A Minted Location day guide
Dock & Dine in San Francisco
Dining on the San Francisco waterfront works from a berth rather than from a guest dock. Tie up first, then walk — the city is unusually good at that, because every marina here has a neighbourhood on top of it.
Pier 39 Marina is the one city-front operator with a guest-dock mechanism — day stay $25, in at 08:00 and out by 15:00, or $50 overnight, March to mid-October only, with a 24-hour advance booking minimum and no same-day arrivals. Fisherman's Wharf is at the top of the ramp, and Fog Harbor Fish House sits directly above the marina's 300 berths.
South Beach Harbor puts you beside the ballpark, a short walk from the Embarcadero and from Waterbar, Mission Rock Resort and Red's Java House. The San Francisco Marina puts you on Marina Green, and Pier 39 puts you in the middle of the Wharf, a few minutes from The Franciscan Crab. Every one of those is a working berth with a city attached, which is a better proposition than a courtesy float nobody guarantees.
Across the Bay the arrival is more literal. Sam's Anchor Cafe in Tiburon carries the heading "TIE UP TO THE PIER!" and runs a live pier camera; dock length, depth, LOA limit and time limit are settled by calling ahead. In Sausalito, plan on a berth or the tender.
The chart below reads the Bay rather than a restaurant strip, because in this market the geography is what decides your day: the bar, the Gate, the one fuel dock, the berths that exist, and the two anchorages you may legally use.
The stops, as their own docks describe them
| Spot | Where | Arriving by boat |
|---|---|---|
| Pier 39 Marina guest dockThe one guest-dock mechanism on the city front — book it as a berth rather than as a table, and Fisherman's Wharf is at the top of the ramp. | Fisherman's Wharf | Day stay $25 (in 08:00, out by 15:00) or $50 overnight, March to mid-October, 24 hrs advance minimum |
| Fog Harbor Fish HouseIt sits directly above the 300 berths of Pier 39 Marina, which is exactly how you arrive: book the marina, then walk up the ramp. | Pier 39, Fisherman's Wharf | Book Pier 39 Marina and walk up |
| Waterbar · Mission Rock Resort · Red's Java HouseThree rooms on the water on the South Beach and Mission Creek side of the city, and all three are reached the same way: take a berth at South Beach Harbor and walk the Embarcadero. | The Embarcadero and Mission Bay | Berth at South Beach Harbor and walk |
| The Franciscan Crab RestaurantOn Fisherman's Wharf, and reached the way the whole city is: berth first — South Beach, Pier 39 or Marina Green — and then walk. | Fisherman's Wharf | Berth at Pier 39 Marina and walk |
Dockage notes are what each restaurant publishes on its own site — space is first-come and dinner-hour rafting is real, so hail ahead. Where a venue states nothing about docking, we say so rather than guess.
Planning more than lunch?
We represent buyers wherever the right boat sits — shortlisting, surveying and sea-trialing on the buyer's side of the table. Tell us the mission and we'll tell you which boat, and which berth, it calls for.