A trip to Crystal Cove State Park, an Orange County gem known for its natural beauty, crystal-blue waters and old-timey cottages, is not complete without a meal at the Beachcomber. Located in a 1,200-square-foot cabin right on the sand, the restaurant is bursting at the seams on a summer afternoon, with tourists and locals enjoying meals from a seafood-focused menu. Lunch is paired with a postcard view of the waves crashing against the shore under a bright California sun.
The bustling scene is a far cry from 20 years ago, when Doug Cavanaugh opened a restaurant in the aging cottage in Crystal Cove’s historic district and served simple healthy meals on paper plates. Now, with real plates and an upgraded menu that lists cioppino and crab-stuffed salmon, it’s one of the country’s most celebrated waterfront restaurants, rooted in the history of a beachtown that is effectively stuck in time.
“When you’re down in the historic district, it’s literally the land that time forgot,” Cavanaugh told SFGATE. “People love to escape from the busyness of Orange County, so they come down to the cove.”
Tucked away at the southern end of Newport Beach, Crystal Cove has held the attention of visitors for its natural beauty for generations. Backed by coastal bluffs that rise to the Pacific Coast Highway, the beach is not a locals-only hidden gem; it’s more like an open secret for tourists. But what tourists might see as a beautiful beach with historic cottages is also the site of a decades-long battle between the state and locals to preserve the cottages while letting businesses like the Beachcomber endure and thrive. Today, the restaurant retains its original cottage charm even after remodeling, and Crystal Cove wouldn’t be the same without it.
The fight to save Crystal Cove
Crystal Cove’s story begins with the Acjachemen and Tongva/Gabrielino tribes, which hunted and gathered in the area and developed cultural ties to the land over thousands of years before the Spanish arrived in the 1700s. The Irvine family (yes, the same Irvines who would establish the city of Irvine a century later) eventually acquired the land in the 1860s, and in the early 1900s, the beach became the perfect place to film movies set in tropical destinations. In 1920, the crew for the first commercial film to be shot there, a lost silent film called “Treasure Island,” planted palm trees and built thatched huts to complete the south seas theme. More films would follow decades later, including “Beaches” and “A Few Good Men.”…