Best Restaurants in Carmel-by-the-Sea

Casanova

• ★ 4.5
• French-Italian bistro
• $$$
• San Carlos and Mission

Casanova serves French-Italian cooking in a candlelit Carmel cottage whose dining room keeps the table Van Gogh ate at daily at the Auberge Ravoux.

La Bicyclette

• ★ 4.6
• French bistro
• $$$
• Dolores and Lincoln

Order A wood-fired pizza from the corner oven, then whatever the blackboard suggests.

La Bicyclette runs a wood-fired village bistro at Dolores and 7th in Carmel, pizzas coming off the oven beside the Georis family's country cooking.

Cultura Comida y Bebida

• ★ 4.6
• Oaxacan
• $$$
• Dolores and Lincoln

Order Smoky mushroom pozole, then plantain tacos with cashew crema.

Cultura Comida y Bebida cooks Oaxacan food in Carmel's Su Vecino Courtyard, backed by a mezcal library and a kitchen that sources from Oaxaca itself.

Dametra Cafe

• ★ 4.5
• Mediterranean
• $$
• Ocean Avenue

Order The cioppino; the house treats it as its proudest plate.

Dametra Cafe fills its Ocean Avenue corner in Carmel every night, serving Mediterranean plates and cioppino while musicians work the dining room.

Grasing's

• ★ 4.5
• Californian
• $$$$
• San Carlos and Mission

Order Wagyu from the grill and a bottle pulled from the Grand Award cellar.

Grasing's pairs Kurt Grasing's coastal steakhouse cooking with a 3,400-bottle Carmel cellar that has held Wine Spectator's Grand Award since 2024.

Flying Fish Grill

• ★ 4.4
• Seafood
• $$$
• Carmel Plaza

Order A clay pot dinner, the house's signature format.

Flying Fish Grill cooks East-West seafood on Carmel Plaza's lower level, running from salmon and lobster to abalone and clay pot dinners nightly.

Flaherty's Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar

• ★ 4.4
• Seafood
• $$$
• Dolores and Lincoln

Order Wild-caught sand dabs with lemon tarragon beurre blanc.

Flaherty's Seafood Grill & Oyster Bar anchors 6th Avenue in Carmel with freshly shucked oysters, its famous clam chowder and wild-caught sand dabs.

Little Napoli

• ★ 4.3
• Italian
• $$$
• Dolores and Lincoln

Order Whatever pasta the kitchen calls a family recipe that night.

Little Napoli plates Chef Pepe's southern Italian family recipes at Dolores and 7th in Carmel, with Bar Napoli pouring beside the dining room.

Vesuvio

• ★ 4.4
• Italian
• $$$
• Junipero and the Mission Trail

Order Wood-burning-oven pizza or the truffled gnocchi.

Vesuvio runs the Pepe family's wood-fired Neapolitan kitchen at 6th and Junipero in Carmel, with the rooftop Star Bar pouring above the dining room.

Yafa

• ★ 4.3
• Mediterranean
• $$$
• Junipero and the Mission Trail

Order Ask the host for the night's mezze and grill pairing.

Yafa runs a family-owned Mediterranean dinner house at Junipero and 5th in Carmel, open nightly from 17:00 with hosts who still work every table.

Il Tegamino

• ★ 4.5
• Italian
• $$$
• Ocean Avenue

Order The night's baked tegamino, the namesake pan dish.

Il Tegamino hides in Carmel's Court of the Golden Bough off Ocean Avenue, a small family-run room cooking Italian comfort food behind a candy shop.

Akaoni

• ★ 4.6
• Japanese sushi
• $$$
• San Carlos and Mission

Order Sushi from the day's fish list, called out at the counter.

Akaoni serves traditional Japanese cooking and sushi at Mission and 6th in Carmel, a small room listed in the Michelin Guide and booked by phone.

Village Corner California Bistro

• ★ 4.2
• Californian
• $$
• Dolores and Lincoln

Order A patio breakfast, the seat locals have kept since 1948.

Village Corner California Bistro has fed Carmel from its Dolores and 6th corner since 1948, serving breakfast and lunch daily on a flowered patio.

Nora's

• ★ 4.2
• New American
• $$
• San Carlos and Mission

Order Cioppino with scallops, or the lamb chili named for grandmother Nora.

Nora's brings the Nimri family's comfort cooking to San Carlos Street in Carmel, ladling cioppino, lamb chili and fried chicken since summer 2025.