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Local Dine-in Cruising Destinations

Here’s a question for our readers: What are your favorite waterfront restaurants that offer space to tie up a boat or are located less than three blocks from a marina?

Brotzeit Restaurant
Brotzeit Lokal is open for both takeout and dining in. Their docks include a 45-ft guest slip with 7-ft draft.
© 2020 Brotzeit Lokal

What’s Reopening?

If you’re like us, you’ve been landlocked and sheltering at home, with on-the-water activity likewise constrained. We’ve been doing lots of maintenance on our boats, and many of you have as well. Cruising plans have been scaled back or postponed. Races have been canceled. Meanwhile we’ve been supporting the local mom-and-pop cafés and ordering lots of takeout food.

Now comes the thaw in our local county shelter-in-place orders, and we’re hearing from our friends in marinas and cafés. The waterfront is returning from deepfreeze to some kind of new normal.

We checked in with Tony and Krista Graniere, who sail San Francisco Bay on their Cheoy Lee 38 and own the Brotzeit Lokal German Restaurant and Waterfront Biergarten, located in Oakland and shown above. They’re open outdoors and ready to welcome people for drinks and food. Tony mentioned they have a 45-ft guest slip and some smaller berths out front, all available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Grand Marina, located roughly opposite Brotzeit Lokal on the Alameda side of the Oakland Estuary, is also up and operating. “We offer guest slips subject to availability. Mosley’s Café is onsite, and they provide outdoor seating and takeout. We have limited space available for the café; guests will need to call in advance. They can call or email for availability,” says Cheri Berggren, assistant harbormaster at Grand Marina.

Those are just a couple of examples, and that’s why we need your help. We’re interested in sharing your favorite destinations for dine-in cruising, located in your favorite haunts on San Francisco Bay, the Delta and Monterey Bay. We’ll add your suggestions to our online Boat-in Dining Guide that we’re now updating, and publish the best ones in the August edition of our Latitude 38 magazine. We’ll send free stuff, Latitude 38 shirts or hats, to the folks who send in the best answers. Please send us your favorites via email.

7 Comments

  1. Gary Ryan 4 years ago

    Andy’s local market at Loch Lomond, San Rafael. They have really good pizza and the breakfast burritos are also great.

    • Bagley 4 years ago

      In case anyone is worried about depth, we made it into the Loch Lomond Marina with a 9.2’ draft and proper timing.

  2. David Westcott 4 years ago

    Lara’s Fine Dining opened in January in the same spot previously occupied by Salute restaurant in Richmond Marina Bay. Not only is the new restaurant great but Lara restored the boat dock in front of the restaurant! That must have cost a pretty penny. Let’s help make it pay by sailing there!

  3. Richard Jepsen 4 years ago

    I know it is a bit too fancy, but one of our favorite trips is overnight to Horseshoe Cove and dinner at Murray Circle in Cavallo Point resort. food is spectacular. Of course a visit to the Presidio YC for a cocktail!

  4. Kerry 4 years ago

    Killer shrimp in Marina Del Rey is wonderful to go up to in your dinghy or yacht. Great shrimp and seafood. Happy bar scene.
    You can have a nice lunch or dinner, a few cocktails , meet friend and then dinghy back home.

  5. Steve Colitz 4 years ago

    Speaking of eating in Richmond. I organize a bi-monthly lunch cruise for members and friends of Berkeley Yacht Club. Before the lockup, we visited many different restaurants within a 2 hour sail from Emeryville or Berkeley. Often, we went to Ahn Vietnamese restaurant next to Lara’s. They have been able to handle up to 22 people from the crew of three boats, without any problems. No one complained about the food or service.

    We have 4 or 5 other regular destinations. One of the most popular is Angel Island for a BBQ and potluck. We now meet via zoom and are all looking forward to getting back to sailing to lunch. The big question is when will that be possible.

  6. Carliane D Johnson 4 years ago

    Always enjoyed dining at La Garage in Sausalito after hanging off the buoy at SYC to listen to jazz in the park there. Fun memories!

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