Absolutely the best place I've been to in Pacific Grove by far. Everything about the restaurant was perfect. The location is perfect, right by the amazing Lover's Point park. There's great seating that lets you look over the ocean but the inside of the restaurant was also beautiful. Service was the best I've ever had, with a very attentive and caring waiter. He was treating everyone like family and making the experience wonderful. An error was made on my girlfriend's order and the waiter let her know about it as soon as he set the plate down. She had wanted a Rotini with pesto, sundried tomatoes and parmesan. She wanted to add salmon to it (which costs extra) but an error was made that added salmon and shrimp. The waiter was super apologetic and charged it, despite being a much more expensive entree, as being a regular with added shrimp (salmon would've cost more). The service was just beyond words I mean the guy was so sorry that he didn't bring me ketchup immediately. Out of this world. I'd eat here every night if I could.
Edit 9/24: I had been eagerly excited to go back to Beach House after the great experience that I had before. What I had was far different. I've had to change my review from 5 stars to 1 based on how it went tonight. Things started well when we got the calamari, but things went downhill from there. Despite being seated before people we had to ask for bread because we were never given any, while other tables had. Then I got my sirloin and prawns and it was overcooked. I asked for medium rare and the inside was hardly pink. I brought the waitress over, Rachel, and despite politely stating it was overcooked, she wanted to defend that it was medium rare. She took the steak back though and suggested to write it in as rare because she felt the steak was medium rare. At this point I was pretty upset over the defensiveness of the waitress and had lost my appetite so I brought a manager over. We explained our situation, the bread and the steak and just generally feeling like we were being mistreated (like my review of Fishwife) and the manager said he'd check on stuff and take care of it. The manager himself even seemed dismissive. We eventually got back our sirloin and it was clearly rare. We got a couple more check in's from Rachel but ultimately our appetite had been ruined from the unpleasantness. We paid our check, and didn't got compensated for any of our meal by the manager. We didn't expect to but it would've been appreciated. All in all we didn't receive any apologies, and the entire experience was sickening.
The hardest part about this review change was how stark of a difference our experiences were. Our first visit here was phenomenal with a compassionate waiter who was apologetic over a mistake. We were treated very well and it had been the highlight of our vacation. The experience we had tonight was the complete opposite and if I come back to Pacific Grove I'm not sure I'd come back to Beach House. It's a real shame, but tonight was...
Read moreThere are some restaurants that you go to simply because of the location, The Beach House in Pacific Grove, CA is one of them. That being said, the food and the service, based on what we received, would NOT be a reason to go there. As a matter of fact, they would be the reason why you would NOT go there. Read on for the details.
When we first got to the restaurant we were a few minutes late for our 7pm reservation, on a Tuesday night, but the very friendly woman at the hostess stand said that if we could wait 10 minutes they would have a better table for us than what was currently available. We gladly waited and were seated on an outdoor patio with glass wind breaks, heaters and a very nice view. Excellent.
While we had waited we had previewed the menu and were very excited about what we thought was to come.
The cocktails were good. And, although our very pleasant server could not pronounce the one that my wife selected, that did not change the fact that it was well made. Also, the bread served before/with dinner was excellent and, without a doubt, the highlight of our meal. Everything that came and happened after that was a disappointment.
The poke appetizer was over sauced with a sauce that was too thick and heavy to begin with. And, there was very little poke in it.
The clam chowder was so thick that you could stand a spoon in it.
The sand dab dish, for which the fish was not over cooked, was tasteless despite a beurre blanc sauce that was flavorless and left the fish greasy; the rice and green beans served with it were extremely overcooked, flavorless mush.
The cioppino came out smelling so strongly of fish that all the tables in front, behind, and to the side of us were commenting on the odor - and we were outdoors on a breezy night! And, although the stew was served with a very generous portion of crab, in the shell, with one large claw, the shell and claw were not scored or pre-cracked, nor was it served with a way to crack the shell, a spoon, or a shell fish fork. We had to chase down a back waiter to ask for the proper silverware and method to remove the shell from the crab, then he had to chase down the server, who finally arrived to provide a lemon wedge and nut cracker for the now cold cioppino, then had to be asked [again] for the spoon and fork; she then brought the spoon and had to be asked again for the fork. There was also no bowl provided in which to place the removed shells.
The staff was pleasant, and that certainly goes a long way, but pleasant cannot compensate for the fundamental failures experienced during a two hour meal that cost upwards of $150 for 2 adults and 1 child. After everything that was done, and not done, all we can say is that if you want to go to The Beach House at Lover’s Point in Pacific Grove, Enjoy the view, and the pleasant staff, have a cocktail and some bread, then go somewhere...
Read moreAs a local, I’ve been to this restaurant a few times. I don’t recall having as many issues as the evening I went. My mom, dad, and I hadn’t gone out in a while to just wind down, have a drink, and enjoy a nice view.
Well, once we entered we were greeted and were given the option of choosing a few seats even though they werent really ones we wanted. They said due to reservations there wasnt many tables available even though it looked like plenty options were open at that time on Thurs evening. I didn’t get much of a view which was sad.
Sat down and was immediately greeted by a kind waitress who seemed in good spirits. We placed our order, things were going smooth but then slowly started to change. Dad and I ordered Mai Tais which we eventually got but it had so much grenadine in it which isn’t a normal ingredient. It sat at the bottom and once mixed it tasted extremely like juice which made it to sweet to drink.
Waited a bit before we saw our waitress again so I could tell her that, that drink will make me sick. When she returned she was kind enough to give me a sample of a wine I was considering before I purchase an entire glass incase I wasn’t a fan.
My dad just added an extra rum shot and he was able to drink his. By this time it was pretty watered down already
Anyway, got our appetizers which took some time, firecracker shrimp has always good. Calamari was ok. It took forever for our dinner to arrive. When we finally got it, I asked for Parmesan which I never saw. My seafood pasta was probably the worst I’ve had in all the places we’ve dined in the Monterey County.
It was watered down sauce, scallops had no sear looked completely boiled and was over cooked and dry, shrimp was extremely over cooked and dry, the choice of noodles just didn’t make sense with that dish either as it was extremely thick. Very disappointing as prices are high and quality and service certainly didn’t match it.
We never saw our waitress during dinner, it would have been nice if I could share with her how horrible my meal was.
Instead she came back again what felt like forever and asked if we wanted and dessert and we said no. By this time not happy but she seemed in a hurry so we didn’t get the chance.
Unfortunately, my mom decided to order my brothers to go meal which she forgot to do. At that point my dad and I thought we probably shouldn’t because of how long things have taken. Preparing to be there a long time we decided to order another drink while we wait. The wait wasn’t as long as our dinner. So that’s was fine.
Came home and that evening my throat swelled up probably because I normally have scallops that are seared and not just boiled.
Over all experience was disappointing. I don’t think blaming the bush busyness of the restaurant should take away from someone’s dinner as the location is prime and I am sure they remain...
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