Things to do in Clear Lake

If you only get one meal

• Surf Galley, 619 Buddy Holly Pl — across the lot from the Surf Ballroom, and the most ambitious kitchen in town. Birria egg rolls, crab cake nachos, ahi poke and mussels to start; huli huli and seared ahi bowls; then a main course list running to teres major, smoked pork chop, chicken provençal and escovitch snapper. A Pacific and Caribbean streak crossed with French technique, which is not what you expect in a lake town this size. Proper cocktails, and a real non-alcoholic list alongside them — rarer than it should be. Tuesday to Thursday 11–8, Friday and Saturday 11–9, closed Sunday and Monday, and the hours have a reputation for moving, so ring first. Make it dinner and walk over to see what is on at the Surf afterwards.
• Starboard Market, 310 Main Ave — deli and carry-out, twenty-five signature sandwiches and soups people are genuinely loyal to. Ranked the number one restaurant in town on TripAdvisor. Open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am–2pm only — so plan around it. They'll run food out to your boat at the dock in season.
• Half Moon Inn, 701 Buddy Holly Pl — an old-school char-grill supper club in a Quonset hut, family-run since 1972. Ribeye, Friday and Saturday prime rib, and torsk — broiled Norwegian cod — which is the regional dish most guides miss entirely. Dinner from 5pm, closed Sunday and Monday. Meals run long here; that's the point.
• PM Park, 15297 Raney Dr — lakeside under the oaks, with a tiki bar and a beach, and you can arrive by boat. Founded in 1914 and still owned by the Odd Fellows who built it. Broasted chicken, the pork tenderloin, and onion rings people plan around. Seasonal — roughly Mother's Day to Labor Day.

Coffee, sweets and breakfast

• Cabin Coffee Co., 303 Main Ave — this is the original store, opened in December 2002, that the whole 27-location chain grew out of. Beans roasted on site where you can watch.
• Charlie's Soda Fountain, 2 N 4th St — a revived old-fashioned fountain doing phosphates, malts and homemade waffle cones in what was Corner Drug for fifty years.
• Cookies, etc., 217 Main Ave — going since 1985. Midwest Living called their sugar cookie the best in the Midwest and Travel Iowa called them the best cookies in the state.
• Livonia's Coffee Bar, 408 Main Ave — opened 2025, and it has a kids' play area, which matters more than it sounds when you're house-hunting with children.

Dinner and drinks

• Gyro Place, 300 Main Ave — Greek and Mexican under one roof, which sounds odd and works. Best-rated sit-down in town.
• TAP'd, 313 Main Ave — twenty-four taps, all Iowa-brewed, with shuffleboard and live music at the weekend.
• Lake Time Brewery, 801 Main Ave — ten of their own taps in a converted house with a wraparound patio. Their Peanut Butter Porter took bronze at the 2022 Great American Beer Festival. Note: no real kitchen.
• 173° Craft Distillery, 306 1st Ave N — a working distillery where every cocktail in the bar is made with spirits distilled on site. They opened the restaurant deliberately to give the town somewhere that stays open in winter.
• The Boulevard, 1311 Bayou Rd — American with a real Greek streak. Blackened walleye, Greek salmon.
• Seven's, 305 Main Ave — steakhouse; won the Chamber survey for both best burger and best breakfast. (It's 305, not 307 — 307 is Rookies next door, same family, connected inside. One door for a quiet dinner, one for the game.)
• Rivara, 444 N Shore Dr — chef-driven steak and seafood, new in the old Surfside space. Reservations advised, limited seating.
• The Palms Rooftop Cabana, 468 N Shore Dr — rooftop cocktails above the Surf's Experience Center. Thursday to Saturday, seasonal.

Ice cream, and one worth the drive

• Viking Drive-Inn, 3 S Main St in Ventura, five minutes west — the highest-rated food business anywhere around this lake, now ice-cream-led. The black raspberry is the one.
• South Shore Sweet Spot, 5269 S Shore Dr — a walk-up window in a building shaped like a giant soft-serve cone. Locals call it The Cone. Late May to late August only.
• Fizz Co., 417 Main Ave — handcrafted sodas with a gummy sweet threaded onto the straw. Started out of a 1980s horse trailer.
• Lillie Mae Chocolates, 423 Main Ave — hand-dipped chocolates and fudge made in house, with a popcorn tasting bar.

The Chamber keeps the full directory — seventy-odd listings, and more current than anything I could maintain here. Coming up to look at houses? Ask me before you book. Half of knowing a town is knowing which night the good place is quiet.