The Restaurant at Ventana

I feel torn between 3 and 4 stars. I decided to give it 3.5.
It’s definitely a great location and beautifully decorated. They have a large, spacious dining room with an open kitchen. It was slightly on the noisy side since they didn’t have anything to dampen people’s voices. But it was pleasant nonetheless. Service was impeccable.
We came here for dinner while staying at the resort. We were going to order the $ 75 prix fix dinner, but were underwhelmed by what we saw as entrees, so we decided to order 2 first courses and 2 second courses for the two of us to share.
For first courses, we had a salad with romaine lettuce, and a raw tuna. Both were delicious, but nothing stands out as amazing. The lettuce salad was beautifully cut and dressed, but the dressing turned out to be on the heavier side with too much cream. Very very fresh lettuce, though. The tune was very tasty.
For our second courses, we had a roasted cauliflower salad, and a wild mushroom gnocchi. The roasted cauliflower was wonderful, roasted perfectly, served chilled (which I was a bit surprised about, but since it’s a salad, it makes sense that it’s cold), with just a little twist of curry paste and a purée of potatoes. The gnocchi was definitely not impressive. The broth was nice, mushrooms were tasty, but the gnocchi was deep fried, so that kind of screwed up the wonderful combination of mushroom and broth.
Overall, it was still a pleasant dining experience with good food. But don’t expect the food to blow your mind.

Absolutely magnificent. Can’t pass on this one. My hats off to the chef who isn’t the pretentious kind like the one across the street at Post Ranch Inn. Displayed intended prix fix menu instead of making you wait till 4:30 like some other people, and it was to die for. Every course was stunning.

Amazing place! Food is delicious & the beautiful view is surreal ! My brothers & I took my mom out there for her birthday & she loved it! Cherishing moment that’s priceless! Ventana is a fine dining experience only shared with a «special someone» or «family»!

So far, this is my favorite restaurant in the Big Sur area, and I try to eat here at least once whenever I visit Monterey.
If the weather is at least tolerable, I eat at one of the outside tables to take advantage of the truly spectacular views of the ocean.
The food has always been terrific (at my recent lunch, I enjoyed a root vegetable soup, a salmon entrée, and a bread pudding dessert-​all excellent and nicely presented). Very good and friendly service, and the prices are appropriate for a restaurant of this quality.

Their 4 course tasting menu for dinner for $ 75 is an unbelievable deal. Two starters, entrée and dessert (or three starters and an entrée if you’re a dessert hating communist like my hubby) with creative seasonal selections.
I had the mushroom gnocchi, gem lettuce with green goddess dressing, roasted leeks, and brownie (see pictures). The dressing was a bit heavy handed but that didn’t stop me from eating it. Of all the dishes, I would say only the roasted leeks was a bit odd (too starchy with the wild rice and random falafel ball). Among other things, hubby had the NY strip with cheesy bread pudding which was sinful.
The atmosphere is cozy with a killer sunset view. Service is nothing great but not bad either.

Amazing view from atop their property. Looks like seeing the sunset might be difficult at certain times of the year. Not as haughty toighty as you would think. Sophisticated, but not pretentious.

They have a multi-​course menu for $ 75, if you’d rather choose individual items you can, but as our waiter warned – appetizers are really small. (The pork belly with Hawaiian shrimp featured a single shrimp). Even entrees were modest in size. Food was tasty. With added wine, this quickly turns into a truly pricey meal. The diningroom was so loud it limited our conversation, nothing like the romantic space I expected.
The bar is in the dining room which adds to the noise level. The restaurant itself is one large room, rustic décor with high ceilings, all wood beams with ocean art on the walls, exactly what you’d expect in such a naturally beautiful location.

Quintessential California cuisine, excellently prepared. The dinner tasting menu is wonderful and worth it. Lovely spot, great staff.

What terrible service. Four of us arrive, step in the front door and wait while various cooks, waitstaff, etc. cast glances our way but never bother to approach and ask if they can seat us. Spanish is being shouted back and forth, not really a big deal, but when you are waiting patiently to be seated and they are discussing the World Series, assuming the gringo’s don’t understand, it becomes irritating.
Missing any sort of sign that stated «wait to be seated», we crossed the totally empty dining room and headed out to the large patio. There were probably 6 or 7 tables occupied, here and there. We continue to walk in the direction of the seats overlooking the ocean and catch the eye of at least three wait-​staff. No one bothers to approach us, even though they seem bored. We approach a table (we have now traveled at least 50 yards from the front door) and sit down. Only then does some lady swoop in, and I mean swoop, like we are on fire. She tells us that the table is reserved. Even though there are no signs indicating so (the table wasn’t even in a spot you could really enjoy the view), we apparently had made a major error, at least that is how it was conveyed.
Getting up we asked where else we were allow to sit. I swear it was like talking to a deer in headlights. No response, just a blank stare like some neurons were failing to fire. So we moved to a table five tables away, on the other side of what looked like a portable concierge station, which was occupied by two wait-​staff polishing glasses and arranging menus (for a lack of anything better to do).
After making our way to this table, which considering my father uses a cane and oxygen tank took a minute, we ask if THIS table is okay. She responds in a very indecisive voice, «yes, but I was going to seat you over there» (on the level above and against the building where one other couple sat). Barring any real direction, we simply sat down and she left, what you would assume would be to get a waiter/​waitress to bring us menus and start our drinks.
We sat there for no less than 8 minutes, with two wait-​staff 20 feet away. Not a single person approached us to take our order, completely ignored us. At that point we decided not to bother spending our money there. We got up and left, not a single person interacted with us on our way out.
To summarized, this was extremely poorly organized and managed. The staff was either short with us or outright rude, depending on how you take the tone. My parents frequent the Big Sur area and this will be the last time any of us bother with this place.

We stopped here for lunch while passing through Big Sur to Carmel. The restaurant has an incredible view of the ocean from the patio with a nice dining ambiance inside.
The swordfish I ordered was fresh and cooked perfectly, with just the right amount of food to fill you up. Would love to come back here when everything is lit up!

Seems to be a lot of bad reviews below me which I find so surprising!
Big Sur is hard to navigate (hilarious I know being that there is only one road and it goes either up or down) if you don’t know where to stay/​eat/​what to do. I for one, don’t know anyone who has driven through or stayed and I never have myself. So when I planned a road trip for my birthday through here, I was stressing about everything.
Out of the options for «lunch with a view» in big sur, I believe this place is the best. I read about nepenthe (sp?) incredibly overpriced and super touristy. When we drove by people were literally parking a mile down the street to go, so glad I didn’t even attempt to go there. Post ranch inn is another option, although incredibly pricey at like 60 for a mandatory prix fixe lunch menu. I didn’t know what to expect at first, but I was so happy and surprised when I arrived (reservation on open table) and was sat on the patio at table facing the ocean !!! The staff was so sweet and accommodating, truly Angels work here, and after finding out it was my birthday they all kept wishing me a great day!
The price really wasn’t that bad, and completely reasonable given the quality of food, view and experience. Get the salmon appetizer !! So happy I chose this place, and really the better option if you’re lunching with a view in the sur.

Dear lady who works at the restaurant of Ventana,
Your job is to guard those menus and walk customers to their table. How hard is it? Why are you so entitled and snobby working as a hostess?
Ventana, please educate your staff and ask them to stop discriminating against customers based on race and age.
Your customer service score is 0 and I vouch to never return.

I don’t know where to start on our disaster of a 5^th anniversary dinner. The two stars are for the view and nice server, everything else was deplorable. We were staying at the V Inn as we did on our honeymoon for our 5^th anniversary. We purposely passed up a meal at Post Ranch (big mistake) to try the on site restaurant and the menu looked amazing. The amazingness does not go past the tasting menu descriptions printed on the page.
First course: we both ordered the tuna tartare. It was fine but nothing special at all and just came by itself, no cracker or accompaniment. My husband’s comment: this is ok but the poke you get from Bristol Farms is better…
Second course: gnocchi (only four tiny pieces, WTF?!) with way to many overcooked peas and shitake mushrooms in a random, bitter broth. Husband’s lamb shoulder was slightly better but still about 1 ounce of meat on this course. Are we on a diet?
Third course, complete disaster: Husband ordered NY strip medium rare which came out medium well and was again a ridiculously small portion. Mine was the duck breast, so overcooked I could barely cut through it. I am not one to send food back because it ruins the meal and pace but it was inedible. I sent it back. They send another one out. EVEN WORSE THAN THE FIRST. Is anyone even looking at this stuff before serving it? Two entrees totally destroyed. I sent that back and opted to cut my losses with some rabbit fettuccine instead. Again, a bitter broth accompanied the uneven dish, I only ate the pasta so I wouldn’t wake up starving in the middle of the night.
Dessert: I’m not even going to bother here. By this point the evening was pretty much a disaster.
Thank god we had ordered some decent wine so we could just get drunk and enjoy ourselves. Seriously people do not eat here. It is a joke. I could have done a better job in the kitchen preparing my own dishes. NEVER AGAIN.

Beautiful lunch spot for a hot summer. Antithesis of nepenthe down the street (touristy, mob scene). Here everything is serene and calm, with the pace of big sur — immovable and timeless beauty — why fall for the rush and «I can’t wait to get my number and wait endlessly for the call to my table to sit like sardines among privileged others» scene?
We came by luck at the recommendation of a local who predicted the mob scene at nepenthe during labor weekend.
The service and good are surprisingly excellent for a place in the midst of tourist Mecca. Friendly server. Impeccable care to put the best ingredients on the table. The chef came from upstate New York but definitely picked up the essence of California cuisine very quickly.
The chilled corn soup is the best corn soup I have ever had. Delicious. Light. Airy (literally since one of see little air bubbles in the soup). Done with coconut milk and corn, which produces lighter texture than most other corn chowder. Ingenious!!!
The mahi mahi with micro greens and peas is also delightful. Love the hearty green-​ness in justaposition to the fish. The cous cous just soaked up the sauce so well that one may be tempted to pick up every grain on the plate before the waiter takes it away!

This is by far the worst restaraunt I’ve been to. It’s so bad I’m writing my first Unilocal review. Now, where to start?
Despite the nice view, the FOOD and the service was horrible. We came during lunch and it wasn’t that busy. To make it short, it took 1 ½ hours to get our food and after the manager told us there’s a delay in the kitchen, our server told us they accidentally gave our food to a different table. Needless to say, this is NOT a restaraunt deserving four stars nor would I dine here again.

My wife and I had an awesome dinner. A 4 course meal. There were so many yummy options on the menu, it was difficult narrowing down our choices. The service was excellent. However we did notice that one of the hostesses made a conscious effort to avoid approaching our table … she visited all the other tables, but why now ours? Oh well, it was probably better that she not interrupt our dinner. The sunset and the view was gorgeous. I can’t wait to have dinner here again.

High hopes dashed. Yes the view is gorgeous — but you can admire it for free throughout the area without having to pay exorbitant prices for mediocre fare.
We went for dinner on a weekday evening in August. The restaurant was about half full. At first, our service was great — menu and drinks arrived quickly. I think my glass of wine was about $ 16 (ouch — but hey, there’s a view)
We had a choice of doing a $ 75 tasting menu of four courses, or ordering off of the exact same menu at a la carte prices. $ 16 for starter, $ 18 appetizer, $ 38 entrée and something else for dessert. We ordered one prix fixe and one a la carte.
For the starter we received a shaved summer squash salad. This was worth about $ 4 at most. We paid $ 16. But hey, there’s a view! But come on… $ 16 for zucchini???
Next up, the tuna tartare. Bright and fresh and no more than a few tablespoons.
For the entrée, a California haddock in a coconut sauce. It was overcooked and mushy as if it had been frozen, thawed, frozen, thawed. Sadly, our server never returned to inquire about the dish. So it remained uneaten on the plate, sad and lonely and small.
Only when the busboy was clearing the table were we able to explain the fish situation. By the time a manager arrived to apologize, it was too late to order any more food as my dining companion was already finishing dessert.
They did take the fish off of our bill which was appreciated.
Put this on the «Check, Did It» list.

Giving this restaurant 5 stars for the ambience and friendly server who was at least trying. Although the service was really slow.
We were there on July 4^th.
Giving 2 stars for the actual food. I ordered the grilled shrimp Frisée salad. It consisted of 3 pieces of burnt (over grilled) large jumbo shrimp and 2 small new potatoes and cherry tomatoes halved, ½ sliced hard boiled egg, and a few pieces of fructose lettuce for $ 18. I would consider this more of an appetizer. Not what I expected for an entrée salad or being in the «salad bowl» of California. I understand I’m paying for the view but this was disappointing. The plating was nice but I could have eaten 3 of these dishes in order to fill me up. I’m not a large person either and no I don’t frequent buffets. Please see the attached pictures.
My husband ordered the $ 16 chicken sandwich with side salad. He said it was ok.
At least it was more inline with the pricing.

We stopped here for lunch and were very pleased with the food we had.
I had a brisket sandwich which was really good while my girlfriend had a chicken sandwich.
The service was a little slow however everyone was very nice.
I’d come back!

Gorgeous view of the ocean and chilled setting for dining outside. The lunch menu is pretty affordable. Got the Big Sur burger and it was pretty good, though the burger was a bit more done than a medium rare I thought would be. Recommended by a friend’s coworker, this inn and restaurant property is huge and the view was totally worth it.
There’s also a bench looking out to the ocean on the way from entrance to the restaurant. Would love to come back next time passing by Big Sur!