The restaurant at Little River Inn is open every day. It was once a Victorian farmhouse, then at the edge of town. But the town has expanded and engulfed the farm. It's been praised by restaurant critics for more than two decades and remains something of a legend in Mendocino. The cuisine has been influenced by France, Italy, Asia and Mexico and features local produce and free-range poultry as much as possible.
Entrees run from sturgeon with truffle sauce, for example, to boneless veal roast.
During good weather, there is the option of dining on the large deck in back, which faces onto a beautiful garden. California cuisine is the specialty, and it is influenced considerably by local seafood. Service is warm but not intrusive. Breakfast and lunch are available in the Garden Room, a large, airy room with a skylight ceiling that really was a garden at one time. The enduring fame of the city of Mendocino is irrevocably connected to the palates of a few thousand visitors who know good restaurants when they find them.