Elizabeth

Delicious blueberry ricotta pancakes and very generous portions! My mom visited twenty years ago and they are still cooking yummy breakfast/brunch for a great price. Convenient location with their own parking lot.

Natalie Vaysman

The food was delicious and fresh. Nice atmosphere and nice and fast service. Very recommended

Richard Allen

This is a great breakfast and lunch spot. It is, however, very popular. I utilized the waitlist option, online. Even though it indicated a 98-123 minute wait, when I checked in at the desk, upon arrival, they revised the time to 20-25 minutes. They have a pretty extensive menu to choose from. I opted for The DC Verde Omelette. My wife had the Blueberry and Ricotta cheese pancake. She got the double, which was perfect for taking half of it home, for a second meal. Both items were very good. Service was quick, especially given the fact they were extremely busy. Seating is available both inside and outside on a wind protected patio. They have a large parking lot in the rear of the building, with several handicap parking spaces. From the parking lot, there are no stairs to navigate in order to gain access to the restaurant.

Elena Castillo

My husband and I decided to take a day trip out to Monterey over the weekend. On the drive in, we came across this spot and decided to have breakfast here. I must say, this place is a must try. There was a line when we got there which was roughly around 8:30 but we got seated pretty quickly. We got our drinks right away, ordered our food (the prices are fair) which was at our table ready to eat within 10 minutes. Food was amazing. I had the Viva carnitas burrito (which was very filling) and my hubby had the Kicken chicken wrap (their salad marinade is simply delicious). We were in and out within 40 minutes which made it even nicer! I also want to add that the restaurant looks small on the outside but is very spacious on the inside! Enjoy!

Mark Bannach

Service is great , family owned , it's a real good diner with a really large menu with almost anything you can think of from pancakes to eggs Benedict with biscuits and gravy , fruit, ect..

STEVE

Place is awesome. I read one post that only gave 4 stars because they said there was not enough vegan options. Well if you want more vegan options go to a vegan restaurant. Us meat eaters don’t want that crap. Also you said the English muffin was buttered perfectly. What kind of vegan eats butter. Hypocrite. The wait was none, we were seated right away. The staff were excellent. The food was plentiful. I am going to go to a vegan restaurant and post that they don’t have enough real meat options. First Awakenings, your place and your food are awesome. And 40.00 for 2 people?? That is unheard of in Cali.

Amanda Reed

Saw this place on a YouTube review and had to try it based on the massive proportions and the good review. Hubby and I dined in for breakfast and it was fantastic. I ordered the biscuits and gravy, hubby had a daily special, habanero omelette: The bill was very reasonable as well. Can’t recommend this place enough.

Arturo López

Another of my favorite places for a full tasty breakfast in town. The staff is so sweet, the coffee is great and there's lots of parking space. The only thing that lacks is alcoholic drinks like mimosas, bellinis, etc.

+1

Adry Lazcano

Everything about this place is Perfect 👌. Great location, great outdoor and indoor seating, amazing Customer service! Food is always on top!!! My favorite place to go and take my favorite people 💕. I love the Works omelet and the Peach and granola Pancakes 🥞 😋. All the team members are Always making our day better!!!

Ernest

Great service with friendly smiles, delicious plates and gooooood coffee. My taste buds will crave the food once I get back home 200 miles away so I will be back soon.

Roxana P

As I visited during a busy time, I found the queueing system very effective and the waiting time was clearly communicated by staff. The service was great, friendly and welcoming. Pancakes are definitely worth trying and there are plenty of options to choose from but do not underestimate their size - they are bigger than pictures may make them look.

Terry Sung

When I travel, I make a point of seeking out the city’s most storied breakfast institutions. In Monterey, First Awakenings more than lived up to its reputation. Step through the door and you’re greeted by bright white walls and soaring ceilings—an airy, urban-clean space where chalkboard menus add just enough contrast to feel fresh rather than fussy. It’s the kind of room that puts you in a good mood before the coffee even arrives. I skipped the printed menu and went straight for a special posted at the entrance: the Crab Cake Benedict. As a Benedict devotee, I order some version of it almost everywhere I go, and this one impressed—crab-forward and well-seasoned, with cakes that held their shape yet stayed tender. It’s a rich plate, and those who are sensitive to oil might find it a touch indulgent, but never to a distracting degree. My daughter’s Chicken Apple Sausage Omelet was a standout in its own right. The gentle sweetness of the apple sausage, nicely browned, played beautifully against fresh vegetables for a bright, balanced bite. My wife and son opted for skillets, where the freshness of local produce really shone; the ingredients tasted clean and vivid, letting their natural flavors do the talking. By the end, it was easy to understand why First Awakenings remains one of the area’s most talked-about breakfast spots: a breezy, uplifting room; well-executed classics; and a few specials that feel genuinely worth the detour. A thoroughly enjoyable start to the day—and a worthy entry on any breakfast lover's itinerary

+1

Rosabell M.

This is our go to breakfast spot whenever we’re in Monterey. It’s a popular place, so there’s always a long wait, we always aim to get there around 7 a.m. to beat the crowds. The service is consistently friendly and attentive, and the food is very good. I had the eggs Benedict this time, and I love that they offer a half portion which is just the right amount for me, and it was absolutely delicious! We’ve tried a variety of dishes over time and everything has been great. Overall, we always have a fantastic experience here!

+6

Jamie Cox

We always look forward to the food and staff on our annual visit. Well technically two visits a year. Their blueberry pancakes and anything carnitas are our favorites. Honestly, I don’t believe they have a bad thing on their large menu. Enjoy!

Sandip Sinharay

We went there for lunch on a fateful Thursday in April, 2025. Fateful because Carl's Jr., a restaurant just opposite to First Awakenings burnt the same day--we found that after we went there. We found free street parking pretty close to the place. We ordered four dishes that came pretty soon. Service was excellent. More excellent was the food. Very tasty and plentiful. We ate, ate, and ate some more. We were so full and took home some. The prices were pretty reasonable for the quantity. Overall. we were very happy and would definitely go there again.

Dain Vossar (Galaxy Wanderer)

The Force was strong with this establishment, guiding me to a most satisfying breakfast experience. I chose the Triple Bogey, a meal fit for a Jedi Master—two eggs, two sausage links (though one may choose bacon if the path calls to them), and two slices of golden, fluffy French toast. To complete my feast, I added a side of home fries and a refreshing iced tea. Each element of the meal was prepared with precision, as if by the hand of a skilled Jedi cook. The eggs were balanced in the Force, neither overcooked nor underdone. The sausage was rich in flavor, and the French toast, golden and light, floated upon my plate like a speeder in midair. The staff, ever watchful yet unobtrusive, displayed the wisdom and attentiveness of seasoned Jedi Knights, ensuring my cup never ran dry and my needs were met before they were spoken. The atmosphere radiated warmth and harmony, making this establishment a sanctuary for those seeking nourishment and peace in the early hours.

+13

Perfect Fuel for the Monterey Bay Aquarium - Giant Blueberry Pancake & Top-Notch Eggs Benedict!\n\nWe had an amazing breakfast at First Awakenings in Pacific Grove--ideal spot right before heading to…

Perfect Fuel for the Monterey Bay aquarium - Giant blueberry pancake & Top-Notch Eggs Benedict!\n\nWe had an amazing breakfast at First Awakenings in Pacific Grove--ideal spot right before he…

Perfect Fuel for the Monterey Bay Aquarium - Giant Blueberry Pancake & Top-Notch Eggs Benedict!\n\nWe had an amazing breakfast at First Awakenings in Pacific Grove--ideal spot right before heading …

Perfect Fuel for the Monterey Bay Aquarium - Giant Blueberry pancake & Top-Notch Eggs Benedict!\n\nWe had an amazing breakfast at First Awakenings in Pacific Grove--ideal spot right before heading …

Outstanding service!!!! Great food and portion size! Comfortable, clean and friendly setting!

Outstanding service!!!! Great food and portion size! Comfortable, clean and friendly setting!

We used the Yelp app for reservations & got seated pretty quickly! We ordered the blue shroom omelette, sub fruit for potatoes, & eng muffin ($18.95), corned beef hash w/eggs overeasy ($17.85), day…

The food and service were amazing. Highly recommend making a reservation ahead of time.

Excellent service and excellent food! Definitely worth the wait. pancakes are huge! Vegan breakfast skillet was enough for two meals. Coffee in a carafe on the table for instant refills. Perfect!

The service and breakfast was very good! I recommend this restaurant! The wait can be long, but just text and your wait will be shorter! Great Omelette and price is reasonable!

Excellent food! Consistently good. Best pancakes ever. Good friendly service with reasonable prices. Amazing omelettes. Great selection of breakfast options!

Delicious food, great service and clean restaurant! It's a must every time we visit. Portions are huge!

My wife and I had specialty omelets - very fresh ingredients and flavorful. They were busy on Sunday afternoon, but were well staffed and food came out quickly. Highly recommend

My wife and I had specialty omelets - very fresh ingredients and flavorful. They were busy on Sunday afternoon, but were well staffed and food came out quickly. Highly recommend

Was expecting to wait long but we were seated right away. Delicious Crab Benedicts, pancakes and fruit of bowl. Perfect location, friendly staff. Also, love the plants every window and the outdoor…

Was expecting to wait long but we were seated right away. Delicious Crab Benedicts, pancakes and fruit of bowl. Perfect location, friendly staff. Also, love the plants every window and the outdoor…

Was expecting to wait long but we were seated right away. Delicious Crab Benedicts, pancakes and fruit of bowl. Perfect location, friendly staff. Also, love the plants every window and the outdoor…

Amazing breakfast. So much good choices of healthy and not so healthy. Really good coffee. Lovely staff. Had to wait for table but well worth it.

Amazing breakfast. So much good choices of healthy and not so healthy. Really good coffee. Lovely staff. Had to wait for table but well worth it.

Amazing breakfast. So much good choices of healthy and not so healthy. Really good coffee. Lovely staff. Had to wait for table but well worth it.

Amazing breakfast. So much good choices of healthy and not so healthy. Really good coffee. Lovely staff. Had to wait for table but well worth it.

The breakfast menu is fantastic. Lot's of healthy choices. They offer 4 different types of oatmeal which is one of my favorites. They kept our coffee cups full and service was always with a smil…

The breakfast menu is fantastic. Lot's of healthy choices. They offer 4 different types of oatmeal which is one of my favorites. They kept our coffee cups full and service was always with a smil…

The breakfast menu is fantastic. Lot's of healthy choices. They offer 4 different types of oatmeal which is one of my favorites. They kept our coffee cups full and service was always with a smil…

Best Calimari steak in Monterey. I can't speak about the other options, because we go for the Calimari, but friends/family have told us that the pancakes are awesome too. Great service. It gets …

The spicy chicken burger are juicy to have. Also try their fries which will taste natural and wont be like some other artificial one where we usually get. Also try their milkshake varieties which is good to have for milkshake lovers. The staffs are also quite nice.

I tried their new sliders mini hamburgers and it was delicious ! It came with small fries, small soda and a chocolate cookie

Sandwiches look like the photos!!! Tasty and not greasy. Dining area and bathroom could have been cleaner.

I wanted something with mushrooms but there wasn't anything. So I asked for a recommendation. They said the Gauc Burger. I don't eat bacon 🥓 and don't love avocado 🥑 so I asked for that removed and guacamole reduced. Asked them if the burger would still be good and he said yes. So I ordered and... Yup. It was amazing. Not only was the food great but the kind service was everything.

ThanhHa H.

Typically very busy on weekends but we walked in around 9am on a Friday and were able to obtain a table for 2 without any delay. Extensive breakfast menus! Very tasty and delicious omelettes served with crunchy buttery english muffins. Generous portions and expedient service.

+3

Audrey Morales

Great food, I got the biscuits and gravy and the hot cocoa! The wait can be long depending on when you go, and where you want to sit. Make sure to bundle up because you may have to wait outside in the brisk beach weather or eat outside. The good news is they have heated benches and warmers outside. Service was really good, receiving our check was very slow, but they were very busy so it’s understandable. Business speaks volumes of their service and quality of food. I’ll be coming back!

Maddye Aguirre

Food:10/10 Service:2/10 Ambiance:10/10 For starters, this place was great. The wait was not bad since I had added myself to the list an hour before arrival, so when I got there I only had to wait 15 minutes. The ambiance is good, although it gets crowded you won't feel it since the weather is fresh. Moreover, the one thing that ruined this whole experience at this new food place was the service. After they bring your food the staff will completely disappear, I mean is not a surprise since the majority of the staff are teenagers. There was at least 1 staff that came to check if everything was to our liking and our guess was he was either the owner or manager but to repeat myself that happened only 1 time. For this place to be the jewel of Monterey Bay, they have to tell their staff to constantly check on clients with the most friendly smile IF THEY WANT TIPS. My husband had asked me if we should leave tips, at least $10; my response to him was hell no.

10 out of 10 recommended this place for breakfast. I usually always get the Country Fried Streak... Get that. My wife and I tried something new today.... NEVER TRY SOMETHING NEW. We didnt enjoy the A…

10 out of 10 recommended this place for breakfast. I usually always get the Country Fried Streak... Get that. My wife and I tried something new today.... NEVER TRY SOMETHING NEW. We didnt enjoy the…

Still a great breakfast spot. We have been coming for years. Great portions and lots of choices. It is hard to choose. I had a veggie omelet that was cooked to perfection. The potatoes were a bit old…

Still a great breakfast spot. We have been coming for years. Great portions and lots of choices. It is hard to choose. I had a veggie omelet that was cooked to perfection. The potatoes were a…

Still a great breakfast spot. We have been coming for years. Great portions and lots of choices. It is hard to choose. I had a veggie omelet that was cooked to perfection. The potatoes were a bit o…

Great service. Big portions and good food! The skillet was yummy. The waffle big and fluffy. The he vegetarian sausages were a bit overpriced for what they are but they went well on the food! \n Al…

Great service. Big portions and good food! The skillet was yummy. The waffle big and fluffy. The he vegetarian sausages were a bit overpriced for what they are but they went well on the food! \n Al…

The food here is great, I absolutely love the blueberry pancakes! Our waitress was very friendly, and I appreciate how they split the food on separate plates if you are sharing with someone else. \…

The food was good and they kept the water and coffee flowing. Waitress noticed when our cream ran out and refilled it right away. We made a reservation through yelp and we were sat a little after o…

I was hopeful because the restaurant is bright and clean. We loved the outdoor deck with heaters and heated benches. The service was great. Portions were absolutely huge so bring your appetite or a…

Wife and I tried this breakfast/lunch spot on our recent trip to Monterey/PG. Very easy to get to (right up the street from the aquarium and cannery row), and good parking. If you go in the 8am to …

Wife and I tried this breakfast/lunch spot on our recent trip to Monterey/PG. Very easy to get to (right up the street from the aquarium and cannery row), and good parking. If you go in the 8am t…

Wife and I tried this breakfast/lunch spot on our recent trip to Monterey/PG. Very easy to get to (right up the street from the aquarium and cannery row), and good parking. If you go in the 8am to …

the apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes. First Awakening is a nice restaurant. I like how friendly the atmosphere is. I tried the apple cinnamon oatmeal pancakes. Those were good.

Busy restaurant but worth the wait. Nothing fancy, just good home cooked meal. They have indoor and outdoor seating, clean bathrooms and friendly service. They will leave a coffee pot on the tab…

Busy restaurant but worth the wait. Nothing fancy, just good home cooked meal. They have indoor and outdoor seating, clean bathrooms and friendly service. They will leave a coffee pot on the tab…

Lovely spacious environment, free parking for 2 hours outside. Inside or outside seating, attentive staff and an extensive menu choice. Great for vegetarians also. The food was fantastic.. huge por…

Found out this place through a friend. Jeanne’s eggs Benedict were super, my Calamari steak and eggs were super. Coffee kept coming, service and restrooms were great. parking good

Burger was juicy and tasty. Bathroom was dirty and freezing (no heat in there). The restaurant wasn't very clean.

I’ve always loved this Carl’s Jr location. The employees are super friendly and always deliver to your table, which is great for fast food. My most recent visit I got to see the “remodeling” they did to the interior. They made a great store completely inferior. All the comfortable seating has been replaced with dark tables and chairs. They managed to cut the dining room in half and lose 70% of their seating. There are large areas with no seats. There is no music inside at all. Super disappointing, it’s like eating in a jail cell. There are no power outlets, the year is 2024 and they are creating a space that is inferior to the Starbucks across the street. The Carls Jr 5 miles away went through a refresh recently too. They added small couches to the eating area and bright inviting colors. This Carl’s Jr did a disservice to their store by making it wholly inferior. If they can bring better seating to the dining room and music back we may see it get better. But for now I no longer will make this a stop in my journey lv.

Good service. Avocado toast looked good but looks can be deceiving. The bread was not toast and it was so garlicky and salty. The french toast was very cafeteria and no real syrup. My guess is that…

Disappointed - reminded me of IHOP. The food was Ok and the surroundings were noisy . It was recommended by friends and reviews but did not live up to the hype.

Disappointed - reminded me of IHOP. The food was Ok and the surroundings were noisy . It was recommended by friends and reviews but did not live up to the hype.

17 bucks for santa fe chicken combo with fried zuchini. I had to throw some of it out because it was gross. The zucchini must have been sitting under a heat lamp for hours, please see the pictures. The sandwich was OK. The diet coke tasted a bit like chemicals. Like anyone in the drivethru at lunch, I don't have the time to go back. This would be a lot of money for a sandwich and fried zucchini even if it was of high quality but this has to be the worst Carl's Jr food I have ever had. I was swindled. 17 bucks for this. It's my fault for going to a chain fast food place in downtown PG\Monterey when there are so many restauraunts around where 17 bucks will go very far. I will avoid this place from now on.

Building 🏢 has extensive fire 🔥 damage, not currently open. Interesting that the owner followup wants a url filled out to see why the dissatisfaction occurred. Google still says the business is opened, local news 📰 shared the fire damage and closure, owner should be more in touch with the business and read the feedback, and mark it as temporarily closed so folks don't waste time going there. Update, saw the business is now temporarily closed on Gmaps.

Today, this Carls lost a customer. I’ll drive farther to get their awesome food. Their food is pricey, sure, but the quality is worth it. However, my drive through person today was in a bad mood and gave me the follow f chocolate shake filled up only half way through. When I asked her to fill it up, she said that was all I was getting Wow!

Today’s Update: Today, The Carl’s Jr was now demolished because of that fire on Last April, I’m sorry guys to here that, but now this restaurant is now closed!

I ordered a Diablo burger triple and with a sprite and fries large and the lady I don't know how gave me a western burger. And on top of that I order a 6 piece jalapeño poppers and still she ask me 6 or 8 piece and she never added them to my order. We were in a hurry and didn't check the receipt till we got to our destination.im disappointed for the service given to us In this carls jr