36 Best Restaurants in The Monterey Bay Area, California

Chef Fabrice Roux, who hails from France, worked at lauded Parisian restaurants for more than a decade before coming to Carmel Valley to wow diners with his contemporary takes on traditional French-Mediterranean cuisine. The eclectic menu, with mostly small and large plates meant for sharing, focuses on local ingredients procured that week—perhaps crispy duck leg confit, tuna tartare, or braised wild-boar bourguignon. Order sandwiches, beignets, and French-style egg dishes for brunch and lunch. Save room for house-made desserts like Meyer lemon cheesecake and crème brûlée.

To get to this romantic spot overlooking Soquel Creek, you can take a cable car or walk the stairs down a steep, fern-lined bank beside a running waterfall. Dining room options include the rooftop Redwood Room, the wood-paneled Wine Cellar, the creek-side, glass-enclosed Greenhouse, the Fireplace Room, and the airy Garden Room.

This cozy neighborhood restaurant serves one of Carmel’s most popular brunches every day, plus dinner several nights a week. The eclectic seasonal menu focuses on elegant comfort food with an international flair—options vary, but might include caviar with crème fraiche and kettle chips, shakshuka, chilaquiles, or poke bowls for brunch and soft-shell crab with fava bean puree for dinner.

Fun, dressed-up American favorites—a little something for everyone—are served in this renovated early-1900s stone farmhouse several miles east of town. The kitchen cranks out everything from Cajun-spiced prawns to meat loaf with marsala-mushroom gravy to grilled ribs and steaks.

Chef and restaurateur Rich Pèpe heats up the night with this lively trattoria downstairs and swinging rooftop terrace, the Star Bar. Pèpe's elegant take on traditional Italian cuisine yields dishes such as risotto made with local seafood, spicy Calabrian sausage, and lobster reduction sauce, crab ravioli, and velvety limoncello mousse cake.

Inventive dishes—made with 100% organic and locally sourced ingredients—live music, and a friendly staff are among the reasons why this intimate, ocean-to-table eatery is packed on weekends. Everything is fresh as it gets, from fish-and-chips, Monterey Bay bouillabaisse, and whole roasted fish of the day to local greens with spicy vinaigrette.