Eating Your Way Through the San Juans
If you’re logging lots of miles in the San Juans, you’ll have earned some good meals and an extra dessert or two.
San Juan Island
There are decent restaurants in town.
Our favorite is Friday Harbor House -the same Friday Harbor House we recommended above for accommodations- it has great food and amazing outdoor views. Even if you don’t stay or eat there, you’ll want to get a drink on the patio overlooking the harbor!
Another excellent meal is Down Riggers right in the harbor.
For lunch, Bakery San Juan -conveniently on the ride route both to and from the Cattle Point Lighthouse- is excellent!
Roche Harbor Resort has a couple nice restaurants
The absolute biggest deal on San Juan Island: If you are an oyster lover, there is likely NO better place on the planet for lunch than Westcott Bay Shellfish! You will eat oysters plucked -literally- from the surrounding water. It may ruin you forever for eating oysters anywhere else!.
For Wine and Beer, Island Wine -the owners are super-accommodating.
If you need fruit, veggies or other snacks for your ride, Kings Market is a very nice grocery store.
New Hannah Farm has an incredible offering of fresh produce.
It goes without saying there’s unbelievably fresh fish on the island. We’ve heard good things about Matt’s Fish.
Orcas Island
Since we don’t stay on Orcas, our knowledge of food choices are narrower
The Brown Bear Bakery in East Sound is a fabulous treat! Since there’s almost always a line out the door, you’ll need to budget half an hour. If you’re the forward-thinking type, you’ll pre-order a picnic lunch to eat at the top of Mt. Constitution.
You can also get good sandwiches, coffee, fruit and fill your water bottles at Orcas Island Market.
New Leaf Café in East Sound has excellent food. On occasion, we’ve spent a couple overnights on Orcas and the attached Outlook Inn is a truly lovely place to stay
Boathouse CiderWorks -immediately adjacent to the ferry terminal- is a great place to rest your overworked legs and get something cool and delicious to drink. When we were there, there were some food carts around as well.
Orcas Hotel also immediately adjacent to the ferry terminal. It’s a nice spot for a good meal and -because you can see the ferries coming in and out- it takes the stress out of missing your boat back to Friday Harbor. Also, because we’ve experienced “your ferry was cancelled due to crew shortage”, it’s nice to keep warm by the Orcas Hotel firepits and enjoy something to drink
Inn at Ship Bay -midway between Mt. Constitution and East Sound- is pricey, but has excellent food and stunning views. Also, we’ve sometimes, but not always, gotten friendly service there
Lopez Island
Lopez is a quiet island with few restaurants. It gets even quieter on the off-season when most restaurants close. But, if it’s open, we recommend Vita’s Wildly Delicious for lunch