Best Restaurant North County
THE WHOLE ENCHILADA
Highway 1 and Moss Landing Road, Moss Landing, 633-3038

The Whole Enchilada specializes in unforgettable seafood from the Monterey Bay. Situated near the mouth of the Elkhorn Slough in the fishing village of Moss Landing, the restaurant provides patrons a view of the harbor while they indulge in authentic Mexican coastal style cuisine. The Whole Enchilada offers 60 items on the menu, including white corn tamales filled with chicken topped with a superb cilantro
cream sauce. Cucumber margaritas, a marachi band and a patio
surrounded by fertile gardens set the mood for festive dining. [CJ]

Best Restaurant, Monterey County
MARINUS
415 Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel Valley  658-3595

It must be cool to be Bernardus Marinus Pon, aka Ben. He’s got his name on all those wonderful things, from the wine labels, to the front door of the lodge and, of course, the restaurant. When Ben built this getaway he brought in the best, Cal Stamenov and Mark Jensen. Cal handles the food, Mark the wine. It took them about 15 minutes to turn a brand new property into what Zagat’s Survey concluded is the best restaurant in the whole Bay Area—that’s the big bay, too, friend. The very best ingredients humanly possible, gracefully and perfectly prepared, matched with the most profound wines in the world, impeccably served in a comfortable, country estate setting. It doesn’t really get any better. [RN]

Best New Restaurant of 2004 (tie)
CHRISTOPHER'S
Lincoln between 5th and 6th, Carmel  626-8000

Christopher Caul stepped right into the space that was Lincoln Court and immediately installed his brand of casually indifferent greatness backed by years of experience here, there and elsewhere. With a loyal following from past years in Carmel, Caul’s customers came calling. Comfort food, casual chic, accommodating costs—chalk one up for Christopher’s. [RN]

Best New Restaurant of 2004 (tie)
MY THAI
210 Reindollar Ave, Marina  883-9677

The fact that Sam Bhundhumani picked My Thai for the name of his restaurant speaks of the creativity and sensibility of the man, the culture and the cuisine. Old World dishes made without shortcuts, using fresh ingredients, served with love and humility, distinguish this latest addition to the local Thai scene. Lunch, dinner and a burgeoning catering business in budding Marina ensure Sam’s place for years to come. [RN]

Best Restaurant More Than 10 Years Old
FANDANGO
223 17th St, Pacific Grove  372-3456

Pierre and Marietta Bain, owners of Fandango, are restaurant royalty. They have been at the helm of this charming Mediterranean country-style gem since 1986, maintaining an unrivaled standard of excellence that brings devoted locals and regular visitors back repeatedly, where long-tenured staff members greet them like family and nourish them with delicacies like Paella, Lamb Shank and Osso Bucco. A descendent of the family that has run Grand Hotel Bain in the south of France since 1737, Pierre Bain, along with Marietta and the entire crew, represent the very best reasons people dine out in the first place. [RN]

Best Restaurant to Splurge
PACIFIC'S EDGE
120 Highlands Dr, Carmel  620-1234

There are other restaurants in the County that offer a wide range of dining possibilities, from a modestly chosen affordable dinner to a couple of mortgage payments worth. That is not the point. Ideally, when splurging, all the senses want to be overindulged. It begins on the driveway to Pacific’s Edge, holds steady up the stairway, through the beautiful double doors, elevates on the approach to the maitre d’ stand, shifts gears as you walk to the table, accelerates when the napkin flutters into your lap, pedals to the metal with wine list and menu in hand, then buries the needle down the stretch toward dessert. [RN]

Best Restaurant for Romantic Dining
OLD BATH HOUSE RESTAURANT
620 Ocean View Blvd, Pacific Grove  375-5195

If romance can be defined partly by one’s surroundings, this place will never move from its spot as the most romantic place to dine. It’s intimate, warmly lit, and yet nothing short of spectacular. Take a place anywhere in the small dining room, and there’s no doubt you’ll be helping yourself to the most stunning view of the Pacific around. That their entrées are a taste of timeless perfection is icing on the lovely cake. Add to that a bottle of wine from a mind-boggling list, and the stage for love is set. [MC]

Best Place for a Business Lunch
TARP'S ROADHOUSE
2999 Highway 68, Monterey  647-1444

With its beautiful surroundings matched by a superb menu, Tarpy’s is much more than the place to seal that important business deal. The cuisine is its own brand of California-American. A wood-burning grill enhances the flavors of wild game, fresh seafood and prime steak. Tarpy’s is staffed with a head chef, three sous chefs, 20 workers in the kitchen and 60 waiters and waitresses ready to fire up five-star cuisine for you and your associates. Relax on the patio or in one of the seven private or semi-private rooms available for meetings. The full bar and award-winning wine list can turn work into a full-blown dining experience. [CJ]

Best Family Restaurant
ROSINE'S RESTAURANT
434 Alvarado St, Monterey  375-1400

Named after the owners’ mother, Rosine’s Restaurant proudly treats everyone like family. The restaurant specializes in over-the-top, large-portioned, quality food—just like mom used to make, if you were born lucky. Stop in for breakfast, lunch or dinner and you’ll be met with a reasonably-priced menu with a reputation for delicious meals, hearty soups and fresh desserts. In their 25th year of service, Rosine’s is tried and true, and always busy. Play your cards right, and you’ll have saved room to partake in their famous and impressive arsenal of homemade cakes. A word to the wise: wear loose-fitting clothing and don’t be embarrassed when you leave with leftovers. [CJ]

Best Outdoor Dining
FORGE IN THE FOREST
5th and Junipero, Carmel  624-2233

Forge in the Forest, perennial winner in this category, knows how to work the outdoors, from the main patio, lushly sheltered by tall hedgerows and massive Monterey pines, to the Oak Tree Patio party spot, to the Dog Pound—a canine-friendly section complete with doggie menu. Inside lies one of the most colorful bars anywhere, with walls that could tell stories back to the days of Henry Miller and beyond—but it’s the patio that socks ‘em in like hungry Little Leaguers after a big game. [RN]

Best Restaurant, Monterey
MONTRIO
414 Calle Principal, Monterey 648-8880

Some of us have gotten to where real California Cuisine is now comfort food. I mean the old-school stuff that combines styles from various continents with a certain genius, and combines rigorously fresh ingredients with a pinch of West Coast style and a whole raft of laid-back charm, and a dash of fun…that has been the stock in trade at Montrio since Bill Cox and Tony Tollner brought a new version of their Rio Grill formula north from Carmel and urbanized it a smidgen back in 1995. Ten years later, with the shock of the new worn off, it’s only better. [EJ]

Best Restaurant, Salinas
HULLABALOO
228 Main St, Salinas  757-3663

Anyone who’s ever been in the ultra-hip dining room can tell you why Hullaballoo is a long-time favorite. The welcoming committee at the door feels like a group of dear old friends. Thereafter, it’s fine American dining that feels just as good in a suit as it does in a pair of jeans. There are no pretenses here, just an expansive wine list and dishes with just enough panache. Top it off with a swank bar and a guest list that reads like a County Who’s Who. [MC]

Best Restaurant, Pacific Grove
PASSIONFISH
701 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove  655-3311

For the past five years, Passionfish has steadily imposed its signature combination of forcefully flavored fresh fish-friendly food, smilingly homey service and a revolutionary wine list onto the dining scene. At first a magnet for discerning locals, Ted and Cindy Walter’s labor of love has become a destination dining den for foodies and winos from across the country. The overwhelming popularity of this classy corner store caused it to expand its schedule to seven nights in order to accommodate an ever increasing, always loyal following. [RN]

Best Restaurant, Carmel
CASANOVA
5th between Mission and San Carlos, Carmel  625-0501

In the cacophonous din of the brand new, sweet melodies by an elder virtuoso can occasionally go unheard. Not so with Casanova, Carmel’s king crooner of culinary arias dating back to 1977. The Georis kids, Gaston, Walter and Denise, along with their friend Michele, all hail from the same small town in Belgium. They wanted to have a nice European country restaurant like they remembered from the old country—doesn’t everybody? That was then, this is now; still Casanova sings on. The tune—delicious food, professional service, Grand Award wine list, beautiful ambiance, you know, the same old song. [RN]

Best Restaurant, Carmel Valley
CAFE RUSTICA
10 Delfino Place, Carmel Valley  659-4444

This comfortable, homey cottage packs in locals from the moment it opens until last call, feeding the faithful deliciously prepared Mediterranean-influenced dishes ranging from wood-fired pizzas to braised meats and fresh fish. Using the freshest ingredients expertly combined and properly cooked, Rustica owns the regular Carmel Valley dining scene. A gracious and talented staff perfectly carries out the philosophies of owners Sylvia Medina and Paulo Kautz, two restaurant veterans with great track records. A well-thought-out wine list completes the picture. [RN]

Best Restaurant, Big Sur
NEPENTHE
Highway 1, Big Sur, 30 miles south of Carmel  667-2345

Since 1949, Nepenthe Restaurant has been serving up tasty treats like the Ambrosia Burger—a hamburger slathered with a mysteriously addictive condiment known as Ambrosia sauce—in a beautiful building designed by Frank Lloyd Wright disciple Rowan Maiden. Though the stunning views of the Big Sur coastline are worth the drive down to Nepenthe alone, now there is another reason to make the brief trek down Highway 1: new chef Jason Jones. Owner Holly Fassett says that Jones is adding items like lamb, lobster and crème brulee to the restaurant’s menu. [ST]

Best Restaurant, Marina
DISHES BISTRO & GRILL
330 Reservation Rd, Marina  883-1207

Andre and Gudrun Vadas—he’s from Brazil, she’s from Austria—are the proprietors of Dishes. The couple brings a distinctly international flare to this charming neighborhood bistro, which has become the local hangout for Marina’s eating-out in crowd. A diverse Mediterranean-influenced menu features grass-fed beef, wild fish, various seafood pastas and ravioli, plus individual gourmet pizzas. A recently acquired full liquor license added the final touch to this comfortable, friendly home of good food, good drink and most importantly, good people. [RN]

Best Restaurant, Seaside
FISHWIFE
789 Trinity, Seaside  394-2027

For those in the know, it’s no surprise to see the Fishwife collect another Best of Monterey County on the strength of their super-fresh fare and superior service. After all, whole segments of the Peninsula population were raised with Fishwife clam chowder in their baby bottles. Their Tilapía Cancún (spiced with achiote, grilled and served on a cilantro cashew pesto and topped with salsa brava) could be Seaside’s official platter. Less well-known is the fact that the owners—flavor pioneers Julio and Marie Ramirez—are selling The Turtle Bay Cookbook, which lists the recipes they’ve gathered in travels throughout the Western Hemisphere and generates money for local high schooler scholarships. They’re also plotting a new Best of contender—one with a unique Oaxacan style. [MCA]

Best Restaurant, Sand City
PAPA CGANO'S
915 Playa Ave, Sand City  393-9133

Who’s your taco daddy? Papa C’s, that’s who. Fresh, fast and cheap. Americanized, yes, but it seems to work. Tempting tacos, appetizing enchiladas, spicy fajitas, carne asada, all good. Resist your temptation to fill up on the chips and homemade salsa while waiting for your order because there is nothing small about these portions. Be sure to grab extra napkins, you’ll need them. No meat, no problem. Try the vegetarian burrito, and spare the extra calories as well. [CJ]

Best Restaurant, South County
WINDMILL
346 Alta St, Gonzales  675-0118

For travelers inclined to venture off the beaten path (okay, Highway 101), there is, perhaps, no greater reward than stumbling upon an unexpected gem of a restaurant. The best of them seem to promise to hungry passersby all the most desirable charms: delicious food, a slice of local living, and old-fashioned prices. The Windmill Restaurant nails all three. The breakfast options alone—32 dishes—are worth the drive to Gonzales. For dinner, highlights include Gold Rush Chicken and the Gilroy Steak—one of the best beef delights that has passed my carnivorous lips. Daily $6.95 lunch specials, too. [CP]

Best Italian Restaurant
GINO'S FINE ITALIAN FOOD & PIZZA
1410 S. Main St, Salinas  422-1814

Thirty years ago a family turned an old house into a restaurant. That same family continues to serve traditional home-cooked Italian meals in a setting reminiscent of “home.” Customers can enjoy the back patio and garden, weather permitting. Consistency and friendly faces have kept the same people coming back for many years—customers often greeted with a big hug. Gino’s most popular dish is the Blackened Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo. The simple and traditional Spaghetti and Homemade Meatballs comes in a close second. In Salinas, “going out to dinner” means going over to Gino’s house. [AJ]

Best French Restaurant
FIFI'S CAFE AND BISTRO
1188 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove  372-5325

Michele Jacquet Wilkes. She’s the reason. Everyone who lives in these parts has visited Fifi’s repeatedly. For the past 20 years, most likely, for every meal you’ve eaten at Fifi’s, Michele, the Fairy Godmother of French, was there to greet you, seat you, serve you, clean up after you, then bid you adieu with that mysterious French glow that fuses itself to your soul, ensuring your return. French people come here to be French with Michele. Wannabe French people come here to try to be French with Michele. Michele doesn’t try. She is. Fifi’s is her own reflection. [RN]

Best Mexican Restaurant
PEPPERS
170 Forest Ave, Pacific Grove  373-6892

In this category, Peppers’ base menu completes with their specials list. The base menu offers the delectable Prawns Gonzalez (named for owners Scott and Linda) and its spicy mix of tomatoes, chiles, cilantro and lime juice. The specials menu counters with the life-changing Mushroom and Artichoke Enchiladas. For their part, the army of regulars that eats here daily or nightly tends toward the specials. Either way, they’re getting inventive Mexicali eats that are fresh and homemade with pure ingredients. [MCA]

Best Indian Restaurant
INDIAN SUMMER
220 Olivier St, Monterey  372-4744

Tucked in a quiet corner in a faraway land deep in the heart of downtown Monterey, just a step off the alluring Sensory Garden, lies magical Indian Summer. Himanshu Sharma, Kashmir born, hospitality school bred, opened Indian Summer in 1999, quickly converting a historic building into an Indian palace and gardens. Hand-chosen Indian artifacts and accouterments complement authentic, gourmet cuisine that is at once exotic yet accessible. A lively  garden patio scene gathers around fire pits, under the wedding canopy with belly dancers, food, cocktails and six-foot hookah pipes. [RN]

Best Japanese/Sushi Restaurant
SAPPORO JAPANESE STEAKHOUSE & SUSHI
Fisherman’s Wharf II, Monterey  333-1616

The hexagon-shaped upstairs dining room is quaint, with paper lanterns hanging from the vaulted ceiling. Panoramic views of the Fisherman’s Wharf and the marina, along with traditional gaku biwa music playing in the background, create a most pleasurable dining experience. All the menu items, including sushi, are available at the sushi bar and tableside. There are over 50 different plates on the sushi menu—the fish is spectacularly fresh. For those unaccustomed to Japanese cuisine, the Bento Box offers shrimp tempura, fried calamari, sashimi, and beef teriyaki. The food at Sapporo is prepared delicately, emitting a flavorful, subtle Japanese aura. [AJ]

Best Korean Restaurant
WON JU KOREAN RESTAURANT
570 Lighthouse Ave, Monterey  656-0672

Homemade Korean food cooked in a traditional Korean kitchen. This is where the magic begins at Won Ju Korean Restaurant. The vast selection of appetizers includes the locally famous potato pancakes—a particularly tasty favorite—but the kimchee, a Napa cabbage marinated in spicy pepper sauce, is Won Ju’s real claim to fame. It makes a spectacular accompaniment to the Korean BBQ-style pork, chicken or beef. [AJ]

Best Mediterranean Restaurant
PETRA RESTAURANT
477 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove  649-2530

When they say Mediterranean cuisine, they mean every country that is part of the Mediterranean. So Petra’s offers a hodgepodge of culinary dishes from the Middle East, Turkey, Greece and Egypt in a casual fireplace setting. Taste the succulent lamb shank, lamb shish kabobs, tabouli, falafel nuggets and baba ghanouj. Taste the gyros, grape leaf-wrapped dolmas, the Greek leaf salads, and falafel. All delivered by a charming staff excited about the meals they serve to their customers. This dynamic fare continues to be a local favorite after 20 years. [AJ]

Best Thai
THAI BISTRO II
159 Central Ave, Pacific Grove  372-8700

Monterey County is certainly spoiled with quality international cuisine. If you know nothing of Thai cuisine, Thai Bistro is a wonderful place to learn. This quaint, yet upbeat mom-and-pop restaurant just across Pacific Grove city lines is just the place to wake-up those hibernating taste buds. The restaurant is famed for its Laab Gai and Chicken Roast Duck in Green Curry Sauce. While waiting for your order, enjoy the aroma of basil and chiles in the air and order the calamari appetizer. [CJ]

Best Breakfast
BREAKFAST CLUB
1130 Fremont Blvd, Seaside  394-3238

The only way to make great bacon-and-eggs is to make it perfect. Nothing fancy will help. Same holds true for a waffle. (Okay, add some pecans. And pile of fresh fruit. But that’s not really “fancy.”) In a region known for some of the best fancy rstaurants in the world, the folks at The Breakfast Club have captured our readers’ hearts without anything fancier that real good food and genuinely friendly service. And when it comes to breakfast, that’s perfection. [EJ]

Best Appetizers
MONTRIO BISTRO
414 Calle Principal, Monterey  648-8880

Montrio (also chosen as 2005 Best Restaurant in Monterey) takes the “Bistro” part of its name seriously—offering choices that are casual, friendly and affordable. This is exquisitely true for the apps. The duck confit or the baby artichoke-and-bacon risotto can each serve as a light meal. Or, on another night, each of them—or the fire-roasted artichoke, or the crab cakes with spicy remoulade, or the skillet of cockles and mussels—can do what an appetizer is supposed to do: set a meal up perfectly, allowing more time to soak up the wine and good company. Montrio also offers “Small Bites,” including a chicken hash cake, oatmeal-crusted brie, pancetta-wrapped prawns, and an ingenious little confection in which a chunk of sirloin is served in a yorkshire-pudding cone. The full meals are great too. [EJ]

Best Restaurant for Seafood
MONTEREY FISH HOUSE
2114 Del Monte Ave, Monterey  373-4647

If your goal is to avoid the tourists but you still want the tasty seafood cuisine that only Monterey can offer, stop in this humble, unassuming little establishment. It’s not right on the water, but is still a great locals’ hangout for cuisine that melts in your mouth. With only 21 tables, The Fish House fills up fast, so make a reservation. Haven’t thought that far in advance? Wait for a seat and schmooze at the horseshoe bar. When the time comes to place your order, be sure to try the Sicilian Holiday Pasta, the Monterey Bay Prawns or the Oak-Grilled Oysters. Consistent quality is the key to their success. My guess…you’ll be back. [CJ]

Best Restaurant for Steak
THE WHALING STATION
763 Wave St, Monterey  373-3778

When you go out for a steak, you want to go to a restaurant owned by someone who knows what good steak is and loves to eat it. Obviously, John Pisto, owner of The Whaling Station and Monterey’s most visible restaurateur, enjoys good steak. Naturally, he did what any self-respecting steak-loving restaurateur would do, he opened a steakhouse. Big, juicy 100 percent USDA Prime mid-western corn fed beef, aged 28 days, cooked the way you want it. Pair with live Maine Lobster, Oysters Rockefeller, Creamed Spinach, martinis and big red wines, just like in the old days. [RN]

Best Vegetarian
TILLIE GORT'S
111 Central Ave, Pacific Grove  373-0335

Tillie Gort’s is such a great place to eat like a vegetarian, people sometimes forget the great meat dishes. It began in 1969 as a counter-cultural…all right, hippie establishment, focusing on fresh vegetables, tofu, granola, berries and all the beautiful food, man, that was growing here in our pristine California soil. Over the decades, life’s changed a lot—Tillie’s just a little. Add a few dozen different multi-ethnic dishes from Mexican to Middle Eastern, maintain the comfortable, neighborhood feel and reasonable prices along with a wide variety of vegan selections, and you’ve got one thoroughly modern Tillie. [RN]

Best Cheap Eats
TURTLE BAY
1301 Fremont Blvd, Seaside  899-1010
431 Tyler St, Monterey  333-1500

Gracias a Dios that 1) The seedy gas station next to the Fishwife was leveled in 1997 and 2) that Marie and Julio Ramirez’s epicurean explorations took them to Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where they discovered the fresh fruit salsas and creative seafood combinations that have made their taquería a hit. Ten bucks here gets you environmentally-friendly seafood in a bowl or wrap, a Horchata, and none of the guilt of a greasy lunch. Crunchy, open-faced “tostacos” and Bahía-style pasta bowls round out a menu complemented nicely by catch of the day specials, rotating mild chile salsas and the only salsa as scorching as it is fresh: their “dog’s nose” habañero. [MCA]

Best Restaurant Wine List
PASSIONFISH
701 Lighthouse Ave, Pacific Grove  655-3311

What makes a restaurant wine list great? Is it long verticals of first-growth Bordeaux and cult California Cabs? Usually. Is it tens of thousands of bottles in inventory? Often. Is it expensive glassware, crystal decanters, bespectacled sommeliers? Assuredly. Is it hefty prices and intimidating jargon? Why not? Passionfish has none of these. What it has is page after page of the most diverse, interesting wines from around the world, unpretentiously recommended, enthusiastically served, impeccably chosen and astonishingly inexpensive. To see a table at Passionfish without at least one bottle on it is unthinkable. [RN]

Best Selection of Wines by the Glass
SARDINE FACTORY
701 Wave St, Monterey  373-3775

Wine Spectator Magazine’s highest recognition in the world of restaurant wine lists is the Grand Award. Sardine Factory has owned the Grand Award since 1982. Marc Cutino, the talented Cellar Master (latest in a list that includes Fred Dame, head of the International Court of Master Sommeliers) brings a fresh approach and focus, springing a continuous array of interesting wines, some obscure, like Austrian Gruner Veltliner, some profound, like first growth Bordeaux. Mister Cutino regularly introduces thrilling new wines by the glass at this landmark establishment and always has a treat for regulars. [RN]