Old Monterey Cafe

I love this place! We come every time we are in town. The food is good, the service is great, and we never leave dissatisfied.

5/​star for how fast the service is, the workers are great! I say 3 stars for food.

Best breakfast in town. One of the few places that serve proper hash browns fried just right. Bacon is perfectly crisp, never soggy. Sometimes a bit of a wait but once you get in the friendly staff make you feel right at home.

Awesome place but a bit small. Right down the street from my hotel. Great service. Big portions as well. Totally recommend.

This place had the weakest coffee I’ve ever had, and that includes the coffee my MIL made, in which she used 2 TBs of grounds for 12 cups of brewed coffee.
This place is just okay. I had an omelette with bacon, tomatoes and mushrooms. Cheese cost $ 1 extra so I did not have cheese. I’ve never been to a place where cheese on omelettes is extra; usually you have to tell them to omit it.
You have a choice of grits or hash browns. I got hash browns. They were fine.
Afterward, I needed actual coffee, so we went to Café Lumiere which is one street up and over at an old theater, where I noted people eating eggs that looked more delicious than what we had.

Great breakfast spot! Food was great! I love the complimentary homemade salsa at the table as part of your condiments. They serve breakfast till they close, 2:30 I think. It’s cozy and really like the atmosphere. Be aware that it gets crazy rushes, so you may have to wait a bit for a seat.

Highly recommend this popular café for breakfast. They have classic offerings as well as several jeuvos dishes that they serve with homemade salsa that’s already at your table when you sit down. The setting is bright with lots of natural light. While the seating is a bit cramped, it is a friendly atmosphere and brushing in and out didn’t seem to be a problem. We had the turkey eggs benny and a waffle combo, both came out in short order and were great. The bill was around $ 15/​person. We will be back again for breakfast.

Sub par. I was waiting for the bus at the transit terminal and decided to get lunch somewhere nearby.
Ended up doing a brunch with crab benedict.
Took a while to get my order and the hash brown wasn’t good at all. The benedict was okay. Coffee is unlimited, so that is one positive. Your regular diner, nothing more.

This place rocks. Tourists and locals alike.
Be aware it is small so there may be a wait and somewhat noisy but the food makes up for it.
It’s fine if folks want to go elsewhere as it leaves space for us.

Good diners tend to become important places in their communities, as sources of comfort food and a sense of stability. The Café is definitely all that.
Breakfast and lunch only, as the café closes at 2pm. But you get a good breakfast and lunch here, breakfast being the best bet. It’s what you expect of a diner, with the added fun of sharing the small dining space with a mix of locals and tourists. Busy year round but never an «eat and get out» attitude from the servers. Your coffee cup never goes empty!

My friends and I were walking through Monterey and decided to stop by Alvarado street to get breakfast. Came across this place and decided to try it out since it had good reviews and a cute vibe.
I ordered a California omelette with hash browns, over easy eggs and wheat toast. Everything was so good! The food came promptly, and had a nice homemade taste. The service was also very friendly, constantly checking to see if everything was going well.

This is now our go to place for breakfast without a wait. Phenomenal home fries, fresh flavors and good coffee!
Did I mention the fab home fries? !

My reason for such a low review in stars is not because the food tasted bad or lack of service. Food was good and service was excellent!
I ordered the pigs in the blanket and received a small pig covered in a blanket. The presentation was totally deceitful. Three huge pancakes and 3 baby sausages. At first I was wowed by the presentation but then I discovered the little sausages and became disappointed. Maybe they should consider making the pancakes for this dish a tad smaller. I would’ve been better off ordering 2 pancakes with a side of meat.

This is a classic Monterey staple! I decided to take my boyfriend here for breakfast during our trip back home for thanksgiving. I’m a huge breakfast fan– eggs, potatoes, coffee– while he is a big sweets guy. We both ordered completely different menu items but both really enjoyed the food.
Yes this place is small and older, but like I said it’s a classic Monterey breakfast spot. Luckily, there were only 2 of us so are we only waited for 1 – 2 minutes. Tip: going with a group larger than 2 will almost always cause you to wait. Like I said, the place is small and they have a lot of two seater tables, but the bigger ones fill up quickly.
The servers there WORK! They were constantly refilling coffee, checking in on us, and always accessible. Our waitress has worked there forever and was very friendly and knowledgable.
I ordered a Benedict, but put my own twist on it. It had a croissant base, grilled tomatoes, avocado and egg with hollandaise sauce (which I hate). No sauce for m and eggs well done with the hashbrowns well done.
My boyfriend ordered th chocolate chip pancakes– they were huge! I tried and bite and wow– super good! He also got a side of bacon and hashbrowns.
We ordered coffee, orange juice and on and sprite. The bill was $ 40. A bit steep but everything came our quickly and tasted delicious. Worth checking out if you’re in town!

Yum! Excellent breakfast spot. The menu is what you’d expect for a great brunch and the staff is friendly.
I had the Portland omelet (delicious!) and everyone I was with enjoyed their meal as well.

I had French Toast and eggs. They were nothing special, but were good.
I was with a party of 8 and 1 person asked how the gravy was for the biscuits and the waitress said it was really bad. She brought out a sample. .it was really bad.
At least they were honest.

Nice little breakfast place in downtown Monterey. Prices are good for a tourist town and they’re quick on the coffee refills. What more can you ask for? Tip: get the raisin bread with your corned beef hash. You’re on vacation!

On our annual trips to Monterey we always try to find great little breakfast spots that will keep us full for our long days. Since we were staying around the corner we hit up Old Monterey Café.
The first day we came our server was awesome! She was friendly and helped us make some nice choices. We went with the cinnamon swirl french toast and Joe’s Special scrambler. The portions were fairly large and a great bang for your buck. My son gobbled up his three slices of french toast and even helped himself to some of my hash browns, which I didn’t mind since I wasn’t able to finish my food.
On our second visit I was expecting the same friendly service as our last visit, but this time it was non-​existent, which was disappointing since the place wasn’t packed. We ended up ordering The Californian omelette and Texas french toast. We had ordered three slices but when the food was brought out we were only given two. We didn’t want to wait for another slice to be made and just kept the order as is. The Californian omelette was large and full of avocado and yummy bacon, I definitely recommend trying this!
One thing I did notice was that every table had a bowl of salsa on it, I opted not to try it since who knows how long it had been sitting out or what was in it. I skipped the salsa and asked for bottled hot sauce.
There is street parking along Alvarado and in the early morning hours isn’t a problem but if you try to come later in the day you might have to park in the structure around the corner.
I would probably come back and hoping that our second experience was just a fluke since the portions are large for great prices.

We were needing just a good, solid breakfast place that wasn’t Denny’s. It was good albeit a bit pricier than Midwest prices. Service was friendly. Food was good, but it’s hard to screw up breakfast. Décor is that of baby boomer TV shows: photos of Lassie, Zorro… you get the idea.
Not great; not bad and it got the job done.

This decades-​old café is one of Monterey’s eminent breakfast spots. Tourists and locals flock to Old Monterey Café not because the food necessarily stands out but because they offer a nice mix of reliable breakfast and lunch comforts. This is one of those spots where locals like to coverge to peruse the morning paper, enjoy repeated cups of coffee and see a familiar face or two.
All your breakfast and lunch café staples come together at OMC: omelettes, biscuits ‘n gravy, belgian waffles, egg & crab benedict, breakfast burritos, chorizo, huevos rancheros, breakfast scrambles, tuna melts, clubhouse sandwiches, French dips, homemade soups, calamari, chowder and homemade grits and muffins. They have a lighter fare section for those seeking a more healthy option like egg white scrambles, cottage cheese with fruit, oatmeal, salads, fruit bowls and fresh-​squeezed juices.
I had the four-​egg Spinach and Cheddar Cheese Omelette and it was a tasty option and a pretty good-​size plate. I got a side of cottage cheese with tomatoes and wheat toast. Our server gave us a side of cinnamon and butter so we could make warm cinnamon toast out our toast, which was a nice accompaniment and doubled as nice dessert.
The Corned Beef Hash breakfast plate was very good; cooked just like dad likes it –tender beef with crispy diced potatoes and a blend of spices. The Shrimp Omelette was good. It had a strong shrimp smell but the homemade salsa helped temper down the strong seafood taste. Both omelettes were fluffy and filling.
Cozy little breakfast joint in downtown Monterey with hearty breakfast and lunch favorites.