Hay’s Place is just good fun.
Laughter, buoyant conversation and music spill from dining room to patio, before finally cresting over the new par-3 golf course itself. Strangers fresh from rounds played across the Peninsula, or simply taking a break from the office, trade stories and compare specialty cocktails. Some are in T-shirts, others in the resort-casual style that defines golf. Swank mingles with hoodies. Staff members and regulars banter like old friends. Even newcomers bask in the welcome.
Outside on the putting green, golfers warming up before a round carefully place their drinks on the turf before lining up their shot. Carry-out cocktails can be toted around the property.
“It’s what Pebble Beach needed,” says Hay’s Manager Mathew Mackey. “It’s more casual.”
The sleek new space sits between the putting green and first tee of The Hay, Pebble Beach’s equally new Tiger Woods-designed short course. It has a panoramic view of the resort and ocean beyond. Windows open to create an outdoor bar and a pavilion feel. The patio wraps around two sides. And someone was considerate enough to add a plexiglass safety barrier – even on a par-3, hacks can hook or slice badly.
Yet this is a gathering spot on its own. The menu is inspired and driven by Mexican flavors, leaning toward traditional here, crossing into modern fusion there.
But there’s also a lobster roll – not the rudimentary meat and mayo sandwich of Boston fame, but one decked with roasted corn, cilantro, jalapeño, lime and a crumble of cotija.
Mackey says that tacos quickly became a favorite. Three to an order, they come in options such as al pastor, carne asada, fish or a vegetarian chile relleno. The favorite, however, is the restaurant’s birria taco.
There’s another dish that stands out as well, and it’s the only item on the menu fitted to a golf theme… (if you don’t count the eye-rolling signature cocktail puns – Hay’s Tee Decision, Hay Good Lookin’, Rollin’ in the Hay – someone tried a few too many before coming up with those names).
“Tiger’s Fajitas” is the course designer’s lone contribution to the menu. The skirt steak is proper – tender and husky, laced with a smoky char from the grill. And the vegetables teeter on that line between al dente and the abyss, some raspy, some sweet.
“When Tiger heard the restaurant would be Mexican he said, ‘Make sure you have fajitas,’” Mackey recalls. “He’s a fajita fanatic.”
And he’s golf royalty. So when Tiger says fajitas, you reach for the skillet.
There’s a tradition dating back to 1952 at The Masters, one of the sport’s four major tournaments, that the defending champion of that event sets the menu for the annual champions dinner the following year. For the 2020 formalities, 2019 Masters winner Woods ordered fajitas – steak or chicken – and churros for the dining room. Sushi was relegated to a patio snack.
During a press conference announcing the champions dinner, Woods told reporters, “Being born and raised in SoCal, having fajitas and sushi was part of my entire childhood, and I’m going back to what I had in 2006.” Yep, he rolled out fajitas after that win as well.
The fajitas at Hay’s Place are worthy of such accommodations as a Master’s champion’s table. While flavors there are bold, Chef Angela Herrera prefers a deft touch when it comes to some of the other offerings.
An appetizer order of camarones a la parrilla features six shrimp – the kitchen doesn’t hold back when it comes to portions – skewered and dressed simply in citrus butter, with bittersweet scars from the grill for contrast.
Roasted elote must result from some form of sorcery. Two ears of corn are smothered in queso fresco, cotija, a doctored crema, some chipotle aioli and a dusting of chile and lime salt. Somehow the corn – sweet and bursting – stands out.
The restaurant opened in October of 2021. In a few short months, it has become a destination all its own. Yes, the scenery helps. But it is Hay’s Place’s unexpected neighborhood vibe – even in the middle of a posh resort full of transient golfers – that makes it such a good time.
HAY’S PLACE is at 3253 Stevenson Drive, Pebble Beach. Open daily 11am-8pm. 800-877-0597, pebblebeach.com