Crab Louie’s Bistro

Took the wife and in-​laws for their first time to Monterey. Decided to try this place because of their tempting offers from the street. Loved it! It is a little small inside, but the view is wonderful. Service was fantastic! Fish and chips was excellent! Mixed seafood grill was very good — the salmon was amazing as well. I very much enjoyed the rib eye. The service was definitely what put this place over the top. We will be back.

Love this place. Best service in California. Super attentive, refilled our drinks before they were gone. Food was out after 3 min of ordering .
It’s a bit small inside but most of the places on the board walk are. I had the fish tacos and they were absolutely delicious. Free small dish of calamari for the table which was actually really good. I love this place.

The service was OK. They were very attentive. Very small place. If you want a window to view pier, make sure to go when no one is there. There are only 4 window tables, and maybe like 10 tables total. It is a bistro. Then, you should go there for sea food… I’m not a sea food person, but my boyfriend loves it so we went so he can try the calm chowder. I got the grill chicken sandwich. It tasted weird, maybe they were trying something new but I guess I should not expect greatness from something other than seafood. It’s their specialty, you’re at a fisherman wharf. The waitress gave me an attitude when I first ordered a non sea food item, but after that like I said they were very attentive. The chicken might have gotten me sick. but the boy friend loved the chowder. Would not recommend, especially because there are other places that serve the same thing.

Great food, and great view. Highly recommend it. Excellent service. Seafood pasta was AMAZING, and so was the calamari! Great kids menu. All around great experience.

We would not have naturally strayed into this establishment if it weren’t for the persistent sales pitch outside on the boardwalk with the loudest presentation. Handing out yummy samples of clam chowder and promising a competitive kids menu and 10% off got us in the front door. While we got a window table next to the water, the restaurant was in poor shape and in need of a desperate remodel. The prices were short of reasonable compared to some of the nicer establishments, and the food lacked severely in presentation. For instance, the salad was simply mixed greens and croutons with dressing on the side. While the seafood was seasoned well but not rinsed prior to preparation, the service was, in fact, timely and we never had to ask for our drinks to be refilled. Family-​friendly but, overall… Under-​whelming.

I’m giving this place ONE star for the view, other than that, I have nothing good to say about this place. Everthing is over priced, which I wouldn’t mind, if the food was good. Absolutely horrible. Didn’t feel like ordering seafood, since myself and friend figured for $ 13, the burger must be really good, we decided to go with that. BIG MISTAKE. Flat, chewy patty, on a hard sesame seed bun with an average serving of frozen fries. When we commented on our dissatisfaction to one of the servers, after he asked us on our way out how we liked our meal, his response was that we should have known better than to order hamburger instead of seafood since we’re on the wharf. My response was that for a $ 13 burger I expected better, and he laughed and said no one on the wharf has any kind of burger that doesn’t come frozen. His words not mine, and good to know. I would have to assume
all their food is frozen in that case. The party seated next to us was very upset with their food as well, and they only ordered the clam chowder. As a «local», I have alot of friends in the motel/​hotel industry, and I will certainly relay this info to them. Apparently Crab Louie’s does not value their customers.

Not sure what the low star rating is about, but I had a great experience here. The seafood pasta was cooked just right, and the fish was delicious. These guys are friendly and they know how to do seafood!

We had red snapper, cooked to absolute perfection, clam chowder in a bread bowl, and the freshest salad you can imagine. Beautiful view of the water from most tables. Service was incredible.
Was completely dumbfounded to find that the average review for this restaurant is 2 ½ stars. It’s certainly deserves four or more.

One of the 7 different recipes of Clam Chowder on the four hawked to entice you in. I will say the one star is for the chowder. it was the best of what we tasted. we really should have ordered it. The waitress was friendly enough. and did follow through with the 10% discount and free calamari (which resembled Kelp Fries at Spongebob’s Krusty Krab).
The bathroom was a bit scary… we were the only people in there on a monday afternoon. while it was just past lunch time… it still should have been a sign for us.
The popcorn shrimp was way over done. like a step away from f8ll on burnt. even the baby who likes anything fried wouldnt eat it. His mac and cheese. straight ouf of the kraft box. and by the way it was congealed. probably yesterday’s Kraft box!
The 9 year old had a hamburger. he was charged for the adult hamburger… the burger to bun ration was about ½.and the bun was ‘air toasted’.
The 8 year old had the corn dog. probably the best choice on the menu!
My mom had the fish and chips. we really have told ourselves now, stick to our lcoal Irish pub. not going to get them much better anywhere else unless we trek over to Barbara’s Fish Trap in HMB. She did say though they were better than Sunday nights «best in town» version, so that’s a plus.
Why didnt we get the chowder you ask? The only person who really wanted it was the 9 year old. but he wanted it in the breadbowl. and charging 6 dollars just for the breadbowl seemed kind of ridiculous, so he settled for the burger.
That dreaded tip for 6 or more people. They automatically put on 20%…and of course it’s on the amount BEFORE any discount… which i understand you’re supposed to do. But it oddly enough still came out to more than 20%. The place isnt that big. how many parties of 6 or more do they really get? If they want to automatically charge for tipping. raise your food prices and join the no tipping trend movement. and you’re covered!
Giving it two stars because my mom’s previous visit for the sand dabs was good and the server was pleasant… was concerned about the popcorn shrimp (and took $ 5 off) and as well as keeping my mom’s and sisters food warm while they stepped away from the table.

You get what you pay for, food is bland. Many other great places to eat on the Wharf. The chowder is the worst on the wharf. The person outside hawking the chowder was pushy as well to say the least! Annoying!

TOURISTS BEWARE. The food was ok and the service was acceptable. then come to check. When we questioned that why it was much more than we had ordered, we were told that there was a mandatory 20% tip added and it was compulsory. Although we are all well used to tipping and usually do so at 20%. We were shocked that it was compulsory. The menu did say for tables of SIX or MORE BUT We ONLY had FIVE. I asked the server, the man name SALVATORE, a Mexican guy i think, how come they charged us 20%! He doesnt say sorry or anything but give us money back $ 16 and still saying that please don’t forget to leave him a tip. it was horrible.
I am sure everyone knows that a tip is standard practice but everyone consult tell me it voluntary. Not a nice morning ends in Monterey.

Overpriced and mediocre. My husband & I shared a breakfast combo (2 pancakes, 2 eggs — suppose to be over medium, 2 pieces of bacon) and got 2 OJs. and it cost $ 25 and the bacon was burnt, eggs were over easy; completely disappointing.

Crab Louie’s ! So amazing and busy I think they ran out of Crab and served me crab cocktail from a can. Seriously government cafeteria worthy .
The bread bowl was good… the seafood was flavorless watered down and useless. I don’t think it will make me sick or anything but the crab cocktail was so disappointing I canceled the lobster tail. Happy Mother’s Day !
If you like a lot of yelling And organizing from the front «Donald ! I gots two tables coming in movie it and make room, there’re a good one !» Salvatore, hurry up we gotta move this !
I felt like they were gonna shoot t-​shirts from a cannon like at pro sporting events. Someone had a Monster for breakfast :)
Anyway — ok if your really really hungry — but if you have any other option — FIND IT. Loved when they looked at our table by the front and heard her say — move them out so I can fit seven here in ten—
No worries lady — if wasn’t rude to say the «food is boring anyway we are happy to go «I woulda helped you out !
Updated: 6: 45 pm Mother’s Day .
Remember how I said I didn’t think the food would make me sick? Well, clearly I am not a doctor but based on the nine emergency bathroom stop I had to make on my 3 hour car ride home today — something that went inside me today made everything slippery and Can of Crab Louies was the only place I ate… on the bright side — I think I lost about 6 pounds the hard way, but I am still six pounds lighter, winning !

They offer their clam chowder in the front and give you a discount card that is valid for 10% off your meal and a free calamari app. This will make you want to eat here, but I don’t recommend.
For apptizer, we had the free calamari. It was small and looked like it came from a fast food joint. We also had their clam chowder, it had too much flour as a filler and not much clam.
For entrée, I had the fish taco ($ 18); this was a very large portion and pretty good. Brother had the burger ($ 12) it was average. Mother had the seafood alfredo ($ 24 I think), this too was average, nothing special. Lastly, my father had the sea bass, the rice looked cheap and the fish was okay.
Service wise, our waitress was rude & scarce once when heard that we were using their 10% off and free app promotion.

The worst service ever…
We were about to ask and nobody came to help us. We asked for coke and sprite, after a well se decided to get out of there, and the charge us $ 8 dollars just for the tow drinks!!! Don go there …

The lady serving clam chowder samples:
1. did not offer us samples — offered some white tourists some shortly after we left. Clear. racial. discrimination.
2.did not know what a lobster roll was… assumed it was sushi.
Slightly annoying that a seafood place, in a tourist area, in the 21^st century, in a country with a supposedly post-​racial and colorblind society, still does this.

This place had the friendliest person out front serving samples and giving coupons. We decided to eat here mostly based on this. Service was good, laid back. Happy hour drinks were good… 3 to choose from for $ 4. I ordered the crab cake sandwich which was just okay, seemed like a lot of filler. My husband got the red herring and it was amazing served with excellent veggies. Kids loved the chowder.

Quaint little bistro.
After a long day of sightseeing, we wanted to go back to the wharf for some seafood. It was a tossup on where to go but we ended up there. We were met with smiling faces to show us in for seating. We had a nice view along the windows even though it was night. Our waitress was ok. Strengths were bringing us complimentary calamari and giving us a 10% discount. Her weakness was attentiveness after the meal was delivered.
The complimentary calamari could’ve been better. A little soggy for my taste. I was hoping for better. I started off with a cup of clam chowder of course. I enjoyed the sample so I knew I’d like it. As far as my meal, I chose the stuffed sea bass with vegetables and rice. The fish was stuffed with crab and shrimp covered in a cream sauce. I loved it! The accompanied vegetables were delicious with a great seasoning.
This is a good place but room for improvement.

Tried it because the lady at the door said 10% off the bill, a free calamari appetizer and a table by the window.
My husband and I ordered a salmon Caesar salad, fish tacos, clam chowder in a bread bowl (to share).
Soup: rich and creamy.
Salad: salmon tasted fresh and the romain lettuce was crispy.
Husband loved the fish (red snapper) tacos.
The service was good, friendly and fast.
What I didn’t care for is, the cooks were asking for beer (literally saw the waiter hand over two coronas), which I assume they are drinking on the job and the waiter was arguing with a waitress over a pen. Really?!

Unfortunately overpriced.
Too much per plate while getting too little food.
The food itself was not amazing. Purely average for any normal city locale. However, for the fishermans wharfe I’d say this place is dramatically overpriced.
I would not return here again.