Wave Street Cafe — Restaurant in Monterey

If you're going to visit, arrive before the lunch rush (11:00-close) unless you don't mind waiting a literal half-hour for your entreé. That being said, we were in no hurry and it's a lovely spot to rest and talk. Got an excellent red-eye that was smooth and not at all bitter. The place is busy with locals because it's one of the few restaurants that is open on Mondays around here. Expect Mondays to be like a tourist-filled Saturday at Hula's.

Because it was busy, a lot of the staff seemed to be in a rush. Our server was very friendly, but did the bare minimum to be attentive. It took about 10 minutes to get a drink order in, another 10 for the drinks to show up (both were excellent coffee drinks). We needed a few minutes to continue looking at the menu, so she left. It took nearly 15 minutes for her to come back and take our food orders. She was very friendly and professional, so we weren't too frustrated.

Then the waiting began. My partner ordered the Cobb Salad and I ordered the salmon tacos (nothing too complicated). We noticed other parties who came in after us experiencing similar delays with their servers. It could've been a short-staffed day in the front or back of the house, and they were doing a good job holding down the fort. It took another 30 minutes for the plates to arrive; so from host stand to plates in from of us took just over an hour. I expect this kind of wait at bougie places, not mellow cafes.

Once the waiting was over tho, most frustration went out the window! The salmon tacos with salsa fresca and cilantro-lime crema were stellar. One large slab of sustainable salmon filled each taco, and they weren't small tortillas! The cilantro-lime crema was delicious on its own, but didn't easily hold up against how rich the salmon was, so it mostly succeeded at making my tortillas wet. 😑 The onion rings were some of the best I've had in years! They hit the table fresh out of the fryer, and served with a decent ranch for dipping. And the small ramekin of black beans and cheese seemed like just a cute aside, but I was really surprised at how perfectly textured the beans were and the seasonings were pretty spot on.

All in all, I'll definitely come back, but only when I know it's going to...

Okay, I am modifying my choice for favorite breakfast spot. Great Awakenings, located just up from the Aquarium at David & Lighthouse used to get the nod. And it's still a good spot. It's unquestionably the best place to get breakfast before the Aquarium opens (usually 10 am, often 9:30 am for members). You can park, have breakfast at Great Awakenings and walk down to the Aquarium. Because you will need to arrive early to have breakfast before the Aquarium opens, you will also be able to get a prime parking spot on the street. HOWEVER, if you are not going to the Aquarium, the best breakfast award in my opinion now goes to the Wave Street Cafe. Great selections and what sets it apart from others is how they prepare the potatoes. For some reason, I don't know of a restaurant in the area that serves hash browns other than McDonalds (the Wendy's burned down!) so everyone is serving their own potato dish. Wave Street's is simple but very good. ALSO, you have a choice to sit inside or outside with a view of the Bay (not a particularly scenic part of the Bay but the Bay nonetheless). THE DOWNSIDE to this restaurant is finding it. Although it has a Wave Street address, it is NOT on Wave Street but rather fronts the bicycle path in the middle of the block. Channel your inner Kit Carson and you can find it as follows: park on Wave Street in front of the building which houses a tattoo parlor and an art studio on Wave just west of McClellan. Walk around to the side of the tattoo parlor/art studio building (go through the parking lot) and voila! Don't give up finding this gem. Have a biblical attitude: "seek and ye shall find!" Enjoy! ...

Extremely Disappointing.

We visited this establishment during a weekday around noon.

The wait was very long and frankly inconsistent, those who came in first weren't seated in order, that didn't sit too well with my party.

Our server finally showed up and she was amazing. Yvette was very professional, apologetic for the delay and courteous. Honestly, the 3 star rating given here were mostly for Yvette, in fact she deserves 5 stars, otherwise it would be a 1 or 2 at best. The food took longer to arrive then anticipated and more inconsistencies started to show again. Others who ordered AFTER us received their food BEFORE. Food finally showed up and two out of three members in my party, our food was cold and at that point after a long wait, it just wasn't worth reordering. FIFO Method of food delivery is very important to keep your customers happy.

This place has so much going for it, beautiful location, beautiful view, very beautiful outside patio seating and an always smiling Yvette.

However, the other services need VAST improvement. Ownership, take heed, from one restaurant owner to another, you've got a great thing here, improve the service, add another server and more kitchen staff and you'll be better.

Location = 5 🌟 Patio Seating & Views = 5 🌟 Yvette = 5 🌟 Food quality = 2 🌟 Other...