DANIEL DRIEFUSS▲

Best Restaurant - Fisherman’s Wharf | Best Restaurant - Monterey

Old Fisherman’s Grotto

39 Fisherman’s Wharf, Monterey

(831) 375-4606, oldfishermansgrotto.com

Restaurateur Chris Shake may be the greatest showman of Monterey’s food scene. Across the wharf, his The Grotto Fish Market features barkers offering samples. But the main attraction (opened by his legendary father, Sabu Shake), Old Fisherman’s Grotto, reigns supreme. Despite the demands of a high-traffic area in a world-famous tourist destination, Old Fisherman’s Grotto consistently highlights everything great about living by the sea, plus the generations of fishing knowledge. They’re still serving warm bowls of cioppino and chilled trays of Dungeness crab, plates of sandabs and the obligatory surf ‘n’ turf – not to mention the bucket list clam chowder. And that’s enough to win two coveted prizes from readers.