Restaurant concepts have come and gone from the second-floor waterfront space at Johnson Street near Bridgeway in Sausalito, but the interior has held steady, anchored by its dark timber bones, nautical accents and marina backdrop, giving it a long-standing old-school identity.
Earlier this month, the location entered its latest chapter with the opening of Lighthouse Bar & Grill by the Andresen family, who have been in the Marin restaurant business for 34 years.
Annette and Gerner Andresen were still living in their native Denmark when they first began exploring restaurant possibilities in the United States, and what’s now their newest venture was also their first prospect three and a half decades ago.
“My dad got called over to look at the restaurant here at that time,” said Kenneth Andresen, who runs the new restaurant alongside his parents. “The owner owed back rent, and the landlord said if he didn’t come up with it, my dad could take over.”
Lighthouse Bar & Grill recently opened in Sausalito. (Photo by Matt Spinetta/Prismic Photography)
That deal fell through, but the same property manager pointed the family to a site a few blocks north on Bridgeway that, according to the Sausalito Historical Society, was part of an 18-hole miniature golf course in the 1920s. In 1992, Gerner Andresen took it, moved the family to the United States and opened Lighthouse Café, which has been serving Danish American breakfast fare ever since.
A second café followed in Corte Madera in 2013, and two years later, the family launched the first Lighthouse Bar & Grill at the Club at Harbor Point in Mill Valley, which is managed by Kenneth Andresen.
When the Seafood Peddler closed in 2024 after 12 years, the landlord returned to Andresen with the Johnson Street opportunity, a full-circle moment at what’s been home to a solid lineup of predecessors dating back to the 1960s, including Christopher’s, Flynn’s Landing, Cat N Fiddle and Harbor View Restaurant.
Andresen says the Seafood Peddler chef and sous chef are still in the kitchen, and the team is reviving a few popular classics but with their own twist. This includes the Maine lobster and Dungeness crab rolls, clam chowder, lobster bisque, Caesar salad, Dungeness crab Louis and an iceberg wedge they’re finishing with Point Reyes blue cheese, bacon and crispy onions.
New additions include a seared ahi tuna niçoise salad, a Norwegian smoked salmon BLT on open-faced sourdough, an Angus cheeseburger with onion-bacon jam and a Southwestern-style fried chicken sandwich.
Appetizers are mostly seafood-focused and feature Point Reyes Miyagi oysters, coconut prawns with sweet Thai chili sauce, seared scallops, Dungeness crab cake and ahi tuna tartare with pear, mint and habanero sesame oil.
Entrées span both land and sea, from petrale sole piccata and grilled Pacific halibut with basil beurre blanc to lamb, pork and veal chops, Southern fried chicken and a Danish-style wiener schnitzel.
A dedicated steak menu highlights Midwest-sourced cuts including New York strip, center-cut filet mignon, bone-in cowboy steak and a Tomahawk for sharing, with a la carte sauces (béarnaise, bordelaise, peppercorn and mushroom cream) and sides such as twice-baked potato, grilled asparagus and creamed spinach, complemented by a concise cabernet sauvignon wine list.
Lighthouse Bar & Grill’s center-cut filet mignon with béarnaise sauce, asparagus and potatoes. (Photo by Matt Spinetta/Prismic Photography)
The Andresens have made a few interior updates, including doing away with the retail fish market and lobster tank. The bar top itself remains, its freshly polished surface still bearing the markings of loyal regulars over the decades. The beverage program includes classic and signature cocktails, eight beers on tap and a wine list of mostly California bottles. The tables and chairs are unchanged, though Andresen says the landlord, who is a woodworker, sanded and revarnished them.
Lighthouse Bar & Grill is open 11:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays at 303 Johnson St. in Sausalito. For menus, reservations and online ordering, visit lighthouse-restaurants.com or call 415-332-1492.
Leanne Battelle is a freelance food writer and restaurant columnist. Email her at ij.lbattelle@gmail.com or follow The Real Deal Marin at therealdealmarin.com for more on local food news.