The Grill at Point Pinos to Close—and Return as a Whole New Animal

Oct. 14, 2025—This one deserves to be sung in your best B.B. King voice, because it is the stuff of pure blues: The Grill is gone.

The Grill at Point Pinos will not re-up its five-year lease with the City of Pacific Grove, which ends Nov. 21.

That represents a major bummer for reasons beyond the fact local appetites must bid farewell to its buttermilk biscuits, chilaquiles, crab cake Benedicts, award-winning fried chicken and spicy Baker’s Bacon Bloody Marys. 

Those reasons include the fact owner-operator Tamie Aceves and her team gave the space both real rizz and a significant structural overhaul, adding new flooring, lighting, a glowing new bar and tidy cafe space.

Not to mention a brunch so fun, flavorful and generous it earned a Found Treasure nod. 

And it’s also a downer because both city leadership, which owns the property and the adjoining P.G. Municipal Golf Course, and Aceves wanted her to stay put.

But they couldn’t agree on a rent that felt fair for both parties.

My former colleague and ace P.G. beat reporter Pam Marino does a comprehensive job breaking down the litany of challenges at play and efforts to make it work.

The key takeaway is $15,000/month for a place so far off the beaten path, even if it represents a reduction from previous rates, proves unsustainable, even for an operator with a strong track record. 

“I would’ve liked to have stayed, and spent a better part of year trying to negotiate,” Aceves says, citing rising staffing and infrastructure costs. The [rent] was still out of my range to be profitable. If someone else can do it, great, but I’m not going to use lesser products or not pay people well.” 

The little Bambi might be winking. But he’s certainly hinting at something.

At least that was my first instinct upon viewing The Grill’s post about the pending closure, which read (in part), “We’re deeply grateful to our guests, our team, and the Pacific Grove community and beyond for the support, laughter and connection we’ve shared here.”

That note ends with “Stay tuned, the best is yet to come…” followed by a little Bambi emoji.

Aceves laughs when asked about it—for the first time, she adds—and acknowledges it teases the next chapter, which is already in the works.

The new spot with a Bambi-related name and logo could open as soon as Feb. 1, and will also be in Pacific Grove.

Since the deal hasn’t been inked, Aceves isn’t saying more about the location or landlord.

But she does offer several thoughts, including a vision for a simple concept built around espresso, baked goods, soup, salad and sandwiches.

“Fresh, really good,” she says. “When you do really excellent biscuits and gravy and huevos rancheros, people don’t want you to change, but I want this to be fresh, rotate things, doing the kind of food I like to eat.

“Put it this way: I’m super stoked.”

More at grillatpointpinos.com.