The Siren Canteen

Where do I start? This place is the most picturesque beach eatery you could ever imagine with the ocean and the beautiful hillsides of California in view. As if this wasn’t enough, the food was really, really good. They have SWEET POTATO FRIES and shrimp tacos? I also had the carnitas and they were really good unlike what the other guy thought? They served great margaritas and frozen lemonade too.
And let me just say, the staff is the most friendly, accommodating and beautiful line up you will find. And if you are familiar with the area like myself, you know this place is also the most affordable restaurant so what I’m trying to say is, you cannot beat it.

Stopped by to visit the Stinson beach and decided to stop here to get a quick lunch and some drinks. Wow! Blown away by the service and the quality of the food. We had carne asada, fries, lemonade and pacifico beer. The place had a good ambiance and it was kept very clean.

Loved this place! Great food and view! We actually saw dolphins and whales off shore which was a nice treat! Highly recommend

Holy smokes! This place is straight out of a movie!!!
This is an amazing spot to unravel & untwine yourself from the rest of the world! The location and view that this place has to offer is truly breathtaking. You can literally take just one step and walk right out onto the beach and enjoy both the view and your food. An experience that is hard to come by.
Now, time to get down to business and talking about FOOD! Why else would anyone be reading this, am I right? Hahaha
The food here is delicious! Aside from their tasty varieties of goodies that they are dishing out, the pricing is a bit much. It could be due to their location and other factors but nonetheless $ 4 for a single taco is really overpriced.

One of the better options in the area and probably not as overpriced. You can sit indoors (plenty of seating) or outside (2 picnic tables). Burgers run from 6 – 9 $, tacos 4 $ each!, burritos 10 – 13 $, milshakes 5 – 7 $
Food isn’t so bad. Portions are larger than expected and lines are long. You can even walk on from the beach.

Adorable, uncomplicated, good quality and friendly. What’s not to love? Be aware that the «dog friendly» policy does not apply to the beach side of the canteen. That’s State Park and they don’t allow pooches. But if you approach from town and the parking lot that’s (almost) adjacent the canteen, you’re fine.
Overall, Siren has fair prices, killer views, solidly B+/A– food, nice selection of beers, wine. It’s a charming setting and the staff are very friendly.

Stitson beach gem!
One big complaint — NO restroom!
Got some beach café lunch — tacos and a burger, both dishes were good.
Love the atmosphere and the view is amazing.
We didn’t get any ice-​cream, but saw kids devour it with pleasure. Noted for the next time!

This review is based on cheeseburgers and fries on Memorial Day.
I was not too thrilled to go here in the first place, but I’m so glad we decided to come here for lunch. They are located right on the beach.
Pros:
–If you’ve read my reviews before, you know I’m big on customer service and their staff was really friendly even though they were super busy. And they managed to keep the tables cleaned and condiments refilled.
–Location
–Burger size was on point. Loved the fresh pickled jalapeños and cucumbers. Didn’t try the salsas, but they looked good.
–price was decent for their location and the quality of food they serve, but their tacos are way over priced.
Con: for the flies. Since it’s pretty open is bound to happen, but that was still gross.

If you too have been hiking for hours on end and are looking to stumble into a little oasis for food and libations, look no further. Siren Canteen sits right on Stinson Beach, offering a marvelous view of the ocean, surfers, and to our delight, whales and dolphins!
Their prices are very reasonable and their food and beverages are very high quality, given expectations one normally has of beach café fare. The fish tacos were very fresh, with very flavorful sauce and toppings. The burger we had was superb. I thoroughly enjoyed my iced agave wine margarita, which was like a refreshing slushee.
Even the music, light hearted and ambient, seemed to complete the picaresque quality of Siren Canteen.
Please try this place out if you’re in the area, it is a true gem.

Awesome place to grab some food while at Stinson Beach! Reasonable prices, great tacos (al pastor and fish tacos were awesome… shrimp had good flavor but was overcooked). Also the pickled veggies are amazing (onions, cucumber, jalapeños, carrots?).

I love this place! After hiking the Matt Davis trail, this is my go-​to spot to refuel.
It’s a bit overpriced ($ 4.50 for a small fish taco) but… meh. Supply and demand, and all that. It’s the only fresh food in the area, so I don’t blame them for pricing it like that. I just wouldn’t call it a one-​dollar-​sign place… probably more like $$ — $$$ if we are being truthful about it. If I tried to fill up on fish tacos I would have to eat 4 or 5 (though I do have a big appetite) which would set me back $ 20 — $ 25), plus beer /​shakes which usually brings me above $ 30. That’s comparable with a plate at a sit-​down restaurant. The burgers require two to fill me up, which is a bit cheaper, maybe $ 18 for two if memory serve, plus drinks on top of that.
But, you know, if you didn’t just do a super intense hike, and/​or if you don’t have a strong appetite /​insanely fast metabolism this place is going to run you less. Obviously. :)
So, the location is AMAZING. It’s right on the beach.
Anyway, the food is really tasty. I can never figure out if it’s the food or the fact that I just did a super intense hike, but either way I can’t complain about anything flavor-​wise. The fish-​tacos are great. The burgers are very tasty. The milkshakes are great. They have beer on tap!
There aren’t that many seats but usually if you hang around a bit you will find something.
It’s also run by what I assume is a family. I like that. They are very friendly and welcoming, and service is relatively quick.
Oh and… they may or may not be open on any given day since it’s weather-​dependent, and they are also only open during daylight hours.
I really like this spot. Will definitely continue to return. It’s the perfect topper to a beautiful hike down the Matt Davis trail (from Pan Toll down to Stinson Beach). Then I eat some tacos, a burger, drink a shake and a beer and enjoy a well-​earned food coma on the beach.

Fish taco, chips and guac were all excellent. Lot of character here. Make sure you get there super early if it’s a weekend.
2^nd visit — pulled pork good. Skip the other porks. Chicken quesadilla good.

If you are ever in Stinson Beach, stop by this little place. I went here on a weekend and it was absolutely amazing. I ordered two tacos and a burrito to split between two people. The whole restaurant is actually in the lifeguard tower and its basically ON the beach. The scenery is breathtaking. If its really windy on the beach, no problem, the whole place is glassed in.
The food: Tasty but a little small and pricey. I ate a taco and half a burrito. The burrito needs to be a bit bigger to be priced at 8 – 9 bucks. Other than that, great service, great atmosphere.
The atmosphere: The cute little deck and porch is super cute and it was really relaxing to just sit on the beach and eat a burrito from a lighthouse. The view was great and I recommend coming just for the view!

I came here after hiking Mt. Tam which was about a 15 minute drive away. Drive carefully getting here as there are no railing on the sides of the twisting and turning roads. The scenery of Stinson Beach while eating here is worth the prices alone. I would have ordered a diablo shrimp burrito, but they ran out of shrimp. It must be good. Next time, next time. Instead, I had fish tacos and the tilapia had nice spices and flavors. I also had a cup of Pacifico from the keg. Overall, this is a great place to relax and have a picnic out in the sun!
Note: google maps listed this place closed as Surfer’s Grill, but Siren’s Café is indeed open.

I love this place. People that come here have to understand its beach food (above average beach food, in my opinion). Everything is fresh and tasty. So if they don’t have salsa or tacos like the ones your lovely grandmother used to make, stop trippin. The new owner has put a positive new vibe to the place. She’s friendly, curtious and you can tell she has put love into the place and menu.. It’s nice to see you can get all those menu options 50 yards from crashing waves.. Food might take a minute (I’ve never waited a crazy amount of time) but you’re at Stinson beach… in a beach town… Where things are laid back.. so chill and enjoy the moment this place gives you. Have one of their beers on tap and watch the waves. Poor guy in the back has a little kitchen to work with, and he/​she does it well. Summer this place is always packed. Winter months I’ve gone to get lunch and they’ve been closed. Understanable. No biggie. If you’re going to drive 1.5 hours JUST to get lunch here. Call first :)

What a perfect lunch after a spectacular hike. On this glorious Saturday in February the Siren Canteen was packed, but worth the wait. They prepared a custom burger to meet my dietary needs, and with their homemade aoli, it was delicious. I felt like we were eating at a café, not the previous beach snack shack. Definitely going back on a real beach day.

Food was superb, fresh, and good quality! The porch/​deck where you can sit and eat was super cutely decorated, and had an unbeatable view. It’s literally on the beach. The staff was also very nice and easy to talk to.
Me and my boyfriend ordered two different burgers and cheese fries with a side of really yummy home made ranch.
And the menu also had really good variety.
A+
BEWARE– GPS does not take you to the right spot.

Not, in fact Open.
Drove 1.5 hours to the beach to have lunch here and it’s closed. Sign says it’ll be open, Unilocal says it’s open now; it’s not open. What gives?

After a lovely afternoon spent in the sunshine, splashing about in the water, gossiping, laughing, and of course, people watching, my best friend and I decided to venture over to The Siren Canteen for none other than their meyer lemon milkshake!
The canteen is such a cute spot, it’s rather small and somewhat resembles a beach lifeguard station. There are few indoor picnic tables and benches next to wide windows overlooking Stinson Beach as well as some available tables for outdoor seating, near the entrance.
It’s certainly a popular place, particularly around lunch time, as you will most surely find it to be filled with families, surfers, and couples.
There were only about 2 – 3 people working that day so there was a bit of a wait but our server was nonetheless humble and polite.
The menu consists of standard American classics such as hot dogs, sandwiches, grilled cheese, burgers, etc.
You can also find an assortment of tacos and burritos.
We kept our order simple and straightforward and ordered our meyer lemon milkshakes, prepared with delicious soft-​serve.
It hit the spot! Well made, extremely yummy, perfectly tart, and well portioned!
Next time, I’m hoping to investigate those fish tacos and of course, have another shake in the sun!

This place has ice cream, tacos and burritos, grass-​fed burgers, an amazing and well-​lit view of the beach. Great spot!

This is burger perfection with your toes in the sand. Rate this in the Top 3 of beachside burgers in Cali. My favorite is the Jalama Burger outside Lompoc but this a close second. Top shelf ingredients. Super fresh avocado, butter lettuce, and tomato. The cheese fries also crush. Try the Meyer lemon shake: pure juice pleasure.

Pros: best grilled tilapia fish tacos I’ve had in NorCal. Shrimp tacos also awesome. Great view of Stinson Beach.
Cons: totally oversalted tortilla chips — avoid!

We stopped here on our way up the coast to Napa from San Francisco for a small snack and some nice views. My husband got an IPA on draft, cold and refreshing. I tried the coffee milkshake, but they have lots of different flavors, I just love coffee flavored anything, so I was super happy. We split the chicken quesadilla. It came with really fresh pico de gallo, delicious guacamole, and sour cream. It was the perfect amount and we’ll be back on our next trip to Stinson Beach.

Love love love love love love love love love love love love love love this place! Really.
Super friendly workers. It looks unbelievably cute, with cute flowers in vases next to the tables. The whole oozes love. Food is great too. Very casual. Very laid back.
Did I mention I love it?

Super lovely view!!! It is right on the beach, half enclosed with cool architecture (a lighthouse/​lifeguard tower)
We ordered a fries and root beer float. The fries was good (thick cut/​fresh), the root beer float was delicious! They used soft-​serves! There were different portion choices, and you can get gigantic soft-​serves! The other food seems to be made fresh as well.
There’s plenty of seating, and people come and go, the entire atmosphere was very chill and vacation-​y, very lovely!

The Siren is an open-​air, semi-​covered little beachside café at the base of the lifeguard station. It’s very casual, so you can definitely come in straight off the beach and eat here.
Their tacos and burger and milkshake were all delicious. Service was quick. There are some tables next to a wall of windows, where you can watch the ocean during your meal or snack. There’s also a quick-​ordering area where you can order some snacks and ice cream but not meals like tacos or burgers.

My wife and some family were just looking for a quick place to stop and get some food. We were thoroughly surprised to find this gem. The burgers were incredible and fresh for the prices, the view felt like a high-​end restaurant, and the vibe felt welcoming and relaxed. Very friendly workers and a variety of free sides (including jalapeños and pickles).
This place is like a gorgeous So-​Cal beach without the rediculous crowds.
All in all, if you are in the area, you have to stop by here!

The siren canteen is a cute beachside café. You can come in here in your suit and no shoes, no problem!
They serve a variety of Mexican inspired dishes as well as burgers, shakes, ice cream, and shaved ice. They even serve beer and wine (holla)!
Go for the tacos here. I had a shrimp taco. The crema sauce was delicious and the pico de gallo was yummy. The grilled shrimp were flavorful too.
When I got a burrito, however, the beans and rice were very bland. The rice is just plain white rice and the beans were plain pinto. They weren’t salted at all.
Their homemade salsa was also bland and not spicy. I would opt for the tapatio on the tables instead.
The burgers are good. The meat is seasoned well. There are lots of choices of cheese and toppings, which is good.
There’s something for everyone here, including fried kale on special!
Their shakes are made by hand. Look at the specials near the register— they have more flavors there, including Oreo, banana cream, caramel– and of course, classic chocolate and vanilla. YUM!
This is a cute place, and has good food for a small beachside canteen.
Overall, the tacos and the desserts are what shine here. Stop by this place next time you’re walking down Stinson beach!

I had planned a 7-​mile hike/​run on the Dipsea Trail starting out in Mill Valley with a group of friends and wanted to celebrate at the end with a nice cold beer. I Googled restaurants at Stinson Beach and this one stood out for me because of its «right on the beach» location. After reading all the Unilocal reviews and seeing the pictures, I knew we had to stop here. AND just our luck, The Siren just acquired the Lagunitas IPA beer a week before our trip out there. YASSS! The stars aligned perfectly.
It wasn’t hard to find because I did my research and Google mapped it. After hiking for about 4 hours through Muir Woods, we arrived at The Siren right at opening time (11AM). We were famished!!! The Siren was super cute and tidy. Loved their décor!!! The seats were a little wet from the morning, but we were already covered in dirt and sweat so it wasn’t a big deal. They had a pretty good selection of tacos, burgers, burritos, and dessert. We ordered the bacon burger and fish, shrimp, and carne asada tacos… and of course a couple of Lagunitas IPA.
We ran into a small problem in the beginning. The Siren uses «The Square» app to charge and the Internet was down so there was a little bit of a shuffle between the owner and staff in front of us. Luckily we had cash so it wasn’t a problem for us. And the connection eventually came back on while we were still there so we were able to use our card for more orders. I am a BIG fan of electronic receipts!!!
The food came out quickly. We had to wait a bit for the condiments to get set up, but we arrived at opening with 10 folks, so we figured they just got caught up with our group. No biggie. The condiments were delicious (picked onions, jalapeños, hot sauce, green sauce, etc).
All in all, it was a pleasant experience. We were short on time so we didn’t stay too long as we wanted to enjoy the beach and catch a shuttle back to our car in Mill Valley.
The tacos were good. I liked the fish more than the shrimp. Price wise it was comparable to other restaurants, although it can’t compare to taco trucks in Sacramento ($ 1.50 tacos with EVERYTHING). They only had two selections of beer (Lagunitas IPA and Pacifico), but those were great choices for beach beer so I can’t complain. Maybe next time they’ll offer more selection. Overall the location was a BIG plus, ambiance was a BIG plus, the staff was friendly, and they have beer… a BIG plus in my books. If we’re ever at Stinson Beach again, I would visit again to try out the other food on the menu. And I just adore the location! Can’t say enough about that.
I would recommend this to anyone who plans to make a trip to Stinson Beach.

It was so confusing looking for this place! :P
My friends and I just finished hiking Cataract Falls and wanted something to eat as we headed back to San Francisco and I found this place on Unilocal so we decided to try it out. Loved the idea of a cute café right off the beach.
When we were walking from the entrance to Stinson Beach, we were walking towards the lighthouse and we were thinking, where are we walking to? The place shouldn’t be IN the lighthouse, how does it fit anything? Then when we rounded the beach area, we see the little section right next to the lighthouse where the Siren Canteen was, OHHHHHHHH!!! That makes so much more sense, was what we thought.
I would definitely recommend this place if you spontaneously decided to go to the beach and forgot to pack food. We ordered burgers, cheese fries, grilled cheese, tuna melt, and hot chocolate. One of the hot chocolate wasn’t very hot so my friend was a bit disappointed. But we were starving so we scarfed everything down.
I gave this a 4 star because I originally thought it was a restaurant next to the beach, but it’s more of a large food stand with a cute seating area right off the beach. And we were trying to stay warm but the cold gets in pretty easily in this place. But I did really like how clean and neat it was, and that there were fresh flowers on every table. Too bad it wasn’t a sunnier day. :)

My first
.
Before our ascent up the Matt Davis/​Steep Ravine route, my tummy begged for
sustenance.
My friend said this place has good eats. Agreed and then some.
Under new ownership pays off!
My fish sandwich was served on a fresh kaiser roll with a freshly deep fried fillet (not greasy, and golden brown), fresh lettuce, fresh tomato. Hot fried love here. Add the home made: either pickle relish, pickled onions (yes), home made salsa. Scrumptious.
I added some home made sweet potato fries. Scrumptious.
Like under $ 11.00 to go. Deal.
Customer service: excellent.
View: excellent beach front view shielded by glass; off the beaten path. Low key.
As always in NorCal, bring a light jacket.

Again Unilocal leads me to a little hidden gem!!! This place is the Cadillac of snack bars and comes equipped with an insane view of Stinson beach (it’s literally on the sand), fish tacos (grilled halibut) stuffed to the gills with deliciousness (see what I did there?), homemade buttery tortilla chips and made to order gauc’! Talk about heaven on the beach.
There’s plenty of other non-​traditional snack bar options like burritos, more tacos and crepes, as well as, about 5 different burgers, hot dogs, fries, grilled cheese, and ice cream.
This place has all the makings of one of my new favorite «spots». Can’t wait to go back and try everything on the menu!

Great spot literally on the beach. Good environment to eat with the beach feel. Most customers seem to be coming from hanging on the beach, but we came specifically to check this place out. I’d go there just to eat and chill even if not hanging on the beach.
Friendly service, good food. Had fish n chips. Tartar sauce looked homemade, far better than other places. Also had vanilla soft serve. Definitely will go again as they have a variety on the menu.

It’s been a while since I’ve been to Stinson and when I go I usually pack a picnic of sorts. We decided to grab a quick bite around 1 to hold is over until we had a proper meal.
Now I missed the sign with a heads up that it would be a half hour until food was ready. Could be more prominent because I spent 50 minutes inside on a gorgeous day waiting for the food.
Speaking of, ambiance is great. Simple and charming. Its definitely a lot nicer than what was previously there.
When food finally was ready 50 minutes later, we were surprised that most of it wasn’t hot. I’m not sure how it’s possible since we were waiting so long, but the majority of the food was a step up from room temperature.
So it was one of the nicest days of the year so hopefully they can iron out some of the issues as the season progresses.