The Grill on Ocean Ave, Carmel by the Sea

Fish and chips was fresh..Clamchowder was very delicious...we enjoyed the atmosphere.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Recommend here when in

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Neither very great nor very filling. The fajitas came 10 minutes after all the other dishes and they forgot the tortillas and the bell peppers were basically uncooked. When the tortillas finally arrived another 10 minutes later they were half cold. Other orders like pita were just forgotten. The seafood pasta was ok at best, similar for the poke. The shrimp appetizer was good though and my son seemed enjoyed the burger.
At the end we were brought the wrong bill.
The restaurant is pretty plain so there isn't much of an atmosphere.
If the food had been a third less than what it cost it would have been fine but as is, it just wasn't an experience I'm keen to repeat for the price of entry (to be fair I don't have a good relative comparison to other places in Carmel)

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 2

Recommended dishes: Shrimp

Excellent fish. Great service

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Had a great New Years day dinner here. Nice menu, great food, and great staff.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

Be aware: this place automatically adds an 18% gratuity to your bill, then includes suggested tips at the bottom to get even more money from customers. They don’t even have the decency to inform customers about the gratuity in advance.

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 2

Service: 3

Terrible food, high gratuity, not recommended. Check your credit card bill after your visit.

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Food is not great, and grossly overpriced. Don’t come here.

Atmosphere: 2

Food: 2

Service: 1

Shame on you for forcing an 18% gratuity and then having the audacity to list "suggested tips" on the receipt to pressure customers into paying even more! This is nothing short of a scam. Tips are meant to be a gesture of appreciation, not an obligation, and certainly not a way for greedy employers to avoid paying their staff fair wages. You’re running a business and already making profits from your overpriced menu—stop exploiting your customers and your employees at the same time!

Take a lesson from Europe, where tipping isn’t expected, and yet service is far better because employers actually pay their staff what they deserve. This practice is disgraceful and completely unacceptable. If this is how you treat your customers, you don’t deserve their business. Shame on you again!

Atmosphere: 1

Food: 1

Service: 1

Truly disappointing experience here. I was seated at a nice little table near the front and was able to people watch while waiting for the food. But that was the best part of the whole thing. Before ordering, I was asked if I wanted water, plain or sparkling, and answered sparkling. It wasn't very good, only had a couple of sips. I ordered the kebab trio of chicken, shrimp and beef with peppers and onion served on rice pilaf with a puddle of hummus to one side. The shrimp and chicken were fine, as were the bits of veg and the rice. The beef was terrible! It was overcooked, dry, tough and had an off taste. The hummus was the worst I've ever had. It tasted the way it looked, like a little pool of sick. When the waiter came to ask how my meal was, I told him, politely but honestly. No effort was made to remedy this. I ate what tasted okay and left the rest. I wrote on the check when it came what my problem with the meal was, and my card was taken and charged for everything in full, $60.00. As I was leaving, an older man came to me at the door and asked how my meal was. I told him and he just stared at me like I was speaking in Martian. I took the bottle of water with me. Not because it tasted good, but because I shelled out $9.00 for it and was darned if I'd leave it behind. Don't let this happen to you. Don't eat here. 🤢

Atmosphere: 3

Food: 1

Service: 2

Honestly the food here is not good. We went to Carmel and looked up on Google good restaurants in the area and based on pictures and reviews we decided to go here since we were hungry and didn’t want to walk a lot. The food was bland and for the price I was expecting more.

The staff was polite and attentive though we had to ask for a few things repeatedly. I think the price point of the food was about half of what we paid. In Carmel, you can charge these prices but the presentation and flavor was just not there.

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 2

Service: 4

We shared the Monterey calamari, clam chowder & bacon cheeseburger and ordered the NY cheesecake for dessert. The calamari was delicious, fresh and crispy. The burger was decent, it came with a side of fries which were a bit soggy. The clam chowder was very flavorful but served cold to lukewarm at best. The cheesecake was very good, probably the best part of the meal!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 4

Service: 4

Happily surprised by this cute little place. We had a delicious risotto. Fairly priced. They’re pet friendly!

Atmosphere: 4

Food: 5

Service: 5

Lovely after a long day of traveling.
Nice folks wonderful food.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5