Pelican Brewing – Siletz Bay — Restaurant in Lincoln City

This has to be the best Pelican Brewing location, and is across the board one of the better restaurant experiences I've had.

The menu isn't huge but it is very solid, with the expected classics for a brewpub plus signature regional items like clam chowder, oyster shooters, and even an authentic crab boil platter. When we visited we had previously tried to get some local oysters at two other restaurants that same day, and Pelican was the only location that had them in stock. They actually made a special trip to ensure they had oysters -- even specialty seafood restaurants we tried hadn't taken this step.

The beer selection is all Pelican-brewed and covers a pretty wide range of styles for all tastes, without falling into the typical Pacific Northwest trap of endless IPA iterations. I was lucky to be there for winter which meant Cascadian Dark Ale, definitely a personal favorite.

I was blown away by the thoughtful design of the entire building. There's ample seating, including an island bar with seating on multiple sides, tables for couples and larger parties, and a good number of booth seats with benches. They have a large outdoor deck with views of Siletz Bay, and selections of both covered and uncovered seating and tables for when weather allows it. Then there's additional seats upstairs, plus multiple private party rooms, including one with a massive flat screen.

The bathroom is very efficient, with a single row of faucets with built-in individual hand dryers over a trough-style sink, all of which is perpendicular to a hallway of individual stalls. Much more private than typical metal stalls, these are truly individual cubicles with wooden doors, locks that show "occupied" when engaged, and none of those massive gaps between the floor and the side of the stall like most bathrooms.

The number of reviewers here bemoaning the "gender neutral" bathroom is baffling, misguided, and completely misrepresents the efficiency of the design and enhanced privacy the fully enclosed stalls offer. The only shared space is the sinks, which is hardly offensive or unsafe for anyone but those determined to be unhappy.

There's also an oversized stall for families with a built-in changing table on both the main floor and second story, so they've really built to accommodate all needs. It's just good planning, and there is truly zero indication it has any social or political motivation or messaging behind it.

Having worked in food service before, even the kitchen design was impressive, with much more space to move visible on the line itself, and a long center island separating the line cooks from the front of house staff, facilitating easy direct communication and hand-offs of the dishes with less cross traffic than many commercial kitchens I've seen (or worked in). It's just phenomenal to see a brand new building designed deliberately to provide a great guest experience, but also giving consideration to the staff on all sides who must operate to make the whole thing work.

The food was all great -- outstanding onion rings are a must-try -- and our bartender was attentive, pleasant, talented, and made a martini that truly sets the standard for the classic cocktail. I wouldn't normally go for cocktails at a brewery, but at this Pelican location it's definitely worth...

Came with a group of 4 to celebrate a birthday. The location is beautiful and you can tell they spent a fortune building the place out. Maybe it was an off night for them, but it goes downhill from here.

To summarize, the atmosphere and prices give fine dining vibes, but the food itself does not.

We chose to visit this place since we always go to Kylo's when we are at the coast and wanted to try something new and different.

The wait staff was friendly but our server only visited our table to take our order and bring the check. We had to flag someone down for refills and nobody came to clear empty dishes and glasses until we were paying and leaving. They were busy but that doesn't excuse this level of service.

We ordered fish & chips, seafood linguine, dungeness crab mac and cheese and the backyard bbq burger. We also ordered 3 cups of clam chowder. We all had multiple glasses of wine and beer, which while priced a little higher than expected were good.

However, with the exception of the burger we found the quality of the food to not be reflective of the steep prices. To be frank, it felt like we were paying a markup for the location and not the quality of the food.

The clam chowder was lukewarm, closer to cold, when it arrived to the table and flavor wise wasn't anything special. The joke at the table was that we questioned the authenticity of the award it was supposedly given.

The crab mac and cheese had 3 small to medium pieces of crab and the pasta was practically dry with how little sauce there was. This meal went largely uneaten by someone who famously eats anything. Unacceptable for a $36 plate.

The seafood linguine had little flavor aside from what the seafood contributed. It was described as "Okay but not something I would order again without some changes." Disappointing for a $32 plate.

The fish & chips were pretty basic and merely okay. These wound up being shared by the couple who also ordered the crab mac and cheese.

I am not sure when or if we will come back to this location for anything besides a few drinks.

2/5 stars after deducting 3 for the service and disappointing plates. If it weren't for the location it would be an overall 1/5 based...

We came here for a birthday drink and the experience started well but ended horribly.

We sat in the bar and got served by Austin and Brandon. Austin was incredibly friendly and polite. He was the only good part of our visit.

I’m leaving minimal stars due to a situation with the young brown haired hostess, and Brandon. When we left, I realized I accidentally left my brand new $60 sweatshirt. I called the bar to ask the hostess if it was still there so we could turn around. She was rude from the second she answered the phone and kept saying she couldn’t hear me. She hung up on me two separate times. The third time, she told me “there is no sweatshirt there.” I said “are you sure? We left 5 minutes ago I feel like it would still be there, it’s bright blue with MONTANA on it” she said, “no, there is no sweatshirt.”

We realized the friend we were dining with was probably still there and called him to check, lo and behold, yep, my sweatshirt was sitting right there. I came back to get it and walked up to the hostess and said “hey I think I just talked to you… just so you know my sweatshirt was in fact over there.” She looks at me and goes “yeah I’m busy I didn’t go check” HUHHHH??? So you couldn’t be bothered to walk 10 steps to the bar and check?! AND you lied and said it wasn’t there? I asked for her name and she goes “it doesn’t matter”. I went to the bartender, Brandon and asked her name and he goes “I don’t know her”….. dude, come on, really? I then asked for a manager and he said “they’re all in a meeting”… I’m not stupid. Absolutely insulting. He had the “shift lead” come talk to me which was some 20 year old dude who had 0 sincerity about the issue. He was also laughing at me when Brandon and him returned from Brandon going to get him.

Absolute garbage service from a bunch of young entitled kids. I will make sure everyone I know knows to stay far away from here. Shame too, the beers...