Restaurants, hotels, bars and wineries in Carmel-by-the-Sea from the En Primeur Club guide.
Accolades in Carmel-by-the-Sea
Grasing's, Toro, and The Pocket, all in Carmel-by-the-Sea, hold Wine Spectator awards in our guide.
Grasing's, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, is an American steakhouse with coastal cuisine and an exceptional, sommelier-led wine list. The list holds 3,400 selections and 35,000 bottles, with deep verticals and rarities, and California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Italian wines. The restaurant holds a Wine Spectator Grand Award for 2026. The kitchen serves steaks and coastal seafood.
Toro, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serves modern Japanese sushi a la carte and in small plates, with a sake program beside the wine. Wine Director Stephen Wilson and Sommelier Jake DePasquale oversee 450 selections and 5,000 bottles, with particular strength in Burgundy and California. The restaurant holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for 2025.
The Pocket, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serves modern fusion a la carte, with craft cocktails beside the wine. Its wine list holds 370 selections across 4,000 bottles. The restaurant also holds a Wine Spectator Best of Award of Excellence for 2026.
Aubergine Carmel, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serves a tasting menu in our guide. Chez Noir, in Carmel, and Casanova, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serve prix fixe.
Aubergine Carmel, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serves contemporary Californian fine dining with an exceptional, sommelier-led wine list. Chef Justin Cogley cooks an eight-course tasting menu from seasonal local seafood and produce, and the restaurant also offers prix fixe. The latest Michelin award is two stars for 2026.
Chez Noir, in Carmel, is a modern French coastal bistro with an exceptional wine list and craft cocktails. A four-course prix fixe uses hyper-seasonal coastal seafood and Monterey Peninsula ingredients. The latest Michelin award is one star for 2026. The restaurant also holds a Star Wine List and a James Beard Award Semi Finalist.
Casanova, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serves rustic French-Italian cooking a la carte and as prix fixe, with an exceptional, sommelier-led wine list. A hand-dug wine cellar holds over 2,000 bottles. The latest Michelin award is a Plate for 2026.
Carmel-by-the-Sea is the neighborhood for Grasing's, Toro, and The Pocket. Grasing's holds a Wine Spectator Grand Award list with California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Italian wines. Toro's list has particular strength in Burgundy and California, with a sake program. The Pocket holds Best of Award of Excellence in the same neighborhood.
Our guide counts 2 Michelin-starred restaurants citywide and 3 Michelin stars in total. Aubergine Carmel, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, and Chez Noir, in Carmel, hold the latest Michelin awards, both dated 2026. Aubergine Carmel serves a tasting menu from seasonal local seafood and produce. Chez Noir serves a prix fixe of coastal seafood and Monterey Peninsula ingredients.
Aubergine Carmel, in Carmel-by-the-Sea, serves an eight-course tasting menu in our guide. Chef Justin Cogley cooks it from seasonal local seafood and produce, and the restaurant also offers prix fixe. The wine program is exceptional and sommelier-led, with an extensive wine list.
Grasing's, The Pocket, and Toro, all in Carmel-by-the-Sea, hold Wine Spectator awards in our guide. Grasing's holds the Grand Award for 2026. The Pocket holds Best of Award of Excellence for 2026, and Toro holds Best of Award of Excellence for 2025.
By Emmett Haley · Updated October 8, 2026 · Editorial standards
Best of Carmel-by-the-Sea
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Selected entries from the current guide for Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Aubergine at L'Auberge Carmel holds two Michelin stars in 2025 and a La Liste score of 88 points, placing it among the more decorated fine-dining rooms on the California Central Coast. Chef Justin Cogley runs an eight-course tasting menu built around Monterey-sourced ingredients in a nine-table dining room that books at least a month ahead. Smart business casual dress is required; reservations open Wednesday through Sunday evenings.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A Michelin-starred counter on Carmel's 5th Avenue where French bistro technique meets the California coast's seafood abundance. Chez Noir operates from the ground floor of a Craftsman residence, the Blacks live upstairs, which shapes everything from the scale of the room to the warmth of service. Ranked #472 in Opinionated About Dining's 2025 North America list and named one of Esquire's Best New Restaurants in 2023.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A Michelin Plate recipient in both 2024 and 2025, La Bicyclette brings a Californian-French sensibility to Carmel-by-the-Sea's Dolores Street, where European village dining traditions meet the produce rhythms of the Central Coast. Under Chef Obdiel Luna, the kitchen earns consistent recognition from Opinionated About Dining alongside its Michelin credentials, placing it firmly in the serious-but-accessible tier of the town's dining scene.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
The Pocket in Carmel-by-the-Sea sits at the intersection of California coastal cooking and a serious wine program, with 370 selections across 4,000 bottles and a Pearl-recognized kitchen delivering farm-to-table dinners priced at the upper end of the village's dining tier. It holds its own alongside Carmel's most established dinner destinations.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A Michelin Plate-recognised European restaurant on Fifth Avenue, Casanova occupies a well-established tier in Carmel's dining scene, where its mid-market $$$ pricing and back-to-back Plate distinctions in 2024 and 2025 place it clearly above the casual end of town.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Yafa brings Mediterranean cooking to Carmel-by-the-Sea at a price point that few Michelin-recognised restaurants in the region can match. Back-to-back Bib Gourmand awards in 2024 and 2025 confirm the kitchen's consistency, placing it in a narrow tier of Carmel dining where quality and accessibility coincide. For visitors working through the town's tighter end of the price spectrum, it is one credentialled option on the table.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A Michelin Plate-recognized American casual on San Carlos Street, Stationæry sits comfortably in Carmel-by-the-Sea's mid-tier dining bracket, less formal than the town's tasting-menu rooms, more considered than its deli counters. Opinionated About Dining listed it among the leading casual venues in North America in 2025.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Akaoni brings Japanese cuisine to Carmel-by-the-Sea with enough seriousness to earn back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025. On a village street where French coastal and contemporary European restaurants dominate the dining conversation, it occupies a distinct lane: measured, ingredient-led Japanese cooking at the $$$ price point. For the Monterey Peninsula, that combination is genuinely rare.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
On Junipero Street in Carmel-by-the-Sea, Brunos Market and Deli operates as a neighbourhood anchor for deli provisions and prepared foods in a village better known for fine dining.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Cultura brings serious Mexican cooking to Carmel-by-the-Sea's Su Vecino Courtyard, earning back-to-back Michelin Plate recognition in 2024 and 2025. The kitchen draws on fire-driven techniques, barbacoa, al pastor, wood-roasted preparations, that place it closer to the central Mexican tradition than the Tex-Mex shorthand common at this price point. At $$, it occupies a distinct niche in a town whose other Michelin-recognised tables sit at $$$$.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A Carmel institution at the corner of Mission and 6th, Grasing's anchors the town's upscale American dining scene with a steakhouse-leaning menu served at lunch and dinner. The wine program is the real draw for serious drinkers: 35,000 bottles across 3,400 selections, with California, Burgundy, Bordeaux, and Italian heavyweights represented throughout, and a $35 corkage policy that rewards guests who bring something special.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
In a village where prix fixe tasting menus increasingly define the upper tier, Katy's Place holds a different position.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Under Chef Ryoichi Yamashita, the kitchen applies a regional-ingredient discipline that positions it clearly within Carmel's mid-to-upper casual dining tier, distinct from the $$$$ tasting-menu houses while operating well above the town's deli and casual trade.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Rise and Roam Bakery and Pizzeria sits at Mission Street and 7th Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, turning out Italian-rooted pizzas and baked goods in a village better known for French and European fine dining.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Toro brings Japanese cuisine to Carmel-by-the-Sea at a mid-range price point, paired with a wine list of 450 selections and 5,000 bottles deep, with particular strength in Burgundy and California. Wine Director Stephen Wilson and Sommelier Jake DePasquale oversee a list priced at the $$ tier, with corkage available at $35. Lunch and dinner service makes it one of the more accessible Japanese options on the peninsula.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Anton & Michel has anchored Carmel-by-the-Sea's fine dining scene for decades, occupying a courtyard address on Mission Street that signals classical European ambition in a village otherwise defined by galleries and weekend wine tourism. The kitchen works within a continental tradition that prizes technique and tableside service, placing it in a different register from the casual coastal options that dominate the town.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Bud's at La Playa belongs to Carmel-by-the-Sea’s coastal dining circuit, where hotel rooms, village foot traffic, and Monterey Bay produce culture shape the meal as much as the plate. Approach it less as a standalone destination restaurant and more as part of the town’s compact hospitality ecosystem: a useful stop when the evening calls for the La Playa setting and a menu tied to the rhythms of the coast.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Flying Fish Grill on Carmel-by-the-Sea's 7th Avenue occupies a well-worn spot in the town's casual seafood tradition, drawing a loyal local following that returns for the direct approach to coastal cooking. In a village where white-tablecloth formality is easy to find, this grill holds a different position: the kind of place regulars claim before visitors discover it.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Selected entries from the current guide for Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A 16-room adults-only inn on Bay View Avenue, Villa Mara Carmel holds Leading Hotels of the World membership and positions itself at the quieter, more residential end of Carmel-by-the-Sea's accommodation tier. Rates from $844 per night reflect the property's handpicked interiors, full cocktail bar, garden firepits, and a guest experience oriented around unhurried, personalised attention.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A 20-room inn at the corner of Monte Verde and Seventh, L'Auberge Carmel has held its position at the summit of Carmel's small-hotel tier since 1929. The property earned 2 Michelin Stars in 2025 through its Aubergine restaurant and a 5-point Gault & Millau Exceptional Hotel designation, with rates from US$668 per night placing it firmly in the California coastal luxury bracket.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Carmel Beach Hotel occupies a deliberate gap in the village's accommodation tier: a 26-room modern-farmhouse property that trades the Spanish Mission conventions of central Carmel for seven black-and-white buildings with a quieter, more residential sensibility. It operates as the smaller, less formal counterpart to L'Auberge Carmel, pricing and pitching itself as a design-conscious boutique option for travellers who want architectural contrast with the town's prevailing aesthetic.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
La Playa Hotel sits at the corner of Camino Real and 8th Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, one of the California coast's most historically layered small towns. A landmark property in a village that rewards slow stays, it positions itself within the quieter, character-driven end of the Monterey Peninsula's accommodation offering, closer in spirit to an inn with genuine local roots than a branded resort property.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Le Petit Pali at 8th Ave occupies a corner of Carmel-by-the-Sea where the village's architectural character is most legible: cottage proportions, garden-draped facades, and the kind of unhurried scale that defines the town's design identity. The property sits within a broader Californian tradition of boutique hospitality that prizes intimacy over spectacle, placing it in a specific tier of the Monterey Peninsula's accommodation options.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
A Michelin Selected boutique hotel positioned at the heart of Carmel-by-the-Sea, Le Petit Pali at Ocean Ave sits on Junipero Street and Ocean Avenue in one of California's most closely watched small-town hospitality markets. The property belongs to the Palihotel group's smaller, character-led tier, where design restraint and neighbourhood integration matter more than resort scale.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Stilwell Hotel occupies a prime address at San Carlos Street and 5th Avenue in Carmel-by-the-Sea, earning Michelin Selected recognition in 2025. The property sits within walking distance of the village's galleries, pine-shaded streets, and the coastal pathways that define the Monterey Peninsula's quieter, restorative character. For travelers drawn to the area's natural pace rather than resort-scale programming, it offers a grounded, village-centered base.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Selected entries from the current guide for Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Barmel belongs to the smaller, mood-led side of Carmel-by-the-Sea drinking: a bar to treat as part of the town’s evening rhythm rather than a trophy reservation.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
De Tierra Vineyards occupies a quiet address in Carmel-by-the-Sea, where the Monterey Peninsula's cool-climate wine tradition shapes everything on offer. The tasting room format places it within a small cohort of producer-direct experiences in a town better known for its galleries and inns. For visitors with more than a passing interest in Central Coast viticulture, it makes a case worth examining.
Carmel-by-the-Sea
Selected entries from the current guide for Carmel-by-the-Sea.
Carmel-by-the-Sea, United States
Talbott Vineyards puts Monterey County’s cool-climate Chardonnay story in a Carmel-by-the-Sea tasting-room frame, with Pinot Noir, rosé and sparkling wine widening the conversation. The draw is the connection between Santa Lucia Highlands vineyard identity, especially Sleepy Hollow and Diamond T, and a coastal room built around ocean-view hospitality rather than cellar-door scale.
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