Looking for a great breakfast in Monterey, California? Our favorite place is Wave Street Café, conveniently located on, well, Wave Street. While I could easily skip breakfast, Layne is all about bacon, eggs, hash browns, the works, so he pretty much insists that we have breakfast when we are on vacation, and boy, I’m sure glad he took us to this place!
If you aren’t familiar with the Monterey area, Wave Street is located right down by the water, one block above Cannery Row. Not counting the Mexican restaurant across the street that’s right on the water, Wave Street Café offers a lovely view of Monterey Bay, including fishing boats heading out for the day’s catch, whale watching tour boats, kayakers, and of course we can’t forget the sea otters and sea lions! (Although, admittedly, those creatures are much better seen from a waterfront window at the aforementioned Mexican restaurant).
Diners are given the choice of sitting either inside or outside, and we’ve chosen outside each time. The outside patio is heated, so even if it’s a chilly coastal morning you can still enjoy the fresh ocean air. One morning we were lucky enough to enjoy what I presumed to be a local musician…which only added to the atmosphere of the restaurant. Unfortunately, we’ve only seen him once, so I don’t know if it was a one time occurrence or if he makes regular appearances. Pets are also welcome on the patio.
Since I’m not a breakfast person, I usually order the Old Fashioned Oatmeal. It’s served with raisins and brown sugar…yum! I’ve also tried the pancakes, which are delicious.
As I mentioned above, Layne is all about breakfast, and he’s ordered several different meals, including the Belgian waffle (with eggs and bacon), and the Bacon & Avocado Omelet. He has proclaimed both delicious and would order them again.
Wave Street Café has the distinction of being the restaurant that convinced Tori that bacon is awesome. She’s generally a fairly good eater, but she had consistently refused to try bacon until this last visit to Wave Street Café. She ordered the Cutie Cakes Combo from the Kids Menu, which is two small pancakes, one scrambled egg, and the choice of two strips of bacon or two sausage links. She insisted she didn’t want either bacon or sausage, but after much convincing, she chose the bacon. I don’t have a picture of her meal, but this is her face when she was done eating.
Well, apparently two strips wasn’t enough, and she informed me that she wanted this particular type of bacon for breakfast every morning. Wave Street Café’s bacon is applewood smoked, so when we returned home, I found applewood smoked bacon at our local grocery store, cooked it up for her, and….no go. Apparently the bacon must be from Wave Street Café, eaten on the waterfront.
The next morning she ordered the Brioche French Toast…
And can we talk about this hot chocolate??
Actually, there isn’t much to talk about. Just look at her face. It is as amazing as it looks.
Wave Street Café doesn’t serve dinner, but they do have an extensive lunch menu, along with beer and wine. I will make it a point to have lunch here on our next trip.
Whether we are headed to the Monterey Bay Aquarium (a few blocks away), Fisherman’s Wharf (a mile or so down the road), or just general Cannery Row sightseeing, Wave Street Café is the perfect place to start off each day of our vacation.