Buckeye Roadhouse
Our Rating....................................................... 9 Sea Lions
15 Shoreline Highway, Mill Valley 415-331-2600
Menus are here for lunch, dinner and Sunday brunch.
Website and reservations are here. Free valet parking.
Open for Coffee (early morning), Lunch and Dinner. Most recent editor review: November, 2008. Entree price range (for Dinner) at time of most recent review: $14-$32. Some fish entrees do not have prices listed ("A.Q." or "M.Q."); your server will share pricing.
#1 American restaurant and #2 overall on our Sausalito Visitors RankingTM list of the best restaurants in Sausalito for December, 2008 #5 on our Long Memories Top TenTM list of the best special occasion restaurants in Sausalito for December, 2008
#6 on our Shorts Top TenTM list of the best casual restaurants in Sausalito for December, 2008
Fast Forward SummaryTM: Great American food in a white-tablecloth setting where a wide variety of people and tastes find a great meal. The brick smoker out back produces both wonderful meats and an alluring aroma. Salads, steaks, seafood all executed consistently well, nice wine list. Pleasant, warm service but make sure you call ahead for a reservation during prime lunch and dinner hours, or expect a possible long wait. Can get noisy upstairs, especially when groups are present, so you may want to request downstairs seating.
Note: Yes, we make a big deal that our site focuses on Sausalito. The Buckeye is about 100 yards north of the Sausalito town line. We think that Napoleon, Disraeli and Churchill all would have agreed that's within the Sausalito sphere of influence.
Buckeye Roadhouse: The Details
The Buckeye Roadhouse is one of my favorite restaurants, and a great and elegant dining experience. I have friends who say that it's their favorite place in Marin County, let alone just in the area around Sausalito. Despite its white tablecloth style, it has also earned a place on our list of the Top Ten casual dining experiences in (or near) Sausalito.
Some of my favorite things about the Buckeye, followed by a few miscellaneous notes: 1. A table next to the big fireplace on a cool day or evening. Brings new meaning to the phrase "feel the warmth." 2. Fresh San Francisco sourdough French bread. Locals will tell you that many restaurants do this, but the bread is really fresher some places and a little stale at others. This is one of the fresh places. 3. Ask five different people and you can get five different favorite dishes. My birthday dinner might be their New York strip steak. One friend loves the smoked chicken salad with apples and blue cheese. Another raves about the local oyster bar. You get the idea. 4. Look out the window at the back and there's a little brick house. It's their on-site smoker, and when they open up the big metal doors there is a lot of wonderful lusciousness inside. And they don't have to open the doors for the scent to make you go all Pavlov. The barbecued baby back ribs are very flavorful, although the last time I had them they were just a little on the dry side underneath that thick rich sauce. 5. The steaks here are more normal human sized than at the San Francisco "my ribeye is bigger than your ribeye" specialty restaurants, but IMHO they are just as tasty and about 40% less expensive. The gruyere-potato cake that comes with the filet mignon is one of the best side dishes I've ever had with any steak, anywhere. 6. On a nice spring or fall day the light comes through the windows in a way that is hard to describe, but which makes you feel good. A wooded hillside is at one side and Highway 101 and then the Bay are on the other, but this is not really a view restaurant. 7. If you're here on a budget they serve one of the few hamburgers on Earth that is worth the $13 they charge for it at lunch ($14 at dinner), and the included fries are great. At the Buckeye you can actually taste the premium beef in the burger... unlike places that charge the same price but where the taste and texture match what you'd get at a Denny's. 8. The desserts are fabulous. If I were going to let myself have one dessert in the next year, I think their chocolate brownie with ice cream sundae might be it. Note: Their dessert menu is not online and it's been a year since I had one of these, so I apologize if I'm touting an item they don't currently offer. 9. Another way to really enjoy the Buckeye. If it's one of those days where you end up eating at an in-between time, this is a great place to come. I recently had a very late lunch here at about 3:00 PM. Only a handful of tables were occupied, the server was unhurried and pleasant, the room was quiet and the food was just as good as during the lunch or dinner rush. 10. And the people cried out in joy, "Free valet parking!" Other comments and notes: This place can get a little noisy at times, enough that you can have to raise your voice to be heard. This is most true in the upstairs area, especially if larger groups are there -- if you'd like things a little quieter ask to be seated downstairs, but be prepared to wait a little longer. Unlike many places, they're open on Mondays. They have patio seating that is popular at lunch. I seem to have come here a lot on cool days so I have not sat on the patio despite being a frequent guest. The freeway is close enough that the noise level may be an issue out there -- we have to check this next time a ComeToSausalito.com editor is there on a warm day. If you're a local commuting into San Francisco, they have a hut in the parking lot where they serve great coffee and treats from 6-10 AM in the morning.
The Buckeye is a local institution that goes back for generations, opening in 1937 just after the Golden Gate Bridge was completed. Back then it was the first good place on the highway to stop and get a meal after you crossed the Golden Gate Bridge heading north. In the men's room they have a picture of the tables set for a wedding party in 1941, and despite a couple of major remodels you can still recognize the space 68 years later.
Other thoughtful posts on Buckeye are here and here. And an interesting take on one dish from a French native is here.
Google Map Instructions: Use the "+" and "-" buttons to zoom in and out, the arrow keys to scroll the map, and the SAT button to see the satellite view.
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