Paseo: A California Bistro

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

A California Bistro with Global Ambitions

Paseo: A California Bistro sits on Throckmorton Avenue in the heart of Mill Valley, drawing on the best local artisans, growers, and producers to fuel a menu that reaches well beyond the county line. The kitchen's philosophy is straightforward: seasonal New American cooking, rooted in Marin, open to the world. Ingredients are locally sourced and naturally harvested, then shaped into dishes that reflect a genuinely global outlook — what the team calls "the world on the menu."

That commitment to quality at the glass as much as the plate earned Paseo the Wine Spectator Award of Excellence in both 2024 and 2025, recognition that places it among a select tier of restaurants where the wine program is taken as seriously as the food. OpenTable's Diners' Choice 2025 adds a second layer of validation, this time from the guests themselves.

The Room, the Courtyard, and the Music

The setting is elegant without being stiff. Inside, the dining room hums with the energy of a neighborhood anchor that knows its regulars. Outside, the courtyard takes on a life of its own every Thursday evening when the Schawkie Roth Trio sets up — tenor sax, bass, and keys — playing dinner jazz and originals for two hours from around 5 pm. Schawkie Roth, a long-time Marin County resident and one of the originators of new age music with 23 albums behind him, brings genuine musical history to the table.

Friday nights rotate through Trio Tio, whose international repertoire spans accordion, flute, guitar, and sax, and the Audrey Moira Shimkas Jazz Trio, a Bay Area collective whose "JukeBox" sets pull across Americana, jazz standards, blues, and classic pop.

Drinks Worth Lingering Over

The bar leans into local craft with the same conviction the kitchen does. Sausalito Liquor Company is a featured spirits partner, and the pairing makes sense: their Marin Coastal Gin — distilled with wild nori seaweed from the Sonoma coastline and California citrus — mirrors Paseo's own coastal California personality. Their Unsinkable Rye and Unsinkable Bourbon, both finished in Napa wine barrels, extend that local-with-a-twist sensibility into every cocktail. On top of that, Paseo pours a curated selection of wines at significant discounts every single day, with the featured list rotating throughout the month.

Part of the Community

Paseo also shows up for Mill Valley beyond the dining room — hosting charity dinners that direct a portion of food and beverage sales to local schools, and running creative events like ornament-making workshops in the space. It's the kind of California bistro that takes its neighborhood role as seriously as its wine list.