8 Best Restaurants in The Oregon Coast, Oregon

Throughout the day, this eclectic art-filled café with a sunny brick patio is Manzanita's favorite spot for a caffeine pick-me-up, featuring coffee from Cannon Beach's famed Sleepy Monk roastery, as well as casual lunches of meatloaf sandwiches and oyster po'boys. In the evening, however, Offshore Grill turns into a legit dinner house, serving up artfully plated moules frites, pan-seared duck breast with bok choy and an orange-chili sauce, and hazelnut-crusted local rockfish topped with a ginger-cranberry coulis.

Immensely gifted chef-owner Justin Wills presents a short but memorable menu of creatively prepared, modern, Pacific Northwest cuisine each night in this romantic, contemporary dining room at the Whale Cove Inn. The menu changes regularly, with chef Wills sourcing largely from local farms, ranches, and fisheries, but you might start with an elk crepinette with chanterelle mushrooms and Asian pears, followed by pheasant breast with kalamata olives, brown-butter crumbs, and beet-pickled leeks. Save room for dessert; it's impressive here, with the apple pie tart topped with hard-crack caramel and candied almonds a particular standout. 

This enchanting dining room, set in an old brick and tile factory with a high ceiling, exposed beams, a fireplace, and many windows, shares its space with Eden Hall performance venue. The menu changes often, but favorites that tend to appear regularly include Marcona almond–crusted seared salmon with harissa and seasonal grilled vegetables and Northwest bouillabaisse with a lemongrass-saffron-tomato broth.

As diners enjoy a romantic view of Haystack Rock, this luxe hotel's sophisticated, supremely romantic dining room prepares a new menu nightly, crafting exquisite dinners using fresh, local ingredients. Diners can expect dishes such as cedar plank–roasted salmon, rack of lamb with chanterelle risotto, and a lemon-curd tart with wild berry sauce. You can order à la carte or opt for the four-course prix-fixe, with or without wine pairings. There's an extensive regional and international wine list. The view, cuisine, and attentive service combine to make it one of the finest dining experiences in the Pacific Northwest.

This dapper but unpretentious bistro is known for simple-but-succulent dishes that blend fresh ingredients from local fishermen and gardeners, such as skillet-roasted Chinook salmon basted with fennel-lime butter, Oregon blue-cheese potatoes, and center-cut New York steak au jus with red wine and porcini butter. The Blackfish Ding Dong dessert, with mixed-berry sauce and whipped cream, is the best way to finish a meal.

In this rustic-elegant space with handmade redwood tables and local paintings set directly on the Nestucca River, dine on locally sourced seafood and grills, including pan-roasted line-caught coho salmon with smoked-potato gnocchi, seared wild mushrooms, and sage-brown butter; and grilled New York steak with crispy leeks and whole-grain mustard jus. Note the selection of barrel-aged sour beers and local ciders.

The thoughtful prix-fixe menu at this offbeat restaurant in the outstanding Sylvia Beach Hotel changes nightly, but there's a good chance one of the handful of entrée options will be fresh local seafood, perhaps a moist grilled salmon fillet in a Dijonnaise sauce, served with sautéed vegetables, fresh-baked breads, and rice pilaf; a decadent dessert is also included. Note that dinners, which start at 6 pm, are quite leisurely, so young children may get restless.  Call for reservations and daily menu; you can't reserve online.

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.