13 Best Restaurants in The Central Valley, California

The same family has operated this popular restaurant, bar, and delicatessen at the same site since 1910. Feast on generous portions of pastas and sauces made from old family recipes. The extensive menu also includes sandwiches, steaks, salads, and daily specials such as prime rib and lasagna. Plates are served family style in several casual rooms, reminiscent of a Tuscan trattoria and decorated with local sports photos. Luigi's isn't open for dinner, but you can order to-go items, or pick up meal fixings at the adjacent deli.

Only two reasons to come here, but they're both delightful: frosty-glassed root-beer floats and drive-in service that transports patrons (by the view of carhops on roller skates alone) back to the 1950s of Modesto native and American Graffiti director George Lucas. It's a kick. The cheese curds and onion rings aren't bad either.

In a downtown Tuscan-theme bakery, bar, and bistro, chef Vincent DeAngelo, a graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, brings his considerable skills to chicken Parmesan, calamari steak dore, and other Italian favorites. All breads, buns, cakes, pizzas, and other baked delights are made on-site in a New York brick oven.

Aromatic pan-Asian spices, healthful ingredients, and inventive cocktails have made this arts-district eatery a local fave. Chef Preeda Piamfa, who hails from Thailand's east coast, focuses on Thai cuisine, including traditional curries, soups, and noodles (try the drunken noodles with duck), but he also prepares dishes from Japan, Singapore, and Vietnam. Preeda even puts an Asian twist on American standards. Case in point: the citrus-marinated rib-eye steak, served with carrot fried rice and steamed vegetables and topped with tamarind sauce.

Hash browns, grilled-cheese sandwiches, biscuits and gravy, and similar fare are served at this downtown breakfast and lunch joint. The outdoor tables are nice in the morning provided the weather is, too, which (other than wintertime) is likely.

Modestans hankering for a fine-dining experience—especially one involving prime rib or filet mignon—often head to this handsome dining room. Chef Vincent Alvarado introduces French influences (by way of the sauces) and Asian ones (by way of the spices) to beef, chicken, and seafood standards. Beef predominates, but the sea bass is a good alternative, as is the pan-roasted pork tenderloin, served with a sweet and spicy plum sauce.

Elegant yet unpretentious Five Ten serves upscale bistro-style meals at reasonable prices. Sit at candlelit tables and watch the cooks in the open kitchen craft dishes on a seasonal menu that always includes soups (try the mushroom bisque), salads, pastas (among them chicken penne with bacon and tomato), and chicken marsala and other bistro staples. Local vintages and bottlings from around the globe grace the impressive wine list. The on-site After 5 Bar & Lounge lures locals with craft-beer flights and creative martinis. In fair weather, ask for a table outside under the stars.

California meets New Orleans with farm-to-fork ingredients and Cajun-Creole flavors at French 25, an upscale restaurant near downtown Stockton's waterfront. Opened by the owners of Le Bistro, a local favorite for two decades, the restaurant evokes the character of New Orleans' French Quarter. Fried foods being a Crescent City staple, it should come as no surprise that menu favorites include the fried creole calamari and the fried-chicken entrée with malted waffles. Pan-Southern influences crop up everywhere, most notably in dishes such as barbecue shrimp and cheesy grits, jambalaya, and the zesty Cajun-chicken tortellini. F25's oyster bar, Bourbon Street–inspired cocktails, and desserts—among them sugar-dusted beignets and bread pudding—complete the Big Easy theme.

Mexican-American families, farmworkers, and farmers all eat here, polishing off traditional Mexican dishes such as posole, menudo, enchiladas, and tacos. The Fiesta Special—for two or more—includes generous portions of grilled pork tenderloin, beef top sirloin, chorizo, chicken breast, quesadillas, onions, and deep-fried jalapeños.

An upscale restaurant and bar in the downtown arts district, The Mark specializes in fresh seafood, hand-cut steaks, pastas, homemade soups, and comfort foods such as chicken potpie. Though the dishes are straightforward, they're skillfully executed. The wine list favors California but includes representatives from France, Italy, and elsewhere abroad. At the bar, which hosts live music, you can sink into leather high-back chairs and booths and order creative cocktails.

For northern Italian cuisine in a no-frills trattoria, this is the spot. Try the braised lamb shanks in a Chianti wine sauce, grilled rib eye with chef's seasonal sauce, or the filet mignon with shrimp, roasted pepper, and onions in a demiglaze sauce. To drift back to old Italy—or 1950s Kernville, perhaps—sample the spaghetti and meatballs.

An intimate setting with white tablecloths and contemporary art draws diners to this establishment—part wineshop, part restaurant—with a seasonally changing menu. The Cajun-style crab cakes, served for lunch year-round, are outstanding. For a small fee, your waiter will uncork any wine you select from the shop.

Thick lamb chops, roast lamb, oxtail stew, and shrimp scampi have made this Basque eatery a local institution. All meals are served family style, so you might share your table with diners you don't know. Meals include vegetables and a potato, pasta, or rice dish, and many gluten-free options—but this is no place for vegetarians.