Beach Store Cafe

I love this place! It’s a great destination from Bellingham! The food is unique, delicious, healthy, and there are plenty of seafood and vegetarian options. The service is excellent, prices are fair, and there is a lovely view of the bay and Mount Baker.

Although we thought the fish and chips were very good, the service was awful! The place was not that busy and we had to wait forever to even be acknowledged once seated and then service after that continued to be slow. If they would have improved that, this would have been a 4 to 5 star experience

Omg, incredible! First off, we were given a glass of red wine as we waited in line– amazing! We couldn’t decide between the burger with bacon jam or the porcini satchels, so what do you do… get both and split! Best decision ever. Both were amazing and the service was impeccable. You can tell there’s a huge backing of support by the island community and a great tourist representation. Can’t wait to go back!

This was the perfect spot for Rehearsal Dinner in August 2015. Tess was beyond wonderful and professional in her presentation of the menu. The appetizers were fantastic! The salmon dinner was a treat beyond belief to all of us, especially out of town guests. The lemony dessert was my fave. In fact… I am thinking I might make a trip back just for that! Thank you to Tess and all the staff for providing such a fantastic evening.

Cinnamon chai crème brûlée, lavender ice cream, Frank Sinatra jazz tunes, the most amazing beef medallions with crazy reduction sauce along with squash purée. Beach Store café: a hidden gem!

In all the years I lived in Bellingham, to many in college and moving back years later after graduating and getting married, I had never been to Lummi island. First, I would recommend it. It’s a beautiful place.
We’d completed our drive around the island. Done a little wine tasting and had some time before the ferry so we hit the Beach Store Café. We got a nice table on the deck over looking the road and Hale passage.
We were surprised by the menu, it wasn’t what we expected, which was just burgers. It was more eclectic and interesting than we expected. We ordered a couple microbrews and started with the Thai Shrimp cakes, which were wonderful!
Cam had ordered the potato gnocchi with blue cheese cream sauce, spinach and butter roasted walnuts. I had a pizza, ham/​mozzarella/​blue cheese/​scallions/​apple cider syrup/​tomato base. Both were outstanding!
Small tip — dipping the pizza crust into the gnocchi blue cheese cream sauce is divine!
Try this place!

Very good food since Tess and her hubby took over. Have had ferryman”s omelet for breakfast and an excellent salmon and spinach dish for dinner. Everything was wonderful.

What a wonderful treat! We got the tip from another couple who recently discovered this gem. Thoroughly enjoyed their roasted vegetable sandwich, fries, and side salad. Service was very good, and the atmosphere was warm and relaxed with a view of the water. Wish we lived closer so we could enjoy more frequently!

My husband and I eat here whenever we’re on the island. We LOVE the Beach Store. Wonderful hand crafted pizza (including a gluten free option), juicy burgers with yummy bacon jam, crisp flavorful fish and chips and I could go on and on. Ever since Tess and Jason took over BSC last year, the service and food have been amazing. And did I mention the wine? They also have an incredible wine list!
I think it’s time to stroll on down for some lunch…

*Incredible biscuits and gravy!
*Everyone really enjoyed their food, we ate there twice and the Stumptown coffee, yum
*I snuck a bit of corned beef sando, just wow!

Always enjoy eating here. Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Good food. A little expensive though.

Wonderful atmosphere… warm attentive service… thoughtful well prepared food at very reasonable prices.
A true island gem.
If you are ever on Lummi be sure to experience this place at least once… or like me many times.

What a great spot! Very friendly staff and very tasty food.
The Mussels were recommended by the waitress and were some of the best I have ever had. The malted milkshakes were fantastic as well. They also made an impromptu vegan dessert for our table. It was an amazing Apple, ‘Carmel’, and Rosemary pizza. It was delicious!
This café is cozy, but not campy. It feels refined but not pretentious. I would highly recommend a meal here.

Ok, the Beach Store is now under new management, so my family and I decided to give it a second chance. I have to say, the food has improved 100%. We have yet to have a bad meal there since the re-​opening, and the service is good. The bacon jam is a neat treat, they should totally be selling jars of this.
The pizza is incredibly tasty, however it would be nice to have more options and a larger family size available. Although the other food is fantastic and a welcome addition to the island’s culinary landscape, I think the restaurant could run on the strength of the pizza alone (especially if they added delivery on the island!) Being limited to just individual servings and a few toppings seems like a waste of what we thought was their best menu item.
The new wine list is outstanding as well, with a variety of exquisite French wines at fairly affordable prices. If you are a wine fan you seriously should check out their wines. You aren’t going to find a list like this at any other restaurant in Bellingham, I guarantee it.
Overall, the relaunch is a great success and a welcome change. We look forward to dining here often.

We had such a delicious dinner last night. I woke up dreaming about those Vietnamese wings !! They were absolutely delicious. And my pizza for breakfast this morning was yummy! Thanks Tess & Jason for doing such a great job! We will be back

The business is slowly improving. The prices are still a bit high, but not worth avoiding. On our most recent visit I ordered the salmon fish and chips. The fries are quite possibly the best fries I have had EVER. The coleslaw had a strong fennel flavor, which I really enjoyed, and the caper laden tartar sauce was a nice touch.
It should be noted the fries are legit fries and not the sad home style fried taters shown in a couple of the photos…
My wife ordered the Big Mac analogue… Not impressed; the beef was still mooing and the cheese was still shredded rather than melted. Plus, it’s a friggin Big Mac; what are we doing here? A grass fed burger with sharp cheddar cheese sounds great! Add shredded lettuce, pickles, Thousand Island dressing and a sesame seed bun and it no longer needs to be grass fed beef… because it is now a Big Mac… That’s like putting chrome wheels on a Ford Pinto and asking me to pay you for a Mustang…
The waitresses were great. The waiter had his trucker’s cap on backwards, wearing his little sister’s shirt, focused more on the waitresses than the customers. Not sure the owners are getting their money’s worth with that guy.
I like the low-​key atmosphere, I like the live music on the weekends, I like the happy hour menu. I think the service is still lackluster and the portions are either too small or the prices are too high (you pick).
If they cook other stuff as well as their pizza or their fries, I might consider eating there more frequently.
I am not sure whether the owners or the staff read these reviews, but if you do, you should know your waitresses and hostesses are doing a great job, knocking it out of the park, actually. However, one of your waiters and one of your burgers are a bit too relaxed and sloppy for the prices on the menu.
Good food, made with attention and served with attention, would warrant these prices.
Get the fries. Get the fish and chips. Get a pizza. Get a tall boy of PBR. Get a cup of coffee and enjoy the view. But don’t get on a ferry just to eat here.

I really want to love the Beach Store Café, but for now, it’s ok and that’s not bad. I do LOVE the Happy Hour specials. The Mac and Cheese is not how I would make it, but I’m a Mac and Cheese snob and it has a very interesting deep flavor that I do enjoy (and bonus, my kiddo loves it). The fish and chips is great, but I think it tries a little to hard to be something different than just fish and chips. I don’t like the coleslaw, but (Hey, you guessed it! I’m a coleslaw snob too). Asparagus appy is very well done. Seafood chowder is exceptional and the greens salad is both huge and delicious. The Pizza’s are TERRIFIC! I recommend getting the Canadian bacon as you topping. Good beer selections. Great coffee.
The only think I really didn’t like was the chocolate mousse for $ 6. It’s a quarter cup of mousse and it was ok, but it wasn’t $ 6 of awesomeness and for $ 6 I can get some Edaleen’s at the Islander, so…
Staff is always polite, sometimes service is slow, but we’re all on island time here. Bonus: they are always nice to the kiddo, not just the adults.

Apple and bacon salad, mussels, and pizza plus beer for two. It was a perfect Friday night meal for the evening we arrived in Lummi Island. All of the food was amazing, which is not surprising given that it’s owned by the Willows Inn folks now. Very fresh, organic ingredients. The mussels were probably my favorite.
There’s actually not too many alternatives on the island, unless you’re staying at a place with a kitchenette and bring your own groceries, so good thing it was awesome.
The service was friendly and prompt, there was a fun live band, and it was very reasonably priced.

Now owned by The Willows, I was really excited to eat here. It was good before, I thought it would be excellent now. Nope, I was wrong. I hate admitting that I’m wrong. The food was bland and service was AWFUL (45 mins for food to get to the table. Not offered water or any beverage for that matter. Only 1 set of silverware plus napkin presented to a table of 2). I am giving 2 stars because the ingredients were definitely fresh and the restaurant itself is really cute and inviting.
I am still miffed at how bland the food was. I was so excited for a fabulous flavorful packed meal. Instead it was lackluster and, well, bad.
Before arriving, I may or may not have inhaled appetite inducing plant smoke. Had I not been starving, and slightly under the influence of a heightened appetite, my food would have definitely been sent back. As I’m sure you can appreciate, waiting another 45 mins for an alternate meal and glass of water was not an option.

This is really a combination review of Lummi Island and The Beach Store Café. We were in dire need of a quick road trip so in checking a few places online, we decided that Lummi Island would be a cool, quirky place to hang on a chilly Saturday in April. While I don’t fault the island for the weather, had it been 80 and sunny, I think the trip would have been infinitely more interesting. As it was, it didn’t rain (+), it stayed fairly mild (+) and the food was certainly better than expected (+). The only downside was that in reading some of the blogs about the island, the author (s) made it sound like there was some cute little «main street» — which there is not.
The first thing I want to mention about Lummi Island is that the only way to get on there is by boat — an awesome little ferry, to be specific. It’s literally bumper to bumper (you can’t get out once your car is on the ferry) and if you’re lucky enough to be the first car on (we were on the way back), it feels as if your car is floating on water! The ride is short (10 mins) but with the waves splashing and boat rocking, the experience is a lot of fun.
Off the ferry we drove around the island a few times, stopping at a few «private» beaches (not sure what this meant seeing as there were no «No Trespassing» signs) and letting the dog run all around. We drove to the south end, checked out a few amazing vistas and even thought about a short hike (no dogs on trails = no hike). The initial plan was to have lunch at the Willows Inn but alas, they only serve dinner. The hostess there was extremely helpful and when asked where we could grab a beer and a burger, she pointed us to their other restaurant, the Beach Store Café.
At first glance, we thought this place was very cute and homey — a small house-​turned-​restaurant, if you will. But looking further, we noticed a cool wood burning store, tiny bakery area, along with multiple COLD BEERS on tap. I mention the temperature of the beer because there’s nothing like really, really cold keg beer. Anyway, we ordered two local brews, the fish & chips and a burger to split. The batter and fish used (?) for the fish & chips was very tasty — a perfect complement was the homemade tartar sauce. The burger was fine, nothing amazing but filling and it came with a great small salad. Had it been 20 degrees warmer, we remarked on how awesome it would have been to finish our beers on their skinny front deck. The plan is to come back sometime in the summer and really take the island in.