Woody's Library Restaurant

A great lil gem in downtown Carmel. They have a wide selection of entrees and some specials depending on the season. They also have a decent selection of wine and other drinks.

What's nice about this place is that the bar is open late. In a sleepy town like Carmel, you can rely on this good old building when you're looking for a good place to get some drinks at 1 in the morning.

A really cool building, but a lot of the food is pretty ho hum. Pretzel rolls are very good though. Worth a visit.

So, after two days of eating Panera and Max & Erma's during business meetings, I was looking for something unique in Carmel.  Ironically, I came across this placed based on its vegetarian options-I ended up ordering a large piece of meat, but nonetheless it wasn't the journey, but the destination.

I arrived for dinner (upstairs) and was the only customer in this book-clad room.  The waitress was great, walked through the (rather large) menu and was very personable.  I feasted on tomato bisque and the elk steak (seasonal special, what can I say, a unique cut of meat is all it takes for me to go to the dark side) with roasted root vegetables and a Crown Brewing Company beer.  O, and there was pretzel bread.  I'm a sucker for pretzel bread!

Overall, I found the menu unique with gluten free, vegan, and vegetarian options.  My waitress was great, and by the time I had left, the place filled up.  It was easy to find and a good change of pace from all of the chains of suburbia.  

Also, the area in general is a great place to walk around.  After sitting in meetings, I just needed to get outside and move around.  I walked around, in some of the galleries, checked out menus of other places, etc.  There's also a bike/walking trail that goes right through the arts district.

Five stars for a unique atmosphere, great service, unique and accomodating menu, good food, and overall good experience.