Parkside Cafe

Well this little place sits between the road and the beach. It’s friendly, open, has a lovely patio, and handed me a damn fine burger… the kind you know was all freshly made from bun to bun. Sort of follows suit with the whole menu of farm fresh organic stuff. Totally now a staple on my beach trips.

I have been here before and had a great time but went in there tonight and waited for 10 – 15 mins and no host came up. Finally, had to pull someone aside and ask since we saw 3 empty pre-​set tables and they said it was a 45 minute wait. They could’ve told us when we walked in, instead of us waiting and standing there in front of their faces.
UPDATE: came again and food was okay but nothing special. There was a lady server wearing a hat and sunglasses when there wasn’t any sun and she kicked my partner when he walked past her and didn’t apologize. Also when I went to the bathroom, she practically ran into me with a plate of food and said «boop» instead of an excuse me or anything. It looked like she didn’t know what the heck she was doing and has poor customer service skills. Also, the seater was eating food in plain site during her shift. The only good thing here was our server and how quick our service was. Period.

We had a lovely dinner at Parkside on Friday night for our pre-​Double Dipsea meal. I called around 11am to make a reservation for 4 people at 6:30pm and it was no problem. So happy I did… when we arrived people were being given a 30 minute wait time.
We were seated by the window right away. We were given water and our drink orders were taken right away. And then our drinks arrived and our dinner orders were taken, our food arrived, our plates were cleared, dessert menus came… etc. The point being that it was perfectly timed service — and all extremely friendly.
We ordered clam chowder, brussels sprouts & butternut squash side dish, the scallop dish, the coastal halibut, the seafood & linguini and one other dish I’m not remembering! Everything was super fresh and very well presented. My halibut dish had a mélange of vegetables with it. Hubby’s seafood & linguini was so delicious that he’s currently trying to recreate it for dinner at home as I write.
They have a nice assortment of menu items — I had no problem as a pescatarian whatsoever. Vegetarians should also be able to order an excellent assortment.
Will definitely return when I’m back at Stinson!

We are from Florida and didn’t know where to eat lunch. We were at Muir Woods all day and we were tired and hungry. We found this wonderful restaurant driving through town.
After we were seated our waitress, Megan, promptly came over to help us with our order. She was so professional and courteous. Megan was very knowledgeable about the menu and kept checking on us throughout our meal!
Our food was amazing!!! I highly recommend going here to eat. I wish this restaurant was in Florida.
(Ask for Megan’s table !!)

The food and the patio are great but be prepared to wait a while for service. The Asparagus Bruschetta was a really good appetizer, definitely recommend it.

I loved this place! I was weary about the 3 stars, but I saw how many reviews it had and thought we’d give it a try since the Sand Dollar was disappointing the last time we visited Stinson.
We ordered the garlic cheesy bread to start and it was SOOOO GOOD. yum. My friend ordered a beet salad that looked lovely. I had the crab and rock shrimp risotto. It was absolutely delicious. I wish there would have been more meat considering the dish is the most expensive on the menu at $ 28, but it was still really yummy. The rest of our table ordered: the BBQ pork sandwich, fish tacos, oysters Oliver and a BLT. Everyone loved their food.
The servers were very friendly. Our food arrived all at the same time and it was all hot and delicious. I will be back!

Parkside Café is a great spot if you’re headed to Stinson Beach (which chances are good that’s the case if you’re reading this review). It seems to be one of the main spots to grab food in the area. Nice patio and pet friendly (which is perfect if you’re going to the dog beach down the road).
The food and service ain’t nothing special, but it isn’t bad either. It’s just great to be able to sit outside, with your pup, drink some beer, and eat decent food. The service/​food quality would have to be pretty poor to make the entire experience bad.
Couple things to note: bathrooms normally have a long wait (there’s only 1 for the whole restaurant and outside ice cream stand) and the Wifi sucks. Maybe Wifi isn’t normally important, but when you have no cell service, it would be nice to have a decent Wifi connection.

Nice little gem found in a very touristy area with great food and service! My daughter and I stopped in for dinner and wine on a very busy memorial weekend. With all the traffic and craziness happening outside, it was a welcome relaxing cozy café to escape to while everyone decided to leave Stinson Beach at the same time. It’s small and busy, but great food. Sure, it’s pricey but that’s not surprising in any of the small beachside towns. Just be prepared for that. We warmed up at a small table nestled by the fireplace with our glasses of wine. They offer wine, beer and some cocktails. Although very busy our service was fantastic and no rush was put on us even though people were in line waiting for a table. My daughter enjoyed her fish and chips dinner and I loved my salad and veggies. Simple organic foods with wonderful flavor that went nicely with my white wine. My only con would be the bathroom situation. The bathroom is set very close to a table in the dining area with a long line of customers waiting by the hostess check in. I know the café is quite cozy, but if you get that dining table it has to be uncomfortable to have people going in and out of the bathroom the whole time you try to enjoy your meal. Since it was very busting at the seams that evening, the line was long and slow moving. I hope in the future something different could be done about the bathroom. Still, it wouldn’t keep me from making another visit there. The breakfast menu looks amazing! Till next time… nom nom. :)

Good little place for lunch, though we ate at a less busy time. We mainly went for a pizza, but those are only sold to-​go. So, we ordered a few appetizers while we waited for the pie.
I had the barbecue oysters, which were decent. A little on the over-​sweet side for me. My wife ordered a Tuscan salad, which was very good — fresh ingredients, good balsamic, and fresh-​baked sourdough croutons. Unfortunately it also contained avocado, which was not listed on the menu — wife is allergic. I finished the salad and we’re crossing our fingers that she won’t have a bad reaction.
Pizza itself was the ham and pineapple. Excellent. Good fresh sauce, good cheese, tasty sourdough crust. We’ll definitely be back to try the other baked goods in the market next door.

Great place to load up before hitting the trails!
I love the hiking around Stinson Beach. The trails are great and you usually tend to burn a full tank of gas walking up and down those hills and around the trees, so it is even more important to fill up before you head out! Parkside Café is one of my favorite spots because they serve no nonsense breakfasts, the service is great and the ingredients are always fresh. It does not hurt that they have plenty of parking right next to them and are a few steps from the beach!

Awesome shakes and bakery items, perfect food truck place. Makes you hungry just by looking at it.
Tip try the chocolate almond crossoints.

Can I give a minus star?
This place is awesome if you like rude service and mediocre food.
Our evening started ok and went quickly south. After about 30 minutes of no food, and no explanation from the groovy waiter, we started getting antsy.
I asked if he could bring our salad, and he said no, the salad will come with the main course. Um, ok. By this time, all we had eaten was some bread, burnt on the bottom.
After 40 minutes he brought us two plates of salmon, and when I told him we didn’t order it, he started arguing with me. When we ordered, I had told him I was vegan and asked if the veggie burger was vegan. I definitely didn’t order fish! We asked for the manager, and the waiter said it was him. Uh oh.
Finally nearly an hour after we ordered (and our neighbors were finished and looking sadly at us), my mediocre veggie burger arrived along with hubby’s so-​so dish. We told the waiter that a simple explanation would have really helped, and he finally admitted that he screwed up and forgot our order. Still no apology. Unbelievable attitude. Dude — why are you in a service position!!!
We left with a bad taste in our mouths and no tip. I have never done that in my life. No apologies.

This is a cute restaurant and bakery that is a great place to stop after a long hike. It is located in Stinson beach, right next to the beach park entrance. I liked the beachy vibe and friendly atmosphere. They have indoor and outdoor seating. The food wasn’t that great for the price (I had one of the pasta options). I would recommend getting the burger, that seems to be the menu favorite and is really good.
They have a snack stand that’s attached to the café, which has good soft self ice cream if you’re looking for a desert after.
Definitely take some time to walk on the beach after you eat. The beach entrance is located right past the parking lot behind the entrance and is definitely worth the extra 15 minutes to look at/​walk along.

Good place to stop by for a snack after a long hike.
The prices are slightly steep here (I think it’s because there are limited places to eat in the area). But if you stick to appetizers, there are some decent and filling options. We’ve come here a couple of times now and my personal favorites are the garlic cheese bread (be sure to ask for the pesto on the side), brussel sprouts and garlic fries.
There isn’t much of an ambiance, but the outdoor seating area is nice. Service is decent enough… nothing to really brag about.

Food okay, the prices were high but they are in the middle of nowhere. Had the BBQ king salmon, unfortunately we just came in after a long hike and I was very hungry. The king salmon tasted good was a small portion for 25 bucks and some small sliced potatoes underneath the salmon.
My wife had the club sandwich with Salmon and that was really good and filling.
She also had the French onion kale soup and that was really good.
Our friend ordered the burger and he said it was pretty damn good.
Calamari was the starter and that was very good as well.

Made a return visit here recently on New Year’s Eve night for the first time in a couple of years. It was nice to be reminded that this restaurant is «open late», so to speak, and serves customers through the dinner hours, as it can be QUITE crowded in high season middle of the days.
As a New England native, I particularly enjoy their mostly authentic effort towards giving a New England clam chowder. For awhile in the past, when I asked for the chowder to go, they would give it to me in a large coffee cup, which was … amusing … but I’m not sure if they still do that.
Since Stinson is obviously a popular spot, if you go here, be prepared to possibly wait, but take a deep breath… cause you are HERE at Stinson Beach in beautiful West Marin and the servers here will do their best to give you an authentic and tasty dining experience.

Being such a beautiful place, I am slightly disappointed that when it comes to dining out around Stinson Beach, you’re basically stranded.
My advice? Absolutely bring as much of your favorite foods as you can, from home.
My best friend and I found ourselves in this predicament while vacationing at a rented beach house in Stinson. Our close friend had decided to pay us a visit from back home, so of course we wanted to go out to dinner.
Literally, our only option was The Parkside Café, that being said it was slammed with customers.
Upon arrival it was more than a task to even get the attention of the seating hostess to add our designated group name to the waiting list.
30 minutes later, starving and slightly irritated after having to shuffle around continuously to avoid being bumped into by fellow patrons and over worked waiters, we were lead to a table too small for three, in the back of the restaurant.
There was a live band playing about five feet away from us with their amps turned up much too high for comfort. I believe I was blatantly frowning…
With no water, menus, and much less silver wear present on our table, we sat for another 15 minutes, essentially shouting across the table to one another, as we tried to sort through the menus we had picked up outside.
We ended up having to flag down a waiter to place our order. I was over it.
Of course once we began listing off a few of the items we desired, we were informed they were either no longer on the menu or were simply out of those dishes.
We opted for a bread basket, New England clam chowder, crab cakes, and a burger with French Fries.
The food wasn’t terrible but certainly not worth the time and energy spent before the meal along with the second lengthy wait to receive our check.
I learned later that The Parkside Café is a much more suitable breakfast spot. While we didn’t venture back other than to pick up a pizza to go (mediocre at best), I’d be willing to give this restaurant another chance for a breakfast or brunch trial, definitely with a reservation!
I’m hoping to feel better about you next time Parkside Café.

A cute place on the beach. We ordered the bread with pesto to eat with oysters. The oysters were fresh and fabulous, I could have used a second order! Our main entrees were just ok. We ordered fish & chips and the cod tacos. The fish & chips looked like huge battered chicken. Not much flavor in the enormous batter that surround the fish. You’ll definitely need a dipping sauce of some kind.
The tacos are served with 2 soft tortillas and on hard shell, which i liked. However the cod, was a bit mushy and you’re given a bit of shredded lettuce and tomatoes for toppers. Also, like the fish and chips, a bit bland.
For the price, I think they can vamp up the flavor. Also, they let every and anyone use the bathroom there, so the line is literally out the door. Even though you’ve just ordered appetizers and full on meals, you have to get in line for the bathroom, with people who aren’t patrons there, but decided to bring their kids there just to use the restroom. This is frustrating if you just need to wash your hands before your meal, be prepared to wait in line.

The regular Stinson Beach breakfast spot. Fabulous freshly baked goods. Sit out on the patio, soak up the sun & the sea air & nosh away.
Over the years I’ve found its best to stick w french toast or pancakes. Do bananas or berries, or both, & life is very good. Literally & figuratively.
Majorly family friendly. And being a bonafide beach town, of course it’s über dog friendly too. Win win.
My last visit we sat at the counter & just had a plate of french fries as a mid afternoon snack. My man had never been here, & I wanted him to see it.
It’s a little bit diner, & a little bit beach café. Extremely casual & comfortable. Toss on your cover up & flip flops straight from the beach & it’s all good.
A happy stop.
4 stars.

Took a day trip out to Marin County. Stumbled across the gem as we made our way to the beach with friends and our pups. Parked up and were seated at the dog friendly patio fairly quickly for what I would usually expect on a weekend. We ordered oysters, chowder and linguine, all yummy and washed it down with a beer.
This location is perfect for the beach but there is only one bathroom with one unisex toilet. The line starts at the host stand (careful, you might upset somebody if you don’t realize and they think you are skipping the line).