Tico's Breakfast & Lunch — Restaurant in Marina

UPDATE: Tico's now offers wine and beer ! This should drive more dinner business to this gem. Duckhorn Merlot and Sauvignon Blanc as well as two Paso Robles reds from Daou. Healthy pours by the glass and bottle prices reflect a reasonable mark up. Just had another great dinner last Friday night. Petrale sole for both of us and it was perfectly prepared. Do not pass on the creme brulee !!

Have had breakfast at Tico's on a few occasions and it's always been great. The little known secret is they're open for dinner as well and have been for the past two weeks after being closed for awhile due to a COVID drop in dinner business. Went there last night with my son. Arrived at 6:40 and the entire place was empty except for the staff. A chef, server and I believe one of the owners, a very pleasant woman.

I was very reluctant to have dinner there wondering about how fresh could anything be without any customers? Asked if there was any fresh seafood other than the salmon on the menu. Had read the sand dabs were pretty good from a previous reviewer. Chef told server he had sand dabs. We decided to stay and order.

Let's start with the ambience. It's a hole in the wall, but the tiled floors were so clean you could eat from them, as were the tables set with folded cloth napkins and spotlessly clean dinnerware. There was some pleasant dinner music being played over a sound system at just the right volume.

A basket of garlic bread preceded our dinner. The plates arrived at the table and the presentation was beautiful. Should have taken a photo to post but we were hungry and started to eat. The sand dabs were sauteed with a caper, butter and lemon sauce that was as good or better than any we've ever had and was much better than Monterey Fish House. Included were potatoes that were whipped creamy smooth and perfectly sauteed veggies that included zucchini, broccoli and carrots. We were blown away by how good the food was.

Our server asked if we wanted dessert, which we didn't, but she said the creme brulee was really good so we decided to share one. It was incredible. Creamy smooth custard with a crunchy caramelized top and some very thinly sliced fresh blueberry discs that covered the caramelization and added an unexpected fruitiness to the dish. Nearly ordered a second one !

The portions were just right and very reasonably priced at $16.99 for the entrees. Total cost for two with dessert and including tax was $44.00, a real bargain considering most any other place would charge at least $22-26 for the entree alone.

Their dinner menu includes pasta offerings, salads and other entrees, including prime rib on Friday and Saturday.

There is no alcohol served here and I forgot to ask if we could bring a bottle of wine with us the next time we visit, which will be soon. This place is a real gem and should be supported by locals. If you haven't given this place a try for dinner, you must. And you won't be...

I really, really wanted to like this place. Upon entering, there were about 3 other tables to be waited on, so we were told it would take about 20-25 minutes to get our food. Understandable, so we took a table and started looking at the menu. I started noticing a funky smell and realized it was the menus and the table... our table was wiped down with what looked like a damp, dirty cloth and I'm pretty sure the menus were wiped with the same cloth. I didn't put my face close to the table/menu and carried on. It was pretty quick getting our order taken... the gentleman took our order within 10 minutes of us sitting down (party of 6). Now begins the wait... Our drinks took about 15 minutes to get to us, and we had to prompt them about 3 times after to bring out a glass of milk they had forgotten for the child in our group. After waiting almost 45 minutes, our food finally came out! I was looking forward to the food due to the positive reviews and figured it would be worth the wait. It wasn't in my opinion. I had the seafood omelet, which was about 85% cheese and 15% shrimp and crab. I'm not kidding when I tell you that I almost choked on the cheese a couple times because there was so much of it. My husband said his huevos rancheros was decent, nothing special. The toast that came with our meal was stale. The country potatoes were the star of the show... those alone were pretty good and saved this review from being a 1 star review. By the time we ordered, there were 3 more tables that came in for a total of maybe 5-6 tables (it was a Sunday morning), and people from other tables had to go up to the register to ask to put in their drink orders. People who were sitting outside had to keep coming in to prompt the server's attention. As someone who waited tables as the only server on Friday nights, the wait times were a bit ridiculous and could have been serviced way faster. And the servers could have been a bit more personable, but I guess not everyone has that cheery waiter/waitress...

Amazing little hole in the wall. Inconspicuous looking upon arrival but we were pleasantly surprised from the moment we hit the door. No one pushy or in your face. Just a friendly greeting and fast service. Probably 15 minutes tops between the time we walked in and food hitting the table.

We went with the items that previous reviewers have mentioned and were not disappointed. Eggs Benedict was on point. Nothing amazing, just familiar staples done PERFECTLY. When I see yellow (not browned!), fluffy scrambled eggs, that's an indicator to me that the cook cares. If you can't get something as simple as that right, nothing else will be. "Apple Fritters" (a modified pancake batter) were probably the highlight of the meal. A crispy, fluffy, almost dessert-like contrast to the savory breakfast meats. Portions are generous and prices are in line with the overall quality.

My only minor gripe is the seating. It's sardine packed inside, but easily forgotten once the food is on the table. This place is a far cry from that awful Dennys down the street near Hwy 1. You'll pay the same thing there versus the short drive to Tico's. We'll...