Vegan-friendly
Lacto
American
Pizza
International
Beer/Wine
Take-out
Catering
Breakfast

Vegetarian restaurant on the Monterey Peninsula since 2010. Serves breakfast items, a variety of savory entrees, and eclectic mushroom dishes including truffle pizzas. Food is mostly vegan. Live music nightly from 7pm-close. Est. 2022. Open Mon-Sun 9:00am-9:00pm.


187 Reviews

First Review by mlcats

captbyrne

Points +32

Vegan
30 Apr 2017

A Vegan's Delight

We were visiting the Monterey area and found this gem online. Everything about Julia's was fantastic from the ambiance to the service and especially the food.

We were so please for dinner that we made a reservation for the next evening before we left. We sampled the curry, pizza and tamale pie. All were excellent.

I will definitely be back next time I am in the area.

VickiS

Points +15

Mostly Veg
04 Mar 2017

You will love the wild mushrooms.

Always the freshest of local ingredients. Expertly combined for unique flavors and tastes. The food is amazing! Atmosphere is festive and comfortable with a live guitar player every night. It's a relaxing and cozy place, but not at all too tight. The music is a pleasant background to enjoying the meal. The owner has a genuine passion for giving his diners an exceptional experience. The locally harvested wild mushrooms are a rare treat. It's the best of Pacific Grove.

Pros: The best of fresh local ingredients., Wonderful unique dishes and flavor combinations., Relaxing live music every night.

Frizzlehead

Points +32

Vegan
17 Jan 2017

Lovely

Reservations recommended for this place. It's small but very good! We had vegan BBQ pizza, one of their veggie salads, and a vegan brownie. All filling and delicious. A slightly more upscale restaurant with affordable dishes that are still going to leave you full!

erbavore9

Points +246

Vegan
08 Dec 2016

Impressive!

This quint, 8 seat restaurant is adorable. The tables are made of solid slab wood and so is the flooring.

The presentation of the food is probably the best I have ever seen. The taste of the food was delicious.

On Wednesday nights, it has live music with a gentleman with his Mandalay. The music made the small restaurant more like an Irish pub and it was way too loud.

One thing is clear, make a reservation. People came in and had to wait 30 minutes for a table.

Pros: Lovely Visuals, Taste of Food

Cons: Loud music, A little pricey

alexandra_vegan

Points +1549

Vegan
02 Oct 2016

Nothing special. Some vegan options.

We stopped there for lunch on our trip to Monterey.
The place is newly renovated and the interior is cozy and welcoming.
Vegan options are not clearly marked but the menu is simple and our server was helpful.
We ordered Julia's pizza the vegan version without cheese, antichoke entrée with vegan aioli and mushroom burger. The antichoke was outstanding, but the rest of the meal could have been better, nothing special. The price is reasonable for the pizza but the burgers were expensive for the quality.
The food was fresh and made on the spot.
I would go back given the limited vegan options in the area, but probably not if this place was in San Francisco where there are more vegan restaurants to choose from.

Pros: Lots of parking, Cozy, friendly atmosphere

Cons: Uses products of animal exploitation: eggs and mil

sglcklch

Points +3779

Vegan
16 Aug 2016

Great dinner despite pet peeves

My partner and I came in on a Friday evening without a reservation and were seated right away. We shared the yellow coconut curry and the tamarind bowls, both with a soup and a simple salad added for another $5 or so. Everything was tasty and came in large portions. We also got a slice of apple spice cake to round out our meal.

I just wish the menu had more variety. It's basically just soups & salads, burgers, rice bowls, and pizza. That could just be me, but I try to avoid ordering salads when dining out, am not a fan of veggie burgers or pizza in general, and find grain bowls a bit tedious. Another pet peeve of mine is poor ventilation. It's probably because of the small, closed dining space, it could've used some fresh air inside.

All that being said, I'd still recommend this place. We enjoyed the food a lot and the value was right.

Pros: delicious food, big portions

Cons: poor ventilation, lack of variety

Amy00Good

Points +224

Vegan
05 Jun 2016

Beautiful little restaurant

The entire menu sounded absolutely delicious, it was so hard to choose! I ordered the Roasted Garlic Vegetable Entree to-go. The sautéed greens were absolutely amazing. When I picked it up, I was very pleased with the interior of the restaurant. It was rustic and minimalist. Didn't feel crowded despite its smaller size. I definitely recommend!

Pros: Clean, welcoming interior, Lots of menu options , Option to order carry-out

calexmayer

Points +43

Vegan
07 Feb 2016

Great little spot!

I got take our here on a Friday because I wanted delicious food to eat by the fire in my hotel room. I picked it up about 830 pm, it was dead inside (literally no patrons), but warm and cozy. The two people working were really nice. I'm got the mushroom ravioli and it was delicious! Would definitely go back!

Yolante101

Points +116

Vegan
30 Sep 2015

Wow :)

Wow, das Essen war super lecker. Wir waren sonntags dort und es gab ein fixes Menü. Die Portionen waren riesig und wir hatten Mühe alles aufzuessen. :) Lecker lecker lecker!

Pros: Preis-Leistungsverhältnis, freundliches Personal

steveveg

Points +3211

Vegan
30 Sep 2015

Pleasant and intimate

Julia's is an intimate vegetarian restaurant with a wide selection. Vegans will have plentiful choices. The dining room is pleasant, with some rustic tables. There is live music on Thursday nights, which I didn't stay for. I had the dinner deal - an entree (saag - an interesting mixture), soup (red lentil) and house salad. I also had the vegan spice cake. The food was very good, service was fine.

MaartenC

Points +182

Vegan
28 Sep 2015

Great food and lovely staff

On sundays Julia's offers a fixed menu. We got vegan sushi and it looked and tasted great! Starters and dessert were very good as well. Staff were great as well!

Vegan Vagabond

Points +5649

Vegan
20 Sep 2015

Very Good

I really enjoyed this restaurant. The place is very small, reservations recommended, but the menu is rather large for such a small place. It is mostly vegan, with only the pizzas having dairy cheese and a couple of items containing dairy by request. The place is not cheap, but reasonable and the food is fresh and largely unprocessed. This is a must visit for this area, given there are so few options, but I would recommend this place even if it were in Chicago, NYC, or San Francisco.

Taimetoitlane

Points +275

Vegetarian
23 Aug 2015

Generous portions of very tasty food

I had a Caesar-inspired salad and roast vegetables with garlic sauce. Both were perfectly prepared and seasoned. The seasoning was a very nice surprise as I am used to many vegetarian restaurants serving rather bland food.

The prices are good, the portions generous and the staff are extremely friendly. What more could one want...
Updated from previous review on Saturday August 22, 2015

Updated from previous review on Saturday August 22, 2015

Pros: great seasoning, friendly staff, generous portions

Cons: may run out of tables at rush times

MissMissyMay18

Points +58

Vegan
04 Jan 2015

Delectable

Fresh ingredients. Incredibly vegan friendly. Artisanal. Cozy. Warm and welcoming staff.

calvosan

Points +26

Vegan
26 Nov 2014

slow food / great food

Great service, nice little place for dinning, no rush, great service, and overall: marvelous food. I tried fetuccini and the soup of the day, both wonderful.

abhaya

Points +92

Vegan
02 Nov 2014

Homey restaurant with excellent food

The chef is amazing here. He creates so many delicious dishes.

wegan

Points +149

Vegan
26 May 2014

Great vegan food

We went on a Sunday for the family style menu. There were many courses including desert and everything was fabulous. There was a lot of food, even the omni----s were satisfied. It's listed as vegetarian but everything was vegan. It's $18 now and we'll worth it. I wish I lived closer.

Pros: Vegan, Large portions, Yummy

VeganMarr

Points +73

Vegan
22 Aug 2013

Colorful, charming little place, dinner only

I neglected to read that they aren't open for lunch & I was leaving the area thus didnt get to eat here, but the owner was there prepping & he was VERY nice & the place was adorable & the menu for the day looked divine, I was so sad to not get to eat there. Next time I am in northern CA I will make a point of having dinner there.

mark nicholson

Points +26

Vegan
01 Jun 2013

Satisfied!

They have a fixed price option where you can get soup/salad/entree/dessert for $22 or $20 if you chose between soup and salad. I ordered the full course last night and was at first underwhelmed by the soup. It was coconut/curry/mango/lentil which sounded great but really didn't have much coconut or curry flavor. Then I smelled something wonderful coming from the kitchen and they brought me out my bread which was in reality a whole pizza without the toppings - 1/2 was whole wheat and the other white - and it was topped in olive oil and garlic which accounted for the great smells!. Salad was nice but then they brought the entree which was a vegan ravioli with lots of fresh veggies and wild mushrooms (morels, etc.) It was delicious and huge. For dessert I chose a ginger/carrot cake covered with cherry soy ice cream, a chocolate sauce and fresh strawberries! Needless to say I left with a fully belly and a smile on my face. Rob, the waiter, was great, very friendly and more than willing to share info about the area.

The place has a simple, attractive ambiance and is in an old strip mall with some other interesting shops and right next to a Trader Joes.

I can definitely see this place being a weekend regular as that's when it's open and if I ate there more than that I'd get too fat!

Pros: generous portions, friendly, unpretentious, great food

vikram0228

Points +47

Vegetarian
19 May 2013

Amazing Veg Food

I have traveled to many countries all over the world. I have been vegetarian for the last 15 years and so we always seek veg restaurants. Julia's IS THE BEST...! GREAT AND AMAZING VEGETARIAN FOOD. GO THERE FOR THE FOOD.... NOT the ambiance or service (which is just okay)

Pros: amazing creative delicious food, organic & fresh ingredients, even their pizza is amazing

Cons: service is so so, ambiance is so so

1vegan

Points +149

Vegan
28 Mar 2013

wish this place was open everyday

Only open Fri, Sat, Sun

Pros: vegan, nice peeps, nice atmosphere

Cons: limited weekend hours

joanna240

Points +385

Vegan
27 Dec 2012

Best veg on the Monterey peninsula

Take locally-grown ingredients and combine them creatively -- it's a formula that delivers outstanding results for Julia's. Although their menu isn't huge, it offers a variety of choices. The night we visited, the options included faux chicken, a coconut rice curry, and cannelloni.

The restaurant has maybe a dozen tables and only one server. If you are in a hurry, it's not a good choice, but the place has got such a warm cozy ambiance that none of us minded the wait.

As others have mentioned, the prices are phenomenal for the area.

Located not far from Asilomar, it's a little off the well-worn Monterey Peninsula path, but if you're traveling to Carmel or the aquarium, probably won't take you more than 10-15 minutes to get to Julia's. It's located at the back of a strip of restaurants, and easy to miss at night, but worth the detour.

Pros: locally sourced ingredients, inexpensive, great vibe

Cons: leisurely service, a little hard to find

robertajoiner

Points +219

Vegan
26 Sep 2011

Fabulous dinner at Julia's!

We had the Sunday family style dinner last night and were blown away by the price ($15 each)' thebquantity and quality of food and complimentary wine served. The place was full by 6 pm; there is no menu just whatever they are serving. All vegan except if you want cheese optional. Sunday is the only night like this. We had a big salad and garlic flat bread with a tomato salsa topping and heirloom tomatoes (very light dressing with not too much oil); entree of 4 large enchiladas (some soy cheese inside but mostly veggies) atop a yellow rice; fresh fruit and then cherry soy ice cream with more fruit on top. We will definitely return here!

Pros: Healthy and tasty, Nice ambiance, Friendly proprietor

Cons: Limited private tables

hippublican

Points +286

Vegan
05 Sep 2011

A+

First off, the service was excellent. The best we've had since we've been in Monterey. We accidentally showed up nearly 20 minutes before opening, and we were still seated & immediately served water and wine. We even were served our appetizers early! They didn't have to be so accommodating, we were prepared to have to go wait in the car or walk around until opening time.
Secondly, the food was incredible. An appetizer, salad, entree & dessert, each dish better than the last! All of this, including the wine, for only $12 a person. Most places around here would charge way, way more than that.
I can definitely see this becoming a weekend ritual for us.

mlcats

Points +25

Vegetarian
19 Feb 2011

homestyle cooking

This is a gem of a restaurant. Its decor is folk art, it's atmosphere similar. It has a really 'homey' feel to it. You won't receive a menu! There is essentially one item on the menu, which is marginally modified. For example, when we went there was minestrone soup to which could be added rice for vegans or cheese ravioli for vegetarians. It was served with a focaccia type garlic bread with a red pesto and a beautiful salad. Tea, wine, beer was also on offer. To end was a vegan chocolate cake, but for us the minestrone was so hearty that dessert was an impossibility. The cook and waitress were so friendly, even serving my 5yo plain pasta (he's in that fussy stage - only bland will do). They were so patient with us. It was like being invited to someone's home for dinner. Highly, highly recommended. And the price? $35 for three big meals - incredible!

Pros: excellent food, healthy, friendly

Cons: choice




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