Old Fishermen's Grotto

Our first visit and the service and dinner did not disappoint. Excellent service and fresh ingredients prepared perfectly. Sand tabs were great highly recommend.

Amazing service and views. Food was delicious for the most part except for a few things we weren't keen on. Highly recommended!

I've been coming to this restaurant for 45 years and it has only gotten better with time. Chris the owner is very personable and always around and greets everybody with a genuine smile. The food and service has always been excellent and the atmosphere inside is beautiful. Besides that it's always nice looking out at the water from your table. It's a first class restaurant.

This place was an unexpected surprise. Knowing we were going to pick up our son at UCSC, I was looking to eat somewhere away from the craziness of graduation. And what a find!

Blown away so good! Seafood Rosotto was fantastic and ao was the clam chowder! Orange Dream tasted hit the spot as a dessert!

Service is over the top. Ambience is perfect for a romantic celebration. This is a must. Great food.

The clam chowder in a garlic-toasted bread bowl was delicious! The wine list has excellent choices for reasonable prices, the best we found on our trip.

Fantastic food with exceptional service!

Fine dining at the wharf in Monterey. Food is delicious. Pasta, seafood, steak, very good clam chowder and bread served warm that is baked at a local bakery in town named Paris bakery. Cocktails, entrees and desserts are plated beautifully. Oman our server was friendly and attentive. Ladies are given a long stem red rose prior to leaving. Highly recommend dining here.

Fresh seafood and nice view.

I’m from Monterey and have been recommending old fisherman’s grotto for over 30 years after moving to the SF Bay Area. I always come here when I visit Monterey but now I’m afraid I’m going to have to stop recommending them. I have recommended them to friends and coworkers and lately those who went here politely just said it was just ok, as if wasn’t the same place I recommended. My girlfriend and I went there this Friday since we took the day off and had lunch after several couples seemed a little disappointed. We made the long drive to my old home town and well they were right. The restaurant broke the cardinal rule like so many up north in the SF Bay Area that ended up closing. Raised prices and cut portions. Hit the customer on both sides. They raised prices relatively high which I will say might be because of inflation and or state required benefits but I’m just guessing because the prices went up considerably. We ordered the special, the grotto seafood pasta and one of their signature dishes which was the grilled seafood platter with veggies. 28 dollar pasta plate and a 38 dollar grilled seafood platter. When the food came we were shocked. The number three was something to stick out with the pasta. Three clams, three shrimps and a third of a salmon filet. If it was even a third of a filet, all on top of a cup of pasta. Lottery a cup of pasta. The seafood platter was even worse. It was just a taste. One scallop, 2 shrimps, a third of a standard salmon filet and some sand dabs. We were like there is no way that’s 38 dollars it was more like a 19 dollar portion. The waiter even asked if everything was ok after brining the dishes like he was wondering if the portions were going to be ok. What were we suppose to say? This is a rip off. Come on…after 30 years of going to Old Fisherman’s Grotto and recommending it to friends and coworkers in the Bay Area, I can no longer recommend this place. The taste of the food wasn’t bad but the pasta was a little bland and I had to use a ton of Parmesan cheese which also looked like it was bought in a container. The taste overall was just average versus the past visits where the food left an impression. It wasn’t uncommon for us to spend over a 140 dollars for a meal between the two of us and we always felt like it was worth it. That ship has now sailed and sadly, growing up in the Monterey Bay, this is no longer a place worth going. Heart breaker for me to have to write this review. What’s interesting is that no bread was brought or offered and the chowder tasting outside has also stopped. Cutting costs everywhere I guess. I wish you luck Old Fisherman’s Grotto. Growing up as a kid, all I heard about was the Old Fisherman’s Grotto and going there. Loved the pictures, history and the Jungle Book movie story. All good things must come to an end. Sad…..

Very popular restaurant in the old fisherman’s wharf. It is recommended for making reservations ahead. A bit pricey but the food is great.

In what world are guests with strollers not allowed entry? We came from very far away, only to find out that we couldn't enter with our baby! .

It's extremely upsetting to experience such discrimination.
Definitely not recommended!!

For a generic-looking seafood restaurant at another tourist attraction, Old Fisherman's Grotto is an awesome surprise. The atmosphere is like an old style steakhouse and the views of the bay aren't especially remarkable. What stands out is the food. Considering there were so many other options on the wharf, competition must be high. The prices reflected the high standards of service and the elegance and richness of the food. Presented well and tasted lovely. It gets cool out there at night.

The clam chowder is the bomb but you probably know that already. Oysters Rockefeller were delicious. Wish we would have tried the crab ravioli, the hot crab sandwich wasn’t for us. Miguel was our server and he was spectacular. He was super quick and kind and professional. Everyone we encountered was so nice. The cuddle fish cocktail was cool and the local sauv blanc was delicious as well! I will be back. I usually only get the clam chowder to go, but it’s worth sitting in to dine!