Spindrift Restaurant

My 17 yr old daughter and I went in on ¹⁰⁄₁₄ as part of our Dad/​Daughter Delta Dive Dinners thing we have been doing for a bit and were blown away by the food and excellent service we received by Steven. He is a bartender there who was waiting the tables since it was a bit slow I imagine but he was fun, engaging and a real good human during our visit.
As we explore areas of the delta on this experience we may make our way back to this place as we were both really happy with the experience
I had the baseball but steak which is a thick cut sirloin in an Au Poivre with mashed potatoes and she had the salmon and both were excellent

Old and kinda dark. Nautical stuff everywhere! Full bar friendly and very very casual service. We had steak and eggs special (part of James steak for 3 days challenge). 7.95 on weekends served with potatoes and biscuits and gravy. All the food was fine. Nothing secial but not bad. Bloody marys were decent (and needed). Server seemed confused about my request for tabasco and offered to put horse radish in my second bloody mary which was sweet, but I still had to ask for the tabasco again (I like it on everything). The store downstairs is pricey. We bought an 18 pack of coors lite for 21 $. But the lady that runs it, they call her Miss Peggy, is the sweetest lady. She is the grandmother of the bartender I guess. It was a brief phone conversation with her the night before that convinced us to come here for breakfast. On Sunday they have eggs bene, my fave breakfast, so if we visit again it will be a Sunday!

Best fish and chips in the USA with wonderful service from Chris and Sherri.
We recently stopped in at the spindrift for lunch. My husband ordered the fish and chips and they were amazing. Crisp batter, firm fish and nothing soggy about it.
I usually do not order fish and chips in the USA as I am continually disappointed, being from Grimsby in England, I’ve never found anything comparable until now.
We went back two days later and we all ordered fish and chips and they were just a good. Finally a great place for traditional fish and chips.
Highly recommend stoping by to check it out.

HAD AN AWUFUL, RUDE, RUDE, RUDE! EXPERIENCE HERE. To begin with, the food was mediocre or below. I got the chicken fried steak and the «fried» part was mushy and soggy. I thought I could get past the bad food, but unfortunately that wasn’t the worst part. My younger brother was playing pool with his friend (which we payed for) and when he was done, he climbed back into the booth. Then, the waitress who was serving us ran up to my brother and yelled, «Don’t mess with our furniture!!!» in a rude and aggressive tone. My brother didn’t even really step on the furniture, just climbed over it to be able to get back into his seat to eat. MAYBE she could have said please, or made it sound like less of a rude command/​getting yelled at. It is quite clear they they don’t know how to talk to children there. My brother sat there, bewildered and trying to figure out what he had done to have the waitress yell at him in that rude of a tone. However, what happened next was the LAST STRAW. An old blonde lady, who I assumed was the manager or one in charge, came once again to yell at my brother and his friends for being «troublemakers.» Since when did getting into your seat make you a trouble maker? She was condescending and rude, once again talking to the boys like she was their parent and had some authority over them. She needs to be reminded that WE ARE THE CUSTOMERS, WE PAY YOU. I watched my brother again, confused, asked he continued to ask her what exactly he did wrong. She immediately called over the first rude waitress to testify, and she accused him of «throwing the pool balls» and «jumping on the furniture.» Which, was all lies and dramatization. Then she continues to brutally insult my brother, saying «I don’t know if that is what you do in your house, but you can’t do it here,» in a disgusted tone, implying that we were some type of animals. She continued to make threats, but none of us took it with any weight. It was sad to come here and see my little brother being torn down by adults who should know better than to be so rude to anybody, no matter what age. I will NEVER GO HERE AGAIN, and tell all of my friends and whoever is still reading this to steer clear too. It’s not worth your time, or your money to go to a place where you may be verbally attacked for doing nothing other than be a customer. WORST. SERVICE. EVER.

I’m not a fan of Unilocal only because it seems like people just want a platform to complain. In this instance I found it ironic that Gary H and I were in around the same time and had the same opinion. I’m 44, came in with my 2 little girls, and my parents. I’ve worked «industry» for over 20yrs and I know that families are usually a PITA (pain in the ass), but I have trained my family to behave well or we won’t stay… and I always consider my server, tip excessively because of that, and try to help with keeping things tidy and not a problem.
I heard it was owned by a partner of the Hacienda in Folsom, Chris. His other partner, Dave, is a great customer of Players Pub in Fair Oaks. I was very excited to have dinner there knowing the reputation of the Hacienda and Spin Drift. Chris’s partner is a great guy and I assume Chris is the same. Our bartender/​server may of had a bad day, but give your customers a chance… don’t judge a book by its cover. Maybe Gary H had his whole family and they didn’t look like tippers either, although I doubt it.
Upon our greeting, the idea of ordering cocktails was over. Sodas, food, check, see ya!!! I have never been tempted to walk out before ordering until tonight. I tend to be a heavy overtipper even with bad service, especially with my family… maybe your last customer was a jerk and we’re the backlash. I knew this wasn’t the case. Don’t take it out on every customer that walks in. I’m guessing your not paying your bills on the lady with the fishbowl of white zin (pink wine glass), the guy with the bud bottle, or the guy with the coors light bottle. The more you sell, the more you make. Simple math.
Gary… were you seated by the lady in the black mesh pullover with the thong on (not sports illustrated, more like natural geographic) and the cigarette in one hand. I took a pic but refuse to post out of respect for the owner. I doubt she worked there.
I’m so sorry for a bad review Ms pink tank top, but you would have really liked our group if you would have given us a chance… not to mention we would have spent a lot on alcohol and tipped much better. The food was great. Wish I had felt welcome enough to have a beverage or several… I’m a bartender.

Wow. A tired traveler in search of grub. Walked in, up to the bar. All I wanted was a beer and some food. The bartender (chunky blonde) could NOT have been more disinterested in serving me.
Got my burger and fries (very good) and my beer, ate as fast as I could and got the hell out. What the hell are you doing working there if you hate it? Piss off. That dollar I left was way too much for a tip.

Feeling adventurous the other day coming home across the Delta on Route 12, we discovered the Spindrift Restaurant & Bar. Just the kind of kitsch place we love. Nautical to the nines including the stern of Captain Ahab’s ship cantilevered above the bar! Since cool locations usually have mediocre food, we didn’t expect otherwise. We were wrong!!! Homemade split-​pea soup, outstanding fish tacos & the lightest, most delicate fish & chips ever. Out waiter, Jill & Chris the owner made us feel like regulars. OMG, the best Cadillac Margaritas ever!!! We’ll be looking for reasons to take Route 12 again to return to this jewel in the Delta.

It’s unfortunate that my first Unilocal review is a negative one; however, I just had to share my experience. My dad just recently got a boat so he thought he’d take the family out for a nice lunch and to check out the scenery. The restaurant had a cool vibe. Kind of pirate-​ey, but it did seem a little dirty. The menu was nothing special– very simple food, so I, along with my stepmom and sister, decided to order a turkey and avocado sandwich (what could go wrong with that?) We were surprised to find out that yes, it is possible to screw that up. Service was quick, but the order wasn’t right. White bread instead of wheat and toasted when I didn’t ask for it to be toasted. The turkey in my sandwich was clearly lunch meat probably purchased at Safeway and had the thickness of printer paper. They gave me a WHOLE 3 SLICES of Turkey (wooohooo) which would equate to 1 normal thickness slice. The avocado was fresh though. My dad got the shrimp Louie and it came in a conch shell– clearly overcompensating for the terrible food. I’m not a seafood eater, but from what he said, the shrimp were tiny and had a terrible stench coming from them. We stopped before we got food poisoning.

We love this restaurant, the food is amazing! Every night we’ve come here it’s been really good! Great people own this and wonderful workers! We highly recommend coming here!

Great location in the middle of nowhere to get some drinks and grub. I didn’t order any food here, just drinks. The bartender must have been sampling the drinks heavily since his fly was down the whole time, but that just made for more and better jokes by us on the other side of the bar.

They have the stickiest dinner tables I have ever seen… been there several times and always have to take ‘wet wipes’ to clean the the table we sit at… only place near the campground we go to… food is quite greasy.
Inside is Sooo dark, because it is so dirty!

Simply amazing!!! Found it by accident! Looked like a fun place. Stopped in and had the Steak and Lobster special!!! Loved it! Clam chowder was awesome!!! Great service!

The Saturday and Sunday steak-​and-​eggs special is a bargain at $ 5.95. A Bloody Mary ($ 2.99) can put a rosy glow on the day.
Waitstaff are friendly but often stretched a bit thin at breakfast time.
Many morning customers, apparently denizens of the scruffy marinas nearby, are a bit disreputable looking and tend to stare at anyone who’s clean-​cut and decently dressed («You ain’t from around here, are ya, boy?»), but being boat people, are probably harmless.

Very cool joint —
The food is ok, and the chef (im guessing the owner) really seemed to care and wanted to get things right so he came out and asked a few questions — gotta respect that.
This is just one of those fun places when you are out camping/​boating and need a drink — older crowd of course, but those old fogies can dance! where did they get all that energy?

This review is for the restaurant.
First, I want to say that I’ve gone to this place, the bar, often enough over the years at different times of the day and night, happy hour, unhappy hour, you name it. The latest bartender, Steven, is great. He knows his stuff, friendly and always at your service. The owner, Chris, is a great guy all around, hard working to boot.
My issue here is the help at the restaurant. It’s never really been great, but good enough to crawl along, that is, until last Saturday night. Granted we came in at 9:00 pm (closing time 10:00 pm), and it was pretty much winding down, but their sign said they were open for another hour.
However, when we got to the hostess counter, no one was there, but there was a gaggle of waitresses beside it just gossiping. No one paid attention to us and I managed to catch the eye of one and signaled that I was going to take a menu and take a booth for two. Mind you, there was only one table occupied with customers in this otherwise empty dining room and they were getting ready to leave. We tried to get served!
Well, to make a long story short, we walked out after not getting acknowledgment, let alone attention, from the various cacophonous waitresses for about 10 minutes. I’m submitting this review so that Chris will gain an insight on what he probably doesn’t see when he’s not there. It was like an episode of Food Network’s Restaurant Stakeout. The show is fake, but at Spindrift, the anarchy is real. It’s out of control!
I’ve gotten more hospitality at self-​serve restaurants. You might think I’m trying to be funny, but when your tummy can use some honey, one can get pretty ornery. Go get them Chris, I’m rooting for you before they ruin your restaurant.
The four stars is for the bar and the store. Buy me a drink next time Chris.

Stopped in the store briefly. Good selection for a small store, especially of wine!
Had breakfast at the restaurant. They’re known for the steak & eggs, which we didn’t try, but if it’s anything like the Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs, it’s great! Up there in the top 5 I’ve had, and I eat them everywhere! The toast was dry and hard, the potatoes were obvious leftover bakers from the night before, and the biscuit was nothing special, but that chicken fried steak was DELICIOUS! And the sourdough stack was awesome too!
We had 2 waitresses, one was really short with us and pretty rude. The other one was super nice and attentive! We were told to take a seat, while we noticed the nice waitress taking people to their seats and giving them options. She also talked to them about the menu, letting them know their options. The mean one just took our order and didn’t give us any information WHATSOEVER! I think she was more ‘in charge’ than the nice one, which was a shame. She was not good for business!

Not good… Appetizer (calimari) was way over cooked, sent back. Salad and bread were decent. 8oz Sirloin & 5 – 6 oz lobste dinner sucked~. Steak was chewy with scattered grissel, couldnt cut it with their steak knives, (not good). Waitress was nice but not helpful with the awful steak that we left on our plates. Offered desert (passed as we don’t do sweets). No discount offered for bad meal. Definetly not worth the drive out to the middle of BFE. Never again!

We’ve been back several times already this year. Steven the bartender is great and often times the owner is there, not sure what his name is but he seems to be around a lot, overseeing things. My one time eating breakfast here last year it was not good, but this year (two days ago), it was very good and cooked just as I requested it. Really a fun place with friendly staff. I find the prices very reasonable, especially compared to the bay area prices I’m used to. I’ve heard the pizza they have recently added to the menu is very good but I haven’t tried it yet.

This review is for the Spindrift restaurant, not the actual marina… Slightly confusing with the title, but here we go!
We happened upon this little delta jewel while biking along the levee in search of a simple icy beverage. As we approached the building we saw a sign advertising all sorts of happy hour specials — both food and drinks. Not knowing anything about this place, all it took was a few flashy signs to lure us in.
Being a Wednesday afternoon, the bar/​restaurant was very quiet. However, as others have stated, the company of the very friendly bartender was enjoyable. Inside is pretty cool. It’s really just a weird mix of old nautical décor… puffer fish, a REALLY large ships wheel hanging on the ceiling, and the transom of some old boat popping out of the wall — yes. Plenty of stuff to look at and plenty of TV’s if you are there for sports.
Happy hour was great… Good drink specials, cheap tacos and other random Mexican dishes ($ 1 Wednesday specials.) I couldn’t really ask for more. There was nothing elaborate or super special about the food, but come on, we are in a bar in the middle of the delta after all. The food may have tasted slightly better than it actually was because I was quite famished at the time… But don’t let this deter you. It is still solid food, with a good atmosphere, a great price, and a very nice bartender. I will definitely be back. (In fact, we returned the very next day for happy hour again and had a similar experience as the first day!)
As a side note, I found the sweet potato fries to be among some of the best sweet potato fries I have ever had. Definitely give them a shot.

When my fiancé and I walked in, we were pleasantly surprised by the rustic, nautical décor. There was only one other person in the entire restaurant (at least the bar area): our bartender, Steven, who was awesome. We were planning on just stopping in for a beer, but especially as the bar filled up we enjoyed ourselves so much we stayed for hours.
We happened to ask about a mixed drink that was sent back, and we got it for free. Heavy on the coconut flavor so it wasn’t exactly to my liking, but my sweetie was happy to give it a home. I stuck to beer (which is hard to screw up anyway) but it was always well-​poured and at a good temperature. Despite how much I was intrigued by the night’s special: ribs that had just come out of the oven at the time, we decided to split an order of the meat-​stuffed shells. I did not regret the decision, as the meat was well-​seasoned and the whole thing was topped with plenty of cheese! While conversing with some of the locals, they all seemed to agree the place is reasonably priced and very hospitable if you choose to keep a boat there. The bathroom was even clean, and I didn’t faint when we got our check.
Although we still have a lot more of the Delta to explore, I’d be more than willing to cruise back through the Loop to visit Spindrift again!