile hike, I could have been happy to sit on a rock with a can of beans and a plastic spork. A can of beans would have been cheaper, tastier, and more filling, with not much less preparation than what I got here. It was a stingy portion that tasted like air and cost too much. We also had to get the bill adjusted because 2 entrees were $7 on the menu and $9 on the bill. The server told 1 person that fries were $2 extra and another person $3, but they were $3 extra. No offense because she was nice but the kitchen did a really lazy job.
I ordered the token vegetarian entree: "grilled tofu tacos". This was 2 plain tortillas straight from a bag: each with a sad cube of tofu with not a thing done to it except brown stripes- a spoonful of canned pineapple- avocado slice- and a sprig of cilantro. No sauce. I would have made it way better myself. Suggestions: investigate the many delicious and easy ways to prepare tofu with marinade or seasoning- toast the tortilla- add salsa and guac- and think about making it 3 tacos with fries included.
The plain fries and beer were alright but the ones I got last time at the Sand Dollar across the street were bombed with herbs and raw garlic and really outshone this place. With such bland overpriced food, I wonder if they have something against vegetarians or return visitors? -
Review from Liz K.
7/25/2009
They have simple food, freshly prepared. Spaghetti & meatballs were tasty!
Stinson Beach Grill is a decent local place, but not the best in my opinion. I have not been here since the new management took over, but I hope their service has gotten better. Our simple meal was a long one because we were waiting around so much.
I'd be willing to give it a try again, but really only if the wait at Sand Dollar was astronomical. -
Review from Old School Yelper Y.
Concord, CA
3/18/2007
After hiking a 7 mile loop from Stinson Beach to Mt. Tam and back, me, my good friend, and my husband were *starving*. This was one of the first diners we happened upon that had outdoor dining (so the poor people around us wouldn't have to endure our post-hike stench!) so we decided to eat here. There was absolutely no wait at 6pm on a Saturday night...that's kind of my restaurant!
Since the prices were a bit expensive ($8.75 for a hamburger, $3.75 to add fries with it!) and I wasn't really feeling like fish (all the stuff on the menu sounded good, though) they allowed me to get a grilled cheese off the kid's menu. Not exactly the classiest move on my part, but the waiter was totally cool with it (he joked, "don't worry, I won't card you!") and that's why this place gets 5 stars in my book.
The service was attentive and the atmosphere was great. Seemed like a lot of people were really enjoying themselves in the restaurant and it appeared as though a lot of people were ordering (and enjoying) the oysters. -
Review from Tony S.
4/7/2008
This place was OK for Lunch but I don't know why we had two courses, I must speak to my other half about this. I mean it's lunch one course is sufficient and our starter was awful.
I had a calamari but it was one of those calamaris that isn't really fully battered. There were bits of batter or covering on most of the calamari and it was very greasy, tepid and bland. I am not quyite sure why I ate it.
I completely forget what I had for an entree.
It was nice to sit outside but the outside is pretty ropey. They need to spend some money putting in a decent deck and clean the chairs please. They had loads of these white plastic chairs which is fine but most of them had ground in dirt from many years I think. Someone really needs to smarten the outside up as it really is in need of some TLC.
It looks nice enough on the outside, and the inside looked nice enough too. Service was OK although my partners bacon and avocado salad arrived with no avocado. We eventually got the servers attention she said oh then vanished never to be seen again until the end of the meal. She took $2 off for no avocado.
underwhelming, I wouldn't go back but I havd been to far worse places. -
Review from Dave G.
Concord, CA
11/27/2007
Eh, fries sucked...small portion and way under cooked but that doesn't kill a restaurant.
Nice selection of beer. I had the Oatmeal Stout. The clam chowder was normal bland clam chowder, but the clams had no sand in them...so that is a plus. The Burger was good as was the pulled pork sandwich. Though I must have gotten the side with all the BBQ sauce because my gf thought it was dry. -
Review from Sally K.
Mill Valley, CA
7/19/2009
Stinson Beach Grill serves the BEST french fries I've ever had in my life! They are thin and perfectly crispy with just the right amount of salt.
Besides, the BEST french fries ever I ordered a mixed spring salad with salmon. The salmon and salad were generous proportions and tasted great!
I plan to go back here!
They were also dog friendly. I left my dog tied up outside and some of the staff went out to pet him and say hi to him. -
Review from BeachedBum A.
Bolinas, CA
8/28/2007
Better than the Sand Dollar. Not as good as the Parkside Cafe.
Owner is likely helping at the bar and is pretty cool guy. Bar is a little short for a group but can be good for solo trips geared toward getting liquored.
They serve up good drinks. and the lamb chops are good and the wait staff is friendly attentive and fast. better than the sanddollar on all accounts, save for their deck. SandDollar's deck is nicer, and sunnier. go to the grill. or parkside, however. -
Review from Dave G.
San Francisco, CA
7/8/2009
Under new management.
Stopped by over the fourth of July weekend (grand opening) for some drinks and ceviche. Ceviche was awesome something totally unique the interior looks so much better more inviting. Plus they have a sick tequilla selection now. Luckily I wasnt driving so I indulged. -
Review from Christina S.
San Francisco, CA
2/11/2008
During the summer months, this place serves the most amazing key lime pie I've ever had. It's great to sit on the patio with a glass of pinot grigio. The oysters are tasty and so is the rice pudding. Decent selection of cocktails. BUT, the service sucks at this place. Slow, waiters are awkward, really takes forever to order, get your food and pay. Only come here is you have time to spare, like a whole afternoon.
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Review from Sarah C.
San Francisco, CA
7/14/2009
I was so surprised to see so many negative reviews for this place. We had spent a few hours on the beach and thought it looked cute, so we stopped in for a little something. I ordered the sliders, and my friend had a yummy looking salad. My husband just grabbed a beer and of course ate all my fries. When he tasted my sliders, he thought they were so good he orders some for himself. The horseradish sauce on them was amazing! Ther service was great, and I will definitely be back!
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Review from Deb K.
San Francisco, CA
5/16/2006
We had been planning to play hooky for quite some time. (Planning hooky; it seems counterintuitive, but when you have a friend who carries a Blackberry and is always swamped at work, it must be done.)
Our destination: Stinson Beach. It was a gloriously warm, sunny day and we had designed a great playlist for the drive there. We rolled into town around noon and went directly to Stinson Beach Grill. J. had been there before, but I hadn't.
We sat outside on the patio, in the sun, and she ordered a mojito. We both got the fish tacos, which were surprisingly good. Fresh fish, grilled, and not fried, and tossed in a salsa fresca with fresh tomatoes, red onions and a bit of heat. The $15 plate offered a large serving: three large tacos with generous amounts of fish piled on top of two corn tortillas. Alongside this were a scoop of decent guacamole and iceberg lettuce. Average food, but in a nice setting.
Best thing about this place: its proximity to the beach. It's just around the corner and down a short path.
Before driving back, we decided to stop back in to use the restroom and I was astonished to run into one of my best friends from grad school. She and her husband were celebrating their wedding anniversary there with oysters and champagne. Stinson is only 35 miles from Berkeley, making it a great, quick vacation getaway, but it's always a surprise to see people from one context in another. -
Review from Ali P.
8/25/2007
Stinson Beach Grill makes for an excellent lunch spot on any outing to the beaches north of San Francisco. We drove here on a warm summer weekday and were rewarded with good food and friendly staff. Their sandwiches were beyond my expectations, and anywhere that replaces bacon with avocado sans supplement gets an 'A' in my book. Great outdoor patio dining, albeit without ocean view. Try their various chicken sandwiches or their salmon sandwich. They're light and easy to digest, as are their prices.
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Review from Malika K.
Los Angeles, CA
5/25/2007
As I sit at my desk typing away at this review, I can only close my eyes and imagine that I'm once again inhaling the salty coastal air. Sucks, I hate the AC. Fortunately, the wonderful thing about living in the bay area is that your only a short trip away from a totally different world. After making the serpentine like drive to this sleepy little beach town I was ready for my reprieve and man oh man did it feel good to melt into my seat! After glancing at the menu, I was delighted to find my favorite coconut shrimp being offered, and just as quickly was I un-delighted when I took my first bite and found the prawns to be overcooked. Big time. I felt like a baby getting her candy snatched away for no good reason. Bubba Gump would be so ashamed. Everything else was exceptional. Warm french bread. One of the bestest clam chowder recipes that I have ever come across. I'm talking about chunky pieces of clam here and creeeamy broth people. Sinful actually. Baby greens and goat cheese salad, you rock. I subtracted one star for the burnt shrimp and for the slightly lackadaisical staff. Then I got to thinking(dangerous), if I had a beach-side "grill" as my office I would most likely have the same attitude, so after lunch, I moseyed on over to beach and took a cat nap under the sun, lulled to sleep by the crashing waves.
Heaven. -
Review from Xelyn x.
Northern, CA
6/4/2007
Excellent service, very good clam chowder, you pay a little more for convenience, the atmosphere, and the presentation. Great location and atmosphere. We had the battered coconut prawns, the spinach salad, and the clam chowder and was quite pleased with it all. The night we went, there was a nice jazz band playing in the patio area. Everyone knew everyone...lots of locals.
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Review from Evan G.
12/13/2008
They fool you with the martini sign to get you in there. Suckage. Go to the Sand Dollar.
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Review from Chloe Q.
San Francisco, CA
9/1/2008
we came here after a long day at the beach and were ready to chow. we had to ask three times for bread, even though people all around us had plenty. we waited forever for our drinks and for water refills (at this point we were STILL waiting for the bread)
3 of 5 of us ordered fish tacos, which the menu said came with "citrus cream." really, there was no cream or citrus of any sort, and instead the overcooked mahi mahi was slathered in what appeared to be extra hot taco bell hot sauce (out of the packets). when we asked for sides of sour cream (we finally had to go inside to find it), the waiter acted like we were completely out of line, even though we were really just after what the menu promised in the first place. he was really not nice and was a sour-ish ending to an otherwise awesome day.
i guess we looked kind of scruffy after hours of sand and sun, but we were hungry, paying customers nonetheless. i will never go there again. -
Review from chelsea c.
Claremont, CA
1/23/2008
they kept us waiting for way too long. one star because one waitress noted our state of neglect and sent us a bowl of clam chowder on the house. i have to say that the chowder was magnificent, but not good enough to make up for the inexcusable service.
had the calamari, and the shrimp and mussels w/tomato soup. passable. would have been better if we didnt have to wait for an hour. does it really take that long to cook calamari? maybe they were out there on the ocean catching it, and then running back up the mountain with it. there were only maybe six other tables besides us. it was just unfathomable.
i'm really not kidding about this service. we spent 20 minutes alone waiting by the door just trying to get someone to pay attention to us. the place was less than a quarter full. many many other people also waited at the door but got fed up and left before the host even came back.
if you're in the area and hungry, go to the sand dollar place right across the street. seriously. they also have an outdoor seating area, if enjoying the sunshine is what you're after. -
Review from Lane D.
South San Francisco, CA
5/18/2008
This is the worst restaurant I've ever eaten at. We waited forver and the place was only about half filled, yet the weirdo waiter acted like the place was packed and they were swamped. I think children could run a restaurant better. Gordon Ramses, these people need you.
Oh, and the food was awful too. Best advice I can give is to avoid this place like bubonic. -
Review from Audrey B.
10/28/2006
Great restaurant - I especially liked the outdoor seating and the hot dog as menu item....They move you through pretty fast and the service is good.....
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Review from Lisa K.
Portland, OR
12/31/2007
Perfect for a 3-dessert, 2 person "post-burning-items-to-end-2007-on-Stinson-Beach" kinda day. Warm, good tea, super bread pudding, rice pudding, and superb vanilla sundae. Nice service. P.S. They' have a wall heater next to the window seats (nice post-beach).
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Review from Baochi N.
Santa Monica, CA
11/12/2006
most sundays, the last thing i want to do is get up early and go somewhere. this past sunday, i grumbled a bit to be awakened for a trip to bolinas for some sun and surf, but once there, i was happy as a bee.
after a nice walk and some great fun in an honor system bookstore, my party and i drove a few miles to stinson beach and lunched at the stinson beach grill, where the food was satisfyingly good.
i had the cajun grilled catfish sandwich which was just delish. the side of fries were scrumptious dipped in my homemade concoction of ketchup and tobasco. the clam chowder, which they claim as their famous dish, left much to be desired although it was definitely acceptable. i tasted the burger, served medium rare, but it was a bit on the tasteless and dry side.
i had a tasty and spicy bloody mary with my meal, and my only criticism was that there wasn't enough liquor in the mix.
but all in all, i really liked my time at the stinson beach grill, esp. with the fire roaring in the room. -
Review from Jenifer B.
San Francisco, CA
10/31/2005
I think this is the place to have lunch in Stinson. Again, a great outdoor patio to sit and people watch. The BBQ oysters are great, the clam chowder is so good and they sandwiches are also delicious. Love it for lunch!
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Review from Todd F.
Danville, CA
8/25/2008
I pretty much agree with everyone else on this one...it's not spectacular but its not going to kill you. I really want this place to get better cause its just fun to hang out and eat on the chill patio. Its not that its *bad* food, its just very bleh. Maybe offer a signature dish that people would drive to Stinson just to have.
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Review from Q N.
Fremont, CA
7/18/2009
Best fish tacos I've ever had. The grilled mahi mahi was perfect.
The yummy cucumber and avocado and sauce made everything meld well together. The shoe string fries were yummy too. -
Review from Miriam B.
Durham, NC
4/27/2008
I would give this place 2.5 stars. 2 stars for the food (eh- it's average) and 0.5 more for the live jazz and amazing weather - yes I know that wasn't the restaurant's doing, but it sure makes the experience better. If you're in the neighborhood enjoying the amazing warm days on the beach, you have 3 options - the Sand Dollar, which I've never been to, this place, and the market which actually has a better deal and has everyone in town in all states of dress and undress. Quite a scene. I say skip this restaurant and go to the market instead. There's a better selection and service for less money. Plus you can take it all to the beach and eat there.
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Review from Cathy T.
San Francisco, CA
1/19/2009
After laying around in the sun at Stinson Beach on this beautiful January day, I needed some sustenance. Because laying on the beach is so very exhausting you see. My husband walked over to what I think Is the main drag of the town of Stinson and came upon this place. It's a nice, casual restaurant with friendly staff. We were seated promptly right by the big window overlooking the street which was nice, minus the tiny fruit flies buzzing all over the window. A bit off putting in an establishment that serves food but it is a pretty casual place/town. I got a cup of chowder and the spinach salad and my husband got the burger. The menu is somewhat limited but they had a good assortment of sandwiches, burgers and salads as well as some weekly specials and larger dishes. My chowder was good if a bit too creamy and some of the vegetables in the chowder were still a bit crisp. It also seemed to be lacking in actual clams if not clam flavor. My spinach salad was delicious with candied pecans, goat cheese, bacon, dried cranberries and hard boiled eggs. Overall, the food was decent enough and the service quick. In a town of limited options it was a solid choice.
