We're planning a drive on the coastal highway and will be staying in carmel or monterey for 3 nights. We'd like a hotel near good restaurants and wonder:
a) which of the two towns is more "foodie restaurant rich?" and b) what would be a nice hotel in the heart of the dining area? Thanks for any help you can provide.

You might tag this for California so you might get more responses.

When we stayed at the Monterey Plaza, we used the hotel town car service to take us to restaurants in both Monterey and Pacific Grove. They can also go to Carmel. It's a great way to enjoy the wonderful food and wine without having to drive yourselves.

Sorry on the tagging thing. I thought I had done that. Can I retag once it's up?

Great idea on the car service. Opens more options.

You sound knowledgeable on the area. Any suggested places for us to go to? Thanks.

Both have good restaurant choices and we enjoyed both. We stayed in Pacific Grove that is about midway between the two. Either way you can't go wrong because the drive between the two is fairly short. Carmel is much the the smaller of the two places and more "quaint" and nice to walk around - has a nice beach to watch the sunset. Monterey seems to be a better choice for seafood and has the piers and more tourist activities like whale watching trips (recommended.) All in all, with a car we very much enjoyed Pacific Grove - a nice quiet place with an attractive coastline and convenient by car to everything. It had better hotel prices too.

I should have mentioned, our two favorite restaurants were in Monterey. One is the Sandbar and Grill on the wharf. Not the wharf with all of the restaurants and tourist things, but the one next to it. A simple place on the water with excellent seafood. Another is the Paridiso - we ate there twice - in Cannery row. Another restaurant worth your time is Nepenthe, it will be up a hill on your right as you are driving south, maybe an hour's drive south of Carmel as you are driving the coast road. The food is not memorable - typical yuppie fare, e.g., the burger is on french bread instead of a bun - but the views from the outdoor dining area are fabulous, right in contention for the best restaurant views anywhere.

basingstoke2, thanks very much. the info is most helpful. I'm going to google the restaurants you mention and check out hotels in Pacific Grove. Appreciate your help.

Friends of mine love this place:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/bistro-moulin-monterey

We really enjoyed our one visit to this restaurant, in pacific grove:

http://www.yelp.com/biz/passionfish-pacific-grove-2

Carmel/Pacific Grove/Monterey encompasses a fairly small area so nothing is really that far away. We always stay in Carmel and like being able to walk to dinner. Some of our favorite restaurants there are Mundaka, Basil, La Bicylette, Cantinetta Luca and Casanova. We've also had excellent meals at Aubergine if you're looking for fine dining. Wherever you end up, do head to Parker Lusseau in Monterey for pastries.

Some excerpts from my TR: fWe enjoyed staying in Pacific Grove on the Monterey Peninsula. It was only a 10-15 minute drive to Fisherman's Wharf and Monterey and about the same to Carmel. Pacific Grove has a charm of its own and a beautiful, dramatic coastline.

The 17 mile drive is worthwhile and takes as long as you want it to take. We found an hour was plenty, but that is because we had already driven to Big Sur and hiked in Point Lobos State Park. If I had to choose between Pfieffer SP or Point Lobos SP I would choose the latter and hike the trails at Cedar Point. Point Lobos is not far from Carmel. From there you can drive the Big Sur coast on Highway 1 stopping at the many observation points as you wish. Figure a couple of hours to Nepenthe, a good place for lunch with fabulous views and for us, the turning back north point.

Also, here is a link to some photos. If you look at the sunset collection, the rocky coast is Pacific Grove, the beach is Carmel. www.flickr.com/photos/basingstoke2/collections

Thanks so much for all the good info. I'm certainly going to include Pacific Grove in our itinerary (I also really like the idea of doing Hwy 1 from the area and turning back rather than taking it the entire way since I'm not so sure DH will enjoy the driving)but I am now comfortable with our pick of Carmel for lodging given the number of dining recs for it. The clincher is the ability to try many of them and walk back to our hotel. A plan is starting to jell. Appreciate all the info.

Another vote for Cantinetta Luca. We also had a very good meal at Pacific's Edge. I was concerned that it would be over rated, but the food was delicious and we were there at sunset which was beautiful. This was about a year and a half ago.

Carmel is a nice choice. Be sure to go down to the beach in the evening for the sunset. It seems that much of Carmel does.
We saw an interesting sign in Carmel to the effect there appears to be an ordinance that high heels are not allowed to be worn on the streets. Something to keep in mind as you choose your wardrobe.

basingstoke2, good to know. I'll leave the stilletos home.
Central park girl, thanks for the affirmation on Cantinetta Luca and for the food and sunset at Pacific's Edge. They go on the list.

Unfortunately, we had a very disappointing meal at Pacific's Edge last July. The view was drop dead gorgeous though. It's located inside the Highlands Inn in Carmel Highlands, a short drive from Carmel proper.

Ha ha, the high heel ordinance. They don't actually enforce it but you can go to city hall and get a free permit (I have one) so you're legal It makes an interesting souvenir.

I am not surprised about the high heel ordinance That's Carmel for you. I remember a brewhahah awhile back about barber poles - you know, the red and white poles outside of barber shops that spin. Some Camel-ites decided that the barber poles should be removed because they violated with city ordinance against moving signage. As far as I know though, the barber poles were granted special status and were allowed to stay.