Characters Sports Bar & Grill

Rating this for exactly what it is: a sports bar. Peoples unrealistic Unilocal reviews that talk about lack of sophistication with food/​drinks in a place like this are a joke. You don’t go to a chain sports bar for a culinary experience.
That being said, as a sports bar, it’s great! Service was prompt and when we asked them to turn on the nba allstar coverage they did so immediately. Wine and beer was good and wings were awesome (the Thai wings are bomb). Calamari was so so but again, it’s a sports bar lol. Nice décor, clean and nice atmosphere.

Good local sports bar located downstairs and in the corner of the Marriott. Bar food available. Beers include sierra nevafa, stella, 805, rebel IPA. Nothing special, just a good place to quench

Had a few sips of a vodka tonic, worst one in my whole drinking career! Even had them add another shot of vodka to it. Hubby said his Marini wasn’t bad but for 23.50 you could do better.

The good, great service friendly and the games were on.
Food is good overall chicken strips very good as was artichoke.
The bad– small bar. bartender better than servers. Slow for server.
Overall would recommend if looking for your game and some decent food.

The best place on the peninsula to catch a game. They have Sunday ticket, the SEC Network, and any other network you could think of. Every NFL game is on a dedicated TV every Sunday and they open at 9 so you can catch the early slate of games. They do a breakfast buffet until 12 (which wasn’t my favorite but some people really love it), until the kitchen opens for lunch at noon. The only place I’ll go to watch games on Sunday is Characters in Monterey.

I sooo want to give this place zero stars due to the horrible customer service from the on duty manager.
Boyfriend and I decided to head to Monterey to celebrate our anniversary. We stopped in to sit down and dine in at the Characters sports bar and grill (located in the Manager) from the long drive into town. We ordered chicken nachos, Caesar salad, crispy lemon chicken and two cocktails.
When the items were brought out we decided we wanted to change one of the orders. We notifed the waitress and informed her of the change. She politely stated she would see about changing the order. 2 mins later the manager on duty Liza arrived to ask what was wrong with the dish. We informed her we changed our mind and would like to place a different order. She rudely stated well you can’t just change your order if there is nothing wrong with the dish. She said she didn’t want the chef to yell at her so she wasn’t taking back our order and we were responsible for paying for it. I thought this response to be down right uncalled for. We decided to end our dining at the establishment. Within bringing the tab, the waitress herself apologized for the response from the manager.
Instead of having a great evening it was ruined.

Happy Hour at this place is a joke. They have a handful of drinks for a couple of bucks cheaper and call it Happy Hour. Their martini’s are $ 9 when you can get them for $ 5 down the street. Not going back here even though their chicken wings and nachos are pretty good. There are much better options around.

Yes, it’s a sports bar, so I don’t expect five-​star service or stellar food. But with a few tweaks, this could become a real destination. My buddy liked his pasta dish, and my grilled halibut was really good – served with perfectly cooked asparagus. The fish was a wee bit overcooked and underseasoned, but I love halibut, and this was no exception. A generous, fresh-​tasting fillet, needing nothing but salt, pepper, and some lemon juice. The roasted root vegetable side was tasty, once seasoned at the table, but some of it was undercooked (see pic). Included some, good, warm, crusty bread with a big slab of butter.
Service was very much hit & miss. Our server apparently went home for the night with nary a word to us, and no one replaced him. It was a life & death struggle to get our check and leave as a group of about 25 people descended on the scene and rearranged all the furniture, practically right on top of us.
Good place to watch the big game (Warriors came back from 20 down to win a playoff game!), though the sound system could use an upgrade – too quiet & muffled. And my Jack Daniels on the rocks, while a generous pour, was probably more expensive than any I’ve ever consumed, at $ 11.50.
Note to management: the senses of taste and smell are closely associated. That sickly sweet-​smelling fluid that your staff use when spray-​cleaning the tables is a real downer. Smells like someone busted a bottle of perfume in the middle of the restaurant. Also, please don’t allow people to smoke immediately outside the exit. They might as well be in the lobby or bar itself.

Food is Delicious and the service was amazing Lisa the bartender took real good care of us while we enjoyed watching the hockey game.

Ok, you don’t come to Monterey to eat at a sports bar. However, this is attached to the Marriott and the service is outstanding. Not the best selection on tap and if you don’t feel like going out, this place will take care of you. If you like «bar» food, get the nachos, huge portion and goes down well with a cold one.

Love this place! Tons of tvs, great drinks, the nachos are yummy and the Bloody Mary bar rules. This is my favorite place to watch football games!

Opened late good if you are on the mood for a late night meal… service was great. Our waitress Zillah was awsome… made sure we got our order even though kitchen was closing.

Located inside the Marriott Monterey, drinks were awesome. We ordered some apps to snack on the Nachos arrived and we’re HUGE and super yummy. Baseball and College Football were on since it was a Saturday afternoon. The bartender was great but some of the other service staff not as attentive. Overall good experience would definitely go back.

Generous servings-​get the happy hour nachos. Four of us couldn’t finish it all. Friendly staff great service!

This is a nice place to go and have a great dinner & drinks if your staying at the Marriott’s, then you can enjoy your time here without the driving…

Liza the bartender is awesome! She suggested the clam chowder and WOW! I’m from New England, and I’m picky about my clam chowder. Their chowder was Delish! (i guess it’s won some awards). They had sports on the tv, golf, Yayyyy! We loved it. t

Delicious! This sports bar & grill presents their plates just as well as some higher end restaurants. The portions are big; the kids entrée comes with two side dishes. Highly recommend their Buffalo Tempura Chicken Tenderloins. And their clam chowder is better than all I’ve sampled on the wharf.
Service was fast and the servers were very nice and checked on us multiple times — taking empty plates away (and asking if it was ok), refilling drinks, and making sure we enjoyed our meal. Our server, Erin, was very cognizant of the game that was playing and walked behind our table not to block our view of the screen and checked on us between plays. She’s very aware of her customers!

Just spent a week in Monterey and stayed at the Monterey Marriott. After nearly a full day of traveling from the East Coast, we opted to eat at the hotel restaurant, Characters. Since there was a pre-​season football game on, we chose to sit at the bar. What a way to start a vacation. The drinks, food and service kept us coming back every night, even if only for drinks and sports. The bartenders, EJ, Andrea and Liza were awesome and the best we encountered in Monterey. Their clam chowder is better than any on the
Wharf. If you like good food, drinks, great service and sports, Characters is the place to be after sundown. There are many TV’s in the house and they try to accommodate everyone if possible.

If I come back here I’d stick to beer or wine.
I ordered a lemon drop and I can’t even describe how unfortunate tasting it was. There wasn’t even a sugar rim! My friends ordered kamikaze’s and had a similar taste experience. There’s definitely better bars walking distance from the Marriott than this place.

It’s Monday night. I’m on vacation. Does that mean I’m missing the Monday night game?! Oh hellllz to the no! Characters is conveniently attached to the Marriott hotel which I am staying at. Monday night football and not driving necessary. Whoohoo!
The game was playing on a big projector screen as well as on ample wide-​screens though out the bar. The bar itself has hand painted cartoons of major sports stars through out the ages, nifty!
That being said, Liza «as in Liza Minnelli» was our awesome bartender. She mixed up a mean mango-​tini and was always on top of our refills.
I had the Monterey Clam Chowder and the Wedge Salad as well.
The clam chowder was hot and comforting. Rich and creamy, it also had ample clams (no grit to be found.) It had small perfectly cooked bite size potatoes, celery, and bacon bits. Overall indulgent-​tastic!
I ordered the wedge salad with dressing and blue cheese cumbles on the side. The wedge of lettuce was sizeable. The crumbles were better than the dressing, so I manly put that on the lettuce and used the dressing to moisten the whole deal. It also came with blistered cherry tomatoes. I wish there had been more than four tomatoes.
The bar was pleasantly full of sports fans and a few families from the hotel. Other than four guys packing away the shots and long islands, it was a pretty sedate crowd, making for a perfectly enjoyable, low key evening. Perfect way relax into my mini vacation!