Usually, I tend to always avoid hotel restaurants but the good reviews and our hunger made us give it a shot. The Carnivore pizza was solid, good crudo and delicious burgers. Give a shot to the non alcoholic cocktails too, tasty. read more

Jacks Monterey - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

This is a terrible restaurant! Two stars because the ambiance is nice and the wine list is decent; otherwise DREADFUL. Service was indifferent and the server kept rushing me to pay my bill because she was going off shift. After she left I couldn't get anyone to respond to me and had to walk up to the host to get any attention. But, it's the food that is the worst. Calamari tempura was all stuck together in a greasy clump and overdone. One of the dipping sauces tasted like dish soap. From the kids menu, the "chicken fingers" were inedible dried out clumps you could break a tooth on. The fries, at least were ok, but not great. Overall a crappy experience. I recommend you walk out to the wharf for food. The convenience of the restaurant in the hotel just isn't worth it. read more

My husband and I stayed at this hotel and decided to dine here once we saw the menu and the good ratings. The food was delicious! We had the strawberry arugula salad with balsamic reduction dressing and the best prawn and capellini pasta we have ever experienced. It is so good we are planning to go back soon. I highly recommend this place and will tell my friends and family who live in the Monterey Bay Area. Our server was Kevin and he was so friendly and attentive. We will ask for his table the next time we go there. read more

This place should be shut down. I'm calling the health department. Raw chicken on a salad, stale old bread on a rancid burger, horrible service and no effort to really make it right. I will definitely be filing a complaint with the health department. It's bad enough that the we are dealing with coronavirus as a society, so why should we have to worry about getting sick from our food prepared and served by a staff that shouldn't be in the food industry to start with? Fire your chef and your night manager. Absolutely appalling and pathetic. read more

Our new favorite brunch spot! Everything was good. Came for Sunday brunch, enjoyed a relaxing atmosphere with live music, and delicious food. Will definitely be coming back for more. read more

I love the new remodel. Out in the beautiful lobby with the trees. Love the new music. I used my Groupon voucher for the New York Strip steak. I ordered it medium well. Delicious. My dessert, The Bomb, was great, too. Please see the description with the photo. read more

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Good food, great service and fantastic atmosphere. My husband and I ate here on Thanksgiving night. Even through it was busy, our server still took good care of us. My husband enjoyed a turkey dinner. I had the petite fillet with mashed potatoes. It was very good and cooked the way I asked. This place is worth a stop when in Monterey. read more

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At a time when my expectations are lower due to the impact of the global pandemic, this place served up a flawless evening. Staff was friendly and professional, the food was perfectly prepared, and the dessert was creative. Even the mocktails were creative and delicious. read more

One of the best meals in downtown. Jacks chowder on point. My personal favorite dish would have to be the Yukon Gold Potato Gnocchi & Pork Osso Bucco. Highly recommend one of their signature cocktails, Tuyet's Elyxir is my go to drink. Friendly(genuine friendly)excellent service, especially Tuyet, Will and Casie. read more

Jacks Monterey - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

Since we were traveling over Thanksgiving, we made reservations here for the big dinner. The food was delicious, the service was great. The ambiance is that of a mall food court. read more

Loved it before the remodel and the new face is awesome as well. Be seated inside our outside (inside) love the trees and the ambiance. Service staff and the bartenders are lovely. Always a great time at portola and jacks. Fun staycation as locals. read more

My wife and I were not hotel guests. We came in because of yelp reviews and beautiful pictures. Service was steady as we were one of 2 fables that we could see. We sat under the tree and ordered the soup and Cesar salad. Everything was delicious. The valet was in between shifts but overall great experience. We will be back to enjoy more. read more

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Delicious food paired with great services!!! The pizza is perfect. I don't eat crust but I ate all this crust! Beautiful location with a relaxing atmosphere. read more

Jacks Monterey - What's left of my pizza! - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

What a happy surprise! Great and imaginative food. I had the Grains & Greens salad, my husband the Shrimp Louie and our friend had Eggplant Parmigiana. We all enjoyed our selection very much. Attentive staff, too. Price was 15.00 per entree. We'll be back. read more

This place is amazing, the food is great, the restaurant itself is nice as well. The only thing bad about the place was, it took forever for a server to finally greet us and welcome us but aside from that, everything was great. I highly recommend the chicken read more

Jacks Monterey - Absolutely DELICIOUS!!! - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

I'm sorry but the food really sucks, omg I didn't think an ok chef could ever ruin a Halibut that bad, chewy, dry, over cooked Halibut wow! Even after I sent it back, Drinks are ok. Not impressed with the over all experience of dinner. I would never come back here again. Food sucks!! read more

Extremely disappointing breakfast. Service was slow. Eggs Benedict had so much paprika on the top that they were nearly inedible. The Hollandaise sauce just tasted weird. The country fried potatoes tasted so strongly of bell pepper that no other flavors were discernible. And then, after waiting 15 minutes for someone to take our order, we waited another 15 minutes after asking for our check for the check to arrive. My advice: Save money and time, and have breakfast somewhere else. read more

Being local has meant that I am always looking for a place to Do a staycation experience . Came by the bar area for a late afternoon lunch and drinks. There was the usual conference in town, so we knew it might be awhile to be served. 20 minutes later had not been acknowledged so went to another place for happy hour down the street! The remodel project is great, just needs to be a more welcoming place. read more

My wife and I were staying at the Portola Plaza and our visit to Jacks was a total success. The happy hour rocked and our server, Erik Morales was very helpful with our questions about the variety of beers available. He let us sample some of what was on tap and helped us pick the right beer. Erik made a good experience even better. read more

I had an amazing experience here! I love that its pet friendly so I can bring my dog. They brought her water and treats and so were sweet to her. The service was amazing. I want to give a shout out to Cynthia for being so welcoming and positive, constantly smiling. And most importantly, the food was incredible. We had a cesar salad with salmon, the burger, calamari, and the clam chowder. All was amazing! I would definitely come back read more

This is an Awesome place inside the hotel. The service is great. Got seated right away. I had the Jacks chowder and they're delicious. Ordered a Halibut it's a nice presentation but it's kind of dry and wish they can improve that next time. Overall this place has s recommended and i will come back. read more

We are locals and have been to Jack's two times and can't wait to go back. The service is wonderful. Last time Brook served us. The food is excellent and I was happy to see that they brought back Mama's Eggplant Parmesan...it was sooooo good!!! My sweetie always gets the Alaskan Halibut and is never disappointed. read more

Really liked the prime rib for the Christmas dinner, but I wish they served an extra course for the $68 per person. It was too pricey for what it was. I feel we could have gotten to a much more top of the line restaurant for what we paid. The service was great though. read more

Poor poor service. Had 8 pm reservations, we left at 8:40, still no order taken for food. Took 20 min to get drinks. Waitress never came and apologized for the late drinks. When the drinks cane she dropped the off the drinks scurried away without taking our dinner order. read more

casie and juan and marisa were awesome got are orders quick and friendly

Gave 3 stars because the food was good, so was the service. As for the Portola Hotel putting dinner out in the lobby.....very NOT CLASSY! They serve breakfast inside the restaurant and dinner out in the lobby. Now, wouldn't you think that breakfast being more of a casual meal would be served in the lobby rather than in the restaurant? Wouldn't you think that serving a dinner that includes cocktails, wine, prawns, salmon, steak would be served inside the restaurant and not in the lobby? UNBELIEVABLE! read more

My husband and I were in Jack's last week catching the ball game. The atmosphere is nice, as were the servers. After a few drinks we decided to split the ribeye steak and potatoes, and we were not disappointed! They serve Harris Ranch steak and it was very, very good! It was cooked to perfection! Overall a nice little casual spot for a very good steak dinner and a couple of drinks! read more

Unsatisfying all the way around. Mediocre food, at best and way over priced. Would not recommend

My wife and I had a delicious lunch! She had the California Clubhouse which generous amount of meat that was very tasty, the sweet potato tater tots side dish were amazing with the curry sauce. I had the Classic Turkey Pot Pie, it was the best pot pie ever! The flaky crust was like eating a French pastry. We will be eating there again and would highly recommend giving them a try! read more

Samantha Unger was the best. She was very knowledgeable about the food and drinks and was always checking with us to make sure we liked everything. We will definitely come back and request Samantha. Best service in the Monterey area. read more

Walked in and sat down in the bar shortly before noon. Waited ten minutes before asking if there was wait staff in the bar lounge. 20 minutes later our waiter said the bartender was working in our drinks. Waste of time! read more

Came when it first open over a year ago and the Strawberry Fields salad was awesome. They seem to have changed their recipe because it was not as good. Only 2 goat cheese fritters instead of 4 and the salad was missing components as well. I don't think I will return. read more

So I really wanted to like this place. We are locals and hadn't been in, in a while. I had heard some pretty bad things here, but thought we'd give it a try. Came in with all intention to write a five star review. We love to support local business. This is definitely not a business that cares about customer service, quality of food, or how to treat clients. We started by sitting down and ordering two appetizers, iced tea, and two sandwiches because we had about an hour and 15 minutes to eat and get out of there. We watched six tables of 4 to 5 people each eat and leave. We sat waiting for an hour and 15 minutes just for a hamburger and a club sandwich. When she realized we were sitting there waiting, and the restaurant was empty. She told us that the grill is broken and nobody in the kitchen told her. OK great can we get our sandwiches to go please? They are brought out on Plates , and again we asked to go packages. We stand there for another 10 minutes waiting for to go packages. She brings those and explains she's sorry about the kitchen again. I'm still trying to be polite to just go ....not a big deal. Then then I watch her go over and seat another table, take their order and go away. I'm standing there, still thinking that she must be coming with some thing for me to carry the packages as well as the bill. Nope...... She then brings out the other tables drinks and we're still standing there so now we have cold food, and an hour and a half into standing and waiting for a burger and a sandwich. All in all we got the burger and the sandwich up to our friends room that was staying here. The food is below average and absolutely cold. We paid almost $100 for absolutely nothing. We had to throw the food in the garbage. The kitchen knew what they did to us, the management what they did to us, the waitress knew what they did to us, and absolutely nothing was offered to compensate for the terrible service, the food, taking over an hour and 15 minutes and having a stand at the table for another 15 minutes. Not even faster service was offered. Absolutely just stared at us and went slower where we stood there in amazement of how terrible the treatment was. Even my 13-year-old was in shock. Very disappointed and we will definitely never be back. I hope they get it together over here because they can definitely do better and now I understand all the bad reviews. I wish I would've listen to them. read more

We love the Portola and we once loved Jack's inside the Portola. We've been patronizing both for many years. But that was the OLD Jacks. It was fine dining in a befitting atmosphere with excellent service. And the prices to match. Which we never complained about complained about because it was well worth it. (Although we too found the entre priced, single crab cake appetizer to be a bit over the top, even then.) While the food remains outstanding (my scallops were excellent!) and the prices continue to be at the fine dining level, moving the service area out of that beautiful, old world, wood paneled restaurant and into the very active bar and the HOTEL LOBBY, was an absolute disaster. Fire your marketing firm or whatever manager suggested that you turn Jack's into an overpriced diner instead of keeping the four-star restaurant format. You can take your staff to dinner at Cibo's across the street to see what a quality restaurant is like as a training excercise. And now the service has dropped to fast food quality and is easily overwhelmed by attendees of a large event at the hotel showing up for lunch or dinner at normal hours. This shouldn't happen because the hotel knows well in advance of such events that there will be hundreds of hungry people all day and night not wanting to leave the hotel. Who wants to eat fine cuisine while sitting on a bench seat, at small, Formica table, elbow to elbow with strangers? Or, on high seats in the middle of a noisy, crowded, active ingress and egress bar? The lobby where Jack's now serves dinner and lunch is an open environment where one gets windblown every time an entering or departing tourist opens one of the entrance doors. And where those same tourists, walk adjacent to your table and stare down at and, in some cases, comment about, you or what you're eating. You feel like you're on display in a zoo! They've managed to turn Jack's into a small version of a BJ's Brewhouse. Even though their own, Peter B's Brewpub around the back of the hotel already fulfills that need for those so inclined, the sports bar crowd. Please, please Portola execs, if you are reading this, put Jack's back in that wonderful restaurant facility that you now use only for a breakfast buffet. What a waste of a beautiful space! Please bring back the wonderful old Jack's. Please. We'll book a long weekend in Monterey at the Portola and dine in-house at Jack's to show our support. Our suggestion for diners now is that one is staying at the Portola or anywhere nearby, don't waste your money and your time at Jacks. Head out to the nearby wharf with many seafood dining options (the Old Fisherman's Grotto is one of our favorites) or the fantastic, first class, family owned and operated, Cibo's across the street from the Portola if you like quality Italian. Those places offer the whole, fine dining experience, well worth the price. read more

Rather bad experience... My sister and niece took me there for father's day dinner. The problem was mainly the food! My sister's and niece's burgers, ordered as "well done" with sweet potatoes came as "blood dripping" raw meat and deep fried regular potatoes. It was seared on the outside and literally raw on the inside. Either they cooked frozen meat or the orders got mixed up. The waitress took them back, and while we finished out pasta , they were still waiting for their burger. The manager came to check, I told her we just sent the burgers back and why...She went in, came back with their burgers...They were charcoal burnt to dark matter, inedible and extremely dangerous to eat and highly carcinogenic. I think they took it off the bill-my sister paid for it but the mood was horrible, everyone was upset, they were hungry and we had a miserable dinner...Not recommending for dinner, you may want to have a beer at the bar- it looks good. read more

Jacks Monterey - The second try. Inedible burger charred and totally burnt on the outside .... Never again! - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

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Service good but food is pricy even for hotel lobby and bar food and generally mediocre quality. I'll be going elsewhere for dinner.

We made a reservation for 6:30, and although we we came early, we got seated. The service was quite good, and we didn't wait so long for our food. I ordered the French onion soup and the veal cheeks, while my mom ordered the clam chowder and the shrimp and grits. The French onion soup was a bit salty, but tasty and the pastry on top paired well with the soup. The clam chowder that my mom ordered was really nice and thick. But to me, the really good dish was the shrimp and grits. Ok, it sounds a bit sketchy, but the grits were so rich, creamy, and buttery ;u; my veal cheeks were super duper tender, but the shrimp and grits were the highlight of the meal. Although overall the meal was a bit heavy, I enjoyed it. Though I will say; it's on the pricey side. But it's good so yeah read more

Jacks Monterey - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

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I have to be honest. Jacks did not put their best foot forward for Valentines Day. We sat for about 10 minutes before someone even brought menus or asked if we wanted our bottle of wine uncorked. The dinner felt unorganized with my first course coming out with his second course, then being taken away to bring back first course. The actual meal took quite a long time and we almost finished the bottle of wine we brought. The ambiance of Jacks is great for a drink and casual dining, but for an event, it missed the mark. No decorations or special table flowers for Valentines Day and a random homeless guy walked by our table. The steak was super rare when ordered medium and the chocolate cake was super dry with a crusty raspberry drizzle that you couldn't scrape off if you tried. For being in a lovely hotel like the Portola and a special holiday, the experience was underwhelming. Everyone has a bad night, but there are a couple days of the year when excellence is expected. This was mediocre. read more

Jacks Monterey - Bars Near Me - Monterey, California

We took a chance on Jack's - opening night, coming out of the pandemic close down. Our server was a re-hire so she was familiar with the menu. We chose the Shrimp Scampi over Angel Hair Pasta. Absolutely wonderful meal. This would have been a 5 star but the bar area is really, really noisy. Take that into account when planning to eat here. read more

Great food, especially for a hotel bar/restaurant. But definitely sit at the bar, Tuyet and Will are great! Super service and super friendly