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A Peek Into the New-Old My Attic in Downtown Monterey

The response on opening night Friday was immediate and enthusiastic. Sure, it was Car Week, but the line of 20 out front was loaded with locals.

My Attic (647-1834) is back at it.

That's sweet news to co-owner and lifelong local Jason Coniglio (he's teaming with John Cardinalli on the project). His gramps opened the original My Attic in 1937, keeping it going into the early 1970s.

“I have wanted to recreate my grandfather’s bar for as long as I can remember,” Jason says. “My father and uncles grew up cleaning the bar, and often were called out of class at Monterey High to go back and clean it better."

Where Monterey Live's stage once appeared, there's now a sunken bar with vaulted shelves behind it.

The reopening times nicely with the return of music to Golden State Theatre across the street, and the uplift in downtown buzz with the arrival of spots like Caffe Trieste and Restaurant 1833 up the block.

The entryway once hosted a small bar and chairs; now's it's been opened up and a few couches and small tables fill the floor as night descends.

My Attic spokesperson Rachelle Atherton says the mood inside is designed to reflect a time gone by.

"A throwback to the '30s," she says. "Tufted black and brown sofas, ottomans, old pictures of Monterey, including original photo of My Attic."

The drinks are similarly classic.

"Super old school," she says. "Old-fashioneds, Manahattans, Johnny Blue on the rocks, martinis."

Coniglio echoes that: They're thinking classy but comfortable. Chic, no. Relaxed, yes.

"As my grandfather established, this will not be the bar where people go to get drunk," he says. "My Attic will be the place where people stop in after a shift or a show for a nightcap in a town where the events may have ended but not the night.”

The front bar is largely unchanged—maybe cleaner and more organized if anything. The current hours are 5pm-2am daily. No food for the moment, but the plan is to add grub in a month. Think small plates served all night, including a charcuterie plate, caprese salads and cannoli.