The Sur House, at Ventana Big Sur, serves award winning cuisine in an awe-inspiring setting. The restaurant’s warm, rustic interior opens onto its legendary terrace where panoramic views of the ocean and rugged Big Sur coastline stretch for more than 50 miles. The cuisine makes use of the abundance of California’s Central Coast with local, simple, sustainable ingredients, including items from Ventana’s own organic garden.
Private Dining
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Safety precautions
- Surfaces sanitized between seatings
- Common areas deep cleaned daily
- Digital, disposable or sanitized menu provided
- Sanitizer or wipes provided for customers
- Sealed or wrapped utensils used
- Limited number of seated diners
- Distancing maintained in common areas
- Extra space between tables
- Waitstaff wear masks
- Diners must wear masks unless eating or drinking
- Sick staff prohibited in the workplace
Popular dishes
Shrimp Lettuce Wraps*
thai vinaigrette, hemp seed, heirloom cucumber, coriander
1 reviews
Carrot Cake
cream cheese mousse, bourbon-caramel walnuts
1 reviews
Big Sur Smash Burger*
Flannery Farms beef or plant-based burger, smokehouse sauce, griddled onions lettuce, tomato, pickles, smoked cheddar, fries
1 reviews
Wonderful dinner with complex flavor combos. The chef's tasting menu was delicious as it was creative. Unobstructed view of the Pacific Ocean make it an extra special spot
Incredible in many ways. Not very sophisticated when it comes to wine. I dropped a bottle of 2010 Justin Isocoles RESERVE.....2 Hours before our reservation asking them to decant NOW to open up the bottle. When we got there the waiter shows up at the table with the UNOPENED bottle !!!! It was not decanted. They did not realize that a 10 yr old Bordeaux style wine needs opened and decanted???? They were very apologetic but sheez the price of that place should have somewhat more accommodating wine service and knowledge. Ambiance great, food tremendous....wine knowledge and service ???????
We dined at Sur House on two consecutive nights during our anniversary stay at Ventana.
On the first night, we ordered a bottle of Ridge Montebello Chardonnay at $165. When the wine was brought to our table it was a bottle of Ridge Chardonnay ($50 retail). We were told the Montebello was out but this was the same at the same price. Knowing that was not the case, I told them to take it back. Moments later they brought out the Montebello Chardonnay that they supposedly were out of. The manager lurked in the background and wouldn't talk to us. This was clearly an attempt at fraud bait and switch.
We shouldn't have gone back the second night, but we were tired and decided it was a one time thing. We both ordered their most expensive dish, a $85 rib eye special. When our main was served it clearly was not a ribeye, but a sirloin. We pointed this out and they took it back to the kitchen and then brought it back and said the ribeye was out. A second bait and switch.
This place is dramatically overpriced in every way with questionable quality and clearly looking to rip off their customers. Do not go here! Repeat, do not go here!
We have been to the Sur House many times over the years; we love sitting on the deck outside having great food and great drinks, chatting with people at the next tables.
For this visit we were sent quite a few emails confirmations to make sure that we were coming, and we replied of course.
The food was great and the service was very attentive.
But when we arrived, after a 3 hour drive from the Bay Area, we were told that the outside deck "was not open". That was one of the main reasons we come so we can sit outside while we eat and drink. And also...the bar was closed! That would have been good information to know before we committed.
We were quite disappointed this information was not transparently provided to us and that our 6 hours of driving was not worth the trip to the Sur House, in our opinion.
We love the Sur House. The view is amazing. The food is delicious. It is amazing place to sit and enjoy the scenery while eating a nice lunch. We had an excellent visit and look forward to our next visit when they reopen after shelter in place is lifted. We miss The Sur House.
Wonderful!!
Service was wonderful and so was the food! The ambiance was perfect for my friend’s birthday
Food fresh and deck was serene. Service was competent but not refined. Wine list was jaw droppingly expensive.
The wait staff needs better management and organization. We made a reservation and when we arrived there was only 1 table available which was given to us with no options. Within the next 5 minutes, 4 tables with views became available but we couldn't move to one of them since we had already been seated. I would've gladly waited 5 minutes for the view table. When are food came, our waiter asked if we wanted "share plates." We said yes. We never received the share plates. Our water glasses sat empty for 15 minutes. I ordered a 2nd glass of wine which came 15 minutes later when we were getting ready to leave. The food was good and a pretty spot, but the service was not in line with expectations.
Me and my girls had diet restrictions and we went on Valentine’s Day weekend where they strictly had a set menu. They still made an accommodation for us to make exactly what we requested. Great service with tasty, tasty food.
We do a lot of fine dining and I would not recommend The Sur House to anyone. The cost is fine dining but the service and quality of food is far from it.
Food quality and preparation were excellent. Service was very good. Outdoor breakfast with an outstanding view of the Pacific was unforgettable.
Great alternative if you are dining in Big Sur. Upscale California dishes.
Excellent service great ambience beautiful view… but not impressed with the food.
Live piano music was better than recorded but far too close to our table. Part of a great dining experience is to be able to converse with others in the party.... music made that impossible. Also wine captain has a strong accent and with the loud music there was no way to understand her recommendations. Help!
Wonderful meal and experience. Definitely recommend!
Great view from the terrace lunch, and pretty good food and service.
This place isn’t the same place and quality!
Lousy service and food wasn’t very good but the view and ambiance was epic..We will be back again to give the SUR House another try
Best hamburger with a view in all of California!!
Have visited this peaceful and perfect property for our engagement, Anniversay and the new year celebration! Always a joy and service, food, view and experience is perfect.
The view incredible. Food nothing special at all. Talking at tables were too loud to enjoy the ambiance.
The location is stunning, but the food isn’t especially notable. It is attractively presented, but it looks better than it tastes. Service is good.
Services is good, the view is awesome. But something happened and it took an hour for us to get the food.They gave us a huge discount on our order due to the mistakes. But sadly, we missed the time to view the McWay Fall due to its too dark when we get there (5:30pm) And if the food didn’t take an hour, we will for sure get to see the fall. Now, we need to have another trip to see the fall.
Ventana's restaurant is very expensive, but the food is so phenomenal that you won't regret splurging. This particular night we selected the Chef's Prix fixe meal with wine pairings, and were not disappointed. The wines were perfect for each course, and each course was more delicious and beautifully plated than the one before. Our waiter was lovely and informative, the staff kept our water glasses filled, and we could not have been happier.
Among the options one has to eat out there in Big Sur, this probably deserves a 5/5 rating. But overall, there was much room for improvement in the food quality. Mostly it just lacked pizzaz across the board. Cocktails were overly sweet and not complex. The mussels in the hot appetizer section had AMAZINGLY PLUMP high quality mussels but the sauce was overwhelming and oddly chunky and thick. The cod with beets entree was perfectly cooked but just lacked anything to write home about and the whole beets just seemed like whole beets. All this aside, there was a high point in the chicken liver mousse -- maybe one of my favorite ways I've had it ever.
This was a very expensive meal and the food was completely underwhelming. The caviar and presentation was just average. We waited almost 40 minutes for our salads to arrive after finishing our caviar - had to ask the waiter for them. The salads were mostly tasteless frisee and over dressed with a too sweet dressing. The rib eye was ordered medium rare and was pretty much raw - it was blue, not pink or red - and was tepid in temperature. While Branzino is typically served as a whole fish, this one was a half filet that was already de-boned and was not as moist and succulent as one would expect, but instead was almost seared on the open side of the filet. It was served on abed of mashed potatoes that were seriously over salted.
Nice restaurant with nice view .
Staff is friendly and professional
We chose this restaurant for the view and were a little disappointed when it rained and we were forced to eat indoors but we were placed by a window and the view was spectacular, in spite of the rain. The food was lovely and the service was prompt and attentive.
Sent soup back, apple chestnut- too sweet
Ordered mussels- too spicy
Not many choices on menu- limited
Bartender was not helpful & rude
We had a wonderful time. Such a beautiful, quiet romantic place. The avocado toast that we shared as an appetizer was the best I’ve ever had! I also loved the chicken liver pate - it was so creamy! My husband loved the pasta with crab and my branzino was perfect! It was the culminating meal after 4 days in Big Sur. Could not have been a better ending!
We Had a Great Lunch..I had the Halibut..My friend had the Burger we started with Calamari and Carrot Cake for Desert. We Left Happy after Sitting in Heaven with that View.
Lunch ran around $120 but it was Worth it. The Service Was Great..Everyone checked on Us.
Really Enjoyable Sunday in the 70’s on the Deck.
You can't beat the view! Great food, great ambiance.
Solid service and good food. Ventana has their own garden to grow seasonal produce. Come back for lunch or at sunset for the stunning view.
We had a wonderful time. The staff was warm and friendly and knowledgeable about the various options. Well worth the trip!
Food was barely average and service staff were nice but forgetful and inattentive. Many staff appeared untrained.
Beautiful views, excellent service. Wine list amazing; food, not so much. Even the tables around us were commenting that the food was marginal compared to the setting. Too bad because my expectations were not met.
Incredible views, amazing food and outstanding service. We will be back!
Hidden gem! Great food, amazing wine list, breathtaking view... the only down side is it's not easy to get to.
A wonderful way to spend my birthday! The ambience and view of the sunset was beautiful. The food was delicious.
Amazing views!
FAQs
The Sur House is rated 4.4 stars by 358 OpenTable diners.
Yes, you can generally book this restaurant by choosing the date, time and party size on OpenTable. Due to local restrictions, this restaurant may not be accepting reservations at the moment.