Sly McFly’s Lunch & Dinner House

Open late my girlfriends and I went there for something different. They had live music and dancing it was great! They had already turned off the grill to get ready to clean up but made an exception and prepared our grilled orders anyways. Great drinks!

Food was good, but they were understaffed. Onion rings were amazing and burgers were good as well. They have live music some nights, so if you are looking for a place to have drinks and listen to music this is an option.

Great food and the best blues music every night!
Never disappointed when we come here, always a great band every night and the staff is super friendly.

So. I literally just walked out of this place 10 minutes ago. I came here for lunch with my boyfriend and we got sat down immediately. When we were ready to order, we waited a little over 20 minutes for a server to come by, to no avail. No wonder this plaace only has 2 stars.

I came here for lunch while visiting Monterey for the day last summer. My boyfriend and I were looking for a place to eat and saw this down the street from the aquarium, so decided to try it out. We entered inside to see another group waiting for a table but no host to assist them. We waited behind them and continued to watch a few servers and kitchen employees walk by with no acknowledgement to us. Finally, we spoke up and were given a table right by the front door and aisle to the kitchen, even though there were more spacious tables by the windows farther back.
We ordered a hefty appetizer sampler to split and a couple drinks. I was happy with the portions but left wanting more flavor to the food. After eating, we waited again for quite a bit before flagging down our waiter to give us the check.
Overall, not a horrible experience, but the service was incredibly slow given the emptiness of the restaurant. I will probably try out somewhere else next time I visit Cannery Row.

It always depends on what you’re looking for when choosing a restaurant, bar or general spot in this area. You really can’t go wrong with Sly though! It’s been a while but the owner, J***k, is a bad*ss and responsible for booking the great live music and much more. Bar tenders and wait staff in my experience have always been awesome, very personable people and very accommodating. I understand on busy nights with music, there might be a decline in service, similar for busy lunches, but that’s to be expected in this town when everyone always decides to come or go at the same time.
Think about the servers/​tenders when they’re not expecting a heavy rush and the sun peaks so people head to the most beautiful place on earth, Monterey/​Carmel/​Big Sur (or one of them — haven’t seen the whole earth yet), and you’re unexpectedly overrun with tourists who expect to be catered to and locals who expect service before tourists… Service industry nightmare! The point to pay attention to is Sly’s has a good mix of both meaning locals go back regularly, tourists try it and returning tourists go back there… Enough said, it’s worth going once, if you have a bad experience it’s worth going back again and if you go back a third after this and have a bad experience then the problem is not with Sly McFly (hint: it’s you).
Anyway, food has always been better than good, never had a bad meal, and music-​dancing is always great! Plus you can always get an ice cold beer, hard stiff drink or Coca-​Cola when you’re thirsty. Great spot, fond memories and I always go back when I’m in town (lived there 3.5 years). J-​asterisk-​asterisk-​asterisk-​k, I’ll see you in a couple weeks my man!

Horrible service. The waiter had to take our drink order 5 times and barely got it right. It took 10 – 15 minutes between each drink. Pretty sure the waitress was drunk. We decided not to even get food because of the service. I highly do not recommend. Don’t waste your time or money.

We came here without checking Unilocal which we quickly regretted. The bathrooms were dirty, and the food was meh. Boyfriend got the fish and chips which was 2 small pieces of greasy fish, and I got a burger that was okay. It is in a convenient location on cannery row, but there are definitely better options.

I’ve had a love/​hate relationship with Sly’s for many years.
On one hand, I’ve seen some pretty cool blues bands play here. It conveniently located on Cannery Row and it’s a decent place to stop for a beer.
The service is hit or miss depending on who’s working the bar. Half the time, I’ve had a friendly chat with the bartender while watching a game. Other times, I’ve been ignored, or worse, been treated rudely.
With all of the terrific places to eat in Monterey, there is absolutely no reason to eat here. As others have said, the food is marginal and overpriced. Put this place on the «pay no mind» list for food and go elsewhere.

I didn’t look at Unilocal reviews before choosing to eat here. After a long drive coupled with a long walking excursion, I was Hangrey (angry hungry). I needed sustenance now but didn’t want to put out a second mortgage to pay for dinner. So we ate here. FYI– They have a menu, with prices, outside of the front door.
First and foremost this place is more of a bar than restaurant. They have tons of TVs, every table has a view of a TV. The TVs are set to various sports channels. Great place to eat, watch Sunday football, and step away from the crowds off the street.
Our server was a nice gal, she was efficient and attentive. Drinks are good. We ordered a green salad and combo platter (tempura fried calamari streak, prawn, fish, n chips) to share. The food was good, not great. The calamari steak pieces were substantial size and tender. It hit the spot of refueling this old body.

Clam chowder was pretty good. Wine selection was not very good. Glen Ellen wines don’t have a lot of taste. Crab cakes taste frozen and mushy. Not fresh. Don’t know if I would come back.

Worse service EVER! I’m not going to waste my time writing about this awful place. I heard the band is cool…
Oh! And they talk shit about their costumes after they leave. I heard them talk crap about two parties after they left. Like out loud too. At least try and hide it.

Came in here for a crab cocktail and some drinks, we ended up staying for crab and a Cesar salad. Great place for dinner the crab was very fresh but the Cesar salad was not great. For the price of a salad $ 11.95 add $ 6.00 for chicken it just was disappointing.
I had mixed feelings about this place so I will just list the pros and cons.
Pros
Great customer service
Drinks were good
Nice place
Good Crab
Cons
Really overpriced on some regular items such as salad ($ 13 – 19) and appetizers ($ 14 – 21)
For the price/​markup I was expecting more in terms of taste and quality.

I love Sly McFly’s as the most fun, after dinner, in the Monterey Bay. Wear sneakers, cowboy boots, high heels even a wedding gown with bridal party in tow. There is live band music EVERY night. Dance floor is decent… big if nobody’s had enough liquid courage served up at the bar or to your table.
Bathrooms are gloriously FILTHY. Sort of weird this unparalleled squalor goes on for years but you’ve been warned.
Each night a different genre of live music. Rock? My fav is the Money Band. Some nights blues, soul, r&b, latin. Prepare to dance.
Food? Um… I don’t recommend it.
Kids? Remember the dirty bathroom.
Fun for grownups? Absolutely! This is da place.

One of the only places still open after 9pm on a Friday night.
We went in cause they had a decent band playing cover tunes. 30−50ish crowd. So not the place if you’re looking for a hip happening spot. Good for the gents that are wanting to watch sports. Multiple TVs. Got to see the Dubs play…
Good drinks– decent price. 2 vodka cranberries and a Stella $ 22.50. Better than most bar-​restaurants on Cannery Row.
Server was great and checked on us regularly.

Great dive bar. Beers on tap iclude Firestone walker, goose island, racer 5 etc. Food is bar food, meh. This place is tge same as it was 20 years. Live music every night.

Came here for lunch after walking through the aquarium and wow. Just wow. We walked in about one on a Friday and we were seated immediately. We were taken care of immediately. We ordered our drinks immediately.
We had our orders before we had enough time to have half our drinks. The food was amazing. I ordered the Turkey sandwich and my husband ordered the SF buger. Everything was delicious and well made. This is a great place for family or friends.

Service:
15min after being seated waitress says, «you didn’t give me your drink order.» We did. She forgot. Little did we know that her tone was only going to get more ambivalent as the meal went on.
Food: Cold old fries. Disgusting «cheesy bread» that was freezer burn. Below average steak full of gristle.
The only thing sly was how they swindled us into stepping a toe into that haven for microwaved freezer goods.

After a long drive in a ton of traffic, we were famished. We decided to be extra adventurous and skip Unilocaling for once, and that’s how we ended up at Sly McFly’s. I should have taken a quick peek at the reviews when I checked in, but I wanted to stay true to our plan.
Shakira’s hips don’t lie. The Unilocal reviews for Sly McFly’s don’t, either.
Service sucked, food was bland, and it was hot as all getup inside. Avoid.

Are you a bro? This may be your place. A total bro bar. The bar tender isn’t interested in wasting his time helping you if you’re not ready to spend some cash. You need a thick skin or you may feel condescended upon.
Update: if you leave a negative review prepare to be harassed by the staff online. Here’s the message they sent me:
«Hey buddy, maybe you and your ugly girl should stay home if you can’t afford to go out to eat or drink.»