Great customer service, nice ambiance and good was fresh and hot. Made to order just how we like.

After walking the farmers market on a Tuesday night, we stopped in for some dinner. There was free street parking available and the Melville has live music on Tuesdays. We were able to get in before 6pm to take advantage of the happy hour from 4-6 for $6 drafts and $7 glasses of wine. Very charming restaurant with good service. Expect to spend between $25-$35 per person for food. We had the meatloaf sandwich and a blackened chicken sandwich of which the meatloaf was the better choice although both were very good. The beers offered rotate and there is a nice long bar that seats like 10-12 people. I would eat here again, nice cozy spot. read more

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One of our favorite go-to spots during Monterey Car Week! This time we opted for a regular hamburger and a grilled chicken sandwich both of which were super good and we couldn't recommend it enough. This tavern has everything for all platters, and is a great option for whenever you're visiting! The service was fast and attentive, we got in and out at an efficient time, and our server was really wonderful, thank you for making our visit fun. Additionally, I adore the ambiance of this restaurant, it's a cool vibe dedicated to, you name it, Herman Melville. Overall wonderful place, and we can't wait to be back. read more

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I've eaten here many times over the past 9 years with mixed results. Price & menu items are always consistent. Parking is okay with a mix of street & lot availability, but one might need to walk a street or 2 if there's a nearby event happening. Who cares? We can all use more time walking & Monterey is a beautiful town with great weather. Dining is available at the bar, inside the restaurant, outside - near the street or tucked in the footpath to other offices. Service has always been friendly. Bathrooms are located in the main building - a bit of a walk & no signage till you're there. Keycode is provide, but there's just one gender-neutral room so there's a wait if it's a busy day. It's clean-ish. This time, I had just a cocktail - faux rum or vodka with some fruit juice. It wasn't sweet (perfect for me) and it was refreshing served in a large mason jar with a fruit salad as garnish. My friend had a too sweet Prosecco. I added dessert - blueberry bread pudding with vanilla ice cream (hold the whipped cream, please!). It doesn't need the whipped cream. Dessert wasn't extremely flavorful, but it was fresh & a good texture. Blueberries were also fresh. On other visits, the food has been inconsistently flavorful-flavorless, not hot, overpriced, and no Apple Pay at the table. This time, was a good experience overall. This is not my fave restaurant, nor one I recommend; but, it was convenient & located away from the event crowd. To the business owner -- invest in new technology for payment, so customers don't have to walk behind the bar to pay with our devices. Apparently, bar is unable to serve real mixed drinks; but no explanation was given. Wine & beer menu were adequate with a good selection of local choices. read more

Melville Tavern - Faux vodka or rum beverage - delicious, but no real liquor onsite - American Near Me - Monterey, California

I was craving a good burger and found this place! We had our dog with us and asked to be seated outside. They said no problem! We were the only ones outside, which was great. It was a bit chilly, but they turned on the heater for us, which was very nice. I ordered the Tavern Burger with fries, and my fiancé got the Bacon Burger with tater tots. Our waiter asked how we wanted each burger cooked, I asked for medium well and my fiancé asked for medium. Everything was great! My burger was filling and cooked perfectly. My fiancé's was definitely overdone for him, but he didn't mind too much. The bacon and cheese made it good anyway, plus the brioche bun. The best part, though, was the garlic Parmesan tots! I tried some and was jealous I didn't order my own. They were soooo good! Friendly staff and yummy burgers. Bonus points for being dog friendly! read more

Melville Tavern - Tavern Burger - American Near Me - Monterey, California

The burger was nothing extraordinary, but it got the job done. It lacked seasoning and didn't stand out in any particular way. That said, the homemade pickles were absolutely amazing, and the patty was cooked perfectly to a medium. Overall, the burger was just okay I'd give it a solid 7.5. Service was fast and efficient, and the venue itself was beautiful. The atmosphere felt like stepping onto an old-school boat unique and nostalgic in the best way. read more

Melville Tavern - Tavern Burger - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Went there with a large group of coworkers. I will rate according to my experience, but will share some of the comments I heard. Service was quick and efficient, good selection of beer on tap. I ordered a personal size pizza that was pretty good. Plenty of meat and toppings, crust had a good flavor as well. Most of my table ordered burgers, and it seems like the common theme was that regardless of your preferred temperature, it was overcooked (cooked well done). Take it for what its worth, could've been the large crowd factor, but as I said, not my personal experience. read more

Prices here are fairly high but everything was excellent, especially the pesto base pizza. Definitely a gastropub type restaurant where they pride themselves on food quality and taste. Craft Beer list was also expansive with plenty of options from IPAs to stouts. read more

Melville Tavern - Pizza and pasta - American Near Me - Monterey, California

A solid option for casual meals. There's nothing notably exciting about this restaurant, but it's never disappointed me, either. And occasionally it modestly exceeds my expectations, like with a recent blackened shrimp salad I had. read more

Melville Tavern - Blackened shrimp salad - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Yea, I'm not going back. I ordered a $23 Bacon Burger. It should really be called the "Paradox Burger". It was BOTH overcooked AND cold. I ordered the burger medium rare, it was definitely well done. And COLD!!! $23 for a burger is pretty ridiculous, and yes I chose to order it, but at the price point, it dang sure needs to be a great burger. This was the opposite. Ya know, it's not hard to cook a piece of meat to the requested degree of doneness. It's called a thermometer. Or , if you are cooking burgers all day long, just freak'in pay attention. I have eaten at Melville for years, the food in DEFINITELY on the downward slide. NOT GOING BACK! read more

My friend and I came here for dinner. This spot seemed to have an elevated tavern vibe, as it was festively decorated with high ceilings, and quite spacious. There was a welcoming ambiance to the place. I ordered the Fried Prawn and Ribs, which came with fries, as well as coleslaw. I requested Garlic Parmesan Fries. There were 4 pieces of Shrimp, which were a nice size, delightfully crispy, juicy, and well seasoned. The Ribs were tender, full of boldly flavorful BBQ sauce. Garlic Parmesan Fries were cheesy and satisfyingly crunchy. For dessert, I selected the Chocolate Molten Cake, served with almond biscotti, vanilla ice cream, and whipped cream. This took awhile to arrive, but it was worth the wait. There was a candle in the cake, since I was celebrating my birthday. The cake was delicious... Sweet, decadent, oozing with warm, velvety smooth, rich chocolate filling. The biscotti was a lovely accompaniment, while the ice cream also added to the yumminess. Service was solid. Our waiter was friendly and on top of everything. My friend and I enjoyed our evening here. I would be open to returning to try the Herb Crusted Mahi Mahi or Duck Fettuccine. read more

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We went there 45 minutes before closing. Staff was very helpful and didn't rush us. They were very helpful with my wife's Celiac, which means gluten will make her very sick. They had gluten free buns for burgers and the have a fryer that doesn't have anything gluten in it so she was able to have sweet potatoe fries. They have gluten free crust for pizza but it goes in the same wood fire oven so she couldn't eat that. However, Madison said they could probably put a GF pizza on a tray and only in the regular oven if someone wanted to. Anyways, the burgers were good. I liked the chipotle aioli that came on the side. I asked for extra pickles and they understood the assignment I got the garlic parmesan tots which were pretty good and crunchy. Sweet potato fries were very good. I don't think they have any GF desserts but they had 5 with plenty of gluten in them. I got the cheesecake with strawberries, it was pretty good. It has a little bit of lemon in the cheesecake and the crust was nice and thick. Overall, it was a good experience, read more

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Came here after a visit to the aquarium, as Cannery Row was overly crowded. Parking was free and available right outside. They offer indoor and patio seating. Only a few others were here when we visited. We ordered potato skins, chili dip and a couple of beers. They were out of one of the beers we chose, but the bartender was quick to offer something similar, which was great. Bathroom was shared within the building, down a really long hallway, which wasn't the cleanest. Overall, chill environment, relaxing, and good service. read more

We eat here all the time and the main reason I haven't reviewed Melville Tavern is that I love that it is easy to get a reservation here and there is rarely long wait. Lots of nearby street parking, and we love their patio seating. Servers are amazing and super friendly every time we come. The patio is very family friendly. Indoors is a little noisey but has a great tavern vibe. Woodfired pizzas are scrumptious (their duck pizza is an absolute favorite), burgers are huge and absolutely delicious, and their weekend brunch is amazing. You really can't go wrong doing any meal here! read more

Melville Tavern - Weekend brunch bottomless mimosas - American Near Me - Monterey, California

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Good food! Came on a Saturday night and the place was very busy, so I was glad we had a reservation. 2 of us ordered the chicken picatta and 1 got the blackened chicken alfredo. Service was a bit slow. The food was really good though, and the portions were large. A great spot! read more

Melville was DELICIOUS! Our waiter was very quick to get us served and being that we had 3 kids with us, helped us get out the door (we requested dessert be made while eating dinner so there was no wait time in between to prevent any down-time meltdowns). We had no reservations and staff was so quick to set up a large table for us outside with space heaters. Get the Mozzarella sticks.. you wont regret it! Their ranch is also delicious. I don't like Hidden Valley ranch, and theirs is YUMMY! The apple crisp.. don't miss out on ordering that! It was also amazing! The one thing I personally had a hard time with (being that I am not a local & havent been here), parking was difficult! Theres a lot right next to the restaurant but signs for a different business were posted on EVERY SINGLE SPOT reserved strictly for the Realty Team business, and finding street parking was a bit difficult. But we figured it out and made the most of it. read more

Visiting Monterey, trying to find a brunch spot on the Sunday morning of Labor Day weekend can be a TALL order. We happened to find the Melville Tavern. What a pleasant surprise. Their brunch menu had a lot of variety and the bottomless mimosas were quite popular at the other tables. I ordered "The Bloody", it was spicy and tasty, but not necessarily my jam. However the Blackened Salmon Benedict was really good! The mix of flavors, quality were worthy of our group's pilgrimage. The biggest draw back were the potato wedges which had more of a grease than spice flavor. read more

Melville Tavern - Blackened Salmon Benedict English Muffin, Blackened Salmon, Avocado, Spinach, Poached Eggs, Hollandaise - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Visited Monterey for a day trip and came upon this restaurant because they serve bottomless mimosas! We sat outside because we brought a dog, and it was nice to get a seat under the umbrella since the sun was out. We absolutely enjoyed the bottomless mimosas! I loved how the juice comes separate so you can add the mixture to your liking. Food is mediocre, but everything went well with the mimosas. I got the pulled pork omelet which was flavorful and the portions were huge. We got the wings and fried artichoke as appetizers. It was good but it was a bummer because they only had buffalo sauce. Overall, was a good experience and it's a quiet place to grab lunch, hang out and enjoy some mimosas. read more

I dropped by Melville Tavern just by luck. I was headed to my hotel room and decided to pick up some food and maybe grab a beer while I waited. This place came in handy for both. The food was good. I tried some pizza and wings to go - both which were pretty good. The service was OK teetering on not that good. I sat and it took a while to be asked what I wanted. I had two beers while I waited for the food and the servers were busier loudly chatting with each other about being mad at other people than helping me which was a bit unpleasant. Still, I was out fairly quickly and the place has ample parking so life was better once I ate. I may swing by next time I'm in town. read more

Great food, great service, and great mimosas! We sat outside, a cute area with umbrellas. The gravy with the chicken and waffles was amazing, and I don't see it come with the dish often. The benefit was also delicious, a good amount of salmon and everything was cooked well. We did bottomless mimosas and it definitely worth it, they make sure to keep your glass full. Would definitely come back! read more

Melville Tavern - Chicken n Waffles and Blackened Salmon Benedict - American Near Me - Monterey, California

It's fine but that's all. Friendly folks but unexceptional pub grub. Pleasant room but unlikely to return. Super ordinary.

Melville's is great. The food is always great. The service is great. We eat there a lot and it is the best.

Had an excellent dinner experience dining at Melville Tavern. My partner and I wanted to grab some seafood in Monterey but avoid the tourist traps and long lines on Alvarado. We popped in a grabbed an intimate table near the window. We ordered deep fried artichokes, calamari steak, and seafood pasta. It was excellent. Lots of seafood and a very tasty Camaro with broccoli and mash potatoes. Our server was personable and helped us order. I would definitely recommend this spot when in Monterey. read more

Melville Tavern - Apps - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Went To Melville Checked Out Menu Ive Had their Pulled Pork, Meat Loaf So I Thought Id Try The Chicken parmesan WOW a True Italian Dish The Chicken Was Very Tender A Big Portion Came With Veggies The Sauce True Homemade Since then Thats All I Order Mostly Ive Also Had Steak Frites Tri Tip Dijonaise Parmesan Delicious Will Return Again AlsoThe Whale Sampler read more

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We came during a short trip and craved something hearty and warm especially with it raining. It was not as crowded since it was just a bit off of the main street with all the hotels/restaurants, but still walkable and we even walked to Fisherman's Wharf right after. The staff were friendly and seated us immediately (it did get busy as we were leaving). It felt cozy inside and I think the decor/paint gave the restaurant character. We ordered the chicken alfredo (pictured), meatloaf sandwich, and cheese bread. It was all delicious and we would come back if we're ever in the area! read more

Melville Tavern - Blackened Chicken Rigatoni Alfredo - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Chicken and waffles - this was underwhelming in both portion and taste. The chicken seems breaded (think chicken Katsu) rather than battered, and the waffle was just okay. Overall, would recommend you order something else. Breakfast burger - this has the thickest bacon I've ever seen, an egg, and tots in with the bun. Good portion and tasted good. read more

Melville Tavern - Chicken and waffles - underwhelming - American Near Me - Monterey, California

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5 stars to our server Madeline! We enjoyed her company, she's a good time. We had wings, clam chowder, potatoe skins and a burger.everything was pretty good, my fav was the wings. We were waiting for Cali roots and grabbed a bite here. I would stop in again if I was in town... read more

Melville Tavern - American Near Me - Monterey, California

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We are visiting Monterey for the weekend and walked over to Melville's from a nearby hotel. It's a friendly gastropub with a nice variety of dining options and a decent selection of beer and wine. Everyone was very helpful and friendly, making this the perfect place to relax after a busy day. My husband enjoyed a grilled chicken sandwich, and I had a grilled cheese (and added pulled pork). Both were delicious! The servings were generous enough to make us wonder if we should've shared one of the sandwiches instead. The restaurant has a nice mix of large and small tables so it looks like they're able to accommodate couples as well as bigger parties. They also have a nice patio dining area. The dining area has a vibrant energy: it is not super quiet, but it's not too noisy at all. Give this place a try. We would totally come back again. read more

I came here for dinner with my friend. I ordered a split pea soup and fried artichokes. The fried artichokes lacked flavor to me. So did the split pea soup. I had to ask for salt and pepper to add to bring out the flavor. My friend ordered the chicken wings which he loved and he also ordered fried mozzarella sticks, but they were full of oil so we ended up sending them back and asked him to take them walk the check. read more

Went with my 2 children and husband for my birthday. We were seated inside right away and the kids really liked the lemonade and the cheese bread. I ordered the shrimp scampi and it was delicious with big shrimp. My husband ordered the seafood pasta and he said it had a lot of flavor and seafood. It was spicy, but he likes spicy. The service was fast and our server was friendly. They played good music and it wasn't overwhelming to bring young children there. Definitely recommend it if your in the neighborhood. read more

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Stopped in at Melville. Friendly staff. Great spot to sit inside (huge windows, nice bar, plenty of natural light) or outside (patio seating with flowering plants set back from the street). Tried their fish tacos . Ordered them lettuce wrapped. Delicious ! A simple mistake was made with my order and the staff promptly fixed the issue and made up for the mistake. Will definitely return read more

My husband and I were looking for a dog friendly place to eat and the front patio here was a nice spot. We enjoyed the local beer options and our food was delicious. I had the grilled cheese with chicken, and if you love goat cheese, this is the sandwich for you! The tomato jam paired perfectly with it. My husband enjoyed his Tavern burger. The service was a little slow sometimes but nothing terrible. read more

Melville Tavern - Grilled cheese with chicken, spinach artichoke dip - American Near Me - Monterey, California

Service is great but food is so-so. The times I came weren't busy so our food came out pretty quickly. Our waiter would come by to ask if we needed anything. I wasn't a big fan of what I got which was the Tavern Eggs Benedict. I felt it was fairly small for the price and sauce lacked flavor. I did sub the roasted potatoes for tater tots which were good. I tried some of the breakfast pizza and that was better! Their mimosas were strong btw. I'd come back here for drinks and once I'm drunk, maybe the food will begin to taste better lol. Food: 7/10 Service: 8.5/10 read more

I thought this place was really solid for dinner. The fries were crispy and a good pairing with the sandwiches. Pork belly sandwich was interesting. TBH it tasted more like ham than previous pork belly sandwiches I've had. Maybe it was cooked longer than expected. My chicken sandwich had very good flavor due to the seasoning. I would like to try this place again for brunch. read more

Melville Tavern - P.b.l.a.t - American Near Me - Monterey, California

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Just ate here for the first time and the food and service was fantastic. My wife and I visit Carmel annually and have our favorite spots to eat but this trip she said that she wanted to try some new places. Glad I came across this place on Yelp. As the name would imply, it has a Herman Melville decor with Moby dick artwork and shelves with old books along several walls. Sarah waited on us and when I asked her for a recommendation she described an off menu option named 'The Sarah' which is the grilled cheese with pulled pork and avocado. I found it delicious and my wife loved her lamb burger. The sweet potato fries were great too. This will be added to our places to eat list for future visits!!! read more

Pretty sure this is where I went where I was ignored when I walked in, b/c the doctor was raving about some new radioactive skittles to the host. Not a bad vibe...if it had other patrons; preferably ‍'s. read more

One of the worst dining experiences I've ever had. We had a reservation for 8 and were seated promptly, but that was the only thing that went smoothly. It took 45 minutes before a server even came to take our order, during which we strongly considered leaving altogether. The customer service was inattentive and dismissive throughout the meal. Later that night, I became violently ill from the pork waffle sausages, which were noticeably undercooked. I called the restaurant the next day to inform them, not only to seek a refund but to help prevent others from getting sick. Instead of taking accountability or showing any concern, the manager was extremely rude and blamed us, offering no assistance or empathy. Between the long wait times, unprofessional service, and unsafe food handling, I strongly advise avoiding this place. This is not how any restaurant should treat paying customers, especially when their food results in someone getting sick. read more

Always good food and fair prices. It is one of my favorite places to order from. I highly recommend.

Bomb dot com with a side of dynamite! So freakin good, I can't believe we haven't been here sooner. I had the PBLAT (Pork belly bacon, lettuce, avocado and tomato on sourdough) with added fried egg on top, and wow oh wow I've never had anything so delicious. Bottomless mimosas for brunch on Saturdays and Sundays until 3pm. Service was quick and friendly, smiles all around and our waitress made sure our mimosas never ran empty for our entire meal. We loved taking a look at all the unique art in the restaurant too. Totally old boaty taverny feel. Loved it! We'll absolutely be back. Highly recommend! Bummed I didn't get photos, I was overwhelmed with excitement to eat everything in sight as it came out. read more

Lived in Monterey for over 10 years, figured we'd finally try this place. Get there early as the place is small and fills up fast. The staff seem to be overwhelmed and needing help, we waited awhile just to order drinks, to the point we just ordered everything once the waiter arrived. Food came out fast, it looks good, tasted good but nothing amazing. Took forever to get service after. Probably won't return. Quality of the food felt meh as both my wife and I didn't feel good after. read more