Loved the Italian food here Fresh, filling, and flavorful. I had the carbonara and my boyfriend had the cannelloni. We ordinarily are a one and done type of food tasters so we can experience as many restaurants as we can; however, this is one of the few exceptions. We're planning on dining here again tonight! Also, they're named the best Italian in Monterey 10 years in a row. How about that for a humble brag? read more

I was enjoying my meal until ... mold on the bread. Generally, food has been good from this restaurant during the pandemic. Previously, I visited four times. On my latest visit, the customer service was poor when picking up take out. And the experience worsened with the mold on the bread; I called and was told "we're so sorry about that." However, as always, the tri-tip and mashed potatoes were a hit! read more

il vecchio - Mold on bread. - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

All around great dining experience. We had the saffron seafood entree which was down right amazing. Finished it off with the chocolate cake also delightful. Great service and super nice ambiance with a seat near the fireplace. Highly recommend! read more

We discovered this hidden gem a year ago and honestly...I almost didn't Yelp it because selfishly I just want to keep it to myself! This place is AMAZING. Everything is homemade. The food, service, environment and charm is simply unbeatable. Watching the kitchen is mesmerizing - they are a well-oiled machine putting out hot, perfectly-seasoned and well-portioned hearty Italian meals. Order anything on the menu and I guarantee you'll be happy! read more

il vecchio - Pasta Rigatoni (Dinner) - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

See all

BEWARE OF NEW OWNERSHIP The menu is the same and the food is not. No flavor, lower quality and smaller portions read more

Amazing food and great service . We almost made it at their closing time but they were so gracious and took care of us so well. read more

il vecchio - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

I don't typically write reviews but after our experience last Saturday night at il vecchio I feel compelled to share my displeasure. We have dined here many times over the years and in our opinion il vecchio has always been number one in Monterey County for authentic Italian food. But, this visit was awful, and I hope it is not indicative of a downward trend! Service was chaotic and extremely slow. While we enjoyed the bread service and a delicious Chianti, it took well over an hour to receive our food. The guy behind the bar was clearly flustered, struggling to keep up with the orders, and seemed extremely unhappy to be there. Overall, a hugely disappointing evening at a place we used to love. read more

il vecchio - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

On our yearly golf trip to Monterey we always ask some locals for their favorite dinner houses & why. We had never heard of il Vecchio but took the tip & went on Sunday 30 minutes after they opened for dinner & it's a good thing we did because I think we got the last open table. We four were pleasantly surprised that the waiter was engaging & was very open on others favorites or explaining what each dish we were considering. Every meal we ordered was severed HOT & delicious. Our next visit to dinner, can't wait! read more

Great meal, ambiance was on par, Caesar salad was the best I've had in a long time. The owner was there greeting guests and helping getting drinks to the table as they were down a server. read more

il vecchio - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

The food was absolutely delicious. Docking them a star because service at the sidewalk checkin table was scattered and slow, even though there weren't many customers awaiting service. My pasta in red sauce was absolutely delicious, and my friends really enjoyed their sandwiches (only on the lunch menu, i think). read more

I ordered Uber eats and this is how my tiramisu order was delivered. That tiramisu btw was $15 with taxes, a SLICE of tiramisu that was $15 came this way. Beyond disappointed! read more

Has a delicious dinner the other night. The rock cod was perfect! Great selection of wines. What really stood out was the service. Our waiter was great but Lute the bus man really shined. Why he isn't a waiter I don't understand. Ask to be by his tables and you'll understand what I mean. Enjoy. read more

Best pasta in the PG, Monterey area. Perfect cook. Just right. The gnocchi is top notch.

I visited this place last Saturday, and ordered the burrata cheese salad. The salad was prepared well, but the cheese seemed to be bad and left its mark all over the rest of my dinner. Great location and great presentation, although the ingredients may not be the freshest. read more

My daughter and I ate here recently, and we were both so thrilled with everything! Richard was our server and he was super nice and when we ordered the bread service, we had another server who was checking on us frequently to make sure that we had enough water and if we needed more bread he would bring it to us. There was another server that checked in on our table and was so genuinely sweet. It was just amazing! You honestly could not ask for better service! There was a band playing and we didn't know if we were going to like them or not, but they were really great and their music definitely went well with our table conversation and was really nice to listen to. The music definitely added to our extraordinary experience. The food was incredible! We ordered the bread service with olives and the brussels sprouts to share before our entrées. They were delicious! The entrées were outstanding as well. I ordered the lasagna and it was really delicious with a really big serving. My daughter ordered the saffron seafood pasta, and she loved it! This was definitely a five star experience and when we go back to Monterey to visit again, we will absolutely return to this wonderful restaurant! read more

This was a nice home style restaurant. The staff was nice and the food was great. The place was severely under staffed for Father's day. There is a sign that says if your food isn't perfect please let the staff know. That is a nice touch to make sure people aren't happy with the food or service. My steak was overcooked but they were so busy I didn't want to complain.. I ordered med rare and got very well done. read more

See all

our bartender was Carlos! Best Whiskey Sour, ever, and with fresh egg white. Watching the creation became entertainment. We had wonderful Carbonra and spaghetti, at the bar. Great bread. All was fresh and just a wonderful dinner! We are locals and eat out frequently. Kudos from Garry and Janet read more

Very friendly staff. Good menu options. Creative and delicious. A wonderful place for a group. read more

Our 3rd trip to Carmel and this restaurant has been a highlight every time. Love the food. We spent some time in Italy and this is as close to the real thing we've found. Not super expensive. EXCELLENT service. This should be on your list of restaurants to visit. It was recommended to us by a local. If the locals recommend it you can't go wrong. Not fancy but a nice date or special evening celebration place. I recommend reservations. read more

If you are in Monterey and are looking for Italian food, go here! They make their own pasta and it's very very good. Excellent customer service as well read more

il vecchio - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

See all

Main course and service were okay. Gelato and Tiramisu could have been better! Overall 3/5! read more

I cannot remember the last tme I enjoyed a lasagna with freshly made noodles and 7 layers of heaven!! The flavor was like a party in my mouth! The staff were polite, attentive, and oh so friendly!! The owner came around to check on us and even bantered with my history-buff hubby about Italian history! Highly recommended!! read more

Best eggplant parm ever! The sauce was better than my Mom's and even restaurants in Italy. My new favorite. Our server Natalie was fantastic! We had a reservation and got seated immediately. Long line of people trying to get a table. Can't wait to go back. read more

Love the food and the atmosphere. I love to get there early for the lasagna as it occasionally runs out. Very good but come hungry, big portion. read more

Was downright terrible. They refused to serve us even though we had a reservation. We kept showing them our reservation, but they refused to serve us. read more

Food was GREAT. We got the pork shoulder with puréed potatoes and veggies, and the carbonara. It was a very tasty dinner and the level of noise was perfect for conversation while still giving the restaurant a lively feel for a Saturday night. The hospitality, however, made us feel very unwelcome. Upon arrival, we were asked if we had a reservation. We knew it was busy, and we didn't mind waiting. The host told us that she could seat us right away, but that we needed to "eat and run" and "not spend forever talking after dessert". She had three empty tables and told us to take whichever we liked. Within 5 minutes of receiving our food, the owner came up to us and said "Less talking, more eating, don't want your pasta cold!" Coupled with the host's comments to us, we felt very rushed and unwelcome, even though we didn't really have a choice in the host seating us in the first place. Our server was fantastic and reassured us everything was fine, which helped a lot. I don't think we'll be returning because of this situation, unless we have a reservation at least. read more

Came here solo without reservations at around 5:40pm on Saturday. Not a single thing wrong here. Warm atmosphere, great quality food, great service. Will return no doubt. read more

Gnocchi fantastic, home made. Tiramisu great, with rum. It's not the dry ladyfinger version) read more

Always enjoy this restaurant. One of our favorites . Compared to many, it is less expensive and predictably tasty regional Italian cuisine. Very popular so get a reservation. Highly recommend. read more

If you are looking for a great meal within walking distance to the aquarium, we highly recommend this restaurant. This is our third time here...always a great dining experience. Today's meal was Subbrunch: entree salad with seafood, entree salad with marinated veggies and cheese, fried polenta with marinara sauce and spaghetti with marinara. Delicious!! We'll be back again. ---- 3/24/19 Returned yesterday for about the third time this year. Love the food and most of the staff is always friendly. However, I'm a little hesitant to return and/or recommend after seeing the "owner" checking in to greet every patron but us last night. It would be great to be treated like "family" because we love to eat here but maybe we need to look into other venues :-( read more

As soon as we walked in we were seated by I presume the owner since the host was taking a phone call. The food was fresh and very filling! I had a glass of Chardonnay which my boyfriend knocked off the table at one point and one of the servers (blonde gal) gave me a fresh new glass. The gentleman who were cleaning our tables were also very attentive! Great little place in monterey with prices you really can't beat! This meal was cheaper than any meal on our trip. read more

il vecchio - Orecchiette (Dinner) and Gnocchi Pasta (Dinner) - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Great food, great service, incredible desserts... Il Vecchio is my go to place for family celebrations and just those nights when I'm craving comfort food. It's pretty easy to get a table during lunchtime, but you will be better off calling for a reservation for evenings or weekends - this place fills up quickly! read more

See all

Great food, BAD service. I'll say, even with this three star review and their subpar service, I will continue to go every so often because their food is so tasty. However, their service is inconsistent and generally poor, consider yourself lucky if you get the right food, get it in a relatively reasonable amount of time, or have a server who is nice. What caused me to write this review is I just called to place a take-out order (something I've done there multiple times) since my fiancé and I were planning on going there for dinner but we have to stay home this evening. The woman who answered the phone was incredibly short and made it clear she did not want to talk at all. I asked if I could place a take out order of pork shoulder and she quickly barked that they are too busy for take out and they are out of pork shoulder anyway. I asked if there was any way to just put in a single quick order of rigatoni...she hung up. Great way to leave a horrible impression. Plus the manager is a total jack*ss. He always walks around and will show up at random tables and just start complimenting himself and saying the restaurant is only so good because he is in charge, and he isn't joking. He is actually claiming that. He's never complimented any of the waiters or chefs, only compliments himself. You can sense his overinflated ego from across the room. Shoutout to the chefs and the few good waiters, you guys are the only reason people keep coming!! There are some absolutely terrific waiters and the rigatoni, pork shoulder, and chocolate cake is to die for, some of the best food you'll ever have. Ambiance is nice as well, very cool little set up in a great location. Love to come with family and friends, you just have to show up willing to deal with some rudeness and slow waits. Personally, the cake is worth it. But it won't always be that way... read more

it took me three days to get a hold of anyone even after leaving two phone messages, trying to contact them through there website and left a message through their Facebook page. Finally I spoke to Ari who was very knowledgeable and helpful when ordering for 20 people for a delivery. We ordered the Cesar salad with Cesar dressing instead of cashew dressing what we go was a tin full of lettuce and nothing else, the dressing was delicious but the salad was just lettuce, disappointing. We ordered the Brussel sprouts and the portions were very generous, they were delicious. we ordered the shrimp, we thought because it was called shrimp linguini there would be noodles, but there wasn't and that was our mistake but they we're good. We also ordered Chicken Marsala which was over cooked and not really edible due to it being very tough. Last but not least we ordered gluten free noodles in the spaghetti and meatballs and everyone raved over that dish. They delivered the food on time and it was hot. read more

Food was amazing and staff was the best! I would definitely recommend if you are looking for a place to eat. read more

il vecchio - Pasta Canelloni (Dinner) - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

Carl has done it again! What an amazing dining experience. Authentic and beautiful Italian dishes at a fair price point. The wine list was amazing the staff was friendly the food was tantalizing and the desserts were off the hook! Well done and we will send all our friends. Thank you for an amazing Dining experience! read more

Farm-to-table fresh and organic, can't be beat. Portions are huge and the service is superb. Originally planned to do First Awakenings, but the 40-minute plus wait sent us across the street here. I had a delicious veggie frittata and she got the salmon eggs Benedict. You must come here starving to walk out stuffed. Organic food makes poor leftovers, so clear your plate! read more

Great service and good ambiance, although it can get a little loud. We started off with the burrata, which was good but nothing to write home about. I had the orecchiette as my entree, which was delicious and a great balance of cream, Italian sausage, and mushrooms. For dessert, we had the tiramisu which was served in a ramekin. Pretty standard, but still great and really enjoyed the mascarpone on top. read more

il vecchio - Burrata Appetizer - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

See all

We stopped at il Vecchio after not being able to eat at a breakfast place we were recommended due to a long wait time. We had a combination of lunch and breakfast and it was amazing to say the least. The pasta was creamy and was very rich in flavor. The French toast was moist and included a fresh cut up fruit. We added sausage and it was very delicious as well. Their servers were friendly and the food came out very fast in around 5 minutes. Needless to say we will definitely come back to this place if we are ever in town again. read more

il vecchio - Pasta Farfalle Funghi (Lunch) - Italian Near Me - Pacific Grove, California

This is being reviewed by an Italian. This is the cutest little restaurant. Our waiter was great. The food was fresh. My rigatoni was delicious, and the meat sauce is how we make it at home with big chunks of meat in it. Delicious! This will be my go-to Italian restaurant whenever we visit Monterey. I do have one suggestion for the restaurant. The crostini that is provided with the burrata is very hard and can crack some teeth. Also, it would be nice if you offered a few complimentary slices of bread and butter with meals. read more

See all