The 19 Best Restaurants on the Oregon Coast Worth Visiting

The Pines Dine, Lincoln City’s Taft Beach food cart hall, is the gold standard for the format on the coast, with a dozen carts and three in particular you shouldn’t miss if you stop in. Try locally sourced albacore or bay shrimp at the build-your-own poke bowl spot Sha Sha’s. Stop at Momo on the Wheels for chubby little Nepalese-style dumplings and curry dipping sauces. And at Rook & Larder, a cart from Besaw’s and Wildwood alum Jim Holland, try a constantly changing seasonal menu that, were it served on a plate instead of in a to-go container, would rival many of the coast’s more elegant restaurants. His greatest hits include bowls of ramen with spicy crab or smoked pork belly, New England-style Dungeness crab rolls, and local rockfish po’ boys. But don’t overlook his excellent salads made with seasonal produce or, in summer, the Japanese riff on elote, a fresh ear swizzled with Kewpie mayo, sweet tonkatsu sauce, and furikake. A bonus, the colorful, climate-controlled dining area offers a fantastic selection of both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, free parking, frequent opportunities to see all-ages live music on the in-house stage, and remarkably clean restrooms. PSA to parents: take your food to go, and you can post up at the nearby Schooner Creek Discovery Park Playground.

Emily Teel