Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill

Cambria, United States

3.7

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 805-927-3859
Website:
www.moonstonebeach.com
Address:
6550 Moonstone Beach Dr, Cambria, CA, 93428
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
2 mi15
Categories:
QR code
Download QR Image Download vCard

Map

Streetview

Activate map

Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
No
Take-out
No
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Good For
Dinner
Parking
Street, Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Good For Dancing
No
Alcohol
Full Bar
Happy Hour
No
Best Nights
Fri, Sat, Sun
Coat Check
No
Smoking
No
Outdoor Seating
Yes
Wi-Fi
No
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
No
Has Pool Table
No

Today

Today 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Local time (Cambria) –

Business hours

Monday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Tuesday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Wednesday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Thursday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Friday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Saturday 11:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Sunday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill offers our diners breathtaking views of the Pacific Ocean. Diners may choose to sit outside on our ocean front patio or they may sit inside where our large picturesque window allows a vast view of the ocean.

We offer fresh seafood, steaks, and pasta. Our specialties include our creamy clam chowder and mouth-​watering sauces that compliment every fresh seafood entrée. For meat lovers, we offer a variety of juicy, delicious steaks. If you’re a fan of onion rings be sure to order our Pork Chops; you won’t be disappointed. We are known for our delicately battered fish and chips and our scrumptious fish tacos that make for a delicious lunch plate.

Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill also boasts a full service bar where we have a variety of beers and a wine list that features central coast wineries. For the adventurous drinkers, be sure to try something from our special cocktail menu.

We take pride in our excellent service and being a kid-​friendly establishment with a free toy for every child. While we love pets, we do ask that you leave your pets at home when dining at Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill.

When dining at Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill remember to sit back, relax, and enjoy!

History

Established in 1993.

Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill has been serving great food and drinks in a casual oceanfront dinning atmosphere since 1993. It is our mission to provide exceptional service, food, and drink.

Meet the Business Owner

John M.

Business Owner

For the owner John, the goal is simple — serve great food, with great service in a relaxed atmosphere.

Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill is a family owned restaurant managed by family members, John and Kernn MacKinnon. John created a lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch menu that is upscale, but not pretentious and offers something tasteful for everyone’s palate. The dinner menu specializes in fresh seafood, but offers excellent steak and pasta dishes as well. John is also known for his unique Clam Chowder or the house favorite Fish Tacos on the lunch menu; these entrees keep diners coming back for more. On Sundays, brunch is served with a glass of complementary champagne. So whether you are on a romantic date or dining with the family, Moonstone has something for everyone!

Related places

Explore similar places:
1
mi
Old Stone Station
713 Main St
1
mi
Sea Chest Restaurant & Oyster Bar
6216 Moonstone Beach Dr
1.7
mi
La Terraza
1316 Tamson Street Ste I
2.9
mi
Manta Rey Restaurant
9240 Castillo Dr
3
mi
Big Sur Restaurant
9290 Castillo Dr

Nearby

Near this location:
80
ft
Moonstone Cottages
6580 Moonstone Beach Dr
200
ft
Castle Inn
6620 Moonstone Beach Dr
250
ft
Cambria Landing Inn and Suites
6530 Moonstone Beach Dr
410
ft
Sea Otter Inn
6656 Moonstone Beach Dr
430
ft
Blue Dolphin & Sand Pebbles Inn
6470 Moonstone Beach Dr
520
ft
Blue Dolphin Inn
6470 Moonstone Beach Dr

20 reviews of Moonstone Beach Bar & Grill

No registration required
Place rating: 5
West Covina, CA
Food was incredibly delicious! Everyone was so nice there. Yummy way to end our mini vacay!
Place rating: 4
Hidden Hills, CA
We visit this restaurant every time we pass through Cambria as we like to watch the sunset while eating dinner. We decided to go for an afternoon visit this time but found out they are closed from 2−5pm which is a pity. Back again at 6.15pm and had a 10 min wait for a table — enough time to take it easy on the sofa and peruse the menu. Prices are the same as you would pay in LA in an upscale establishment, and while the outdoor seating doesn’t reflect this the view definitely does!
Drinks were good, nice Chardonnay, mixed a specific soft drink for hubby and daughter liked the Earl Grey tea.
Seafood Pasta — an abundance of seafood (including Green Lip mussels — my favourite) and was delicious, plus a huge serving.
Pork Shank — tasty and fell off the bone. The polenta that accompanied it had a nice taste but the consistency was a little too runny. Polenta is supposed to soak up the sauce and make it easier to eat, which it didn’t.
New York steak — cooked to medium perfection as requested and disappeared quickly, along with the fries we subbed for the mashed potato.
Our server, Chantelle, was our server on our previous visit and she is fantastic. Great service without being intrusive and happy to make a recommendation from the menu, plus a great sense of humour. You are lucky if you sit at her table, although everyone was friendly and welcoming. The place was busy but the staff had everything under control.
I’m surprised by the reviews below. I guess we are happy to pay for a well cooked meal sitting as close to the beach as possible. It is the same as we would pay in LA in a non beach restaurant.
We have been customers for the past 5 – 6 years and we have seen changes in the management and menu at the restaurant but we still love it!
Place rating: 3
Roseville, CA
Really like the décor of this place. However, this place has a really limited menu for dinner with about 6 – 7 entrées. That doesn’t necessarily disqualifies it from being good however, it’s just it leaves you longing for more. The food was decent and so was the service. It’s nothing against this place, it’s just I expected little more based on the cost of the dinner items.
Place rating: 1
San Jose, CA
It wasn’t just disappointment with the food, I ordered steak and was served chicken. We were there this past Saturday night (2⁄13).
Place rating: 4
Cedar City, UT
Food was excellent; average dinner entrée price per person $ 27. Our server was excellent. Average price per couple with one alcoholic beverage each, entrée, appetizer and soup or salad is $ 100.
Will definitely be back.
Place rating: 5
Atascadero, CA
Stopped by on a Tuesday with a party of four for lunch. We sat outside and enjoyed the view.
The food was very good. The NE chowder was excellent. My Reuben sandwich did not disappoint either. The service was perfect. We would not hesitate to return. Thanks Unilocal
Place rating: 4
Norco, CA
Food was unbelievably excellent, service for the type of restaurant it was ok, and at $ 30 per entrée I expect cloth napkins
Place rating: 5
Bakersfield, CA
It was a chilly night on January 31st The food was great but the service was exceptional Ricky was so attentive he was really great. Wish everyone at there jobs really put that extra effort to make sure that customers are happy. My wife had pork and l had chicken every really great.
Place rating: 4
Valencia, CA
This place was walking distance from our hotel and was the one out of two restaurants to eat. Seemed to be busy for a Saturday night but proceeded to wait 30 – 45 minutes for a table for two. Sat at the bar and enjoyed a couple drinks and was then brought to our table. Our waitress was very nice, wish I remembered her name. The food was a bit overpriced but for being on the beach and having views, it was still great. The food tasted good as well. I got the Herb roasted chicken with asparagus and Parmesan cheese. The sauce on the chicken was really delicious! My boyfriend got the seafood pasta which had a lot to it, large variety of seafood. No complaints here except a bit pricey. Would come here again :)
Place rating: 4
Grand Rapids, MI
Granted, I have little to go on, but wow. I stopped in for a cocktail and a sunset (right on the beach). The sunset was so-​so. The apple martini was very nice. I thought I’d find a light appetizer to go with it and selected the shrimp crostini with walnut pesto thinking it wouldn’t wreck my diet. I was wrong. I didn’t read the «cream» in the description. However, it was worth every calorie. Woo.
Place rating: 5
Fresno, CA
Went in, it was very busy for a Wednesday and had to sit in the bar which I enjoyed. We were seated at the same table we’ve had the last three time we were there. It’s the best table. That alone is worth five stars.
I think the must have gotten a water treatment thingy because my Jack and Coke was great. No beach water taste from melting ice.
Started with these jalapeño corn fritters and some spicy honey. Holy moly they were good.
Split a Gorgonzola and candied walnut salad with was perfect.
I had the cove scampi with pilaf which was very good.
To top it off our server was so nice.
This is why I keep coming back
Place rating: 1
Cypress, CA
one word: TERRIBLE SERVICE.
I don’t know if they were being racist or not, but my family was the one of the few Asian group in the restaurant and had the least amount of service and extremely slow service. There was a bother group of family who came about the same time as we did. They finished eating and paid by the time we just got our food, there must be a reason for excluding my family for the longest time… We had to go walk to the host desk to ask about our food after waiting for 30+ minute. They just apologized twice and that was it. The view is nice from the restaurant, but the food is just mediocre, nothing super special (overpriced, just for the location). I don’t know about coming back…
Place rating: 2
Desert Hot Springs, CA
How disappointing that this fabulous restaurant had gone ala cartel with its dinner menu! So expensive and truthfully not worth it!
Try the Sea Chest now that’s worth the wait and the money…
So sad Moonstone beach bar and grill…
Place rating: 3
Northridge, CA
Was very disappointed in this restaurant. Fully priced for mediocre food. All items are a la carte. 2 of our three entrees had to be sent back. Undercooked and cold. Menu was full of saucy and boring dishes. Plastic cups for drinks. Dressing plastic containers. Paper napkins. Décor was dated and old. Service was attentive though. I can only assume that they can get away with such mediocre food because not many choices right along moonstone beach. Will go elsewhere next time.
As an answer to you, we were there on 11⁄28 for dinner.
Place rating: 4
Chatsworth, CA
I’ve always heard how crowded this place gets due to it’s close proximity to the beach & sunsets/​sunrises. I guess we lucked out because we were seated right away. Though it was inside and not on the patio as we would have preferred.
Wait staff was friendly and welcoming, though he did seem to disappear a few times (I noticed it was working both inside & the patio so I’m sure he was just being pulled all over the place so no hard feelings).
My monte cristo was absolutely amazing. I can’t recommend it enough. My wife got the fried oysters. I tried one & wan’t too happy with it. Granted that was the first oyster I ever had so maybe they’re just not my thing.
The views, as mentioned before, are great. I can see why people would flock her to watch the sun rise and sink below the horizon. But, as mentioned before, apparently it gets incredibly busy so if that’s your intention, get there early and plan on taking your time with your meal to make sure you don’t miss it.
Place rating: 5
Fresno, CA
This is by far the most delicious seaside bar and grill I’ve encountered.
You can sit outside and watch the sunset on the beach just across the street. We sat inside, the sun was blinding us.
I started off with a nice hit green tea, coconut prawns, and a Caesar salad. All very delicious. The salad was fresh and crisp. The coconut prawns were made to perfection, crispy delight on the outside and fresh goodness in the inside.
For my entrée, I had the seared scallops with rice pilaf. Delicious!
My daughter had the linguini Parmesan. She ate every single bit of it :))
For dessert I had the moonstone’s cheesecake with a hot mocha, my daughter had ice cream. The cheesecake was so creamy!
I’ll be back! This place was droplets of heaven
Place rating: 3
Las Vegas, NV
I would say this is an all around solid «A-​OK» 3 star place. The location and views are great, and the proximity to many of the surrounding Inns make it a great destination for those that don’t want to drive. We took a nice stroll along the boardwalk from our hotel to Moonstone Beach Grill for a relaxing lunch. The views as mentioned previously were great and the weather was perfect. Our server was nice but to the point. Due to depleting water reservoirs in Cambria they do charge for water. It is $.30 for a bottle of water and you get a plastic cup with ice.
We tried number of their menu items — clam chowder, oysters on a half shell, cajun shrimp and scallops, and fried clams. The clam chowder was ok, but most certainly not mind blowing or out of the ordinary in any way. To this day I have yet to find clam chowder that beats the one I had on Fishermen’s Warf in SF. The oysters were fresh but tiny. The cajun shrimp and scallop definitely did not skimp on either the shrimp or scallops, but it was watery and I did not get too much cajun flavor coming through. Lastly the fried clams were terrible. It was rubbery, greasy and completely lacking any type of flavor. I had to drench it in the tartar sauce that comes with it in order to make it somewhat palatable.
Overall, the place is okay and perhaps some of their dinner items or signature dishes are better, but based on what we sampled I’d have no reason to go back. Especially after a $ 100+ tab for the above mentioned items.
Place rating: 4
Long Beach, CA
I’m surprised the current rating for this restaurant is only 3.5 stars. My husband and I were very happy with our experience. The service was good and the food was delicious! We both got the New York steak. I asked for medium well & hubby asked for medium rare and they were both cooked perfectly. It was a little pricey but then again when isn’t a good steakhouse pricey?
Also note due to the severe drought they charge for water. Only .30 a bottle though. Not bad & contributes to conservation.
I would recommend this place to visitors!
Place rating: 4
Toronto, Canada
There’s not many restaurants in the Moonstone beach area, and this place is the closest and has a decent beach view, so I expected it to be overpriced and meh. But I was pleasantly surprised!
We got the clams for apps, and the broth was quite delicious. For entrees, I had the scallops and I quite like how the rice was of the healthier kind, served with an array of veggies that weren’t bland or overly flavourful. And the bf had the lamb rack which was fantastic as well!
If I’m in the area, I’d come again :)
Note: due to the drought, they charge you for water!
Place rating: 3
Soddy-Daisy, TN
You’ve heard, «You get what you pay for» right? Well, it does not apply in this case. Out of our 10 day trip to California, Moonstone Beach Bar and Grill was one of the most expensive restaurants that we ate at and it was our most disappointing. We chose it simply because it was close to our hotel. There were much more interesting sounding restaurants more in the city of Cambria and we do wish we had either walked or driven to one of them. We were seated immediately. After looking through the menu, I chose the Cove Scampi and my husband chose the Cioppino.
I was completely unimpressed with my scampi. There was not even a hint of garlic in the scampi. None. It was six shrimp in a generic brown sauce with canned button mushrooms! I haven’t seen canned button mushrooms in a restaurant in years. The pilaf tasted like a boxed mix with some toasted almond slices and parsley on top to jazz it up. The broccoli and carrots looked like the frozen kind you buy in the grocery store. I paid $ 28 for some canned, boxed and previously frozen food. Possibly the worst meal I’ve had in a restaurant in years.
The cioppino was not much better. The tomato sauce was barely flavored, tasted like canned. It also was $ 28.95 and didn’t even come with a salad.
The most expensive restaurant that we ate at on our trip and the most disappointing.