After 45 years on the Oregon Coast, The Bay House found a new home in May 2025 in the heart of the Willamette Valley. Located in the charming town of Dayton, the restaurant now lives inside a beautifully restored historic church on the town square – transformed by proprietors Steve Wilson and Maureen O’Callaghan into an elegant yet welcoming fine dining space. Led by Executive Chef Nathan Bates, The Bay House is one of only four AAA Four-Diamond restaurants in Oregon since 2015 and a recipient of The DiRōNA Award of Excellence since 2024. The wine program features over 2,600 selections spanning OR, WA, CA, and many of the world’s great wine regions. Together, it all creates an experience that is both deeply personal and truly memorable.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 301 Main St, Dayton, OR 97114
Phone: (541) 996-3222
Website: https://www.thebayhouse.org/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Reservations: opentable.com
Related Web Results
The Bay House | In the Heart of Oregon’s Willamette Valley Wine …
The Bay House | Dayton OR – Facebook
The Bay House Restaurant – Dayton, OR | OpenTable
Reviews
Our service was wonderful, (Thanks Steve) our food was exquisitely Delicious…
The finest of dinning I have ever been to, but I didn’t feel out of place what so ever!! If you want a beautiful date night or even a wonderful couples evening I would suggest The Bay House!!
The wine was divine and Nathan’s food superb!
Steve and Maureen have a great thing going at The Bay House. I’ve been a loyal customer and friend for over 20 years and we’re already looking forward to our next trip to Dayton.
The espresso martini was absolutely to die for, and the burrata was something you’d expect to find at The French Laundry—truly unforgettable. What started as a casual stop turned into one of the best dining experiences we’ve ever had. We can’t wait to bring our family back so they can experience just how special this place is.
We opted for the tasting menu which was expertly delivered by Amanda. Each course was cooked to perfection, served hot, and absolutely delectable. We just enjoyed ourselves and didn’t take any photos, but suffice it to say that the food was expertly prepared and delivered to table in fine fashion.
If you’ve read this far, we enjoyed another prominent restaurant’s tasting menu last night, and while good, was not at all comperable to the Bay House and was less than half the price. If you’re in Dayton or McMinnville, go here!
Nice dinner? Understatement. The restaurant itself is small, very intimate, and obviously for wine lovers (wine racks line most of the available wallspace and there are some lovely vineyard abstracts on the rest). The staff is very friendly and attentive, knowledgeable about the menu and the local wines, and obviously eager to give patrons a great experience.
Mostly, though, it’s the food that we remember. We ordered the five-course tasting menu, and found it delightful. The salad was perfectly prepared and presented (and delicious), the halibut was great, the filet nearly fell apart, it was so tender. Our favorite, however, was the pheasant, rich, flavorful, and absolutely wonderful. Our server brought us sourdough bread fresh from the oven that was exactly right (I’ve been baking sourdough breads for years, and have sometimes despaired that there are so very few great bread bakeries in Portland, but this was as good as anything I make).
The desserts were delicious (my favorite was the creme brulee); the only nit I could pick was that they all had approximately the same creamy texture; it would have been nice to have a little more variety.
We ordered the tasting flight of wines as well, and here you might want to exercise a little caution: One order works beautifully for two people. We ordered two; our server brought out two carafes of each wine. The carafe easily held at least two glassfuls, enough for both of us, so a single order is probably ample.
Our meal wasn’t inexpensive, certainly (about $350), so this probably isn’t a place we’ll regularly drop by for a quick bite. If you have a very special occasion, however, it’s one of the best bets in Oregon and more than worth it.
Update: We were married yesterday, and chose Bay House for our first dinner as husband and wife. Goat choice–the staff was wonderful and we loved every minute.