Sporting the best view in town and an airy dining room with soaring ceilings and maritime art, Bridgewater Bistro is North Coast dining done right, with a robust Oregon-centric wine list and chef Geoff Gunn’s seafood specials. The team installed sturdy, attractive KOSE dining pods on its deck overlooking the Astoria-Megler Bridge during the pandemic; portable heaters warm up four-seater tables, as does a bowl of the signature curried clam and mussel chowder or smoked gouda mac and cheese. The restaurant is also open for takeout and serves Sunday brunch.

In the quieter cove area south of Seaside’s bustling downtown, warm and cozy Osprey Café rocks breakfast and lunch with global flair. Nasi goreng, or Indonesian fried rice, with a sunny-side-up egg at 10 a.m.? Yes, please. Locals comb the uncrowded beach or trek up Tillamook Head, then warm up with a plate of perfectly fried arepas, Hangtown fry with pan-fried Pacific Northwestern oysters, or a giant pork belly banh mi. Takeout is available.

With live music five nights a week, intricate entrees showcasing Pacific Northwestern seafood, and a charming brick patio with blooming flowers in season, the Bistro proves Cannon Beach’s dining scene can be creative and fun. An easy walk from downtown hotels, the Bistro is home to chef and owner Jack Stevenson, who slips kombu and bonito into cioppino for a deeper savory note and slips an array of shellfish into his take on tom kha. Visitors traveling with dogs can ask for the canine menu, so both owner and pup can enjoy a meal on the patio. The restaurant is open for dine-in and takeout.

Like many businesses on the Oregon Coast, Wheeler destination restaurant the Salmonberry pivoted during the pandemic, providing a full online marketplace of fresh pasta, sauces, and seafood-based meal kits sold from the bayside restaurant. Now open for dine-in, takeout, and home delivery, roasted beet and goat cheese salads have never been so appreciated. The restaurant’s house-made pastas pair as well with bay clams as they do with Nehalem-sourced beef — Salmonberry’s bucatini, inflected with bits of Oregon cultivated dulse, is a must-order if available. Those who drink should sample liberally from the small-but-excellent wine menu.

With an invitingly nautical, fully renovated space smack in the center of the Port of Garibaldi marina complex, Garibaldi Portside Bistro specializes in smoked meats and high-end comfort food. After offloading their catch, fishermen from the local fleet happily refuel with microbrews, heaping rib platters, and the biggest prime rib French dip in town. Then there’s the house special: a blueberry-sauced, goat cheese, bacon, and avocado burger, best paired with a Bistro blueberry martini. Don’t miss the restaurant’s continuously updated specials and pop-up menus. The restaurant offers dine-in and takeout.

Pacific City’s understated, simultaneously casual and upscale restaurant on the Nestucca River makes for a great evening out after a day on the dunes. Focusing on Pacific Northwestern seafood like dory boat-caught groundfish, line-caught coho salmon, and all types of oysters and clams harvested by small family businesses from nearby bays, Riverhouse provides a menu that’s as eco-friendly as it is delicious. The restaurant’s house shellfish paella is worth the 20-minute wait. Drinkers should ask about pairings from Pacific City-based Twist Wine Co. The restaurant is open for dine-in and takeout.

Visitors at the nearby Salishan Resort pop by this renovated brick-and-tile factory cafe for albacore tuna melts on rye, wild mushroom ravioli, or marionberry crisps. The space is something to behold, bright with exposed white-washed beams, reclaimed architectural bits from historic Portland institutions, and a bar area bursting with color. With exceptional takeout options and hearty meals in the tiny community of Gleneden Beach, the friendly service in this 7,000-square-foot space will thrill even the pickiest visitors. Reservations are recommended for dinner, or use the online ordering system for takeout.

For Italian comfort food, Newport is the place to visit, and chef Justin Wills — famed for his farm-to-table fine dining restaurant Restaurant Beck in Depoe Bay — is the man to provide it. Sorella, his charming one-room Italian restaurant, brightens up Newport’s Nye Beach with bold local art on the walls and a full bar. It’s difficult enough to choose among handmade pasta offerings and beautifully charred Italian or Grandma-style pizzas, but the Sangiovese-braised brisket over polenta is a smart choice for those looking for something different. The restaurant is open for dine-in or takeout.

Natural food lovers on the central coast rejoiced when Yachats Brewing came to this little seaside village nestled into the forested cliffs north of Cape Perpetua. Not only did Yachats acquire its own clever brewery, with a varied list of coastal-themed beers like the Marbled Murrelet stout and Thor’s Well IPA, it gained a rambling taproom with a menu heavy on vegan dishes, ferments, and probiotic drinks. Open-faced mushroom sandwiches and salads with house-made sauerkraut will satisfy anyone who has eaten one too many fish and chips baskets. The restaurant also offers Sunday brunch and takeout.

Hawaiian-born chef Christian Jakobsen is one of the most motivated chefs on the central coast: Moving from temporary pop-ups in a steakhouse to a food cart during his years in Florence, he finally found a home for his Pacific Rim sushi, grill, and tiki bar. The comfortable dining room serves as the setting for an exuberant menu includes island-style specialties — think spam musubi with a sweet shoyu glaze and loco moco platter with rice and Hawaiian mac salad — as well as creative specialty rolls, burgers, tacos, and more. The restaurant is also open for takeout.

When Nancy Fraser retired from her treasured European deli and bakery, South Coast Gourmet, in tiny Port Orford, the locals who gathered for lunch and coffee each day mourned. They soon embraced its replacement, The Nest Café, which kept the charcuterie and cheese case, but also serves healthy breakfast smoothies, organic lunches with lamb and vegetables from nearby farms, and fish specials from the dock down the hill. Dine-in and takeout are available, but the small space may fill up — it’s best to plan ahead.