Abalonetti Bar and Grill — Restaurant in Monterey

This place is amazing. One of the best restaurant we’ve ever been to.

Unlike the other places on the Wharf, there’s no allure of coupons or happy hour, no pushy salesmen outside, no Pellegrino on the table, just an open door and a menu next to it on the wall. You read the reviews and, except for one or two, everyone raves about the food, and you decide to give it a try, and it was an excellent surprise!

Johnathan was our server, and he was excellent. Quiet, efficient, and sharp, I did manage to strike up a couple pleasant conversations with him as well. We appreciate you Johnathan! Another server was also walking around outside, a gentlemen with slicked back hair and a fair complexion, and he was leaving quite a good impression on his guests, and us do that matter.

The atmosphere, inside and out, was quiet. Definitely recommend outside seating if you don’t mind the cooler temperatures over the water, it’s very refreshing.

The drinks were cheap. For context, we (my girlfriend and I) both work at a steakhouse, and our cheapest cocktails start at $12.50, with wine glasses at $10+, and were pleasantly surprised to see that the heavy-poured house cocktails were all $10, with wine being $6.25-8 per glass, or max $38 per bottle. This is the best value I’ve seen in a while, being in California, and especially on the coast.

I ordered the Calamari appetizer, which was quite good, though I wasn’t a fan of the marinara sauce. I also got a Rum drink with Raspberry & Coconut rums, and it was delicious! My girlfriend also got a garlic bread basket, and we both enjoyed it.

The food came out quick. Ours didn’t necessarily, I’d assume the lobster tail took some prep time, but it was still only ~10-15 minutes after the appetizers. Other people were getting their food extremely fast, I was surprised! People don’t like to wait, and Abalonetti’s definitely knows that.

I then had the lobster tail, and it’s one of the best I’ve had - certainly better than I can do at home! The seasonings were rich and powerful, and they complemented the lobster well, I didn’t even need the melted butter. The rice on the side was also really good.

My girlfriend, not being one for seafood, ordered the cheeseburger and fries, and it was really good - one of the best I’ve had this year. The fries tasted almost like classic steak fries, and the burger was delicious, with a solid mixture of sauce and lettuce, and the other traditional toppings. Cooked to perfection.

I also ordered a glass of Merlot (the only one they had, I believe), and it was great. It tasted acidic, maybe of blackberries or black raspberries, with smooth tannins to pair with that acidity, exactly what I was looking for. With a quality merlot like that, who needs options?

I finished off with a salad to let the acidic dressing help with digestion, and it was also great. Just a standard field greens mix with great dressing options. Not much to say here besides I enjoyed it.

On the way out, I stopped at the bar to get some bourbon - Maker’s Mark, nothing special. Again, it was over $3 cheaper than where I work. I had a great conversation with the bartender, who is from the same city that my girlfriend and I are visiting from, and he was great as well.

One of the best restaurant experiences we’ve ever had. The atmosphere isn’t super upscale like some other places, but it doesn’t need to be - it’s the every man’s fine dining, with unbeatable food and a wonderful staff team to boot, and a must-have if you’re visiting the area. We will definitely be coming back next time we...

JOE IS AMAZING! I really do not know where to start.. I will try to make this a review like I would for a persuasive essay that I use when teaching my students. I will start with a hook, introduction, then make 2 claims, a counter-point, and try to drive it home. Here goes... (HOOK) The people here are great, competent, fabulous, splendid, glorious, key, surprising, interesting, valiant, spectacular, bodacious, terrific, intuitive, qualified, praise worthy, sensational, skilled, extraordinary, quality, respected, strong, divine, significant, excellent, achieving, important, wondrous, treasured, epic, resilient, rocking, classy, virtuous, incredible, monumental, outstanding, tremendous, esteemed, caring, magnificent, substantial, awesome, captivating, phenomenal and fantastic. (INTRODUCTION) After having a horrible experience at another restaurant on the wharf, my sister and brother booked a table for eight here, They came into town where I just moved to celebrate my mother's birthday, and a late Mother's day. We have been planning this dinner for over a month. They treated us like family, knew the menu through and through and although some give it lower stars, they are probably on bad drugs. As the Youtubers say, "Let's get into it, shall we?"(CLAIM 1) You should eat here if you plan on having great views and being served like family. Our waiter Joe took care of each and every one of us. There was not a single moment that I did not feel that any one of my family would be taken care of with promptness and a sense of immediacy. (evidence) My niece is allergic to dairy, and Joe recommended the fish sandwich. The bread was soft and not too dense. The views of the beach are everywhere. Our family felt the same sense of warmness that we give guests at our home. Our family has the hospitality abilities of Hispanic, Filipino, and southern traditions combined. Joe delivered. Majorly. Credit must also give credit to the others that were helping us as well. (I should have asked their names, but if you helped th "We Are the World Family yesterday at 5/15/2021, you are appreciated.(Claim 2) The staff know their menu. Joe knew the menu inside and out. (evidence) MANAGEMENT: Please note the following. (I used to be a waiter before I became a teacher, and he checked all of the following boxes;) He offered us great bar drinks, appetizers, and told us of the specials with adjectives and phrases that leave the great deceased poets of the past rolling in their graves out of jealousy. He up-sold us the special (Stuffed Salmon) and described the desserts with the elegance of that guy in the Dos Equis memes. The special of the stuffed salmon still makes my mouth water.(COUNTERCLAIM & REBUTTAL) Other reviewers give this place one star. However, it is my assumption that they are on bad drugs. I would probably guess bath salts or salt-peter. One of the two. I know because I am a teacher. Everything I write is gospel.Like a lot of my students, I will figure that so far, I have a passing grade, so I will stop writing, because c's...

I'm so sad to be giving a 3 star review. My husband and I have been eating here for almost 10 years and for that almost 10 years we have NEVER eaten anywhere else when we come into town 2-3 times a year. We drive 3 hours to Monterey specifically because of this place.

So, first we started with firecracker calamari (rings only)as we ALWAYS DO because it's just amazing. Well, it was over cooked (not so much so it was inedible because we were starving but DEFINETLY not up to our stadards for this place) and about 1/3 of the calamari didn't even have the buffalo sauce on it which is not the biggest deal in the world but it's the only way my husband even likes calamari so it was just inconvenient more than anything, nothing to complain about we thought.

Then, we got our meals. My husband ordered fish and chips, I ordered the abalone sandwich with the pepper alioli (usually used with the crab cakes but I LOVE this sauce) instead of tartar, and we ordered my daughter the pepperoni pizza. The battered fish was doused in SO MUCH batter that the inside of it was a soggy mess and my husband ended up pulling his fish out of all of the batter. My abolone sandwich was completely over cooked and RUBBERY, and my daughter's pizza was almost burnt on half of the top but not cooked AT ALL in the center! She wouldn't even eat it and ended up eating our fries and the bread, which was just as good as usual and it was the only thing we even enjoyed eating at dinner.

I hope management or the owner sees this and makes changes because we are VERY loyal contomers and we were so sad to have had what I would say is one of the worst food experiences we've ever had.

On a positive note our waitress (whom we've never seen there before) was very sweet and took off the pizza for us. She was a great waitress and very good at her job....