The Bay Cafe

They have the best clams I’ve ever tasted in my life. They also have amazing bread home made.

The food was very good, the view from the deck was unbeatable.

Our favorite place to eat on the Island. Fabulous and friendly service. Great drink menu. Water stayed full! Fantastic view. You can dress up or dress down. Best clam chowder we’ve ever had. We haven’t eaten anything yet that we don’t like and I feel like we’ve had half the menu. This place is a must during your visit.

Wrong posting. Sorry.

Went here for my husband’s birthday. Was disappointed to be seated at the table with the worst view, even having reserved well in advance. Understood why after having realized that those with the best tables were regular customers on a first name basis with all of the employees. The ample bread was appreciated. There was an amazing wine selection, expertly presented by one of the owners. The crab cakes had a good flavor and mainly contained crab, but almost too concentrated of flavor. I couldn’t finish them. I was not impressed by broccoli being the «vegetable of the day», and was glad the other owner offered to sub brussel sprouts. Was disappointed they were served barely cooked. Tasted as though they briefly seared them, resulting in them being more bitter and crunchy than necessary. To prevent this from happening maybe they can blanche them before searing them? The rice cakes served on the side were the best part of the meal, leading me to believe their risotto must also be exquisite, perfectly cooked al dente rice and flavors. Dessert selection was impressive. Was surprised that the flourless gâteau was basically a wedge of rich ganache, but enjoyed it none the less.

We had a very nice dinner at the Bay Café. Nice ambiance, beautiful view. Great attentive service. We split the Cesar salad and sea scallops Risotto and had the warm Brie and cartelized onion for appy… Desserts sounded delicious but we refrained. All in all a very nice meal and we will go again.

My wife and i spent a night on Lopez recently and decided to dine at The Bay Café based upon the favorable Unilocal reviews. Was a very pleasant evening. Seemed like a family run business with many locals and island weekend regulars as customers. Service was very good, our waitress (who we also think was an owner) took very good care of us throughout the evening. My wife and I shared a crab cakes entrée and an Alaskan scallop dish. My wife raved about the scallops and said they were some of the best she ever had; they were cooked perfectly for sure. The crab cakes were good too but were overshadowed by the scallops. The wine list is reasonably priced too. We didn’t get to see the view during dinner as it was dark when we arrived but we were in that area during the day and I’d imagine the sunsets from their porch are great.

I love the Bay Café. It’s as good as it gets, and although it has changed ownership and the menu changes frequently, the changes are always good!
Pros?
Everyone has a good time when they’re here… so the atmosphere is lovely
The servers care about the food and the customers
Management cares
The food is delicious
The view… I always come for sunset
Cons?
Well… I can’t exactly afford to come here often… but that’s half the fun

We had my daughters 9^th birthday here. They made her feel special and brought out the best birthday plate for dessert. The food was amazing as always. These folks are awesome and take the whole dining experience very seriously. Go there and enjoy!

I go here quite often and it’s because the service is wonderful and the food is delicious! Seriously, the best clam chowder I’ve ever had, hands down.

A beautiful view accompanied by an amazing dinner on one of the most magical islands in the world?! Paradise.
Go with the half-​chicken if you are hungry. The pork chops comes with an amazing apple-​bacon hash. Salads are all fresh.
The had a couple good bottles of Oregon pinot, which also was plus.

What a gem to find! Quiet, with a beautiful view of the bay. Fabulous food & friendly service! The local beet (yellow!) & goat cheese salad was scrumptious. Local clams w chorizo in a white wine sauce? AB-​FAB! Oh… and they offer free wi-​fi! (Cell service on the island comes & goes… at least for Verizon & AT&T) Thus place is worth the ferry wait to get here, folks!

Great service and a wonderful view. The food was mostly good — half chicken was the most juicy I’ve ever had in a restaurant, but avoid the beet salad unless you like pretty bitter veggies.

Five stars! All the stars. They can have all of them.
The Bay Café is such a fantastic little treasure on Lopez– it manages to feel cozy and upscale at the same time, which is one hell of an achievement, and the food is consistently delicious. I think I’ve usually trended towards getting seafood, and it’s never let me down yet– their fish is fresh-​caught, and it shows.
The staff and owners are also absolutely lovely, but I’m starting to expect that out of the gate on Lopez. Definitely worth stopping by for dinner.

We had the opportunity to have dinner at the Bay Café this summer. A wonderful restaurant — all our meals were excellent and our server fun, yet knowledgeable and professional. Beautiful sunset and pretty water view. We’ll be back next year!

My husband and I went to Lopez Island this past weekend. We went there for lunch the first day, then made it back for dinner the next day. Love the clam chowder, grilled gulf prawn, and crab cake. The prawn and crab cake are perfectly cooked and the broth is very nicely paired. Service is good. We sat outside on the deck both days and the view is just gorgeous. Highly recommended it to anyone new to Lopez Iand.

Their clam chowder was awesome. Beware of the dishes that are priced MP. Not always worth the price. Our halibut was good but the greens were under cooked

Good. About the best Lopez Island offers. My wife and I enjoyed our meal with a view of the coast. Great location but go expecting to spend money. There really is no other place like it in town. Well worth the experience.

Tim and Kristin are awesome and the food was so good! I love the small time vibe here, it makes me think of the closeness and friendliness of all the people in every simple Adam Sandler film. It’s a community of people sharing the things they love!
DO get a bowl of their clam chowder. It’s AMAZING and one of the best I’ve ever had.
DO get a bottle of the Lopez Island Wine (Cab + Malbec blend from eastern Washington)
Nothing bad about the place other than it was busy, but the food is good so I guess that’s a good sign. :)

Sorry to have to update this so soon with a lower rating … but my husband’s meal tonight was in his words «the worst I’ve had here.» His entrée was 1 star (eek all around). He ordered the lamb «burger.» I put that in quotes because it was much like an overcooked lamb sausage patty for its density. Also, the sweet potato «fries» were disgustingly flaccid — they are oven-​baked (a tidbit I think they should add to the menu), but these seemed like they were oven-​steamed (like when you put too many potato wedges too close together in the oven so they don’t roast or caramelize (and if they’re par-​cooked, they needed another 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven). Honestly, just keep some hot peanut or grape seed oil in a Dutch oven on a burner and toss them in for 5– 8 minutes, spoon them out with a basket onto some paper towels to degrease and season them with some sea salt or fleur de sel.
I ordered their lemongrass green curry broth with the grilled prawns instead of mussels or clams. Prawns were nicely cooked, veggies were a bit mushy, but the broth was tasty (delicate yet spicy and flavorful) and I wanted to sop it up with some bread. The dish doesn’t come with bread — IT SHOULD! I asked for a couple of pieces bread and they brought me the a la carte basil butter and 4 thinly sliced pieces of baguette. Did the job in a pinch, but again I think they should offer 2 slices of thicker cut grilled bread (for texture) as part of the price of the dish.
Our starter salads were again delicious (fresh greens, not overly dressed), which combined with the broth of my dish and dessert (absent the chocolate glaze) results in 3 stars and not 2.
We enjoyed the grand marnier mascarpone cheesecake with a chocolate graham cracker crust. Once again the sauce that came with it was overwhelming — we were glad to have ordered it on the side.
Service was very good until the restaurant became a bit busy — they only had 2 people in the front of the house and so service became a tad tardy as the meal wore on. Also, our server took our card but didn’t give us an itemized bill with the final signature receipt — a pet peeve of mine (I suppose we should have waited to give her the card until we saw the itemized bill but nonetheless it should have been included — I was curious about how much they charged for corkage (we brought our own wine).
Overall, a bit a hiccup — definitely won’t be ordering the lamb burger again. But, still the best thing going on the island and we’ll certainly be back.