Love love love this place!! Every time I am in Monterey I get here at least once!! They are all super friendly especially the manager who is also the owner or owners son.
He took care of us and got us a free app and it was so good!!
The steaks are amazing and you can cut them with a butter knife. We had the ribeye and the filet mignon and both were perfect.
Deserts are huge and also amazing. The crème brûlée was had by one at the table and he said it was the best he has ever had, and this coming from a guy who lives in Europe and sees a lot of crème brûlée. The apple crumb cheese cake was also great,
Can't say enough about how great this place is!!

A thoroughly enjoyable dining experience. The warm hospitality of the staff topped off an excellently prepared seafood meal. I had the crab stuffed sole that had a caramelized onion risotto, a bite of which, I refused to leave on my plate despite being stuffed. Great ambiance . Loved decor that was giving tasteful opulence. I will definitely be back next time I am in the area.

Excellent restaurant, superior service!! We are in town for 48 hours and found this plane on Yelp. Our server was funny, informed , kind, and professional. We'll come back again

Most excellent seafood and service

The food here is honestly amazing. The clam chowder was outstanding, the calamari was tasty. Everyone was kind and attentive and there was always someone around to tend to anything we needed. The restaurant is clean and music playing at just the right volume. Beautiful view and great, great food.

Came here last night for an early dinner and as always the clam chowder is excellent my favorite in Monterey for sure. The calamari is excellent always as well. The service is friendly and attentive. It's white table cloth but you can be dressed super casual if you like.. I will say this is one of my goto spots the food is good, but this time my steak was way overdone I didn't mention it because I was hungry, didn't want to wait longer. All in all it's a solid consistent place to eat on the wharf probably one of the best on the wharf. And they must have a new chef working cause the plating of the food is much better than in past years say 10.

BEST clam chowder!

We decided to spend the day in Monterey, and stopped by Old Fisherman's wharf for our first meal. There were so many different restaurants to choose from, each one with staff outside trying to lure you in. We walked past Old Fisherman's Grotto, and my wife said it's really good, plus they had signs saying it's the best clam chowder 21 years in a row? It was Sunday, we were able to walk in and be seated immediately upstairs. We had a beautiful view of the water. The restaurant was nice and clean, and it had a great vibe to it.

We were brought water's immediately, and hot, fresh bread. We started with the chowder of course. WOW. I think the chowder here is the best clam chowder I've ever had. It looks like every other chowder out there, but it tasted amazing. The flavor was all there. We were impressed. We also ordered half a dozen oysters. They were very fresh, and delicious. I'm not sure what type of oysters they were. For our main entrees, my wife had the fried seafood plate, and I went with the shrimp pasta. The seafood plate came with fried shrimp, fried fish, calamari, crab cake and fries. Everything was fried nicely, she really enjoyed the dish. The shrimp pasta was also amazing. The white sauce was exactly what I wanted. There were only 3 pieces of shrimp, it would've been nice to have a few more but it's okay. Overall, the food was amazing! We couldn't have been happier.

Service was also excellent. The entire staff was attentive and very friendly. Our server was constantly checking on us and carried himself very professionally. I believe his name was Miguel? Thank you sir!

We will definitely be back next time we're in Monterey. If you're looking for some excellent chowder, this is the place!

He always feel taken care of when you go to the grotto for dinner. Besides the food atmosphere and you the weight staff makes you feel like 1000 bucks.

Visited Grotto on the Wharf in Monterey and had a mixed but overall pleasant experience. The crab ravioli was the highlight of the meal--very flavorful and definitely something I'd order again. The shrimp scampi could use a bit more seasoning and depth of flavor.

The margaritas could also use some work. They weren't bad, but they could definitely be improved.
What really stood out was the staff. Everyone was friendly and attentive. Edith, the host, welcomed us warmly when we arrived. Our servers, Victor and Imam, were both great--attentive, helpful, and made sure we had everything we needed.

The owner is always amazing and full of hospitality, which really adds to the welcoming atmosphere and keeps us coming back.

Overall, good service, great people, and a few standout dishes made for an enjoyable visit.