Lighthouse Grille (China)

OVERVIEW

The Lighthouse Bar & Grille (303 Johnson Street, Sausalito, CA) opened in 2026 serving fresh seafood, American cuisine and a good selection of drinks. The name Lighthouse carries no pretense in Sausalito — less than two miles west, Point Bonita Lighthouse has stood at the Golden Gate since 1855.

HISTORY

The Lighthouse Bar earns its name as the beacon for the long history of Sausalito’s Chinese community coming to America. The Point Bonita Lighthouse has marked the entrance to San Francisco Bay since 1855 — the same beacon that guided thousands of gold rush miners, and every ship that carried the tens of thousands of Chinese immigrants who built the Transcontinental Railroad in the 1860’s. When the railroad was completed in 1869, some of those same workers were redeployed to Marin. By 1873, 300 Chinese workers were grading North Pacific Coast Railroad — the same line that for over 80 years ran directly beneath this very building. In 1876, the US needed a tunnel carved through the Marin Headlands to relocate the lighthouse. The Chinese bore the 118-foot tunnel by hand — and they did it in 6 months. Today, we proudly salute every Chinese immigrant known and unknown, who sailed past that light and helped build Sausalito — this glass is yours. Gānbēi (干杯)

FEATURED WHISKEY
Laizhou Peated Single Malt Laizhou Distillery, Sichuan Province, China · Cask Strength From Sichuan — China's ancient heartland of distilling, home of baijiu for a thousand years before Scotland discovered peat. Laizhou earned 98 points Double Gold at international competition in 2025, the highest score ever awarded a Chinese whisky. Aged in ex-bourbon and Chinese fortified wine casks, finished in PX sherry. Stone fruit, gentle smoke, and a finish that crosses oceans. China's whisky revolution has arrived — poured at the spot where China's labor built the West.