Rio Grill - Monte Verde St, Carmel

We brought our son and two of his friends here for dinner. It was bright and cheery inside, the bartender was wonderful, our waitress was great as well. The food was interesting and very good. You didn't feel rushed and it was a lovely choice for people who wanted to sit and chat and get to know each other. Just a very pleasant environment with a nice ambience.

Staff was helpful to re-seat our party of 4 due to potential noise level with small kids party. I had the Halibut special and it was probably the best entree I can ever remember. My son's date had the risotto but it was over the top laden with butter and salt. Son had the crab topped NY strip and he raved and wife had the salmon and she loved.

Recommended by two sisters who used to live in the area, they were spot on saying their artichoke is the bomb and to go have dinner there. Rio Grill is just NE of Carmel-by-the-sea in a strip center. Don't let that fool you. The decor and waistaff were both pleasing, and the food quite good. It was one of the better dining experiences we had in the Monterrey, Pacific Grove, Carmel area this week. (For lunch, Toro Sushi was perfect quite nice another day.

Always love coming here. The outside seating has unfortunately disappeared, at least for the time being.

Very friendly staff willing to accommodate not being able to have gluten. We were with a large group so it was a limited menu. The half chicken was delicious, would have been better with green beans or something similar just to cut the richness. It was very loud in the room with 25+ people, but that's the only complaint. Will have to go back for the risotto .