The Best Romantic Restaurants for a Date in Marin

Dress up for a seafood dinner at Scoma's Sausalito, a waterfront restaurant on the Bridgeway Promenade that works especially well for a special occasion. The restaurant fishes from its own boat in season, and the menu can include whole Dungeness crab, California king salmon, Alaskan halibut, and Pacific petrale sole.

Reserve ahead and ask for a window seat in the outer dining room for the best view.

Bay views, sidewalk tables, and a polished dining room set the scene at Suzette, a French bistro on Bridgeway in Sausalito. Ask for one of the small tables out front or a window seat if you want the view to be part of the dinner.

The menu includes steak frites and boeuf bourguignon alongside quiche lorraine and croque madame. Dinner runs from 4pm to 8:30pm every day.

Take a seat at the long wooden bar or out on the spacious patio at Farmshop Marin, a farm-to-table restaurant in the Marin Country Mart in Larkspur. The open kitchen and pizza oven bring some energy to the room, while the patio gives you a quieter option near the Larkspur Landing ferry dock.

The sample dinner menu includes pizzas, Herb Roasted Mary's Heirloom Chicken, Seared Ora King Salmon, and Angry Crab Spaghetti Nero Pasta.

Poggio is a northern Italian trattoria on Bridgeway in Sausalito with a lively bar and a menu built around classic Italian dishes. The Negroni is a house favorite, while thin-sliced vitello tonnato is one of the signatures and the pastas include pappardelle with braised duck ragu.

Lunch and dinner start at 12pm and run until 9pm Monday through Thursday and until 10pm Friday through Sunday.

Le Garage is a waterfront French bistro in a converted garage beside Schoonmaker Beach in Sausalito, where French music and an open garage door give the room an easy, breezy feel. The signature mussels and clams come in five different preparations.

Dinner runs Monday through Thursday from 4pm to 8pm, Friday from 4pm to 8:30pm, and Saturday from 5pm to 8:30pm, with brunch on Saturday and Sunday from 10am to 2:30pm.

Settle in on the terrace or in the dining room at Sula, the restaurant at Cavallo Point in Fort Baker, where views stretch across San Francisco Bay toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The menu is modern American with global influences, with mains such as Moroccan spiced salmon and New York steak.

A lounge sits next door if you want a drink before or after dinner. Dinner service runs from 5pm to 9pm or 10pm.

Share sushi and small plates at Sushi Ran, a long-running restaurant on Caledonia Street in Sausalito with an extensive sake list. The menu includes miso-glazed black cod alongside sushi and other Japanese dishes made for sharing.

Dinner is served Sunday through Thursday from 5pm to 9:30pm and until 10pm on Friday and Saturday, with lunch Thursday through Sunday.

Gather around the fire pit or start with a glass at the long bar at Watershed, a Mill Valley restaurant in the Lumber Yard that cooks with ingredients from Marin. The restaurant sits in a former sawmill shed over the creek, with views toward Mt. Tam.

Walk-ups are welcome, and tables inside or on the patio can be booked ahead. The kitchen is open Monday through Thursday from 11:30am to 8:30pm.

Settle in for dinner at Restaurant Picco, a Cal-Italian restaurant on Magnolia Avenue in Larkspur with a seasonal menu, bustling bar, and high-ceilinged brick dining room. Risotto is made throughout the evening, giving you an easy dish to build the meal around.

Dinner is served Monday through Thursday from 5pm to 8:30pm, Friday and Saturday from 4:30pm to 9pm, and Sunday from 4:30pm to 8pm. Wine bottles are half price on Mondays.

Go for the view at The Caprice, a waterfront restaurant on Paradise Drive in Tiburon with unobstructed sightlines toward the Golden Gate Bridge. The restaurant has been open since 1956, with seafood and steaks leading the menu, including salmon, sea bass, ribeye, and crab cocktail.

Evening valet is complimentary, and the kitchen serves until 9:30pm daily.