Carmel:
*The Wagon Wheel – 7156 Carmel Valley Rd
(831) 624-8878
$$ Breakfast & Lunch
Three miles into Carmel Valley still stands this super rustic, delicious country style breakfast and Lunch restaurant. Walls are adorned with ropes, old photographs of horses and the occasional pitchfork. It was designed this way decades ago, and given its country setting avoids feeling campy. Excellent biscuits and gravy, eggs-benedict, trout and eggs, and breakfast burritos.
Katie’s Place – Mission St between 5th and 6th
(831) 624-0199
$$ Breakfast & Lunch
Well known simple restaurant in a cottage like building. A nice corner patio overlooks a small garden and the sidewalk.
Monterey:
*The Wild Plum Café – 731 Munras Ave, Monterey
831- 646-3109
$$ Breakfast & Lunch
Bargain quality. This newer café places heavy emphasis on local, organic, made from scratch, hormone free, and grass fed ingredients. Utilizing as many local ingredients as possible from the coffee to the beef, their chefs do a marvelous job breathing uncommonly good taste and quality into familiar dishes. Serving coffee, breakfast, lunch and dinner, eat in or take out. Located in Old Monterey.
Rosine’s – 434 Alvarado St, Monterey
831-375-1400
$$ Breakfast Lunch & Dinner
Sure the interior looks like a retirement home, but this place has it all and does it all well. From the meatiest omelets in town and their three-egg benedicts to the widest selection of salads and sandwiches you ever saw. Dinner includes a selection of steaks, seafood, burgers and Italian cuisine. Located in Old Monterey.
Trailside Café – 550 Wave Street, Monterey
831-649-8600
$$ Breakfast & Lunch
Almost hidden along the recreation trail next to Cannery Row, the Trailside Café is a sanctuary of ambiance and quality amid the touristic hustle and bustle of Cannery Row. Good quality breakfast and coffee, also serving lunch with a respectable craft beer menu.
LouLou’s Griddle in the Middle – Municipal Wharf II, Monterey
831-372-0568
$$ Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner
This little yellow shack on the pier has an authentic fisherman atmosphere and seafood omelets. Unique for its water-top location and harbor view. Located near Old Monterey on the fishing pier.
nick's guide 