El Bistro by the Sea — Restaurant in Carmel-by-the-Sea

If I can add more stars, I would! This place comes with my HIGHEST regards!

I called on 9/11/24 (yesterday) at 9 a.m. to make reservations for 10 a.m. to celebrate our 25th anniversary. They took our name down and said, "We will see you at 10 a.m." I let them know if they can do something special on the table since it is our anniversary. The hostess said she would call me back. She called within 5 minutes and told me she spoke to management and they could do something special for our table, at a small fee, to which I agreed. **You cannot put a price on memorable moments, especially your BIG 25!!

We were running late, so I called and said we would get there closer to 10:30 a.m., which they said was no problem. Carlos, we will see you soon.

Upon arrival, we were greeted with a very friendly and welcoming smile. The place was beautiful! (I've learned that less is more.) As we walked to our table, I right away knew which one was ours. The table had a rose pedal, a nice cold bottle of the best champagne from Spain, wine glasses, and a beautiful rose arrangement. Oh, and three long candles. The mood was right!! The food was spectacular. I saw a picture from another review of chilaquiles with a chile relleno!! Being Mexican, I've never heard of that, so I tried it. Let me tell you, my wife, being Mexican, knows good chile for chilaquiles, and guess what? She loved it. She had avocado toast with bacon and egg, which was delicious!!

As we were eating, we were greeted by most of the staff, wishing us a happy anniversary. They made us feel super special on our special day. We tried leaving room for dessert, but we could not. My wife went to the restroom as we were wrapping up, and the server came and said, stick around, my manager made a special dessert for your anniversary on us. WHAT!! Who does that? They came out with the perfect size baby pancakes (a stack of 4 to which we just could not finish), and let me tell you, they were so delicious. It also came with an edible flower! If you're in Carmel or looking for a nice, special place to eat, whether you're taking your spouse or celebrating any occasion, THIS PLACE IS THE SPOT!

To the entire staff who worked between 10:30 a.m. and 12:15 p.m. on 9/11/24, we thank you for making this day special! We appreciate you, and we will see...

El Bistro By The Sea was recommended to us and truthfully, I wasn't feeling well that morning, so eating was the furthest from my mind. And to me, this wasn't my kind of place, but was a perfect place for my wife, so off we went.

Parking is a bit hard as it is all street parking and this area has great views of the water and the beaches are spectacular, plus the area is now a major tourist area, so parking can be tough. We. found a spot, luckily, just up the street, though we circled a few times looking.

The menu had a lot more options than she had led me to believe. The French toast options all looked great, but my stomach told me to cool it and order more blandly. I started with hot tea. The most bland was the butter pancakes. Bland meaning the least over the top on the menu. And they were really, really good. Fluffy and buttery. And since we sat outside and I wasn't feeling well, the tea warmed me up and the pancakes were really sticking to my ribs. However, if I was feeling okay, I would have ordered the Cream Brulee French Toast or the Nutella French Toast. However, the menu looked fantastic and we couldn't order everything.

My wife ordered the Veggie Omelet and avocado toast. She thought her's was excellent as well. Unfortunately, I was outside getting air and not feeling well.

It was a very cute place and the service was top notch. Our server kept checking on me as she could tell I wasn't feeling great. Finally I got up and walked out after paying the bill.

I did not get sick there. I was sick when I visited and I still ate and it was very good. And if we had a second day I would have gone back and had probably the whole menu as it all looked scrumptious.

If you're in Carmel-By-The-Sea, then go to El Bistro By The Sea. Even sick, you'll...

There is a Secret Menu on IG

This was my first time at El Bistro by the Sea. My experience for brunch here was pleasant and I will most likely return.

I beat the long wait time by agreeing to outside seating where the heater was not working. Yes, this was my choice, but heads up, it was freezing with the ocean breeze!

Secret menus are exciting so I ordered the banana marquesita and it was everything I expected. Yummy! There were many options to choose from so take a look for yourself.

I also ordered the Mole Chilaquiles but was informed there was no mole today and I was sad. So I settled for the regular Chilaquiles in salsa verde. I was very thrown off by the grilled chicken as the pictures showed shredded chicken. Personally, it was too salty for my taste. But the salsa was flavorful with a hint of spicy, but not too spicy. Good quantity of food and was able to save half for a later meal.

Only drank water since I drove but the options sounded pretty good and there were other parties ordering fun drinks.

I'd also like to remind everyone there is a 15% fee for parties 6 and larger. There was a party of 8 next to me who complained very rudely, claiming they had never heard of auto gratuity and were upset they weren't informed. (There is a sign at the door and host stand, plus there is a notice on the bottom of almost every page...