Melville Tavern — Restaurant in Monterey

We finally abandoned our former go-to for Monterey weekend dinners (took three consecutive disappointments after three years of excellent experiences), and were just a block away from Melville's. There was no more thought that went into our decision-making than that. No lengthy perusal of reviews, and mostly "Hey, it says 'Pizza' on the sign." Yet nothing of what you're about to read is the result of low expectations. We could have been told it was the Taj Mahal of Monterey dining, and we'd still have been blown away by the service, the substance, and the style of Melville's.

Four adults worn out by the exuberance of the two grandchildren who were even more worn out by their exuberance at MY Museum down the street. Heidi was quick on prepping the big table by the windows (per this photographer's request), and getting liquid refreshment in front of us. She was also exceptionally patient as we sat in awe of the choices on the menu. "Do I want duck on a pizza? Or duck with fettucine?" was my dilemma. Others wrestled with burger choices. The granddaughter needed a detailed description of their macaroni-and-cheese. And yet the usually decisionally-delayed member of the party narrowed the selections down to two choices, letting Heidi choose between them for her. The bacon-wrapped chili-dog was greatly appreciated!

Duck fettucine ended up in front of two of us. Same verdict from both: Awesomely balanced in a sauce that did not deaden the flavors with too much fat (as can easily happen). And garlic bread done right isn't entirely unheard of, but it's still too rare. Melville's ranks in the top five of my preferences in Monterey County.

The most surprising sensation came with the hot wings. Heidi's description gave us some ideas, but her advice to try them seemed to come from an experienced palate. Here's my best effort at similar recommendations: "Try them." I could recognize some of the influences and ingredients. But the overall effect...just be sure to let them have a clear shot at your taste buds before you bury them in Ranch or Bleu Cheese dressing.

Factors that knock the rating back to 4.995 stars? The restroom location is wonkily situated at the far end of the central hallway bisecting the building. The outdoor seating pads were stacked around the hat-rack (due to the monsoon), so hanging my hat and coat was a little awkward. And Heidi was unable to immediately identify the drummer in the black-and-white photo handing above the quote by Melville on the interior wall. (I think her guess is right, though. He does look very much like John Bonham. But why is he there? Maybe by the time of our next visit - coming soon - she'll have...

Went on a Sunday after the brunch crowd. We were told it would be a minute or two wait, but it ended up being 20 minutes. We were okay with that as we chose to sit outside, and it was a really nice day. (Inside had plenty of open seating and the hostess did ask if we would rather be seated immediately inside.)

We didn’t order drinks and, clearly, our waitress wasn’t thrilled with that choice. We could tell as soon as she took our drink orders. We did, however, order two orders of wings for appetizers. We had three people in our party.

We had a food allergy in our party and the waitress didn’t want to be bothered with a question or two, and kind of threw an attitude about this. Which was VERY disappointing. The waitress forgot to bring out the requested condiments, and after asking she still forgot them. She also never refreshed our drinks. She did ask if we wanted refills on our drinks as we were paying our bill - a little late and I think she just didn’t want to be bothered with getting them, and knew we would say’ “ no thanks” because we were already gathering our items to leave.

The food was served hot and looked great when it came out, but the burger was slightly under seasoned. The meatloaf definitely was under seasoned, but the food was pretty good otherwise. The cauliflower that was served with the meatloaf was cooked from a frozen mix and had zero salt or seasoning on it. Pulled pork sandwich came out buttered (even though we requested it dry due to the food allergy.) The fries were crispy and creamy in the middle - the best part of our meal.

So now we have tried Melville’s in-house and we did take-out previously. Ironically, take-out was over salted. So, maybe it is consistency that needs to be looked at.

I will say that those with drinks looked happy and seemed to really be enjoying their meal. Maybe we should have just stuck with a mimosa or two.

All in all, I’d say give it a try but hope you get a helpful server. I think the experience might have been better if we would have had someone helpful and who wanted to be there. We usually tip really well because we know jobs in the service industry are really demanding and they can be hard, but we couldn’t justify leaving a great tip for poor service on this visit.

We probably won’t visit again, as there are so many wonderful restaurants in the area that combine amazing service and...

Went on a Sunday after the brunch crowd. We were told it would be a minute or two wait, but it ended up being 20 minutes. We were okay with that as we chose to sit outside, and it was a really nice day. (Inside had plenty of open seating and the hostess did ask if we would rather be seated immediately inside.)

We didn’t order drinks and, clearly, our waitress wasn’t thrilled with that choice. We could tell as soon as she took our drink orders. We did, however, order two orders of wings for appetizers. We had three people in our party.

We had a food allergy in our party and the waitress didn’t want to be bothered with a question or two, and kind of threw an attitude about this. Which was VERY disappointing. The waitress forgot to bring out the requested condiments, and after asking she still forgot them. She also never refreshed our drinks. She did ask if we wanted refills on our drinks as we were paying our bill - a little late and I think she just didn’t want to be bothered with getting them, and knew we would say’ “ no thanks” because we were already gathering our items to leave.

The food was served hot and looked great when it came out, but the burger was slightly under seasoned. The meatloaf definitely was under seasoned, but the food was pretty good otherwise. The cauliflower that was served with the meatloaf was cooked from a frozen mix and had zero salt or seasoning on it. Pulled pork sandwich came out buttered (even though we requested it dry due to the food allergy.) The fries were crispy and creamy in the middle - the best part of our meal.

So now we have tried Melville’s in-house and we did take-out previously. Ironically, take-out was over salted. So, maybe it is consistency that needs to be looked at.

I will say that those with drinks looked happy and seemed to really be enjoying their meal. Maybe we should have just stuck with a mimosa or two.

All in all, I’d say give it a try but hope you get a helpful server. I think the experience might have been better if we would have had someone helpful and who wanted to be there. We usually tip really well because we know jobs in the service industry are really demanding and they can be hard, but we couldn’t justify leaving a great tip for poor service on this visit.

We probably won’t visit again, as there are so many wonderful restaurants in the area that combine amazing service and...