Shearwater Tavern - Carmel-by-the-Sea

The service was excellent! It's a fantastic place for a relaxed dinner. As a local, I can't wait for my next meal there.

Four of us dined here for Thanksgiving dinner. The prix fixe meal was decent, although it would have been enjoyable to have dark meat available, which was not offered. Our waitress mentioned she would pass along our feedback to the chef for next time. The ambiance left a little to be desired; the hard floors made it quite echoey.

I really enjoyed my pasta with pulled pork; it was cooked perfectly al dente. The only downside was a surprise piece of non-pulled pork that, while flavorful, was quite tough and nearly impossible to cut.

Ordered the chicharrón, the yuca fries and the artichoke dip to start- then we had the short rib pasta and the Milanese- the food was incredible! The only issue was that they took our reservation at 9:30 and the kitchen closes at 9:45. I always get so disappointed when a restaurant allows for this to be booked. We of course were rushed to finish our meal and felt bad for the staff as we were the last ones in there. Completely on the management for letting the bookings go so late! Not a great experience. The food was AMAZING!

Very good food. Cocktails were very nice. Waitstaff was nice, but just OK due to understaffing. Ambiance OK. All in all food wins the day here.