Places to Dine in Pacific City, Oregon

For beachgoing families, Oregon’s coastal destinations offer every kind of food from seafood shacks to date-night dining — and everything in between. While the Coast has many popular places that draw in crowds for good reason, residents and frequent visitors know to share the love with smaller eateries off the beaten path, especially in the busy summer season. We’ve rounded up some under-the-radar spots worth their salt so you can spend more time beachcombing than searching for a place to eat.

The Oregon Coast is never really quiet, but winter is great for lodging discounts, fewer crowds and roaming endless sandy beaches that disappear into the fog. You can watch the kKing tTides from scenic overlooks, hunt agates after the storms subside, and enjoy a fresh cup of clam chowder or stick-to-your ribs soups after your adventures. Here are some places to enjoy a bowl of comfort.

Digging clams for dinner is a beloved tradition on the Oregon Coast. Whether they’re steamed, fried or the star of a hearty chowder, bivalves are a prized ingredient from the sea. Armed with a license and a few tools, you can explore an entire menu on Oregon’s coastal bays, which are home to five major clam species including the gaper, cockle, littleneck, butter and soft-shell. Or head to the North Coast, where you can find the succulent razor clam on ocean beaches. Here are some top places for clam digging and enjoying these briny treats on Oregon’s coast.

On most days you can find Alanna Kieffer by the Pacific Ocean. She might be farming Pacific dulse for Oregon Seaweed or sharing her love of marine ecosystems with others through her business Shifting Tides, which connects people and place through educational adventures in Oregon’s intertidal zones. Or she might be planning special dining events for a multivenue series she co-founded, Winter Waters, which focuses on regenerative seafood. Regardless of where she is, however, one thing’s certain: She’s raising awareness about the habitats of the Oregon Coast.

Though better known for oceanside fish and chips and DIY crabbing and clamming in its many bays, the Oregon Coast is also the home of rolling pasture land and a long history of making cheese. The lush green pastures of the Coast Range foothills are home to herds of Holsteins and Jerseys, and some pretty cute goats, too, whose milk is the basis for delicious cheeses. Add one of these cheesy spots to your next Coast visit, or plan a whole cheese-tasting road trip.

From Garibaldi to Brookings, many historic fishing ports on the Oregon Coast still serve visitors with family-run seafood markets. In some spots you can even walk the docks, mingle with resident fishing families and buy direct from working boats. Here are some can’t-miss spots to buy the freshest seafood Oregon offers.