Reliably Delicious Food at Woody’s at the Monterey Airport (15 minutes away from Salinas, California) by Ruth Paget
Thanks to visitors from around the US and overseas, the menu at Woody’s Bar and Grill at the Monterey Airport offers a variety of dishes including traditional American bar fare and items like potstickers, seared ahi salad, and sirloin bites for golfers, professors, comfortable retirees, and TV and movie stars.
On a recent (July 2026) visit to Woody’s after several hot days, my family went to dinner at Woody’s. We arrived early to secure an upstairs booth in an air-conditioned room. (Reservations recommended)
My daughter Florence Paget and my husband Laurent began their meal with cups of clam chowder. I ordered chicken potstickers, which were plump, meaty, juicy, and umami delicious. Nine came in what I thought was a generous portion for appetizers.
I ordered what has become an American bar classic: fish and chips. At Woody’s, they serve three large pieces of Pacific Rock Cod that has a beer batter, deep-fried crust. I loved the creamy, tartar sauce with piquant pickles, and the spicy cocktail sauce with freshly grated horseradish.
Laurent ordered a tomato – fennel cream pasta with a side of burrata cheese to go on grilled crostini. Florence ate a large sirloin steak with a baked potato with butter and cream cheese. People in town know that Woody’s has great steak, especially the prime rib special on Friday nights.
For dessert, Laurent ate house made raspberry sorbet, and Florence drank an espresso martini. I love bar – restaurants that serve reliably delicious food like Woody’s at the Monterey Airport in California.
Travelers and locals alike might be surprised by the variety of choices worthy of a steak and seafood restaurant on the shoreline.
By Ruth Paget
-author Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France + 6 Kindle books
-developer of the Novgorod and Bento War Games + 8 Classical Western Civilization War Games
