Tillie Gort’s Cafe

Not good. Not so bad to make you puke, but worse than like a Denny’s, and that’s pretty bad.
I went for breakfast today. Got the Tillie’s Frittata Skillet. Not a frittata and not a skillet. Like a really bad omelette. Burnt eggs, overly greasy and cheesy, and just no flavor. Potatoes were horrible for a breakfast place — like they were boiled and then added oil. That’s not breakfast potatoes. And undercooked. And no salt.
If you can’t do eggs and potatoes, don’t serve breakfast folks.
The coffee was good, so that’s a consolation. But I’d never go again. Hate to give a bad review, but others shouldn’t waste their money here until this place can make some serious changes.

Pretty gross! I had a Tofu scramble that had more onions than tofu plus ultra greasy. The potatoes seems like they were steamed then covered in oil. No crispy breakfast potatoes at this place. On top of it there was a mean note from the owner taped to the dessert case to staff. I can’t stand restaurants were low paid workers are treated poorly. Never again will I eat at this place and as a vegan I was highly disappointed as there are few choices for a good vegan breakfast in Monterey.

ehh not so good. Went with my husband the other day while visiting the area. This place is grungy. I had vegan pancakes which were heavy and gross and the syrup jar was gooey and sticky and seemed like it hasn’t been cleaned in a long time. My husband had a tofu scramble which he said was ok, potatoes were really greasy. Coffee was gross. We wouldn’t go here again. Stop a few doors down and go to happy girl kitchen company.

The place is warm and friendly. The service was a little slow, but I wasn’t in a rush. So why only 3 stars? The food was good and solid, but lacked any real complexity of flavors. It reminded me of something I’d whip up at home. So I wasn’t blown away. Good place, and maybe if I’d tried something else my experience would have been different.

A nice and casual dinning spot.
We stopped in for breakfast and were pleasantly surprised by the friendly and efficient service. The food was good and satisfying. Not fancy, just good food. Like something you might get at grandmas house and they had some great vegetarian options.
Its one of those places that you could go to again and again, that you could make home. Highly suggested for casual dinning.

I’ve driven past this place for years without stopping. Today my 7 year old and I walked here after visiting the Aquarium. I wish we had kept walking.
My first clue to turn around and leave was the fact that it was 12:15 and there were no customers in the place. The woman who greeted us was ok, not overly friendly but not rude. There’s 1 star.
I ordered the Turkado with butternut soup. My daughter asked for pasta with marinara. The Turkado came in a pita and was so slathered with mayo or sauce or something, I couldn’t taste anything else. The soup was good, another star.
I noticed my daughter took one bite of pasta and declared she was full. Translation, she didn’t like it. Normally, I insist she eat some of her food. Today I tried it before I nagged. Glad I did. It was the nastiest tasting pasta I had ever had! I don’t know what was in it but ew.
As noted by another reviewer, there is no hot water in the bathroom. Another ew.
With tip, our lunch cost $ 28 and I had to take my daughter to Taco Bell for lunch. I love to support small business but I won’t be back to this place.

Wow just wow! One happy vegan here.
I had the Monterey mix with lentil soup it was amazing.
My boyfriend who loves meat got a hamburger and loved it.
Awesome service, our waitress was awesome and sweet.
The food is just amazing and I am so happy they have vegan options.
Pretty small, cute place. May be hard to find parking but we didn’t mind walking.
Definitely one of our new favorite spots and we drive from Salinas.

I love that I can come to a place that I have so many options of things to eat being a vegetarian… not to mention this place makes you feel comfortable with friendly faces, a chill atmosphere, and always delicious food.

WORST restaurant experience ever!!! Our first time here with our family for Valentines breakfast. They messed up our order once and we were understanding so they brought it back and it was messed up a second time and tried arguing with my husband, we had to take apart the burrito to prove it was wrong. They never apologized and then forgot our waters also. Our waiter forgot the bacon also. So my husband was watching us eat. Worst service ever. No one checked to see how we were. Waitress said we have to understand she the only server,“in the meantime manager doing side work and not helping and very rude. don’t waste your money and time. After the service and okay food we will never come back here again! HORRIBLE! It’s amazing there still in business had better experience at Carl’s jr.

First time here, came across it on Unilocal.
I’m not a vegan or vegetarian but I do love vegan/​vegetarian dishes.
Came for breakfast with a friend… we shared the banana pancakes and traditional Benedict. Pleasantly good! It was REALLY difficult to decide what to order because EVERYTHING on the menu sounded delicious. Seriously can’t wait to come back and order something else!
On my way out my eye caught the cake selection which was A) looked absolutely amazing and B) was vegan! I am coming back to get a slice of all of them lol.
The service was good, not super warm/​friendly, but not horrible. Being the only table in their though I would think they’d focus more on smiling?
Also nice to support a local restaurant that’s been around for over 50 years!

This was my second visit here and just like the first it was amazing! Fast and friendly service. Big menu selection and lots of vegan options! (Vegan here!) They always offer a vegan soup along with a non vegan daily option.
It’s great for groups or to eat alone. They also have a wide variety of coffees and teas!
Enjoy!

There are many vegetarian and vegan options so that alone merits some credit on the Monterey Peninsula, which sadly, doesn’t seem to have many options for us. We had two different soups and both were good: a vegetarian soup and a mushroom soup. Both tasted fresh and good. My partner got a hummus sandwich in pita bread, which was fine, but there was too much hummus and it made the sandwich sloppy and drowned out any other flavors. I had a veggie wrap sandwich that was tasty. There were many other options and the prices were affordable. The service was less than friendly and that is the main reason I am giving only four stars.

Happened upon this little place a couple weeks ago while cruising thru Carmel. Needed some non-​camping food (as that was all we had been eating) and a hot cup of coffee, and Tillie’s came through!
Had a lovely avocado benny and several cups of coffee with my dog and better half. The food was delicious and I was overwhelming amazed at the variety of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free options on their menu. I am not overly needing in these regards, but love when I find places that care about people’s differing needs. And I suspect they do it well, as the food I had was delicious and the proprietor was a lovely man who took excellent care of us, and helped us plot out our trip down the coast.
Several regulars trotted in and out while we drank our several cups of coffee, which tells me they have a nice little local following. Cruising thru Carmel? Check ‘em out!

Tillie Gort’s Café is an eclectic bohemian style café that’s been in Pacific Grove since 1969. I’ve been to Tillie Gort’s a few times and have found it to be one of those hit and miss types of places. My vegan daughter goes fairly often and has a couple of favorites, which are the Monterey mix sandwich and the coconut granola pancakes. On my last visit I had the vegetarian paella. Unfortunately for me, one who does not really enjoy bell peppers, the paella was full of them and they overpowered the other vegetables. The vegan cakes (chocolate, carrot, and orange) are great when they are fresh and dry when they aren’t. During our last visit my daughter was frustrated that although the menu says that a vegan soup is always available, neither of the two soups being served that day were vegan. On a good note, it was very cold that day and I ordered tea. The hot water for the tea was served in a tea pot that was nestled on a tray with a preheated mug and it really helped warm me up. The service is ok. Not really good, not bad, just ok.

We had breakfast there. The food is made from local, organic, & sustainable ingredients, which is important to me. It is also vegetarian or vegan. They had a lot of variety on the menu. I wanted the acai bowl but they were out of the berries so settled for cinnamon raisin French toast, which was very good and a large portion. My dining companions all split their meals and there was plenty for everyone. My companions commented that they thought the food was very good. The coffee was OK, not stellar. I recommend this place.

I have no idea why this restaurant has such a low review. The food was great we had eggs florentine and the vegan paella. Both were delicious. The service was fantastic, they kept the water coming (which is so rare these days).
We had the ollieallberry (however you spell it) pie and the vegan chocolate cake for dessert. The pie was great but the cake was a little dry. Overall a great experience. We will be visiting again.

I stopped in to Tillie’s more than once to give it enough opportunities to redeem itself. On my first visit, I swear the waiter was so high, the thought of leaving the register was going to make him pass out. Eventually, the issue was so apparent that the chef actually brought out our food and cleared our plates which I thought was very diligent of him. The food was ok and underseasoned, which I contributed to the chef being overworked doing his job AND the waiters job
On my most recent return before we moved from Monterey, we decided to give Tillie’s another shot. Our food was once again under seasoned, my chicken was under cooked, and the freshness of the breads and veggies were subpar. At least this time we had a friendly and not obviously tripping waitress, who although slow and not detail oriented, successfully took our orders and brought out the foods.
I truly wanted to like Tillie’s, with their many gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian options, but I’m not willing to sacrifice flavor for those choices. Mostly on street parking, with average prices for the Monterey area.

Much improved since I was a regular there 44 years ago while in high school nearby. Pero is still a staple on the beverage menu as well as hot carob!
However, the clientele is decidedly more clean-​cut.

I have visited this place from the very beginning, back in the 1970’s. Cannery Row still had canneries then-​closed, but not yet torn down and gentrified.
Anyway, back in the day we had real hippie girls, the kind who may or may not wait your table, depending on how involved she was with her friends.
I lived in Pacific Grove then, the most magical place you have ever seen.
We used to walk down Lighthouse Ave from Willow St, no car yet. Food was good then.
Over the years Tillies got more popular and successful and had real workers and good menu choices. But I moved away and my occasional visits were not as good. I have not been there in over ten years, maybe fifteen now, and frankly I am surprised it is still there. Any bad reviews are entirely believable. Vegans and vegetarians are more mainstream now, and Tillies is not so unique or special anymore. Sad, sort of, but not surprising.

Ever had a moment where you wished you took the advice of all the Unilocaler’s reviews!?! Well this was that moment. Darn it, we should have listened. We have no one to blame except us.
What makes a restaurant not good? There are many factors but when there are more than three reasons then you know it is bad.
Reason 1: Taste — Lacking flavor, not sure if they had a spice rack in the kitchen
Reason 2: Quantity — spreading the food on a large plate, does not make the food taste better.
Reason 3: Quality — if the rice is mushy it should no longer be called rice. If the potatoes are hard and chewy it shouldn’t be served anymore. Don’t fry it and then pop it in the microwave to warm up.
Reason 4: Price — OVERPRICE! Enough Said.
Reason 5: Organic — Don’t use the word «Organic» in the title of your name if you put a quote on your menu stating «most of our menu is vegetarian, organic, or vegan, when availability or price permits». WTH! That is too misleading.
Reason 6: Décor — I understand this place has been here for years (since 1970s) but c’mon can we change up the tables and décor. The tables and floors need a good power wash cleaning.
The only good thing about this place is the service. They guy was really nice and frequently asked us if we needed anything. Other than that Restaurant Impossible… please help this place.
My honey was much nicer giving it 2 stars…