This is it. Varied and various choices to indulge from. Staff was able to help me curate a half…read moredozen of their classics. I was lucky and he also let me try the dried fruit candy and it was the best. They offer boxes of all different sizes and styles so you can take back a gift. You cannot leave without bakalava, i was able to enjoy some with ice cream ghardelli and it made for an amazing combo. Just stop by before your aquarium trip or walk to the beach. Parking is abysmal but if youre able to walk by you have to take some home. There are seating options but they are rather tight but quite the experience considering the vast decor.

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!!!!

Been coming here since I was in the single digits & makes it nearly 4 decades I've been coming here…read morewith family, friends, or solo. If you're a desert person, you're in luck! Their homemade cakes are to die for with a gnarly range choices. Enjoy! This day I was in the mood for comfort food, so I ordered Family Burger Medium with French Fries & No Cheese on the burger. But first I had to have their famous Minestrone Bowl, not cup, but the bowl. LL! My cousin had a cup & said "That was the best minestrone soup I've ever had." I replied "They have perfected this recipe for decades upon decades. It's their famous soup." Thank you Jose R for your rad customer service & greatly appreciate you. The ambiance still remains fresh & clean, kind of reminds me of a restaurant that would be in Disneyland or Disney World.

Came by during a family trip to Monterey. The food here was fresh and decent. Their soup was on…read moreDiners Drive In's and Dives so we gave it a try. We had never heard of beef in minestrone. It was good but felt more like a generic beef and vegetable soup. Still delicious. I ordered a spicy chicken sandwich, but the honey drizzle covered any spice there may have been so it was more of a sweet chicken sandwich. My partners pesto chicken sandwich was much better. We had a birthday in our party and we wished we were asked what flavor of cake they wanted to surprise the birthday girl. They brought out a slice of their strawberry cake. It was a beautiful looking slice, but the birthday girl has an allergy to strawberry and had to give it to someone else at our table. Service was quick and the waitress was nice.

The food was great, I had never had that good of an eclair. Also the staff were great,extremely…read morenice and welcoming.

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!

this little ice cream shop was right next to my hotel in monterey bay, and i had to try it out…read moreafter seeing the cute logo hehe. i was also super intrigued by the concept of new zealand style real fruit ice cream since i hadn't tried it before! i came on a thursday, which i didn't realize limited the flavors to only their tropical thursday offerings (mango, pineapple, & banana), so i was a bit sad not being able to try the blackberry flavor. however, the mango was still really yummy! i would say that the mango flavor itself is not super strong since it is easily overpowered by the vanilla soft serve, but that could just have been the real mangoes themselves not being super sweet. what made me really love this ice cream tho was how smooth and dense it was !! it was so thick and creamy, and the vanilla flavor was so prominent and yummy. i also loved the bits of fruit mixed into the ice cream. i would definitely try the other flavors if i'm ever in the area again! service was super quick and efficient! there was a little bit of a line when i came since big parties stopped by, but the worker was so fast at assembling the ice cream while also keeping conversation with the customers!

How much do I love Nico's?…read more Ummm, I came here three days in a row and I'm lactose intolerant. And, it would have been four days but having bubble guts on the drive home...a pop and squat on the side of 101. Probably not the move. In 2021, Nico started his business as a pushcart in Portland. It was so well received that by fall, he opened his first brick and mortar. He now he has four locations including two in CA: Monterey and Santa Cruz. Nico's serves New Zealand Style Ice Cream aka real fruit ice cream. Using a special machine: Little Gem, frozen fruit is blended into hard-packed Tillamook vanilla ice cream creating a custom blended soft serve. Fair warning, if you prefer sugary treats and desserts, Nico's may not hit for you. Fruit Choices: * Monday-Wednesday, Weekends: Strawberry, blueberry, blackberry, and raspberry * Thursdays only: Banana, mango, and pineapple Toppings (50 cents each) * Sprinkles, coconut flakes, graham crackers, tajín, and chamoy Sizes: * Kid's cone: $6 * Cup: $7 * Waffle cone: $8 They also have bottled water and lactaid for $1 each. MY PICKS (1) Banana w/ coconut flakes (Cup-$7.50) Not sure what sorcery this is but the machine whips up a deliciously creamy, thicccc, and dense soft serve with no air pockets. The banana soft serve low-key tasted like banana pudding with a nutty crunch from the cooconut. So good. As someone who usually can't finish a junior scoop of ice cream because it gets too sweet, I couldn't stop eating this. I especially loved how natural it tasted... lightly sweet, letting the banana flavor really shine. (2) Blueberry w/ graham crackers (Cup-$7.50) Smooth and creamy with bursts of natural sweet tang. The bits of blueberry skin adds a fresh fruit texture. Wish they were more liberal with the graham crackers for a blueberry pie vibes but nonetheless, we enjoyed it. (3) Strawberry (Cup-$7) With strawberry season in full swing, the strawberry soft serve is sweetest of the three but still light and natural. If you like strawberries and cream, this will be your jam. S E R V I C E Friendly and quick. All three visits, there was no line which I don't understand. A M B I A N C E Takeout only. No seating. Overall, as someone who finds most ice cream overly sweet, Nico's really hit the spot. I loved how natural the flavors tasted - they were subtle, well-balanced, and still incredibly satisfying. To the owner: PLEAAAASEE consider expanding to the Bay Area!

Very cool and hip cafe in old town Monterey. I think it is in a historic building as it totally…read morelooks like a Spanish Mission era type of building. Super open and airy, there's a separate room off to the side with some haphazardly laid out tables and seats. The main retail area is pretty busy with people lined up placing orders/waiting for an order, or people fixing up their coffee drinks. Now even though I took my goods to-go I had to go out to their patio to find a restroom. That outdoor area is totally cool, totally out in the open but you're like in a square inside a fort, surrounded by walls, so you can't see any street action. But you're totally open to roam in here from the street. Next time I'm in this area, I'm definitely gonna make time to chill on that patio. Cold Brew ($6.50/5*) Perfect to my taste, smooth and mellow on the roast. Pricey for a small cup but this is a touristy area. Banana Bread Slice ($5.25/4*) Very thick slice. Super soft yet moist in the center but firmer and more well done on the edges. Pretty dark in color, maybe some cocoa powder went in but there were also tiny hits of dark chocolate throughout. Mild natural banana flavor, wished it were stronger but that's me. Blue Corn Cookie ($5/5*) Never had a cookie like this before but I was pretty impressed. Kinda like a cornbread but made into the texture of a good cookie, so it was crisp and buttery on the bottom and moist and chewy in the center. All whilst having a pronounced corn meal flavor and texture. Major props for exposing me to something new that I enjoyed immensely. Went great with sips of black cold brew. Most other things in their pastry case seemed a tad fancier than most other regular coffee shops. I'm just glad I was able to run into and choose a more special cafe to end my beautiful trip out in the central coast.

After seeing a line out the door the day before, we figured Alta Cafe had to be worth the hype. We…read moremade it a point to come back the next morning and were actually the first people in line when they opened. Unfortunately, our experience didn't quite live up to our expectations. The biggest letdown was the service. The staff seemed irritated to be open, and not one person smiled or appeared welcoming throughout our visit. It wasn't rude, but it definitely didn't make for a great first impression. They have a great selection of baked goods, so we tried the blueberry muffin, donut holes, and chocolate croissant. The blueberry muffin was just okay--the oats on top weren't really my favorite. The donut holes were soft, fluffy, and generously coated in sugar, making them a solid choice. The chocolate croissant was easily the star of the meal. It was incredibly soft, buttery, and filled with perfectly gooey melted chocolate. I also ordered a latte, which was fine but nothing particularly memorable. For breakfast, I had the smoked salmon toast. The salmon itself was delicious, but it was served on a very large slice of grain bread that didn't have much flavor, so the dish felt a little underwhelming overall. Looking back, I wish I had ordered the avocado toast instead. Overall, I can see why people stop by for the pastries--especially the chocolate croissant--but based on our experience, we left feeling a little disappointed considering all the buzz.

Is it really good? Yes. Can it get really packed here? Yes. Is it SUPER fricking expensive? Also…read moreYES. For one thing I paid almost $20. But the gold rush is also my go to since I don't like chocolate anything. The sea salt and caramel mix is so well with the whipped cream and ice cream. Okay to splurge once in a while but man are they super pricey here. Best tables are outside but they are small with the perfect coastal view.

The line to order snaked out of the ice cream shop, but the line moved pretty fast. I ordered the…read morechocolate lover's milk shake (small) for $12.99, but most small ice cream sundaes were $14.99. Ice cream prices go up from there. Some people (like me) were given a buzzer thing that was supposed to let you know when your ice cream was ready to pick up at a separate counter. Some people where just asked their names and their names were called when their order was ready. Unfortunately, the person taking my order forgot to enter it into the computer system until I asked if my buzzer thing was working because it had taken an awfully long time to get a simple small shake. If you are able to find a seat outside at the rear of the store overlooking Monterey Bay the view is awesome, but there is not much of a view from inside seating nor the courtyard seating in the front of the store. They need an assigned person to patrol both inside and outside eating and seating areas since there is such a high volume of customers, the eating and seating surfaces need to be better cleaned. The shake was OK, nothing spectacular and it was less ice cream than milky (I saw them adding liquid to the ice cream machine just before my order was prepared so maybe it had not had enough time to freeze properly). As with most Cannery Row businesses there is no parking close by. This business does not seem to have any bathroom facilities nor anywhere for parents to wash off the sticky sweet treats from the hands and faces of their kids.

this place is always great, awesome burgers and service is always attentive!!! angel was the best…read moreserver :)

Fast friendly service. Very good. Will be back…read more Stupid yelp now requires a minimum of eight five characters, so here ya go!

I was visiting my family for my birthday from SoCal and was researching bakers who created vintage…read moreheart cakes. So grateful to have come across Ruby Cakes of Monterey! I first reached out on instagram then we transitioned to the phone in order to discuss details such as flavor, colors, pricing, and the date. Service was friendly and patient as we messaged back and forth. I decided on a chocolate cake with chocolate buttercream filling, light pink and white designs, with just my name in the center. Ruby offers delivery free of charge within an 8 mile radius of her location which was very helpful. We set a date and time. She was understanding when on the day of, we shifted to an earlier drop off and met us accordingly. Payment can be made through Zelle, Venmo, or cash upon arrival. She was kind enough to send photos of the cake and I was absolutely blown away! She totally brought my vision to life! When she dropped it in person, it looked even better with glitter on top! When we got home and tried it, I enjoyed the texture and flavor of the cake. It was soft and was the right amount of sweetness. If you're ever in need of a cake for an event, I highly recommend! :)

Really delicious food and great service. They mad a custom chocolate birthday cake in less than 24…read morehours and went the extra mile on decorations. It was fantastic and the perfect addition to the birthday dinner