Wild Fish
545 Lighthouse Ave., Pacific Grove (831) 373-8523, wild-fish.com
2020 was supposed to be the year that Wild Fish restaurant, launched in 2018 by Liz and Kelvin Jacobs, would stop losing money and begin hitting sales goals. Instead, the pandemic came and sales went down to 10 percent of normal during the period of takeout only. A couple of months later the city of Pacific Grove offered encroachment permits for restaurants to use parking spaces; Wild Fish made a simple set-up of tables and chairs. As soon as the city allowed construction of parklets, they went all in, investing upward of $50,000 in high-end, elegant wood decking and fencing, planters designed by a local artisan, string lights, top-of-the-line heaters and a retractable cover. They added in a live jazz combo on weekend nights to add to the ambiance. Wild Fish led the way in helping Pacific Grove make the scene as a top outdoor dining spot on the Peninsula and, as Liz Jacobs says, “Who would have thought quiet little Pacific Grove could be a scene?”