A Trip Along the Central Coast: Day 4, Big Sur River Inn Review

Part 16 in a series.

The Central Coast Traveler’s story continues. As the sun set over the Post Ranch Inn, the clouds vanished and a brilliant sky full of stars appeared. Big Sur is miles from the nearest large city; I had forgotten how many stars there really are. The nearly full moon cast a silvery glow over the mountains, forest, and ocean.

Big Sur Sunset

Since we hadn’t eaten, in, like, two hours (the jar of cookies the Post Ranch left for us each day was already empty, and raiding the minibar snacks for dinner seemed gauche) our thoughts turned to dinner. We drove 4 miles north on Highway 1 to an old favorite: the Big Sur River Inn restaurant (dinner entrées $13-$36). For this part of its route, Highway 1 ducks into a redwood forested valley and leaves the shore for a few miles. This 4-mile stretch is called the Big Sur “village,” but it’s not a town center in any conventional sense—just widely-spaced motels, parks, restaurants, and campgrounds, set in dense stands of immense trees. On my first trip through the area years ago, I wondered why so many of Big Sur’s businesses were hidden from the ocean, but subsequent trips made the reasons very clear. These places follow 19th century settlement patterns, and people then did not dwell in climate-controlled houses with electric lighting and landscaping staff. The winter storms, wild ocean gales, broken tree limbs and impervious summer fog would make life very uncomfortable near the ocean without modern conveniences.

On a Monday night in early December well before the holiday season ramped up, the River Inn restaurant was nearly empty. It’s much busier most of the time. It’s a relaxed, convivial place, with rough-hewn dark wood beams, weathered stone, roaring fireplace, enlivened by huge picture windows; think “1950s Western hunting lodge” and you’ll get the idea. The sole concession to the 21st century is a flat-screen TV over the bar, where a few people who seemed like they might be locals were chatting amiably with the bartender.

Big Sur River Inn & Restaurant

Tired of outrageous portions and rich food we had a chicken Caesar salad and pasta primavera—followed by chocolate lava cake and an ice cream sundae! The menu is not elaborate, but everything is well-prepared, the service is efficient, and we’ve never had an unsatisfactory meal here. We recognized some of the staff from previous visits. As I’ve mentioned before, turnover in most Big Sur businesses is exceptionally low. People really want to live here and tend to stay a very long time when they find a position. On a previous visit I remember talking to one waitress at a different Big Sur restaurant who had tried for years to work in the area, and was so happy with her new life.

Big Sur is not a spot for happening nightlife. After dark it’s very sleepy. It’s the perfect place to do nothing. Returning to the Post Ranch after dinner, before going to our room we visited the library. It’s a handsome but little-used space.

Post Ranch Inn Library

Since it has the only TV onsite, people use it during big sporting events that they just can’t miss, but otherwise it’s almost always empty. That night we pulled up chairs to a tabletop chess set, and I proceeded to lose very badly. It was only my second time playing chess since 2006: it seems that I only play at the Post Ranch Inn. Hmm, maybe that’s an excuse to get there more often and practice…