The 10 Best Seafood Restaurants in Santa Rosa, CA
It’s fair to say Santa Rosa isn’t short of a restaurant or two. Whether you want Italian, Thai, Mexican, or good old fashioned American, you’ll find no shortage of options to suit. When it comes to seafood, the selection is equally vast. Regardless of whether you want fine dining or causal takeout, there’s a seafood restaurant out there just waiting to serve you. If you’re wondering where to start, take your pick from our roundup of the 10 very best seafood restaurants in Santa Rosa for 2020.
10. Hikuni Sushi Bar & Hibachi
Where: 4100 Montgomery Dr, #C, Santa Rosa, CA 95405
With a menu featuring hundreds of different sushi and hibachi styles, Hikuni Sushi Bar & Hibachi is Santa Rosa’s go-to for Japanese food. With a lunchtime special menu, a dinner menu, and an “all you can eat” option, there’s never a bad time to visit. Thanks to the freshness of ingredients, the quality of the cooking, and the stunning presentation, there’s also not a single dud on the menu.
9. Final Edition Bar & Grill.
Where: 412 Larkfield Shopping Ctr, Santa Rosa, CA 95401
Visit the classic neighborhood restaurant of Final Edition Bar & Grill, and you can expect a warm welcome, great service, affordable prices, and most of all, some truly exceptional food. While the menu may lack the bells and whistles of fancier joints, the fresh, seasonal ingredients, generous portions, and high impact flavors are unlikely to leave you feeling short-changed.
8. The Villa Restaurant and Bar
Where: 3901 Montgomery Dr, Santa Rosa, CA 95405
Great service, fabulous food, and an inviting ambiance combine to make The Villa Restaurant and Bar one of Santa Rosa’s best-loved eateries. Its menu of fresh, authentic Italian recipes includes such classic seafood dishes as Sole All’Agro, Calamari Steak, and a devilishly tasty Filet Mignon & Lobster. The prices aren’t the cheapest in Santa Rosa, but with food this good, you’re unlikely to care.
7. Sazon
Where: 1129 Sebastopol Rd, Santa Rosa, CA 95407-6832
If you’re looking to try something a little different, head to Sazon. The Peruvian restaurant is doing a fine trade in Latin inspired cuisine, and while the menu covers a wide range of foods, it’s the seafood dishes that really shine. With dishes like Tequeños (wonton puffs filled with wild Dungeness crab, shrimp, cream cheese, red bell pepper, and chives served with huancaína and huacatay sauce), Choritos a la Chalaca (six chilled New Zealand green mussels with diced onions, tomato, ají Amarillo, Cuzco corn, cilantro, and lime) and Palta Rellena (1/2 avocado stuffed with Dungeness crab and shrimp salad on bed of causa potato; served with hard‐boiled egg, tomato, olive, rocoto, and huacatay), this excellent little restaurant delivers the kind of taste sensation you dream about. Service is excellent, and the warmly inviting ambiance can’t help but please.
6. Mel’s Fish & Chips
Where: 1016 Hopper Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95403-1613
For good old-fashioned fish & chips, the aptly named Mel’s Fish & Chips is bang on the money. There’s nothing fancy or intimidating about either the service, the décor, or the menu… but there’s an art to keeping things simple, one that Mel’s achieves beautifully. Best of all, the prices are just as good as the food.
5. Sea Thai Bistro
Where: 2350 Midway Dr, Montgomery Village, Santa Rosa, CA 95405-5017
Looking for authentic Thai food served with a Californian twist? Then head to Sea Thai Bistro, where a classic menu of Asian inspired dishes made with fresh, local ingredients awaits. With its great selection of options, reasonable prices, generous portions, and exemplary wine list, it’s got all the qualities of a local favorite- as, indeed, it is. Despite being full to the rafters most evenings, service is always personal, attentive, and friendly, while the food never fails to deliver on taste, quality, and freshness.
4. The Jade Room Wine Bar + Oysterette
Where: 9900 Sonoma Highway, Kenwood, CA 95452
Venture just outside of Santa Rosa to Kenwood and you’ll find The Jade Room Wine Bar + Oysterette, a hidden gem that hits all the right notes with its sublimely fresh raw bar, refined menu, and superior service. The menu is a smorgasbord of delights, but those in the know highly recommend the crab cakes with poblano cream sauce.
3. Betty’s Fish ‘N’ Chips
Where: 4046 Sonoma Highway Santa Rosa, CA 95409
Informal, fun, and never short of outstanding, Betty’s Fish ‘N’ Chips is something of a local institution. Its selection of fresh seafood, specialty sandwiches, and homemade pies are almost legendary in certain quarters, and a quick bite of their battered Icelandic Cod will tell you why. While you can’t really go wrong with whatever you choose, Betty’s Special (1 piece Cod, 2 U15 Prawns, 2 Scallops, Chips, and Homemade Cole Slaw) will have you begging for more.
2. Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar & Grill
Where: 958 Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa, CA 95404
If you’re looking for a warm welcome, exceptional seafood, and a level of service that will leave your every need catered to, head to Santa Rosa Seafood Raw Bar & Grill. Regardless of what tickles your fancy, you’ll be spoilt for choice on an extensive menu featuring Fish Tacos, Fish and Chips, Po’boys, Ahi Poke, Calamari, Cioppino and Clam Chowder, oysters, and more besides. If the fine seafood wasn’t enough (although it really is), the superb wine list and selection of craft beers would still warrant its inclusion on our lineup.
1. Starks
Where: 521 Adams St, Santa Rosa, CA 95401
While ostensibly a steakhouse, the quality of seafood dishes on offer at Starks makes it a sure-fire winner with fish fans… as its title of Press Democrat’s Best of Sonoma County Seafood Restaurant will attest. The feel is casual but upscale, and the menu is similar: expect a well-stocked raw bar, hearty portions, a superb selection of whiskey’s (not to mention a score of delicious cocktails), and a good variety of delicately treated, incredibly flavorsome, sustainably sourced fish dishes.
