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The Best Places to Drink and Do in Salinas

4 places ranked

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The best places to drink and do in Salinas, according to the experts: the Forbes Travel Guide, Vogue, and the Michelin Guide have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. The Spa at Pebble Beach comes out on top, and the good stuff runs deepest in Big Sur and Carmel.

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Esalen Institute and The Spa at Bernardus Lodge hold the next two places. The Forbes Travel Guide shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with Esquire next.

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  • All
  • Cocktail Bars
  • Speakeasies
  • Tiki Bars
  • Wine Bars
  • Beer Bars
  • Dive Bars
  • Pubs
  • Gastropubs
  • Taverns
  • Izakayas
  • Outdoors
  • Shopping
  • Activities
  • Museums
  • Amusement Parks
  • Venues
  • Landmarks
  • Clubs
  • Spas

  1. Rank 1. The Spa at Pebble Beach

    The awards

    Address
    1518 Cypress Dr, Pebble Beach, CA · Pebble Beach
    Online
    Website
    Save On the Way What's Around

  2. Rank 2. Esalen Institute

    Hanging off a cliff above the Pacific, Esalen has been an incubator for seekers, skeptics, and the occasional celebrity since forever. It's a holistic retreat and workshop center, not a spa, though the cliffside hot baths alone justify the drive up Highway 1. You come for a weekend or week-long program, yoga to Gestalt therapy to breathwork, and leave either transformed or at least well-soaked.

    The awards

    Address
    55000 CA-1, Big Sur, CA · Big Sur
    Save On the Way What's Around

  3. Rank 3. The Spa at Bernardus Lodge

    The awards

    Address
    415 W Carmel Valley Rd, Carmel Valley, CA · Carmel Valley
    Online
    Website
    Save On the Way What's Around

  4. Rank 4. Chez Noir

    Elevated Mediterranean Bistro

    The chefs live upstairs, which explains why this Craftsman-on-5th Avenue bistro feels less like a restaurant and more like a very good dinner party you somehow got invited to. The cooking leans Mediterranean with a California coast accent, prix fixe, and a Michelin star to its name. The canelés alone have sparked quiet obsession among regulars. A James Beard nominee, and the kind of place Carmel somehow earned.

    The awards

    +3 more awards at Chez Noir
    Address
    5th Ave. btw. Dolores and San Carlos Sts., Carmel-by-the-Sea, CA · Carmel
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Tuesday 5 PM–8:30 PM

    Reserve
    OpenTable
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
    Save On the Way What's Around

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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    Drink Score

    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

      How we score →

      Stay Score

      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.