Creamy clam chowder as poured across the Monterey Peninsula, sampled cup by cup on the wharf and ladled all day at Carmel's village seafood grills.

Chowder came to Monterey Bay with New England fishermen and stayed because the wharf trade made it a calling card: to this day the stalls of Monterey's Old Fisherman's Wharf hand out chowder samples to walkers, each house claiming the creamiest pot. Carmel's version of the ritual is calmer, a cup at Flaherty's, whose menu leads with its famous clam chowder, or a bowl at the Hog's Breath Inn between courses of steak.

2 editor picks for Monterey-style clam chowder in Carmel-by-the-Sea, ranked by editorial score. All Carmel-by-the-Sea signature dishes · Monterey-style clam chowder across every city.