The Sea Ranch Lodge: Dining Room — Restaurant in Point Arena

Overall, I am giving this place two-stars due to all the things that got in the way of some pretty good food.

We were celebrating my husband’s birthday along the Sonoma Coast and wanted to have a nice dinner out to add to the celebration.

The main issue was that the front of house in all areas was a complete disaster of epic proportions. We arrived about 10 min prior to our reservation, waited about 8-10 minutes before anyone acknowledged that we were there. The host was polite/kind and even mentioned to me that it was my husband’s birthday. We heard very loud full band music coming from the bar area. She escorted us to a table that was in a shared space as the bar / lounge area and were less than 6ft from the full band. You could not hear a thing - as evidenced by me trying to say something to the host as she walked away and she couldn’t hear me. Clearly this wasn’t going to be a table we could do a birthday dinner at for the night, so we got up and went back to the front to ask for a different table. It took about 15+ minutes but we finally were seated at a different table in the actual dinning room. The manager apologized, was kind / polite and even offered to buy a first round of drinks. She did also promise that they would not seat anyone directly beside us since it was a birthday celebration.

The server came over about 5 minutes later with menues and cocktail/wine list. We ordered a bottle of wine, a starter per, and an entree per.

We waited for about 10-15 minutes and suddenly the starters arrived… no water, no wine. We waited a few minutes thinking it was coming, but no luck, so we started in on our starters. We finished our starters by the time the sparkling wine arrived and it was the wrong bottle, so the server had to go back and try to find the correct bottle, more delays, he finally came and it was a split of the bottle we hoped to have, so we basically said no thanks, and instead ordered a cocktail.

We waited more than an hour between when we finished the starters and for our entrees to arrive.

Right before our entrees arrive, the table that the manager said they would not seat, was seated with a four top… annnnnnnnd… a baby that was literally eye level with my husband, staring at him. The baby was honestly less than a foot from him.

At this point, the food was tasty but not even remotely close to the experience you’d hope to have. We made the most of it, paid, tipped 20% (I usually tip way more than that) and left.

Won’t go back. A shame considering the food was tasty but literally everything else from the experience got in the way of...

Sadly, this review is not a good one. My husband and I were so excited to celebrate our wedding anniversary but it was kind of disappointing. My husband and I are huge foodies and don’t mind paying high dollar prices for amazing food. This restaurant is trying to be high end but really missed the mark. I asked in my note when making the reservation for champagne to be brought to the table for our special celebration and it was never brought out. I don’t even think the server knew it was a special celebration for my partner and I. The food was really nothing special. We started with the bread and olives and it was not memorable. My husband ordered the wagyu steak and it was cooked well but was lacking flavor. The potatoes and veggies tasted like they were just cooked in oil. For being the most expensive dish on the menu it was an extremely boring meal. I ordered the scallops and was so excited as they are one of my favorite things to order. This dish was one of the worst dishes I have ever had. The scallops had NO flavor at all and they were served over corn ( that tasted like canned corn) and Red bell pepper and asparagus. This dish was wildly disappointing. It seemed liked they were seasoned with MAYBE salt and pepper. I have never left bad review but this meal was very disappointing. As Michelin star dinners and living in the Bay Area maybe we are just blessed with high quality expectations or maybe we just came on an off night? Such a bummer, we did not even stay for dessert ( which is my favorite thing to order). The best part of the night was seeing the sunset in the beautiful dinning room and our cocktails were very good. If you are looking for fine dining I would skip the Sea Ranch Lodge and head up to Elk to the...

We recently visited The Sea Ranch Lodge restaurant and had another wonderful experience, as we do every year. We've been coming to The Sea Ranch for almost 15 years and dining at the Lodge is a tradition we look forward to every year. The new Chef is off to a good start respecting the vibe while innovating with fresh, local ingredients.

The staff is incredibly friendly and consistently make us feel like we're visiting old friends. Christine, in particular, stands out. Last year, I visited alone for our tenth wedding anniversary because my husband had COVID. Dining alone was challenging and I was really sad, but Christine's warmth and attentiveness made a huge difference. Although she wasn't my server, she frequently checked in to ensure I was taken care of. She saw I was dining solo and went out of her way to make me feel very much not alone. II came is very down and left in a great mood. I highly recommend asking for Christine when you visit.

Year after year, the staff remembers us when we return. A full year after my sad solo dinner, Christine greeted me with a hug, even recalling the table where I sat. As great as the food and the views may be, it's the welcoming, friendly, local staff that make this place special. They are the ones who make the Sea Ranch feel like a community. It feels like more than just good hospitality and a good meal, but they really care about you and your experience.

The menu remains stellar, with standout dishes like the scallops and short rib (we hope chef brings back the duck and the pot de creme). We enjoy visiting at sunset to have oysters and wine on the patio or at the bar...