For more than a decade, Shane and Dana Lucas of Fishetarian Fish Market have have been serving locally sourced seafood at their oceanfront property that’s been in their family since 1973, almost 50 years!
The beach adjacent to Fishetarian, “Fishetarian Cove” features waterfront picnic tables overlooking beautiful Bodega Bay. You can watch fishermen work and sea lions play in a beautiful, casual, dog-friendly environment, while enjoying delicious seafood.
Top-selling items include Fishetarian’s local and sustainably caught “Fish n’ Chips” featuring fresh-caught rock cod, which is offered dipped in beer batter, panko-crusted, or gluten-free. Or, enjoy the famous “Shane Fish Tacos,” made simply with fresh ingredients and cod caught right off the dock. And if grilled prawns are more your style, they make a fine taco too.
Of course, don’t miss out on Charlie’s Chowder, a Boston-style preparation that has received awards at several Bodega Bay Chowder Competitions and is named after Dana and Shane’s son.
Fishetarian’s full-service outdoor oyster bar offers bivalves both raw and grilled, with housemade BBQ sauce, garlic butter, or their “Maui Wowie”sweet chili sauce sprinkled with green onion and cilantro.
Other popular offerings include crab, rockfish, and seared ahi sandwiches and their amazing fried calamari. Naturally, there are vegetarian and vegan offerings, grab ’n’ go goodies, and a kids menu including a fun, fish shaped cookie! Plus wines, ciders and beers, including a flight of five brews on tap and Sonoma County’s legendary Pliny the Elder double IPA.
Dana and Shane are understandably happy that there’s often a line out the door. But their online ordering system lets you order ahead and beat the crowd. Just visit FishetarianFishMarket.com and click the “Online Ordering Menu” link.
And if you can’t make it here, Fishetarian can ship it there. Visit their website to order chowder, sourdough bread bowls, smoked seafood, crab cakes, and more. You also can join the mailing list to receive updates, news and special offers.
It’s no surprise that Fishetarian won “Best Seafood” in the Bohemian this year and a Trip Advisor “Best of the Best” award in 2020. It also was listed in the Top 20 things to do in Dream Vacations magazine in 2019 and was nominated by the Press Democrat as the “Best Eats on the Coast” and the “Best Seafood” restaurant in 2019 to 2021.
Seafood comes naturally to Shane and Dana. Shane’s grandfather, father and uncle all were commercial fishermen, and his parents, Jim and Peggy Lucas, purchased the Lucas Wharf fish dock in 1973 and opened Lucas Wharf restaurant in 1984, recently sold.
Shane and Dana’s business plan for Fishetarian came together naturally. The couple had a unique background which aided them in creating a successful coastal enterprise. Shane ran the wholesale dock at Lucas Wharf for over 10 years, then spent another decade at North Coast fisheries as a buyer and top salesman, so he had deep connections with local fishermen, plus a proud family heritage of restaurant ownership. Dana previously had owned and operated several wholesale food production businesses. The building next to the Lucas Wharf fish house had been sitting vacant and so eventually, Dana wondered, “Why don’t we start doing this on the side?” And Fishetarian Fish Market, “Sustainable Seafood & Good Eats” was born! The couple started with just a single employee and five menu items. Their business grew exponentially.
Yet, Fishetarian isn’t just about food, it’s about community, and a happy one at that. All ingredients are sourced locally, organic whenever possible. Fishetarian is a proud member of “Go Local” which offers a discount to Sonoma County residents.
Shane and Dana are very proud of their “Bummer-Free Zone Guarantee,” “If you’re not happy with your meal, we remake it or your money back,” Shane said.
And they don’t want to take credit for their successful 10-year run themselves.
“Our team is what makes it happen,” Dana said. “Not Shane and I.”
To that end, Dana and Shane now offer their nearly two dozen employees 100 percent healthcare.
“Our business is about our family passion,” Dana said. “I love what we’ve created.”
Fishetarian Fish Market
599 CA-1, Bodega Bay, CA.
707.875.9092
FishetarianFishMarket.com
