Great location-beautiful venue- outstanding view. The service was really good, the lunch was great. Just a terrific place to visit. The new patio is spacious, comfortable, and the view of the Big Sur coast is fabulous. Highly recommended.
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Beautiful spot. Staff and management not super accommodating

We were celebrating our 41st wedding anniversary in Pacific Grove over a 4 day weekend. We frequent there a lot. We came to Sur House for an early lunch on our anniversary day, having had dinner plans already set for that evening back in Monterey.

In hind sight, we both agreed we would have loved diner with you more.

That simply offers us an opportunity to return someday sooner. We shared photos with family and friends while on-site, encouraging all of them to visit you as well.

Thank you for a marvelous atmosphere, awesome meal, great attentive service and quiet time together.

John & Cindy

Lovely setting - great for bfast but lacking for dinner. They try hard, but just not there for this level of hotel/restaurant with such high prices.

Most amazing view outside. Waitstaff a delight; and the food was delicious.

Wow! Speechless... hard to describe the view, so beautiful. Food is terrific, very friendly staff.

Will go back.

My wife and I were staying at the Ventana Inn for our wedding anniversary and had dinner at the Sur House our first night. The restaurant is beautiful, the service was great and the food was delicious! We have eaten at the restaurant before and were happy to see the expanded menu with the new chef. The cocktails before dinner were very good too! I also recommend the restaurant for breakfast. We had three wonderful breakfasts during our stay. We will be back!

Wonderful fabulous view, average food, slow service. We were there on a hot day, they had shade but no fans. We were served hot wine and had to return. With the right weather and service it has the potential to be a great restaurant.

The manager is very rude and not good at working with clients.

Wonderful setting. Everything we ate was fabulous. Highly recommend the Indian summer special cocktail, green gazpacho soup, Tuna tartar, & the salmon entree. Server was very attentive at first but dropped off later in the evening. We weren’t ask about wine with our w trees until mid way through. We will be back!!!!

Amazing views, great food!

Beautiful views.

Our lunches were very good. The service we received was excellent. Everyone was so nice! We wished we had scheduled a later lunch because the terrace was closed due to foggy conditions — it was opened about 45 min after we arrived.

I have always loved this restaurant, particularly eating on the patio on a sunny day. Unfortunately, even though the sun was breaking through the clouds and there were at least two groups sitting at tables outside, our hostess said that they weren't serving outside. Then within 30 minutes they were seating lots of parties outside, but by that time our food had come. In the past, the menus had been California/Mediterranean inspired food. However, the new chef seems to have decided to go with more spicy Cajun flavors. I have just recovered from throat surgery and chose to order the swordfish over soba noodles with a plum chutney that I was assured wasn't spicy (as almost everything else on the menu was (e.g. jalapenos on the burger). However, when the dish came I noticed some orange dusting on the fish, which in turned out was cayenne pepper. I was unable to eat the meal. Very disappointed as this has always been one of my go-to places in Big Sur.

Everything was excellent from our cocktails to each item we had on the tasting menu were outstanding. The entire wait staff including the host, our waiter and the bussing staff were attentive and not overbearing. Ambiance was perfect. We highly recommend this restaurant. An unexpected gem. We will definitely be back.

This place is truly magical—where the clouds meet the mountains. 1st visited 24 years ago on our honeymoon and it was as fabulous now as it was then. The food is absolutely superb, staff was gracious and attentive. Outdoor lanai area was unfortunately too cloudy/foggy at noon to soak in the views we remembered but that didn’t takeaway from our dining experience.

1 year wedding anniversary.

The views from this restaurant are unbeatable & breathtaking. The food was also delicious. We made the drive from Carmel to Big Sur & had lunch here & we are so glad we did!

It was amazing.

This place is off the charts. Their amazing staff has given us a perfect experience every single time we have been here. Not to be missed.

Stunning view and good food. The service was a bit overeager and intrusive.

Food was excellent... service impeccable... ambience RIDICULOUSLY romantic. Maybe the most beautiful place I’ve eaten dinner. Loved it!!!

Sur House located at the Ventana resort in Big Sur is an upscale restaurant with both indoor and outdoor seating. Only outside seating was available on the summer evening we dined. It is a pricey place ($90 for a four course meal) but well worth the price. The sweeping view of Big Sur is spectacular. Wait staff are attentive and very pleasant. Great wine list. You won't forget dining here.

Chef does not understand how to cook New York strip or pork loin. Had to send it back. Overdone. Service was excellent. Ambiance is hard to beat.

I hosted a father's day lunch at the restaurant with five adults, a toddler, and two puppies. Service was atrocious, culture appalling, beverage service was a joke and food was only "eh" as well its quality being severely diminished by the amount of time it baked on the table in direct sun while you waited for the tools required to eat it--forks, knives, sauce spoons. Big picture...it is to be avoided at all costs! It gets a star for the amazing view, it is very nice to have something relaxing to look at when you are fuming on the inside that your $500 meal is turned into a full on fiasco by management who don't show up, an inexperienced waitress, and an untrained beverage director. Another star for being pet friendly, again you might need an emotional support animal!

My tips for those looking to enjoy Big Sur but now find yourselves looking for someplace other than Ventana--head to Nepenthe, same stunning view, more reasonable prices, less fancy but more chill vibe, plus they can poor a glass of wine without incident. River Inn doesn't have the view but a cold beverage while sitting in a river it a great time.

For Ventana's management....this review was to shed light on *your* (yes, the GM and the management team) shortcomings more than so single out specific staff member or incident. Ventana seems to be a broken place and you are irresponsibly running it in to the ground. The service was poor because the leadership, training, and on the ground management is poor. Ventana had been on our family's list for a long time, but sadly you disappointed us deeply. It might be best for the region if you give up that beautiful spot and invite a management firm to come in who can do it justice.

Our server and accompanying staff were amazing. The food was delicious and the venue exception. Our visit exceeded our expectations. We are already planning on returning and bringing visiting family and friends.

Everything I imagined and more - excellent experience and can’t wait to return.

Nice outdoor patio seating, although view of ocean is very limited.
We had lunch, great wine choices by the glass, but both of our food choices were disappointing, nothing memorable, especially for the price.

Last week, we drove down to the Sur House for lunch to celebrate my wife’s birthday. It was a lovely late spring day. Make no mistake this place is expensive. (Almost $30 for mains, $25 for sandwiches/burgers; $80-90 for fixed price dinner.) But is it worth it? First, the food is excellent. Vegetables and herbs are grown on property which makes for wonderfully fresh-tasting cuisine. My cioppino had outstanding broth; my wife’s swordfish was on a delicious bed of couscous. Second, on a delightfully sunny day, sitting on the lovely deck looking out over the Pacific and enjoying wine and food, you would think that you were in heaven.

There are some negatives. First, we felt that the protein content was a bit skimpy on both lunches. Second, if it’s one of those Big Sur foggy days there will be no amazing view to enjoy and not worth the drive. Finally, don’t expect any recognition of your special occasion by the restaurant or staff. Even a cupcake with a birthday candle would have been nice, especially after spending $100+ for lunch.

First the view is gorgeous. The food was excellent. I had the bison second course and salmon for my main. Thomas the manager takes great pride in the satisfaction of his guests. I would highly recommend this place if you are in the Big Sur area.

Fantastic view, food and service. Will go back again!

Terrible service. Very disappointing for this level of restaurant. Post Ranch is far better.

Nice relaxing restaurant while staying at the Ventana Resort. Waiter and staff very attentive. Will definitely return.

Dining on the terrace on a sunny day is a top restaurant experience. The food is delicious and attractive, and the service excellent. However, we find the menu very limited. Far too many of the dishes have a spicy, Mexican ingrediants that are not to our taste. My husband ordered the shrimp cocktail and we told the waiter we didn't want anything spicey, so he suggested no cocktail sauce - the shrimp came powdered with hot pepper!
The menu overall lacks enough variety of style and taste. The swordfish is delicious, but it is the only fish offered, month after month, and this gets boring. They really should have a rotating catch of the day. The choice of salads is very limited. For someone on a low carb diet, there is very little choice.

The waiter was great!! Ambiance was spectacular but food was ok for the price we paid.

Food, service, ambiance excellent - very disappointed in wine selections and I’ve had larger pours at wine tastings.

Food was adequate, first and second course both pleased the pallet. The Main course was well portioned and dessert, I never really had a sweet tooth. We came here for a special occasion and what won me over was the staff. Upon revealing my plan to propose, the staff laid it all out for us. Closed the viewing deck, turned on the pits and under a starry night, popped the big question. Champagne was waiting for us afterward along with our dessert. Hers was great but like I said the staff was amazing to making a memorable night.

The view is spectacular and the service is lovely. I do think the prices are a little dear, although the food is tasty.

They need a lot better bread, IMHO.

A spectacular restaurant in a magnificent place. Best to dine after 1 pm to improve the odds of sunshine. Lunch with friends with an ocean view was sublime.

For an expectant very high end dinner, the food was ok. Probrably as good as a regular diner. Specialty drinks were nothing special and not drinkable. Service was good and they were on top of patron’s needs. In a word underwelming, and over rated.