Tides Wharf's debut was in 1920 as a modest seafood restaurant and the first of its kind on the Sonoma Coast. When you enter the premises, you can see photographs of Alfred Hitchock's
"The Birds" which was shot right here. The place is huge: It has a gift store on one side, with things marine and overpriced. On the other side is a semi-gourmet food & fish shop where you can buy enormous shrimp, prawns and the biggest scallops I have ever seen!
As you make a right hand turn to go into the restaurant, you can catch a glimpse of Bodega Bay. It's a spectacular view. The gulls were particularly vocal as the early evening fell on the area; we were seated right in front of one of the huge windows and I was delighted in that I had spotted 2 sea otters plunging in and out of the water near the old pilings jutting at the sideview from our table. We caught sight of a few fishing trawlers docked, or making their way to a wharf of some sort.
The food was fresh and very tasty, except for the clam chowder soup. I guess I will never learn. This particular version not only added celery but also had corn kernels in it. Chuck had the snapper which must have been good as I didn't hear any complaints. He also had a glass of one of the local wines. Our waiter was very gracious but a bit slow to respond.
We enjoyed the meal and particularly what lay in front of us. We had fun checking out the shops in this newly renovated building. As our hotel was in Novato, we needed directions on how to get there from where we were. People are usually quite willing to help and we got on Highway 1 again and headed for town.
By the way, across the street from the restaurant is an inn perched on a hill which would have been the perfect place to spend the night had we not had reservations elsewhere. It's called the Inn at the Tides