Thank goodness all of the touristy stuff lies on Ocean Avenue. My friend and I got there at 11:30 and the place was empty (but then filled out once we were finished.) Needless to say, the food was excellent. The ambiance even better. I had the split pea and the egg salad with smoked salmon. My friend got the sand dabs with warm potato salad. I, personally, could have done with out the warm potato salad. My recommendations: go for a pizza and top it off with the Apple Gallette. That dessert is just great. I wish I had more money or a more of a stomach. I would have liked to have tried more of their menu offerings. Another time, I guess. Check this place out. It's worth the drive. read more

Maybe on another night, I would have given them 3 or 4 stars, but I was really disappointed with this place. It truly looks very popular with most people. I say this because we went as a family for my father's 70th birthday, and were not treated accordingly. We were practically rushed out the door! Additionally, they were out of many enticing items that were on the menu (such as artichokes, and the dish that my father wanted the most, I think it was a pork chop of some sort) I also believe that they were out of sole, which my husband had wanted. So that was the initial disappointment. I will say, I loved the salad, and my entree was delicious, if a little lukewarm. ( I had scallops with saffron beurre blanc). I don't know, I think we just picked the wrong place to make an occasion special. Or maybe it was the wrong waitress. It just felt like nobody gave a crap that it was a special day for our family. read more

My wife and I enjoyed our meal here....but it is a small place with not much seating so I would recommend reservations and bring a jacket if you sit outside...there are propane heaters...but still the air gets chilly so we chose to sit inside. The open kitchen is fun to watch and we watched our amazing salmon pizza bake in the wood fired oven. The escargo was excellent and tasty! The salmon pizza was very good and the crust is thin and baked well. read more

Cafe Rustica - French Near Me - Carmel Valley, California

Love Rustica, great meal all the way around. Started with the clams, then split butter leaf lettuce salad. Short rib was the special with mashed potato and haricot vert. Also, had one of the most amazing deserts - chocolate crème brulee. We don't make it there often, but is a must stop when in the valley read more

This place is outstanding! Our service was excellent and the food was delicious. We ate every bite. I couldnt stop thinking about going back. We ate the special which was pan seared rock cod, and had butterscotch pudding with fresh whipped cream for dessert. read more

I would have given it a Five Stars if it had not been for the waiter , French man very unprofessional and just plainly unfriendly. His attitude was almost hostile which was surprising considering the other members of the staff very pleasant. I even had to take our bill to the counter so I could pay for my meal after waiting for quite a long time. No apologies or even a simple Thanks ! I surely do not expect obsequious service but graciousness is not too much to ask for.. Too bad read more

Quaint lunch in Carmel Valley on our wine tasting adventure. Delicious butter lettuce with egg salad along the side. Lentil soup was yummy. Service was perfect. A true gem in the valley. PSA they do close between lunch and dinner don't wait too late for lunch. read more

Spectacular food. I got the sand dabs special served with delicious warm potato salad and a butter lettuce salad. Sand dabs were pan sautéed and served with a lovely lemony sauce. The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that they didn't bring us bread and butter like all the other guests. We were not able to sit outside because we didn't have a reservation so I highly recommend calling first so you can sit outside. That would have made it perfect. read more

Saturday afternoon dinner, tables available for walk up around 5pm. Excellent complementary baked break, and brilliant mushroom soup. Flammekueche pizza was amazing and I am definitely ordering it again, worked well as an app. Baked Rigatoni wasn't really a wow for me but my wife loved it so perhaps its just a preference thing. Special was Sea Bass, again an amazing dish. Good outdoor seating well heated in the fall. I love the consistency of this place, several times we have been served by the chef, over several years we have yet to find a complaint. Kudos to the chef and owner! read more

My wife and I were spending the long Labor Day weekend in Carmel and I had looked forward to dining at Bouchee in Carmel one night.. We were seeking a casual "locals spot" and wondered into Cafe Rustica. In some ways the food was more memorable, maybe the casual setting, the totally in season Heirloom tomato salad with balsamic and goat cheese. My wife had a simple cheese tortellini and I had an equally simple, but perfectly prepared mushroom pizza. After an afternoon in Valley at the wineries, an excellent find for casual meal, homey setting and pleasant service. read more

The folks over at the Joullian Vineyards (wonderful!) recommended we have lunch here after our wine tasting and we were glad they did! This place is cozy, charming and has delicious pizzas. We sat inside though they have a cute, good-sized patio. The Jose's Verde Pizza is fantastic! I uploaded a photo but I'm not sure it does the pizza justice. It has a bit of a kick but, then again, I'm a bit of a wuss when it come to spice. It had just the right amount. I would definitely recommend this place to anyone in/passing through the area! read more

Cafe Rustica - Jose Verde Pizza - French Near Me - Carmel Valley, California

Kim from Holman Ranch sent us down here for lunch - it was great! We didn't have a reservation, so no patio seating for us - but we sat right next to an open door looking out on the side of the patio - so it felt like the same thing. He had the smoked salmon pizza - it was good - but the leftovers we brought home were GREAT later that night. The creme fraiche was a little runny - but the flavor was great! I had the chicken sandwich - the caramelized onioin & tomato relish made the sandwich. So good! Paired that with a bottle of the vino vherde...perfect lunch. Will definitely go back next time we're in the area read more

Yum yum, this place is great. We came here for dinner. The service was fantastic and the food was tasty. Variety of entrees and appetizers as well as desserts. Dim lights make for a romantic ambiance, but it is a bit loud and very close quarters. Definitely worth visiting. read more

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Please try their chicken is amazing we also love their butter lettuce salad is to die for it's a must to for Carmel Valley!!!! Love love love!!! Local favorite!!! read more

We just moved to the Valley and our favorite place to eat is Cafe Rustica. Always good food and decent service. Highly suggest this place.

OK I totally agree with fellow reviewer Barb B. I'm a local and the former owner really ran a tight ship. The place is now communally owned by the staff so there's no "boss." It shows. Look the food is quite good, most of the time. The service can swing wildly from good to simply awful. They're coasting on Paulo's coattails and it shows. Used to be 5 stars. read more

My boyfriend and I went here upon recommendation by our inn keeper and scrutiny of Yelp reviews. While the service and ambiance were very pleasant, I have to agree with another reviewer that overall, the food here is pretty bland. The half rotisserie chicken had flavor, though my bf said Rock Bottom Brewery's is better by far. The sole special was bland with the exception of the over buttery sauce. The white bean salad with shrimp skewers was bland overall and the beans a little "al dente". The split pea soup was completely bland. Even the wine (Heller Estates Chardonnay) was bland! We had a good experience despite the food, just wish the quality was better. I wouldn't go back at this price, or any other I think. read more

Yummy. The mushroom pizza could have used a pesto sauce to give it some more flavor, but we were all fans. Great outdoor environment.

The food at this place is just delicious. The portions are very generous and the price is great well. My wife and I would go back to this resturant without a doubt. The ambiance is very welcoming and not too busy which is ideal if you want a quite romantic dinner. read more

Great comfort food . Pleasant atmosphere with outdoor seating . Staff was great . The desserts are heavenly .

Great local restaurant with a beautiful outside seating area (including heaters) in the heart of Carmel Valley Village. The place offers a great variety of delicious pasta, meat and pizza dishes - the italian dishes are influenced from the region of Tuscany/Italy, the pizza's are influenced by the region of Alsace/France with their famous Flammekuechen (very thin pizzas from the srone pizza oven). They're amazing and not too heavy - try it out! I've been to this place two times and the food was always great - the first time I had the thin-crusted BBQ chicken pizza - delicious! The next time I tried the Marinated Lamb Filets - amazing and cooked to perfection! I haven't tried any deserts but they all looked great (on the neighbor's tables). The wine list is great: they offer a wide variety of local as well as French and Italian wines. Try the wines from Heller Estate - a local vineyard and the only producer of Organic Wines in Monterey County. The Chenin Blanc is absolutely astounding! I would give the restaurant 5 stars but the service on the second night wasn't really the best - I have to admit that the restaurant was full at that time and the server looked rather stressed, however the rude attitude 'ruined' the experience a bit. Otherwise a great restaurant with great food! read more

We just got back to our hotel, and wow we still can't stop talking about what a great time we had! We didn't have a reservation, but were offered a space at the adorable bar! We both agreed that sitting at the bar made our night and was probably better than sitting at a table. My mom and I are from Europe so we appreciated that much of the staff was European! My mom ordered the Hungarian goulash and I the baked rigatoni. Both were PHENOMENAL! What really made our dinner so special though was our waiter Eric. He was so kind and went above and beyond to make our dining experience special. Thanks so much Eric and the great chef for one of our most memorable dinners! read more

Excellent all around. Fantastic food and service. We felt very safe during this time as well. Thank you!

Cutest and best place to eat anytime. I love to go with my lady friends before we hit the great wine tasting rooms.

After wandering around Carmel for quite some time my boyfriend and I randomly had lunch at Cafe Rustica. Because it was such a beautiful day we decided to have lunch in the patio. Food and service were both amazing. I highly recommend stopping by here if you're in the area. read more

There is not one single thing that draws me to this restaurant. There are several things. Everything on the menu is tasty. I love sitting outside, but I love the ambulance inside. It's just a good place to meet for lunch. One of my personal favorites. read more

GREAT FOOD! Thank you for your continued dedication to excellence. We thoroughly enjoyed our outstanding meal tonight! Five stars to you!

Went here without reservations on a Saturday night and were greeted by multiple staff - all friendly. We ended up waiting approximately 15 minutes for a table. We had people tell us that it would be worth the wait as they left. Our waiter was incredibly courteous and charming, and kept an eye on us - bringing out the next dish when we were done with the previous, stopping by after dropping off each dish to ask how it was, and keeping our glasses filled. The food didn't take long to come despite the place being busy. EXCELLENT service all the way around. The food was delightful, too. Bread and butter to start, delicious calamari with chile aioli, and the BLT salads were great! Generous portion sizes. We got the pizza lorraine and it was creamy and delicious, though too rich to finish had we had enough room left! The crust is thin and deliciously crispy. For dessert I got the lemon pudding cake with strawberries. I have never had anything like that in my life. It was very tart and better than anything I could have imagined. Pricing at this place is higher than a diner, but much lower than you could pay for equal quality food, service, and ambiance. Cozy but not trying too hard to be fancier than it is. Highly recommend checking this place out if you are visiting. I can see why it is a local's favorite. read more

I'm hard pressed to say how great this restaurant truly is..... The food is fantastic, and I highly recommend the clams as a starter, followed by the pork main dish. The wine list is mostly local, and it is VERY reasonably priced, and the selection is very good if you like our local Carmel Valley wines! They strived to stay open during the COVID-19 shutdown, and they did so by doing great take-out dishes. Please support this great local restaurant in Carmel Valley! read more

Another return for another incredible meal... consistently one of the best if not our top establishment to eat at!!! If we lived closer (2 hrs and at least 6 visits later) I believe we would practically eat there all the time. So much to choose from. This round found the rock cod special that melted in your mouth, the goulash, always a favorite. We ordered the lorraine pizza and egg salad sandwich to go for relaxing order the balcony overlooking the ocean...the pizza was outstanding (even at 2am-- I had no will power there)... a return is imminent, many more things that need to try.... read more

Excellent food, wonderful service! My wife and I stopped here while in Carmel Valley on our honeymoon. Our server, Thomas, made it one of the best dining experiences we had on our trip. The food was outstanding and very affordable for the quality. We will definitely make our way back here next time we are in the area. read more

This is a lovely place, and yes, very rustic inside, but in a good way! My friend and I ate outside as the weather was so nice. I had the salmon and it was perfection. Staff was kind, polite and attentive. Highly recommend this restaurant! read more

Best margharita pizza I've ever had! What a wonderful surprise for this little hamlet, and an excellent base layer for wine tasting in the area. Docking one star because the server was a real jerk, with my table and also rude and demanding with the rest of the (much younger) staff, from what I observed. They pushed back playfully, so maybe his cantankerousness was a result of the end of a busy lunch rush. read more

Amazing and authentic! Had the butternut squash ravioli and hubby had the rigatoni. Also had pear and Gorgonzola salad. Very generous wine pours. Highly recommend! read more

This is the best restaurant in Carmel Valley, hands down. They have managed to create a perfect balance of setting, food, and service. You can eat either inside or out on the patio, and the food is adventurous without having the busts that the fake trendy spots have. Carmel Valley has some good weather for about 9 months a year, and the patio is an enchanting place to eat almost all of the time. On occasion we go and have a simple dinner at the bar if we don't have reservations. Most of the time you really do need reservations, particularly on a weekend, because it has gotten fairly well known. Service has always been both prompt and friendly. Prices are trending up a bit, which is the only reason it isn't a five star. read more

My wife wanted to eat at Cafe Rustica again because we had a nice meal last time. Unfortunately nothing was as good. The service was slow, the food wasn't hot enough, and by the end of the meal we were cold in the covered side patio even with the heat lamps. read more

A friend recommended this place to us for our anniversary dinner. We were reluctant to travel to Carmel Valley as it's 30 min from our home. We're so happy that we did. Everything from the atmosphere, food, and service made our anniversary so special. Well definitely be back. Thanks Cafe Rustica! read more

The food is absolutely amazing. We are locals, and have visited Cafe Rustica many times. The food is always beyond fantastic and the service typically is great as well. Tonight 7/7/19 we decided to visit for dinner. We were seated in the back patio which was fine. Our server made 6 passes by our table before he said hello. He did not ask if we would like a drink, instead I said we would like a bottle of wine ($80) to which he promptly left to go get it. He then visited the two other table he served 2 times before returning to take our dinner order. I told him we were ready to order both salads and entrees. The salads came out great, just the way we ordered, and again, the food is AMAZING. My fiancé orders a pizza with no onions and there were onions on it, our server upon his check up visit offered to have it remade, but we did not want to wait. Again the server checked up on his other tables at a 2/1 ratio to us. We boxed our meals and headed home, wowed by the food and disappointed by the service. Make sure you get the right server when you visit here, because it can make or break your experience, as a local and an ambassador to the area it is disappointing to have poor service in a place we would love to visit more. read more

great pizza, amazing butter lettuce salad with crisp greens and large leaves lightly dressed with an amazing vinaigrette( Mustardy). The food is consistently good. Specials vary from day to day. Fairly priced. Exteraordinarily good pizzas too. read more

Each of us ordered something different and we all tried each other's plates. Mine was salmon dish with mashed potatoes. I loved it! The other plates were ribeye and goulash. All equally delicious read more