The Best Places to Eat and Do in Mill Valley
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The best places to eat and do in Mill Valley, according to the experts: Michelin Guide, AAA, and San Francisco Chronicle have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Playa comes out on top.
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The Buckeye Roadhouse and Madrona Bakery hold the next two places. San Francisco Chronicle shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with AAA next.
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Rank 1. Playa
Mexican
Colorful tiles, blown-glass lights, and walls of windows make this Mill Valley Mexican restaurant feel like a vacation you didn't plan. The menu leans Baja, with al pastor tacos, chorizo empanadas, and quesadillas stuffed with mushroom and squash blossom, and the margaritas and mezcal list gives people a reason to linger on the sunny back patio well past dinner. It holds a Michelin Bib Gourmand.
The awards
- Michelin Guide Michelin Guide: Bib Gourmand
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The awards
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Rank 3. Madrona Bakery
Bakery
The awards
- San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle: Best bakeries in San Francisco Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle: Best restaurants in Marin County: Sausalito, Novato and San Rafael
- San Francisco Chronicle Best bakeries in San Francisco Bay Area
- San Francisco Chronicle Best restaurants in Marin County: Sausalito, Novato and San Rafael
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Rank 4. Hook Fish Co
Seafood
A San Francisco fish market that planted a second flag inside Proof Lab Beer Garden in Mill Valley, where the obvious move after a Marin hike is a fish taco. The fried rockfish comes out of the oil crackling, buried under a carrot habanero salsa that uses sweetness and acid to dial back the heat rather than just announce it. Order at the counter, find a sunny spot, and let the endorphins from the trail and the chile sort themselves out.
The awards
- San Francisco Chronicle San Francisco Chronicle: Best restaurants in Marin County: Sausalito, Novato and San Rafael
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The coastal redwoods here top 250 feet, and standing under them has a way of making whatever you were anxious about feel appropriately small. This 558-acre national monument northwest of San Francisco holds one of the last ancient redwood groves in the Bay Area, with about six miles of trails winding past Cathedral Grove and along Redwood Creek. Serious hikers can push into adjacent Mount Tamalpais State Park when the trees aren't enough.
The awards
- Condé Nast Traveler Condé Nast Traveler: The 28 Best Things to Do in San Francisco