92 BEST OF MONTEREY COUNTY® 2024 montereycountynow.com/bestof Restaurants Dinner is transcendent at Deetjen’s. Complex salads bursting with flavor and simple, perfectly executed steaks and chops, locally sourced fresh fish, handmade pastas and rich sauces leave diners lingering to work up an appetite for dessert. This timelessly decorated dining room is one you won’t want to leave. Best Restaurant - Cannery Row Fish Hopper 700 Cannery Row, Monterey (831) 372-8543, fishhopper.com The oldest government building in Monterey is the Custom House, built in 1827 when the city was capital of Alta California and an important port of call. So the people of Monterey from the beginning have looked to the bay, for both commerce and food. Fish Hopper is a celebration of seafood, certainly, with pan-seared ahi tuna, scallops wrapped in bacon, calamari, Dungeness crab and more. Yet the restaurant also celebrates local goods from the land, with plates such as artichoke ravioli. And the kitchen grills up steaks, too. Best Restaurant - Carmel Little Napoli Dolores and 7th, Carmel (831) 626-6335, chefpepe.com A Carmel favorite for 34 years, Little Napoli offers visitors an authentic Italian experience through its Old World charm mixed with family tradition. Located in the El Paseo Building, the surroundings add to the dining experience, with an outdoor courtyard and an indoor private library, both reminiscent of villages from back in Europe. Cinephiles may equate their dining experience to that of a Sergio Leone film, with Ennio Morricone’s compositions as a perfect complement to the truffled gnocchi or ragu bolognese. Best Restaurant - Carmel Valley Café Rustica 10 Del Fino Place, Carmel Valley (831) 659-4444, caferusticacv.com Café Rustica’s sheer volume of selections alone merits an invitation to the winner’s circle. They boast everything from staple items like pizza, to options you don’t find every day, like Hungarian goulash, wood oven-baked rigatoni heaping with mushrooms, or beef bolognese. It takes a special talent to craft such an assortment without sacrificing quality, and they really know how to deliver on that promise. They prepare all their dishes with the freshest ingredients available, and love and care that rival your own blessed Nonna. Best Restaurant for Takeout Best Chinese | Tommy’s Wok
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