My husband and i looked at places to visit during our Monterey trip this month weeks in advance and…read morewe came across sea harvest. This place is a little hidden gem!! We tried so many different things off the menu and every single thing was delicious! We live 2.5 hours away and already are planing on making the trek back just for sea harvest. Also our 9 year old son said they have the best chicken strips he's ever tried in his life. So if you have a picky eater that doesn't venture from chicken strips and fries, apparently this is also the place lol!

Stopped by on Friday 6/19 for an early lunch at about 11:45 am. The outdoor patio was pretty full…read morebut indoor seating was plentiful. At about 12:30, the interior was full. Interior is small and simple but that worked for us. This place is a fish market but also serves food and sells miscellaneous items (shirts, dog snacks). You order at the counter, find seating, and are given a pager. Utensils and napkins are available on the counter for you take what you need. Items ordered: Pint of clam chowder x2- Just okay for me. Plenty of clams but some had sand. Combination fish and chips- Delicious and the fries were good. Kids chicken tenders- Kiddo enjoyed this and his fries Special salmon patties and grilled shrimp with rice and veggies- 2 Salmon patties that tasted okay (I am not a huge cooked salmon fan but will try something different on occasion), 2 garlic shrimp, rice, and plenty of veggies. Garlic bread- Bread was light and not super dense. I also liked that this was not cheesy. Fish and chips- Generous amount of delicious fish and fries.

One of the best seafood restaurants I've ever been to and they offer it oak grilled! Fantastic…read moreoffering, service, commitment to excellence!

A perfect lunch ! The service was beyond par, the meal was superb, and the complementary bread was…read morefresh and hot. Aaron was the best, please ask for him when you go, you will not be disappointed. He was very attentive and made sure all our needs were met. We've been going here yearly, for over twenty years, and this restaurant only keeps getting better. If you only have one chance to eat in Monterey then the Monterey's Fish House is the one place you have go to.

This place was so good! great food, quick and friendly service, and an overall good vibe. 10/10read more

Grotto Fish Market is amazing! It is it a cute little area…read morewith shops and many places to eat. The service was superb. We were greeted by Rosie who was very friendly and gave us some great advice on the menu and area. She was very sweet. For our dinner, we ordered clam chowder, salmon pokie bowl, and the Baja tacos. All dishes were fantastic! They are large portions, so depending on how hungry you are, you can split a portion with your group. Overall, Grotto Fish Market is awesome! Check it out!

Come for the food, hope to get Laurene as your server!…read more We ordered the Crab Louie, fish and chips, sand dabs, and calamari steak. All of the food was excellent but what made the meal was the service. Not sure of the spelling so apologies but Laurene was great with our kids. Helpful with any requests and genuinely the best server I think I've ever had in my life. She knows how to make a customer feel appreciated while not taking herself too seriously. We'll definitely be back the next time we are passing through! Thank you for making our lunch a memorable experience.

Seriously old school. But I was kind of looking for that, as I wanted a taste of old Monterey,…read morenothing crazy bougie or hip. Building is on a wharf, just slightly above the water. Right in the marina where dozens of boats are parked. Window views of the marina are easy to be had, just one big long room really. Old school traits: the crowd on a weekday lunch was 80% seniors, most seemed local as I can tell by their banter. The rest of the peeps were regulars who seemed to have a routine. The menu is seriously basic seafood town ie chowders, louie salads, seafood that can be griddled, fried or sauteed. Solid cooks that can execute clean plates. And the clincher old school trait Sandbar had, was a bowl by the entrance/exit they gave away free match boxes with their logo. I haven't seen that in decades! It hit home for me cuz I used to collect restaurant/bar matchbooks in my younger years. So crazy to run into them again as they are no longer normalized. Glass Sauvignon Blanc ($10/5*) Perfectly chilled, fruity without being sweet, great balance. Went great with bites of the seafood throughout the meal. Clam Chowder ($8/cup/4*) Solid. Creamy and thick but not excessively stodgy. Good clams and potato ratio. But very herb-y, as in dry herbs cooked into the soup. Great with the sliced sourdough given upon seating. Calamari Appetizer ($14/3.5*) For some reason I thought this was going to be deep fried breaded calamari, the cut tubes along with a few tentacles. But this was thick, bite-sized squares cut from a big calamari steak. It was breaded in fresh bread crumbs and lightly fried, so no significant crispness. Just a mild and soft breaded exterior. I had to salt it and dip it in either tartar or cocktail sauce. It was fine but I was just looking for something more flavorful and crisp. I still enjoyed it, just threw me for a loop. Lunch Sand Dabs ($23/4*) I was torn cuz I wanted to try their special of the day which was a Halibut dish with a Tomatillo Butter Sauce; but I also wanted something very basic and local. It doesn't get any more Monterey than local sand dabs, which is like a small flounder that is mild and delicate. I also overheard multiple tables around me order it, so I simply couldn't dismiss the local's consensus. I did like that it was super plain where the fish fillets were allowed to shine. But after the first initial few bites, I was just wishing there were something else to elevate the fish, like a butter sauce or wine/parsley sauce. It did have a side of tartar sauce, which theirs is good with big hunks of capers and celery. But I just thought a warm sauce of some sort would have soaked into the fish nicely. Served with brown rice pilaf that had good flavor but was a bit too al dente for me, crunchy rice isn't my jam. But I took some of the fish home, and I made a quick 30 second garlic lemon butter sauce that indeed went well with delicate fish. So I was able to get some serious satisfaction after all. Irish Coffee ($15/5*) It was a cool and grey day, so I opted on this for dessert. Theirs is as old school as it gets, so it was perfect. Great way to end a meal, belly happy, sipping a well made coffee cocktail whilst watching the boats float on by. As a passing tourist, Sandbar did me just fine. They gave me the flavors and charm of Monterey without being around a ton of other tourist. More off the beaten path which is how I like to roll.

We were traveling down the coast and found this place on Yelp, all other nearby restaurants didn't…read morerate that well. After walking on the pier we were kinda worried about finding a decent spot to eat. So glad we gave it a try. Walking in there were like 3 other parties walking in so that was encouraging. It gave off Hawaiian/tiki vibes and was inviting. They have a 3 course special 4-5 pm for like $30. My husband and I picked that, I had the teriyaki chicken bowl and he had bbq ribs. The salad had a delicious dressing and had to eat every morsel. Both the main courses were really good. My grandson ordered the steak and ate every bite of the whole meal. Kai (the waiter) was very nice and gave us some advice on what to see along the route. I got an amazing picture that I blew up to hang in our room. Totally recommend giving this place a try!

I've driven by Kona Steak & Seafood for years and always wondered about it. To be honest, I figured…read moreit was just another Hawaiian-themed restaurant. I was completely wrong. From the moment we walked in, we were greeted with smiles and genuine hospitality. Our server, Paula, was a class act and great at what she does. We loved the poke chips and lilikoi buns. My wife had the halibut, my daughter had the chicken nuggets and fries, and I had the ribeye. The Mai Tai and Chi Chi were outstanding. The highlight of the night was when Paula surprised our daughter with a shaved ice dessert and dry ice presentation. It was her last day of 2nd grade, and we were celebrating the start of summer before she heads into 3rd grade. The smile on her face was priceless. Earlier in the day we experienced some poor customer service elsewhere, so this was a great reminder of what true hospitality looks like. Great food, great drinks, and even better service. Thank you, Paula, for helping make a special family memory. We'll definitely be back.

Came here on a Saturday night for a date because we wanted a nice seafood dinner with an ocean…read moreview. We made a reservation the day before and got a table outside on the pier right by the water during sunset. We started with the half dozen oysters and the coastal clam chowder bread bowl. The oysters were some of the freshest I've had and tasted really clean. The clam chowder was New England style without bacon, which I liked, and it was buttery with plenty of clams. The bread bowl had a nice crunch and paired really well with the soup. I got the grilled chicken piccata for my main. The chicken was too dry, but the piccata sauce was really good. It came with mashed potatoes and vegetables, and both were flavorful and cooked well. I also got the China Cove Mai Tai. It was nice and strong. For dessert we got a chocolate cake with ice cream. The cake itself tasted good, but the ice cream was flat, not very flavorful, and too crumbly. The view from the pier during sunset was hard to beat, and the staff was really kind, took pictures for us, and let us stay well past closing without making us feel rushed.

Schooners never disappoints!, we came here again after having an incredible experience our last…read moretime. We got a bit early before our reservation, and we sat at the bar for a couple drinks before dinner. There was plenty of room and bartenders were super attentive. After relaxing for a bit, we joined the dining room for our reservation. We got a beautiful spot right on the water. Our waiter Hannah promptly came to check on us and get a drink order started. My partner continued to have some very cold coors light like which he appreciated. I switched it up from Prosecco to having a Hugo spritz, which felt very refreshing. We started with truffle fries and a Caesar salad. My partner rated the Caesar salad and the fries assault eight out of 10 on both both very flavorful dressing was fantastic on the salad lettuce was very cold. Good sign of freshness. Moving onto our entrées he had the seafood pasta and I had the cioppino pot. Both very hearty in their portions. I was shown in Photos that cioppino pot I had was overflowing with different proteins from rock fresh to shrimp, clams, mussels, and crab. It was extremely flavorful, definitely one of the best cioppino I've had. My partner thought his seafood pasta was cooked perfectly also had plenty of protein to satisfy him. Only room for improvement was that it seemed our server got pretty busy with some other tables getting all set at once. Along with the fact that they had forgotten to bring me a spoon for my soup and it took a minute to wave someone down. And an honorable mention was us being able to see in otter finishing his own dinner while we were having ours very cute super fun evening for us.

Amazing food. Great views. Would definitely eat here again…read more Service was also great.

Wife had the Mahi Mahi and I had their blackened Rib Eye and crab-stuffed Prawns Chef's kiss I tell…read moreya! Glad we did food was exceptional!

This place has been around since 1968 and you can feel the history the moment you walk in. Frank…read moreSinatra probably playing and then the back room where the large dining room is a stunning greenhouse gazebo vibe. The seafood indulgence was easily the best item on the table. So fun to eat and worth every penny. We also went with the seasonal local salmon and the sauce on it was amazing. Then the grilled calamari steak with prawns and scallops came out and it was elite. Three for three. Don't forget the cheesy bread! The server and sommelier were both amazing.

Overall, I would recommend this restaurant if you're looking for an upscale, seafood dinner with…read moreunique offerings that's going to leave a dent in your wallet. The food is delicious but the price is a bit steep for the experience we had. My husband and I made reservations for our anniversary dinner on a Friday night at The Sardine Factory when we were on a recent trip in early June to Monterey and the surrounding area. We were looking forward to it for several weeks and had seen videos online of the beautiful restaurant interior, so we made sure to dress for the occasion. Upon arriving we were somewhat disappointed to be seated right near the host stand and next to the front door, practically in the bar area. We had hoped to sit in a more quiet area or in the atrium (especially considering we arrived several minutes before our reservation time and were not a walk-in couple), but we were still happy to enjoy the night. Being near the bar we were in immediate earshot of the piano player, who was singing soft and mellow songs that added to the ambiance when we first arrived. It was a nice start to accompany our drinks and appetizers. Unfortunately that didn't last long as the music swiftly became louder, karaoke-style songs that the bar patrons were happy to (loudly) sing along to. The noise became so overwhelming and didn't let up for the rest of the night. We couldn't hear each other speak or even hear our server. That type of setting is not at all what we envisioned for this caliber of a restaurant, or we would have booked our anniversary dinner elsewhere. Needless to say we wrapped up our meal more quickly than we would have liked and did not want to stay and enjoy dessert as we had planned. It took quite a while to receive our entrees and even longer for the check to finally arrive, but we were quick to leave and don't plan a return trip in the future. We were quite disappointed as we had such high hopes for a nice evening out.