Poke is a traditional Hawaiian dish that is made with small pieces of fresh and raw fish or seafood, which are combined with finely chopped vegetables, herbs, condiments, and seasonings. Although traditional poke uses either ahi tuna (yellowfin tuna) or octopus, the variations on this dish are endless these days, including poke with salmon, mussels, crabmeat, or oysters, as well as vegetarian versions with diced avocados.

Typical ingredients apart from the raw fish or seafood include sweet onions, garlic, shallots, scallions, sesame seeds, seaweeds, candlenuts, limu (brown algae), soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, red pepper flakes, and Hawaiian sea salt. The creation of poke has been attributed to local fishermen who used to combine freshly-caught small reef fish with few seasonings such as sea salt, candlenuts, limu, and seaweed for a filling snack. 

Tuna tartare is an elegant starter originating from Los Angeles. The dish is made with a combination of raw tuna, avocado, egg yolks, green peppercorns, capers, chives, tarragon, mustard, olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. It was invented in 1984 by chef Shigefumi Tachibe at the Chaya Brasserie when a few customers came in wanting beef tartare, but one of them didn't eat beef, so the chef tried tuna, and it was an instant success.

Nowadays, it's usually served as a visually attractive appetizer with crackers or toast.

Dungeness crab cake is a specialty from Washington that features the succulent meat of the Dungeness crab, a crustacean inhabiting the waters of the Pacific Ocean on the West Coast of North America. This dish is typically made by combining Dungeness crabmeat with mayonnaise, red bell peppers, celery, onions, herbs, panko breadcrumbs, seasonings, and eggs, and then shaping the resulting mixture into round cakes.

The crab cakes are rolled in additional panko breadcrumbs and fried or baked until crispy. The meat of the Dungeness crab is renowned for its sweet flavor and its delicate texture. The dish is typically served as an appetizer, a snack, or a main meal for lunch or dinner.

Often described as a nourishing, hearty stew, and one of San Francisco's greatest contributions to culinary history, cioppino is a fish stew that is traditionally made from the catch of the day, combined with tomatoes and wine sauce. Cioppino is often made with crabs, clams, shrimp, scallops, squid, and mussels, while the typical accompaniment might include a local favorite - toasted sourdough bread.

According to a food historian named Jean Anderson, this Italian-sounding dish was invented by the fishermen from Genoa who immigrated to the US and settled in California's Bay Area. It is most likely that cioppino originated on the fishing boats, when the fishermen made use of what was readily available to make their dinner, similar to the French bouillabaisse. 

Hailing from Alaska, king salmon strips is a fish delicacy that is typically made with a species of wild-caught Alaskan salmon, known locally as king salmon. The preparation of this dish was a traditional way of preserving the fish that has long been practiced within the coastal communities in the country.

The fish is skinned, gutted, and deboned, then sliced into long strips before it is brined. Traditional brining uses only salt, such as sea salt or rock salt, but these days, other ingredients are also often added to the brine, including brown sugar, maple syrup, molasses, or soy sauce. 

Shrimp or prawn cocktail is a seafood dish consisting of cooked prawns served in a glass with cocktail sauce. The dish has vague origins, but most people claim that it was invented by a 19th-century miner from California who first used oysters in a glass with a sauce, but the Golden Gate Hotel in Las Vegas was the first to offer a 50-cent shrimp cocktail in 1959.

It was served in a tulip glass with cocktail sauce. The cocktail sauce usually consists of ketchup and horseradish or ketchup and mayonnaise. This iconic dish was especially popular from the 1960s to the 1980s.

Following in the footsteps of the classic New England-style clam chowder, Californian clam chowder is a creamy stew containing clams, potatoes, and onions. The key to making it Californian-style is to carefully tuck the chowder inside a sourdough bread bowl, which is the Californian way to enjoy this iconic American dish.

Clam chowder in a sourdough bread bowl is believed to have originated in 1849, in the San Francisco restaurant called Boudin, and has since become the signature dish of the city.

Lomi-lomi salmon is a traditional dish originating from Hawaii. The dish is prepared with salmon and tomatoes as the main ingredients. It was originally introduced to Hawaii by early Western sailors. The salmon is rubbed with salt, then combined with diced tomatoes, minced red onion, and green onions.

The word lomi means to press, massage, or rub, referring to the method of massaging the salted salmon between the fingers. Lomi-lomi salmon is traditionally served as an appetizer or a side dish at Hawaiian parties (luaus), usually alongside kalua pig, poke, and poi.

Crab Louie is an American salad dating back to the beginning of the 20th century. The salad is prepared with a combination of Dungeness crab meat, tomatoes, iceberg lettuce, asparagus, hard-boiled eggs, and Louie dressing (based on chili sauce and mayo), while olives, green onions, and bell peppers are optional, but can be added if desired.

The origins of the dish are quite murky, but many sources claim that the dish was served as early as 1914 in a San Francisco restaurant called Solari's. This tasty salad is mostly served as an appetizer.