10 Best Restaurants in The Far North, California

This casual breakfast and lunch place inside a clapboard house satisfies diners' cravings with dishes like homemade slow-roasted corned-beef hash topped with two eggs and accompanied by a slice of sourdough or gluten-free bread. You can get breakfast and excellent pastries all day, with soups, salads, sandwiches, wraps, and burgers on the menu for lunch.

Travelers mingle with locals at this downtown spot for microbrews and pub fare that includes vegetarian-nut, elk, and ½-pound Angus-beef burgers, along with pesto-cream mussels, duck tacos, and smoked-salmon and classic BLTs. The house brews range from pale ale to a porter, with growlers available to go.

A homegrown variation on the Panera theme, this extremely popular operation (as in expect a wait at peak dining hours) serves pastries, eggs and other hot dishes, and good coffee drinks, juices, and smoothies for breakfast. The chefs whip up a diverse selection of wraps, panini, sandwiches, burgers, rice bowls, and soups the rest of the day.

Tap into the spirit of 21st-century Weaverville at this mellow café that serves breakfast (all day) and lunch, in winter specializing in hot soups to warm body and soul. Expect all the usual suspects at breakfast, along with Country Cheesy Potatoes (topped with green chili) and sausage between two biscuits topped with homemade sausage gravy; a spicy club wrap and several vegetarian sandwiches are among the lunch offerings.

A favorite gathering spot for locals, this small coffee shop in a stone building serves specialty wraps and burritos for breakfast and lunch, plus soups and salads. Pastries, made daily, include muffins, cookies, and scones (great blackberry ones in season).

The famous brewery's high-ceilinged, heavy-on-the-wood taproom bustles day and night with patrons washing down well-conceived gastropub grub with the best-selling Pale Ale and smaller-batch offerings, some only available here. The open kitchen turns out sandwiches, burgers, wood-oven pizzas, and fish-and-chips (the fish's batter made with Pale Ale) with remarkable speed.

This convivial neighborhood pub stands out because of its abundance of shaded patio seating (and full horseshoes pit) in the landscaped backyard. After a long day of hiking and exploring, the restaurant is a reliable bet for hearty comfort fare—sandwiches, half-pound burgers, fish-and-chips, and tacos, plus a daily special or two.

Craft brews, from pale ales to stout, and food that's a cut above the expected have made this brewpub with a cavernous industrial interior a hit. The cheese-curd and chicken-wing starters and burger and grilled-chicken sandwich are among the best sellers.

The northern sibling of the Yaks on the 5 restaurant in Dunsmuir begins the day serving breakfast burritos and sandwiches, staying open until mid-evening for lunch- and dinner-oriented burritos and Buddha bowls along with burgers overflowing with ingredients that might include bacon, avocado, pickled jalapeños, crispy onion strings, and one or more cheeses. Smaller than the original Yaks but similarly enlivened by colorful murals and pulsating to indie rock, the Mt. Shasta iteration benefits from zealous staffers aiming to please.