This cold brew will hit you in the chin like a randy johnson fastball . Strongest i ever did have…read more It literally cured a hangover. Also , friendly, personable staff. Wish they had a few more food options . Will definitely be back !

the coffee is very expensive for a very small amount. i also found my drink to be very watery and…read morenot super flavorful (i got an iced mocha). the staff are super nice though if you're in Monterey there's definitely better coffee shops in the area.

It's delicious! If you're in the area, I highly recommend trying it. We stayed in Carmel but came…read morehere specifically to eat and it was fantastic. I recommend the gala yogurt, and pistachio cake.

The new gold standard…read more Alta is the new gold standard by which I will unfortunately be judging every bakery from now on. Get there early or prepare to wait in line--the secret is very much out. And deservedly so. The staff is exceptionally friendly, the setting is wonderful, and somehow the food tastes even better than it looks, which is an accomplishment considering the artistry coming out of the pastry case. Alta occupies part of the historic Cooper-Molera Adobe complex, and its back garden may be one of the loveliest places I've ever eaten breakfast. Passionflowers tumble over walls and trellises, potted plants and mature trees soften the courtyard, and shade sails make it an incredibly pleasant place to linger over coffee and pastry. It feels less like café seating and more like breakfast in a particularly lovely California garden. And then there's the food. I came back two mornings in a row. The first day's quiche was ham and roasted pepper; the second was cheese and mushroom. Both were outstanding. The egg filling had this almost impossibly silky quality, with a beautifully browned top and crisp, buttery crust. I found myself deliberately slowing down because I genuinely wanted to savor every bite. The pistachio-rose swirl was exceptional: delicate, flaky layers with honey, pistachio and rose playing off one another without becoming cloyingly sweet or perfumey. It's the sort of pastry that reminds you what laminated dough is actually supposed to be. The maple-bacon swirl was the only thing that didn't quite reach the same stratospheric level. The flavor was good, but the rendered bacon fat seemed to fuse some of those beautiful layers together during baking. At most bakeries I probably still would have called it very good. Alta had simply set an absurdly high standard for itself. Then a table beside me ordered the smoked-salmon toast, I saw it arrive, and resistance became pointless. Warm, hearty, thick-cut bread topped with crème fraîche, radish, pickled red onion, greens and a genuinely generous amount of smoked salmon. A triumph. Even the pistachio-honey latte was a dream. I can't rave about Alta enough. My only complaint is that I didn't have more mornings in Monterey to work my way through the rest of the menu. It was one of the culinary highlights of the entire trip and is now my benchmark for what an excellent bakery can be. Alta, you have ruined lesser bakeries for me. Five stars. No notes. Except: make more pastries. I have unfinished business.

Bike & coffee review!!…read more Let's start with the coffee. By far the best I had my whole trip to Carmel/Monterey. Absolute perfection. We actually all got drinks from their seasonal menu. Highly recommend using the pistachio milk! Presentation was gorgeous and service was SO good. Friendliest people fr. The space is so clean and so trendy, welcoming, and smells amazing. Don't forget a pup cup for your pup! DO THE BIKE RENTALS! Absolute highlight of our trip. BUT the team at this location recommended we actually rent from their Monterey location based on what we wanted to experience (literally biking on the coast / 17 mile drive route- hello!!!). They were also able to recommend what bikes we should book, etc. Only thing that wasn't cute was the prices on the flyer at the bike shop are inaccurate. Said $50 all day ride from Monterey but in fact it was $75. They said the flyer was out of date. Regardless, Mad Dog is so fab

So much fun. The guys show you how the bike works before you take off…read more They offer a bunch off add-ons that you can purchase. Helmet does come with the rental. There is a 3 hr limit but in that time we were able to see a lot

Super friendly lads behind the bar. We asked if we could see the art work on the other side of the…read morecafe and very kindly welcomed in. We then asked about the wonderful spicy aroma in the air, and were told that was the daily fresh brewed chai. So we ordered a two iced chai with oatmilk, I instantly loved the abundance of cardamon in my drink. My wife and I are going to try and stop by when ever we are in town. On our way out we also had the pleasure of meeting the owner and a regular who had been coming in since the opening of the East Village Cafe. If only we lived closer we'd become regulars too.

I was honestly pretty annoyed with this experience. I ordered a matcha with raspberry syrup, and…read morewhen I got it, my matcha was literally white. I asked the employee about it, and he told me it was because of the raspberry syrup, which honestly made absolutely no sense. I went back to the counter and asked if I could just get an iced coffee instead. Rather than making a new drink, he said he could add more matcha powder to the cup I already had. He did that, and somehow my matcha went from being white to gray. At that point, I was already pretty frustrated. I finally just asked for an iced coffee because I was over it. They handed me a completely black iced coffee. So I essentially paid $6 for them to pour coffee and water over ice. By that point, I was genuinely so irritated hearing the two coworkers make jokes about doing better next time etc that I just walked out. I completely understand that mistakes happen, but the entire situation was handled so poorly. I tried multiple times to resolve the issue, and somehow I still ended up with a drink I didn't want, after wasting both my time and my money. $6 might not seem like a lot, but paying for something you didn't order and then having the situation handled this poorly is incredibly frustrating. Definitely not the experience I expected, and unfortunately, not one I'd want to repeat.

A CAFE AND A BOOKSTORE, ALL IN ONE PLACE?!! I couldn't run fast enough! No, seriously... I was the…read moredorko running to the door. Haha. And then I tasted their banana cream latte (a special), and it was as dreamy as its name! Mm mm good! Walking around the bookstore while waiting for my order and then after my coffee break was a perfect way to spend an afternoon. Bookworks is a 'must visit' in Pacific Grove if you're in town. And if you live in the area, they have a large self seating area where you can easily stay to read, study or work.

Drinks are okay, not the worst but not the best I've had. My friends who are locals love this place…read moreto work from so that's a plus but the few times I've visited, service was hit or miss. Sometimes they've been lovely and bubbly, but for some reason this one blonde staff member never seems like she actually wants to help. I had some questions on summer specials since "refresher" doesn't tell me much and she kept telling me about other drinks instead and being super short. The whole interaction still only had to have taken 2 min with only one person (who had been there for a bit already and seems local/older) behind me. Yet the minute I paid, even though I apologized for the questions and tipped, she loudly and passive aggressively said "sorry for the wait" to the next person right in front of me and they both laughed right in front of my face. I read the other review of the person who said they'd been here a bunch and usually loved it and then had a bad interaction and are also not like the "usual" demo of PG - I am also a person of color who was made to feel the same way. Such a shame what one bad impression can leave. Multiple comments about this has to be more than a coincidence... I would come back only maybe if this person wasn't working but not going to go out of my way anymore

Decided to try this place for lunch since they recently expanded their food options. I had the Lox…read moreBagel accompanied by a white needle tea. The bagel was a toasted everything bagel topped with cream cheese, lox salmon, pickled red onions, green onion, and dill. It was crispy, creamy, and oh so tasty. It made for a perfect lighter lunch option. The white needle tea was refreshing and went well with the salmon. They have many specialized, high quality tea options. This cafe is part of Wave Street Studio, which is also a venue that hosts a variety of events. The outdoor seating space is very pleasant, surrounded by plants with background music playing, a bubbling fountain, and offering some games like chess or mini billiards. The employees are very professional accommodating. I thoroughly enjoyed my time here.

Waffle was nice and crispy, with lots of fruit. Made fresh to order! The gentleman who made my…read morewaffle I would have guessed was the manager/ owner, obviously seasoned knew peoples names..but Coffee was a let down but I don't think it was this places norm the worker told me if was his second day. So ‍ If I was a local I would go back and try again

HUGE fan of this place. their croissants are always so delicious, and their coffee is good too. so…read moremany tasty pastries and they're always fresh beautiful location but not very many seating options

Holllyy. The best bakery I've ever had! & I'm that person…read morethat seeks out bakeries everywhere I go! Super cute decor inside & such nice welcoming staff! - get there by 10:30/11 for the best baked goods! - try: fruit tart, almost croissant, kouign-amann & rectangle shaped filled cream puff pastry (forgot name but incredible, in top R of last pic) Cute, homegrown, very nice staff!

Bottom Line: The little cafe you are looking for…read more Screw it, I'm updating my review. We just spent five days in Monterey for race week and stayed in the Hotel next door to this spot. There are a half dozen other breakfast spots in town that we enjoy when we are in Monterey - we blew all of them off. This place is too fast and too good, honestly to want to get in the car and head over to any of those other spots. Is this place fancy? No. Is this place big? No! Its tiny! Is the food gourmet? No! Stop asking questions. The food is delicious and hot. The coffee and tea is yummy and hot. Everything is hot. The people are super friendly and hot. I like how real they are too - it's Saturday at 6am, everyone is dragging. I asked the people behind the counter how they were doing and they were (gasp) honest! We don't want to be here! Getting to work at 5am on Saturday is terrible but I respect and appreciate a human response. I really like this place - even the pastries are good and thats a good thing because we bought a bunch of them. I will end with this and then leave you alone - we left this place at 615am and sat down in the main grandstand in Turn 4 at Laguna Seca at 715am to watch epic Historic car racing and sank my teeth into a HOT and beautiful croissant breakfast sandwich with bacon in it in the heavy fog. Everything was wet and cold - I drank my hot tea and ate my food.... and it was simply glorious. Thank you to the real humans at Plumes. Yall rock.

3 stars $9.75 Tuna…read moreon multi-grain: solid, tastes like homemade. It's not plentiful buts at least affordable.

Such a cute amazing shop! Stopped by while staying in Monterey, the smell drew me in. I was able to…read morepurchase the essential oil that they had in the store, phenomenal scent! The lovely girl who helped us gave me some sweets that I later consumed- I will be back for those again Thank you for a lovely experience!

Wow!! Ok I was on a quick 24hr turn around road trip from…read moreOC up to Monterey, I needed coffee, I love sweets, I have never had Turkish anything. Omg the chocolate and other baked goods were delish!!!! I really felt like I was in Turkey, the decor, the music, the staff.... I think there were all family... once I entered they were so happy nice and willing to share the history behind the baked goods and coffee. One of the lady's there ( I think owner) over heard I ask my wife about coffee in Spanish and she corrected me, have some in-site and left me wondering.... Yes I had the tiny cup of coffee and it was worth it. Strong bitter tasteful, I could have had about 3 Thank you for the experience and knowledge and next time I'm in town I shall stop by and order more pastries!!!!

My husband and I were walking by and noticed the long line outside Revival Ice Cream. We figured…read morethere had to be a reason for the hype, so we decided to check it out. We waited about 20 minutes to get inside, but once we reached the counter, the ordering process was quick and efficient. The shop itself is pretty small, but there's outdoor seating if you want to enjoy your ice cream nearby. They had so many unique flavors that it was hard to choose! I ended up getting the Kids Cookie Dough, and it did not disappoint. It was perfectly sweet and absolutely packed with cookie dough pieces, every bite had some. My husband ordered the Apple Pie flavor, and it was just as delicious. The balance of cinnamon and apple was spot on without either flavor overpowering the other. Now we understand why there's always a line. If we're back in the Monterey area, we'll definitely be stopping by again!

Came to try the award winning Bees Knees flavor and I understand why it won an award. Super creamy,…read morenicely sweetened with chunks of honey comb sprinkled throughout the scoop. The honey comb is in large chunks so it brought a great texture throughout the scoop. You can also get unique toppings such as a melted marshmallow or more honey comb. I liked the bees knees but next time I think I will get a split scoop so I can try another flavor. Line is long but it also moves fast. Unfortunately you are not allowed to sample flavors but the girl working said they are always happy to make a new scoop for you if you don't like the flavor you received.