Half Moon Bay, CA

A handmade-pasta institution on Main Street going since the late 1980s, the place locals book for a proper dinner out. The kitchen makes its own pasta and bread daily and the clam chowder is a quiet local favorite.

A San Francisco-style trattoria and pizzeria on Main Street with a wood and mesquite grill, more casual than Pasta Moon and good for a group. The gourmet pizzas and rotisserie meats anchor a long menu that keeps a table of mixed eaters happy.

A Venetian-leaning coastal Italian spot on Main Street built around seafood and local produce. It does a full day from lunch through dinner and a weekend brunch, which makes it a flexible midday option when other Main Street kitchens are closed between services.

A no-frills waterfront seafood shack at Pillar Point Harbor that has been frying fish since the 1970s. The fish and chips, calamari and clam chowder are the order, eaten cash-and-paper-basket style with the fishing boats right outside.

A two-story Peruvian dining room on the bluff at Princeton with wraparound ocean windows and a Michelin track record. Ceviche, lomo saltado and a deep pisco list make it the coast's go-to for a special dinner with a sunset.

A red train caboose parked on Highway 1 south of town serving a tight menu of fine-dining-grade comfort food. The hamburger sandwich and the mac and cheese are the reasons people detour, run by a fine-dining alum cooking out of a tiny galley.

A craft barbecue carvery in El Granada smoking Texas-style brisket, ribs and sausage over wood, with coastal twists like a burnt-ends banh mi. It runs limited days and slices to order, so it has a counter-and-picnic-table feel rather than a sit-down one.

A family-run spot off Main Street cooking Yucatecan, not generic Tex-Mex, with banana-leaf cochinita pibil and lime-marinated poc chuc. The grilled red snapper fish-taco plate is the signature, built on Mayan flavors from the owner's home region.

A small family-run Mediterranean kitchen on Main Street turning out crisp falafel, spiced kofte, moussaka and gyros. It is the dependable mid-priced lunch or casual dinner, with dog-friendly outdoor tables and rare long waits.

A family-run Himalayan and Nepali kitchen near Main Street making house-ground spices and a long lineup of momos, curries and tandoori. It is the town's go-to for South Asian food and carries deep vegetarian and vegan options.

A fourth-generation Portuguese-American roadhouse in Pescadero open since 1894 and a James Beard American Classic. The cream of artichoke soup, the half-and-half with green chile, and the house-made pies are the institution; it is worth the drive south for the room as much as the food.

A family-run creperie doing savory and sweet crepes plus breakfast plates for the morning-into-lunch crowd. It is an easy, affordable breakfast stop before a beach or trail day, with a Half Moon Bay crepe and a smoked-salmon crepe as the standouts.

An Australian and New Zealand-style cafe in Montara, north of town, built on flaky savory hand pies and sausage rolls alongside good coffee. The rotating pie flavors and the early-open hours make it the north-coast breakfast or trailhead stop.

A European-style full bakery in the middle of Main Street, with cases of danishes, tarts, cookies and cakes plus a fast-casual breakfast and lunch counter. It is the central sweets-and-coffee stop while wandering downtown.

Pescadero's century-old grocery and bakery, known across the coast for warm artichoke-garlic bread baked since 1929. You build a deli sandwich, grab a loaf and local goods, and it is the natural picnic-stocking stop for a Pescadero or beach day.

A bright-red, mom-and-pop coffeehouse on Main Street with high ceilings, plenty of seating and live piano or jazz on some evenings. It works equally for a morning coffee with a laptop and a low-key evening over dessert and music.

The flat paved path along the bluff above the state beaches, with separate lanes for walkers and bikes and benches at the overlooks. It is the easy, stroller-and-everyone walk that links downtown to the beaches and runs for miles with the ocean the whole way.

A gravel bluff path south of town where coastal farmland meets the cliff edge, the most popular hike around. The roughly seven-mile out-and-back is mostly gentle, with wildflowers, seabirds and harbor seals along the way.

The signature loop in Purisima Creek Redwoods, up in the Santa Cruz Mountains above town. It climbs through shaded redwoods and fern-lined creek to an open ridge with ocean views, the area's real workout hike.

A paved clifftop trail on a former stretch of Highway 1 north toward Pacifica, bypassed when the tunnels opened. It is an easy, mostly level walk or ride along sheer ocean cliffs with interpretive stops and big-water views.

The bluff-top loop above Pillar Point Harbor that delivers the only real land view of the Mavericks break and a long sweep of coast. Short and easy, with a spur down toward the point and its tide pools.

A short, flat loop through Pescadero Marsh, the only large wetland on the peninsula coast and a major birding spot. Two easy miles take you along the estuary with beach access, with herons, egrets and migrating waterfowl the draw.

The harbor-front brewpub at Princeton that has anchored the local beer scene since 2000, with a big dog-friendly patio, fire pits and live music. It is the casual all-ages spot to land after a harbor walk with a pint and the water in view.

A small-batch craft brewery in the Princeton harbor village, the serious-beer choice on the coast and a recent small-brewery-of-the-year winner. The taproom rotates experimental ales and lagers and leans more beer-first than the bigger brewpub down the road.

A small-batch coastal distillery in Princeton Harbor with an indoor tasting bar and a fire-pit garden lounge. You work through flights of gin, whiskey, absinthe and barrel-aged spirits; it is the grown-up evening or rainy-afternoon stop.

The longest-running charter boat out of Pillar Point Harbor, running rockfish, salmon and tuna trips in season and gray-whale watching in winter. It is the way to actually get out on the water that the whole town is built around.

A small, well-run surf school working the mellow beach breaks just south of the harbor, well away from the Mavericks reef. Lessons run year-round for all ages with boards and wetsuits provided, and the small group sizes mean real instructor attention.

A working family farm in town with pony and train rides, a petting zoo and a big fall pumpkin patch, going since the 1940s. It is the dependable young-kids destination, easily a half-day of pony rides, animals and barn play.

A restored 1910 dairy in Pescadero with a couple hundred Alpine goats, a tasting room and a guided farm tour. You meet the goats, see the cheesemaking and sample chevre and honeys; the experience shifts with the season from baby goats in spring to cheese all year.

A 115-foot 1872 lighthouse on a bluff south of Pescadero, one of the tallest on the West Coast. The grounds and the rocky shoreline below are the draw, with tide pools and gray whales offshore in winter.

The working fishing harbor at Princeton where the charter boats, the seafood shacks and the breakwater all meet. It is the staging ground for everything coastside, from crab season to whale trips, and the breakwater walk gives you the Mavericks headland in the distance.

The big-wave spot off Pillar Point that draws the world's best surfers when winter swells stack up to 50-plus feet. You watch it from the bluff, not the water; the break itself is a half-mile offshore over a shallow reef.

The long arc of sand running below downtown, split into Francis, Venice and Dunes beaches with the paved Coastside Trail along the top. It is the easy default beach day, with wide flat sand for kids and dogs and a string of bluff overlooks.

A protected reef at Moss Beach, north of town, with some of the most accessible tide pools on the peninsula. At low tide you walk out onto exposed rock and find sea stars, anemones, urchins and crabs, with harbor seals hauled out further along.

A pair of secluded pocket beaches south of town, reached by a half-mile farm-field walk to the bluff and a steep staircase down. The seclusion is the point; the small lot caps the crowd and the southern cove is a harbor-seal protection area.