Big Wave Cafe — Restaurant in Manzanita

Firstly, I briefly considered 4* - for the sole reason that they didn't have a Salmon steak or fillet item on the menu that night. They did have a Salmon pasta special which I ordered and enjoyed - including lunch the next day.

Dinner includes a side salad, (We always have salads and I don't believe they're a separate menu item) served on a full dinner plate. A variety of very fresh lettuce / greens with a selection of cut above dressings; a tasty Rasberry Vinaigrette in my case.

My fellow diners also enjoyed their dinners (but I've unfortunately forgotten what they ordered). We also had desserts: Marionberry pie for me (usually available), and my companions shared something else.

The menu leans heavily to fresh seafood offerings, sourced from places up and down the coast.

They have a moderate but well chosen wine list, with several available by the glass. They also have a few beers on tap, with a rotating selection..

We've eaten here many times, since shortly after they opened several years ago, always enjoying our visits. Our server was new - at least to us, this time and provided excellent and friendly service. She also had a good sense of humor, which we always enjoy.

Earlier this year (or last?), the original owners closed the restaurant, presumably due to the ravages of the pandemic. Several north coast counties were completely locked down for several months: no motels, short stay rentals, or restaurants. Even people with vacation cabins / homes were discouraged from visiting. It worked - only a few small outbreaks for the duration of the closures.

The owners eventually sold the restaurant. Many of the staff returned, and the original owner, who was also the primary chef, trained the new kitchen staff, including all his recipes. As a result it feels much the same as before - intentionally. We don't see the previous owners of course, but everything else is comfortably familiar, and the food (based on a single visit so far), maintains the same high quality.

A side note: there used to be a chalkboard in the foyer noting the current source(s) for all the seafood items available. I didn't see the list this time, but I hope (and assume), they're still using local sources.

We'll...

We spent the day at the beach today and we’re hungry for seafood for dinner. The big wave was the only seafood restaurant near where we were at. So we decided to try it. When we got there it was really busy and there was about 20-25 min wait to be seated. This wasn’t bad considering covid and that it was one of the only restaurants open in the area. We sat down and the waiter seemed nice and we ordered drinks and he came back quickly and we ordered our dinner. The menu was pretty small and I was hoping for salmon but I decided on the razor clams. The waiter said they were out along with the crab cakes. These were the only seafood items I was interested in so I decided on a hamburger instead with a bowl of chowder. My mom had ordered the oysters with a salad. My dad settled on a bowl of chowder since they didn’t have anything he wanted since they were out of the clams. It took almost 30 min to recieve the chowder and the salad. He was kinda rude and asked if we had wanted the soup with dinner and mom had to remind him of the salad. We had been waiting and he knew it. It would have taken a lot longer if we hadn’t said anything. I felt he was avoiding our table. He came back pretty quickly with them and took off. He didn’t ask if we needed salt or pepper. I had to get his attention to get them. I noticed later that he did ask other customers if they would like salt or pepper. A little over 5 min after receiving our first course they brought our dinners. I had asked for no Mayo and I guess they put burger sauce on their them too but it looked like Mayo. They remade but it took so long. Bad service for sure. He asked someone else to help us for the rest of our stay and she was really good even with my cranky dad. It took over 2 hours to get so so food. I would not recommend or...

EDIT: JUNE VISIT: 2 stars I have to downgrade our review to 2 stars. We came back to this cute restaurant during our summer family trip and were so disappointed with our meal. I'm so sad, because our experience in December was so great.

First off, we were seated immediately and our waitress was there immediately to get our drink order. The ices tea is still extremely good, but we went without a refilled water glass for the rest of the meal.

My husband ordered the special prime rib, which, granted isnt seafood on a coastal town, but still. At $32.00 when he ordered it rare, it should not be delivered medium well. There was no horseradish offered, but the homemade bread side was, in fact, delicious.

My mother in law ordered the halibut with lemon. Cilantro butter. The halibut filet was a good size, but the green beans served with it were severely undercooked and unedible.

Not only did our waitress deliver my starting salad with the wrong dressing, my captain's platter was served with a baked potato instead of fries. The halibut portion of the platter was really good, and the oysters were fresh and tasty. But the scallops were overbreaded and so overcooked.

My brother in law was shortefd a scallop on the 3 scallop captain platter, and was delivered a baked potato instead of rice pilaf.

The restaurant was so noisy, the waitress couldnt hear us trying to get her attention while she socialized at the bar.

Overall, like I said, we are so disappointed that our service during the high season was so sub par.

I guess we're still looking for our favorite go to restaurant for our mid coast dinners.

DECEMBER VISITt: 4 stars The service was friendly and fast. The food was slow to arrive but it was cooked to perfection and very tasty. Absolutely will be...