Update: restaurant permanently closed and today we drove by and one of the big windows in the dining room shattered. So sad. I have eaten here on several occasions , and sometimes good service sometimes bad. Today we went around noon, ordered non complicated orders :Denver omelette and chicken salad with peaches, we waited 45 minutes and never got our food. When we left no apology from the staff, and the cook was rude. They weren't even that busy... just very sad how this place is going downhill . I know places get slammed during car week but this was just maybe not enough staff , or staff not caring about customer service.
Mark C.
The Coco's Restaurant at 300 David Avenue is now permanently closed. The restaurant closed (without warning) on Wednesday, August 21st, 2019. I worked at this Coco's for about a year and a half. It was an interesting experience. I had not worked in food service for nearly 40 years, but needing to make a few extra bucks and wanting a job that was close to home (3 minutes away), I decided last spring (2018) to apply for a job. i was hired as a dishwasher/busser and while I didn't really enjoy the job (no one wants to wash dishes in a restaurant) I made certain that when I was there, every plate, utensil, glass or cup that touched a customers hands would be perfectly clean. I brought in my own cleaning supplies to add to what the restaurant offered because I wanted stuff to be clean and I was not impressed with how things were being done. As I've read the reviews of this restaurant 2 things would stand out: 1). slow service 2). poorly prepared food The restaurant suffered from lack of competent management & that was because corporate management would constantly cut payroll, reduce wages and generally create an environment where success would be impossible. When I was hired Coco's was owned by Catalina Restaurant Group and they IMHO are not a very good company. Sometime in the fall of 2018 Coco's was sold again, this time to a company called Shari's Management Group out of Oregon. While I didn't care for Catalina's management, when Shari's took over things really started to go downhill. Managers were fired or those that remained had their wages cut. One asst manager had their wages cut from $21. an hour down to $17. per hour. Pay across the spectrum was miserable. Cooks and bakers received $14. per hour and everyone else was paid minimum wage. Most people realize how expensive it is to live on the Monterey Peninsula and there is really no way you're going to be competitive with other restaurants in this area unless you're willing to pay better wages that will attract and hold the best talent available. This point is something that was lost on the management at Shari's. Quite plainly - they didn't give a damn. I share the frustration of Coco's customers who were put off by the indifferent and poor service. When it was slow I would come out from the kitchen and check the activity on the floor. If I saw customers waiting for a table, I would acknowledge them and seat them. By the way, the dishwashers are not supposed to have any contact with customers. When you're a dishwasher you're considered the lowest form of employee and you're supposed to keep your head down and stay out of sight. But when you see people waiting for a table and they are so frustrated that the servers are ignoring them, not even looking up and acknowledging that someone wants a table, you have to do something. When I worked at Coco's I was shocked and disappointed that some of my fellow employees couldn't give a flying f*** if customers were seated in a timely manner. I could never understand how a server could walk from a table back to the wait station and not once would they look up to see if someone was either at the register wanting to pay their bill or if there were people just arriving who wanted a table. The restaurant would hire people barely qualified to cook and then give them a few days of training and then turn them loose on the customers. Or a trainee would come to work and find that the cook who was supposed to train them had called in sick or was off and the managers had made no accomodation to have another cook come in. Sometimes you just couldn't get people to come in - especially if it was their day off. The managers were constantly under pressure to cut budget and they were always buried in paperwork and reports. One of the problems with corporate management is that they want tons of paperwork filled out about everything and that seems
Emily K.
Just pulled up tonight to eat dinner with our family. There is a sign on the door that says "We regret to inform you this Coco's has permanently closed." So sad. They always had good food and delicious pies for a reasonable price.
Hope Erin
Good food but they don't use gloves to make your food. Take caution.
Mitchell McAtee
Great for a simple all American dining experience with fantastic parking. The staff are pleasant but it has been extremely busy when I have gone so the wait for the food was longer than desired. Still a great spot!
COREY WILSON
Did not particularly like the service initially. However, once water and Coffee was served my former began to subside. The food was very good and gave exactly what I desired.
Miss R.
Stopped by on a Friday for breakfast at 10:45. We were quickly seated and greeted. I scan the restaurant and notice the place is filling up quickly, only 2 servers working. After approx 10 min our waiter took our drink and breakfast orders. We sat across from the kitchen and saw noticed 2 cooks. The plates were coming out Extremely slow!!! We waited 45 minutes before they served our food. I noticed other customers become frustrated with the wait. Once the food arrived, we were satisfied with the taste. I had the special, eggs/bacon/hash browns/toast, kids ordered the brioche sandwich.
Tatiana K
What happened to this place? It's filthy now, literally my shoes were sticking to the floor from the door to my seat. Also the table next to us didn't get bussed the entire hour we were there and the people working looked a hot mess. I said something about the floor and they proceeded to tell ne they cleaned it the night before...we were there at 5pm. When the bathrooms are so dirty you wish you were a camel, then it's time to clean them. BTW it was really slow, so there's no excuse.
Antonio C.
We walked in at 12:20, but left at 12:50 after having sat for 20 minutes at our table waiting for someone to even offer to take our drink order. That never happened. In those 20 minutes we observed a waitress trying to act like she was attentive to her clients and even after that (white)family left, she began to clean before even acknowledging that we'd been sitting there for 20 minutes. The table behind us, two (white) males, were able to have their order taken without calling attention to a waitress . This place is NOT recommended if you're a person of color. If you're white you'll be attended to well but if your not good luck. Racism lives in the Monterey Bay and it's Cocos'.
Keith Brown
Slow. They lost the order and there were 3 other customers in the restaurant - that's it. Looking at the other reviews it's commonplace. They were very apologetic. The steak was BLOOD RARE WHEN IT FINALLY ARRIVED. They recooked...better. The manager, Kathleen, was very reasonable with the charges: beverage only. Might be worth a future try?
Staff was terrible, and messed up multiple orders after we already waited over 50 minutes for food after being told we couldn't be seated while there were multiple seats available. Our total time there, at a diner, was over an hour and a half before we all were eating. The manager was passive aggressive, as well as the waitress when we voiced our concerns. There was not an effort to redeem our dining experience at all. Terrible establishment.
M PT
I can't offer a review of the food because it never came. My party waited 20 minutes after ordering with customers entering and seated after us being served and our food did not come out. There were 4-5 occupied at max when we arrived. When we went to inquire about the estimated time for our food to arrive the waitress/host offered us to wait for a manager. While walking out, two plates were up waiting to be served on the kitchen window and neither were ours. Would avoid at all costs unless you are prepared to spend the night. Will make sure to share this among our military community.
Gerrit W.
20 minutes to get our drinks and after an hour we walked out with no food. The restaurant wasn't even %25 full. No excuse for the poor service. There's a problem with the kitchen. The table next to us refused their order it was so cold and burned
Caren A.
A restaurant that brags about its pie selections did not have a single pie available from its own advertised summer menu. It had exactly three pies (out of 15 or so on its "signature", "seasonal" lists) available, and one of them was a no sugar added apple. So basically two pies, and one of those was cheesecake. Busy weekend day in a very tourist-y area (I'm actually a local) and they had five tables with people out of the entire restaurant. Now I understand why....
Kevin B.
Horrrible experience, over 30 min to come take our order once seated and I've been here for over an hour and still no food. I'm looking around and multiple tables waiting to pay, people are waiting to be seated while people are waiting 30+ minutes to get their checks and pay.
Update: restaurant permanently closed and today we drove by and one of the big windows in the dining room shattered. So sad. I have eaten here on several occasions , and sometimes good service sometimes bad. Today we went around noon, ordered non complicated orders :Denver omelette and chicken salad with peaches, we waited 45 minutes and never got our food. When we left no apology from the staff, and the cook was rude. They weren't even that busy... just very sad how this place is going downhill . I know places get slammed during car week but this was just maybe not enough staff , or staff not caring about customer service.
The Coco's Restaurant at 300 David Avenue is now permanently closed. The restaurant closed (without warning) on Wednesday, August 21st, 2019. I worked at this Coco's for about a year and a half. It was an interesting experience. I had not worked in food service for nearly 40 years, but needing to make a few extra bucks and wanting a job that was close to home (3 minutes away), I decided last spring (2018) to apply for a job. i was hired as a dishwasher/busser and while I didn't really enjoy the job (no one wants to wash dishes in a restaurant) I made certain that when I was there, every plate, utensil, glass or cup that touched a customers hands would be perfectly clean. I brought in my own cleaning supplies to add to what the restaurant offered because I wanted stuff to be clean and I was not impressed with how things were being done. As I've read the reviews of this restaurant 2 things would stand out: 1). slow service 2). poorly prepared food The restaurant suffered from lack of competent management & that was because corporate management would constantly cut payroll, reduce wages and generally create an environment where success would be impossible. When I was hired Coco's was owned by Catalina Restaurant Group and they IMHO are not a very good company. Sometime in the fall of 2018 Coco's was sold again, this time to a company called Shari's Management Group out of Oregon. While I didn't care for Catalina's management, when Shari's took over things really started to go downhill. Managers were fired or those that remained had their wages cut. One asst manager had their wages cut from $21. an hour down to $17. per hour. Pay across the spectrum was miserable. Cooks and bakers received $14. per hour and everyone else was paid minimum wage. Most people realize how expensive it is to live on the Monterey Peninsula and there is really no way you're going to be competitive with other restaurants in this area unless you're willing to pay better wages that will attract and hold the best talent available. This point is something that was lost on the management at Shari's. Quite plainly - they didn't give a damn. I share the frustration of Coco's customers who were put off by the indifferent and poor service. When it was slow I would come out from the kitchen and check the activity on the floor. If I saw customers waiting for a table, I would acknowledge them and seat them. By the way, the dishwashers are not supposed to have any contact with customers. When you're a dishwasher you're considered the lowest form of employee and you're supposed to keep your head down and stay out of sight. But when you see people waiting for a table and they are so frustrated that the servers are ignoring them, not even looking up and acknowledging that someone wants a table, you have to do something. When I worked at Coco's I was shocked and disappointed that some of my fellow employees couldn't give a flying f*** if customers were seated in a timely manner. I could never understand how a server could walk from a table back to the wait station and not once would they look up to see if someone was either at the register wanting to pay their bill or if there were people just arriving who wanted a table. The restaurant would hire people barely qualified to cook and then give them a few days of training and then turn them loose on the customers. Or a trainee would come to work and find that the cook who was supposed to train them had called in sick or was off and the managers had made no accomodation to have another cook come in. Sometimes you just couldn't get people to come in - especially if it was their day off. The managers were constantly under pressure to cut budget and they were always buried in paperwork and reports. One of the problems with corporate management is that they want tons of paperwork filled out about everything and that seems
Just pulled up tonight to eat dinner with our family. There is a sign on the door that says "We regret to inform you this Coco's has permanently closed." So sad. They always had good food and delicious pies for a reasonable price.
Good food but they don't use gloves to make your food. Take caution.
Great for a simple all American dining experience with fantastic parking. The staff are pleasant but it has been extremely busy when I have gone so the wait for the food was longer than desired. Still a great spot!
Did not particularly like the service initially. However, once water and Coffee was served my former began to subside. The food was very good and gave exactly what I desired.
Stopped by on a Friday for breakfast at 10:45. We were quickly seated and greeted. I scan the restaurant and notice the place is filling up quickly, only 2 servers working. After approx 10 min our waiter took our drink and breakfast orders. We sat across from the kitchen and saw noticed 2 cooks. The plates were coming out Extremely slow!!! We waited 45 minutes before they served our food. I noticed other customers become frustrated with the wait. Once the food arrived, we were satisfied with the taste. I had the special, eggs/bacon/hash browns/toast, kids ordered the brioche sandwich.
What happened to this place? It's filthy now, literally my shoes were sticking to the floor from the door to my seat. Also the table next to us didn't get bussed the entire hour we were there and the people working looked a hot mess. I said something about the floor and they proceeded to tell ne they cleaned it the night before...we were there at 5pm. When the bathrooms are so dirty you wish you were a camel, then it's time to clean them. BTW it was really slow, so there's no excuse.
We walked in at 12:20, but left at 12:50 after having sat for 20 minutes at our table waiting for someone to even offer to take our drink order. That never happened. In those 20 minutes we observed a waitress trying to act like she was attentive to her clients and even after that (white)family left, she began to clean before even acknowledging that we'd been sitting there for 20 minutes. The table behind us, two (white) males, were able to have their order taken without calling attention to a waitress . This place is NOT recommended if you're a person of color. If you're white you'll be attended to well but if your not good luck. Racism lives in the Monterey Bay and it's Cocos'.
Slow. They lost the order and there were 3 other customers in the restaurant - that's it. Looking at the other reviews it's commonplace. They were very apologetic. The steak was BLOOD RARE WHEN IT FINALLY ARRIVED. They recooked...better. The manager, Kathleen, was very reasonable with the charges: beverage only. Might be worth a future try?
Restaurantji Recommends
Staff was terrible, and messed up multiple orders after we already waited over 50 minutes for food after being told we couldn't be seated while there were multiple seats available. Our total time there, at a diner, was over an hour and a half before we all were eating. The manager was passive aggressive, as well as the waitress when we voiced our concerns. There was not an effort to redeem our dining experience at all. Terrible establishment.
I can't offer a review of the food because it never came. My party waited 20 minutes after ordering with customers entering and seated after us being served and our food did not come out. There were 4-5 occupied at max when we arrived. When we went to inquire about the estimated time for our food to arrive the waitress/host offered us to wait for a manager. While walking out, two plates were up waiting to be served on the kitchen window and neither were ours. Would avoid at all costs unless you are prepared to spend the night. Will make sure to share this among our military community.
20 minutes to get our drinks and after an hour we walked out with no food. The restaurant wasn't even %25 full. No excuse for the poor service. There's a problem with the kitchen. The table next to us refused their order it was so cold and burned
A restaurant that brags about its pie selections did not have a single pie available from its own advertised summer menu. It had exactly three pies (out of 15 or so on its "signature", "seasonal" lists) available, and one of them was a no sugar added apple. So basically two pies, and one of those was cheesecake. Busy weekend day in a very tourist-y area (I'm actually a local) and they had five tables with people out of the entire restaurant. Now I understand why....
Horrrible experience, over 30 min to come take our order once seated and I've been here for over an hour and still no food. I'm looking around and multiple tables waiting to pay, people are waiting to be seated while people are waiting 30+ minutes to get their checks and pay.