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We were hungry, and passing Castroville, so turned off Route 1 and were greeted by the Giant Artichoke.
Everything we had was good. I had the salad bar, and tried a few different salads with artichokes. Three of us shared an Artichoke Appetizer Plate with a giant steamed artichoke, french fried artichokes and artichoke bread (a less sweet quick bread). All great - my husband and son loved the artichoke bread. We also tried artichoke soup (chicken stock base, with artichokes) and my son had Castroville Chicken (huge portion smothered in a sauce with mushrooms and artichokes). There was a kid's menu, and the 9 year old was able to order his standard cheese pizza. My husband had a patty melt which was good too - we had a lot of food since we were on a tasting spree.
Great meal, friendly and attentive service. We would definitely go back. We also loved trying artichokes in so many different dishes.
My husband has been raving about this place for a while, so when it was time to turn back up the coast and head home, we stopped here for a bite to eat.
We ordered deep-fried artichokes. So.damn.good. They gave you a variety of sauces to dip these little nuggets of heaven into: mayo with lemon, spicy tomatillo salsa, and ranch dressing. Delicious, decadent and divine.
The salad bar was pretty good too. Yes, they had your standard salad bar fare, but they also had some surprises: marinated artichokes, artichoke spinach dip and cole slaw. You could get the salad bar for just $0.99 with a purchase of a meal, so this was a real good deal.
Now the rest of the food was just so-so. I wasn't feeling like much so I got a grilled cheese sandwich. It was just fine. My husband didn't even touch his hamburger, he was so filled up on salad and artichoke hearts. The same goes for my son and his plate of spaghetti.
In the future, I probably skip the meal and just eat artichokes. For about $10, you can get a platter of fried artichoke hearts, a steamed artichoke and artichoke bread. I think that's what we'll order the next time we return.
My husband and I have made this a regular stop on our way to Monterey/Carmel. We LOVE artichokes and always have to stop and get an order of deep fried artichokes and a steamed artichoke!
YUMMY!
The restaurant is family owned and operated and we have never had sub-par service here! We started going here when the owner's kids were small and now they actually help out around the restaurant.
It may not look like much, but the food is always predictable and tasty and you cannot go wrong with that!
Had deep fried artichoke hearts! Was good but the batter could've been much better....
BUST A U!!
*tumbleweed rolls by while crickets cry*
Uhh... is this place even OPEN?? O_o
It was 6PM on a Sunday and there was only ONE table occupied by some elders. This must not be a hopping place for the young kids. =P But me and my boy weren't here for dinner. We were here for one thing and one thing only... DEEP FRIED ARTICHOKE HEARTS.
This place was on the way back from our day in Monterey, so we decided to stop by. My boy said there was nothing else worth getting on the menu. We ordered a large order of deep fried articoke hearts and dived in.
They were... OK. They needed more salt. Surprising, huh? I would think that being deep fried would be enough flavor. They came with two dipping sauces: mayonnaise and ranch. The mayo had an interesting flavor to it that complimented the artichoke hearts. The ranch was surprisingly bland. *pushes ranch aside* But with either sauce, the hearts still needed some salt. At least you can bring home a frozen bag of deep fried artichoke hearts if you wanted and maybe you can spice it up yourself at home.
I think I've had better at the Gilroy Garlic Festival.
This place is only worth going to if you're passing through since it's right off the freeway. But I wouldn't go out of my way for this place.
My friend Matthew and I have eaten here together a couple of times, and I on my way to visit my mom in south county have stopped here on my own just to get a platter of french fried artichokes. They are the best, and where else to get them but here in "Castroville, the artichoke capital of the world". That's the sign you see when entering the town.
Matthew does not like artichokes, but he's had the spaghetti platter and also the meatloaf dinner and he ate every bite of everything without complaint so it must've been delicious.
The very first time we came here was summer of 2006, so I don't know when ownerships have changed, but we were quite happy with our food and will be back again.
If you want, you can stop in and order a take-out, either a "half order" or "full order" of fried artichokes and it will be hot and freshly made in 5 minutes. I've done it many times. If you are getting "takeout", eat them soon, they're not quite as good after sitting awhile.
We stopped to get deep fried artichokes with ranch sauce and take dorky couply photos with the artichoke. Definitely worth a stop!
Umm yeah, I totally made my boyfriend flip a U right on Hwy 183 for fried artichokes. Less than an hour after we ate lunch.
Even on full stomachs, the fried artichoke hearts were delicious and well worth the begrudged pit-stop. (Thank goodness or I would never live it down)
Tangy artichoke hearts + well seasoned batter + deep fryer + ranch dressing = happy taste buds - heartburn
Moral of the story? The Giant Artichoke is a Great American Roadside Attraction... and the queasy-stomached should bring Tums on road trips.
Fried Artichokes + Ranch = HEAVEN!! ;p
The sandwiches are really good. My friends and i would hit up this place whenever we were really really wanting some munchies, if you know what i mean, and this was one of our spots to go to. They make the best turkey and avocado sandwiches as they tend to pile on all the toppings. Really good stuff.
If you see tons of tourists and buses, don't bother going, it'll take forever to get what you want due to the masses.
This place is highly recommended....especially since its a hot touristy spot! :-)
Solid.
I didn't try a fried artichoke for fear of arti-choking my arteries. Seriously though, the sandwich menu is about damn near impossible to beat. $3 this afternoon got me a "half" sandwich the size of my head including turkey, avocado, cheese, and all the fixins. I can't even imagine how much food a "whole" sandwich is, for $6. If I had known what I was getting myself into, I would have ordered without condiments so I could have had half of my half for lunch tomorrow! Oh well, I guess I just had to eat it in one big sitting.
The produce market portion was reasonably priced, and, imagine that...FRESH. Gotta love fresh fruit stands that don't murder your pocketbook.
One more thing.
The giant artichoke sculpture outside is not only a landmark. It's pretty spectacular. Next time I'll be sure to get a picture with it.
I don't like Artichokes at all so I ordered a chili burger. Don't order the chili burger. I'd only go here if you really like artichokes, they're suppose to be excellent artichokes.
I'll be trying another place next time I visit this area of California.
When I was a child my parents would drive all the way from DC to Castroville for the deep fried artichoke hearts. I'm happy to report that the food is as wonderful now was it was then, but now they give you a cup of ranch dressing instead of an over flowing cup of mayo. I also tried artichoke bread- which tasted suspicioulsy like pumpkin spice bread except it's pea GREEN with whole artichoke hearts in it!
I also tried the cream of artichoke soup which made me say "OMG!" Causing all the other patrons to stare at me. It's all good baby!
My only mild complaint is that they charged me $1 for a post card which is partically a sales pitch for the restaurant. Come on guys- I'm sold already! :)
This place has great potential and REALLY good artichoke platter - steamed artichoke with fried artichoke - mmmmm!! BUT ...
One star for FROZEN PEAS in the salad. I don't mean pre-frozen, I'm not complaining that they weren't fresh, but that they were frozen while in my salad. That really got me. Also, brown lettuce in the salad. I might go there again but only for the artichoke...
Classic roadside attraction, crappy restaurant (a two-star diner at best). The enormous plaster artichoke in front of the restaurant pays homage to Castroville, known as "the World Capital of Artichokes". Pretty typical for a town in this area, most of the region's towns pride themselves on being the capital of some bit of produce:
Gilroy is of course, the garlic capital of the world
Morgan Hill - the mushroom Capital of the world
Watsonville - the strawberry capital of the world
Greenfield - the broccoli capital of the world
the Greater Salinas Valley -the Lettuce Capital of the World and "America's Salad Bowl".
The restaurant advertises deep fried artichokes all up and down Highways 1 and 156. If those little teasers don't lure you in, you're a human of impressively brawny will power. Check out the produce stand and gift shop, buy a coffee mug and t-shirt (we did), patronize anything non-dining related because a roadside attraction like this one is a treasured gem on America's old highways, but its food is atrocious (even the deep fried artichokes are not that special).
All that remains are my fond memories...
Ditto to the other reviews that say this roadtrip mainstay has deteriorated. It's oh so very sad what's happened to one of my favorite California heritage sites. Gone are the velvet paintings and the family business atmosphere. I'm not sure who owns this place anymore, but the employees are surly and have no clue as to the history of the freakin' GIANT ARTICHOKE.
This is now no better than any greasy road stop from here to MO. My heart is broken.
The only vegetable my 8-year-old son will eat without an argument is an artichoke - of all things! So when we passed The Giant Artichoke on our way to the National Steinbeck Center yesterday (which is surprisingly fun for kids - review to follow), he begged me to take him there for lunch on the way home.
Aside from the humongous artichoke out front, the place doesn't have an ounce of quaint. You need to stick to Moss Landing if you want some atmosphere with your deep-fried artichokes. Here you will get bad 70's diner, with a dash of Mexican restaurant, a sad salad bar, and dusty silk plants hanging here and there. The place smells kinda septic and the water tastes funny, which makes for funny-tasting soda too. But they do have a lovely gourmet beverage dispenser that "dispenses" cappuccino, if you are so inclined.
For $7.95 you get a heaping bowl of deep-fried artichoke hearts, that have been recently warmed up, and a side of ranch dressing. I had the artichoke enchiladas that tasted as odd as they sound. What was I thinking? The kid's meal was pretty yucky too - dry chicken fingers and fries that went almost untouched. The service was not as friendly as you would imagine it to be in a small town diner. That's okay, I already have a lot of friends, but how about a smile fella?
I don't plan on returning to The Giant Artichoke because that would mean going out of my way, and trust me folks, this is not a place to go out of your way for.
Four of us went to the Giant Artichoke Restaurant in Castroville for dinner. This place serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner and you can get all at dinner.
We checked out the little produce area and didn't find anything to buy. In another room you can buy wines and deli sandwiches and deep fried artichoke hearts.
We went to the restaurant for dinner where we ordered:
steamed artichoke $6-it was a pretty good size, 4 of us shared it.
deep fried artichoke hearts-I didn't try it, but others really enjoyed it. Comes with some dipping sauce.
P. got Castroville pork chop-2 thin pieces of pork chop, some vegetables, and she picked salad (which was help yourself to the salad bar) Looked fine-didn't try it.
A. and I got Castroville chicken-it was pretty tasty since they put creamy artichoke sauce over the thin chicken breasts, side of veggies, and choice of baked potato, mashed potato, or rice. Soup or salad-we got the soup which was a broth-like soup with lots of artichoke hearts in it. And garlic bread-which didn't have any garlic taste, more like buttered toast. Decent dish. $9.99
B. got menudo-it looked ok, but he didn't finish it and didn't take leftover home.
More a tourist stop, like a Denny's-maybe just get the deep fried artichokes and take your pics w/ the giant artichoke and go. Not many diners when we were there-not a good sign.
Giant Artichoke Restaurant
11261 Merritt St (Off Hwy 183 from Hwy 156)
Castroville, CA 95012
831-633-3501
The artichoke is awesome!!! They have Super Artichokes. Their salad is great and I can't remember having a bad order of anything here. Oh yeah, there's something different in their milk too and I'd love to know what it is because it is so delicious.
This is a stop we have to generally take before heading down to the Monterey Aquarium for the day; and, it's a huge highlight of our trip. Very impressive since we're comparing it to special presentations such such as the Jelly exhibit or Great white exhibit that they have or had.
there's something missing here but i'm unsure as to what.
deep fried artichoke = the things that memories are made from. Even though they are disgusting they are still oh so good. People know that if they are on the road with me and we are anywhere near a hours detour from the Giant Artichoke Restaurant I will nag them until they take me here. Sad to say it is true that a good deal of my fondness is for the memories and that like so much of California's brilliant history all of the greatness that was Castroville has given way to strip malls and generic sameness.
French-fried artichokes! Ever have them? You may be able to find better (try the San Benito County Fair which is a very old-timey time) but this place has a 20 foot cement artichoke outside. Can you beat that? No you can't. This was a frequent family stop on the way to Monterey when I was a wee lad.
I ordered their artichoke platter with steamed artichoke, fried artichoke and artichoke bread. The steamed artichoke was mushy and completely over cooked. The fried artichokes were awesome. And surprisingly the artichoke bread was good. I'm kind of surprised that the Giant Artichoke over steamed their artichoke...this is their business! I say this place is like a Denny's with a big Artichoke out front.
If you every find yourself heading toward Salinas or Monterey, are not in any kind of rush, and hungry for something different. You should visit Giant Artichoke. It's a long building with a deli, market, and restaurant all connected. They have deep fried artichoke hearts that are pretty good if you crave artery clogging food. It's near the freeway entrance so once you're done eating you can continue on your way to your destination.
I've only been here once and it was for a to go order. The place is really 60's and really old and something you would find on the set of Texas Chainsaw Massacre..HOWEVER....the only thing I tried here was the fried artichokes and they are the best. 4 stars is high for only eating one item on the menu...but they are really that good. Not a place I would dine in but a definite for a pit stop...a must if I'm going to or coming from Monterey.
This place has gone down hill in a hurry! When I was a wee little lad the Giant Artichoke was awesome! Fried choke hearts!!! Everything a growing boy needs. Since then the place has changed hands at least twice. The most recent owners have brought it back up some but it still falls short of what it once was. A little too expensive for what you get and the small town hospitality is seriously lacking.
Had one of the worst meals of my life here recently.
Used to be an OK restaurant. No more.
when I was kid my mom used to take us to the giant artichoke on winchester and stevenscreek now cittis florist. I remebered it as being very good. Ahh the innocence of youth and an untrained palate. A friend of mine said he was in castroville a while ago and had told me of the giant artichoke. The last vestige of a once great chain set upon ruling the artichoke restaraunt kingdom. I had to make a trip to the place which spawned a once great empire. The sky was blue, the air was clean, the sea was green and blue, the giant artichoke sucked. I ordered a plate of fried artichokes and they were greasy odorless and tasteless. With mayo and ranch on the side not even a little tabasco could help them or me. The drive was nice though, on the way home I stopped at corralitos market and picked up some of the best sausage in "nor-cal" as the kids say. I 'll save that for another review. If you see the signs for this place don't even bother. Just keep going til the next in'n out pops up.
My visit to Erika's a few weeks ago was my first experience with all things artichoke. I have had steamed artichoke and fried artichoke before but this takes the culinary artichoke cake. We each got the artichoke platter (artichoke bread, steamed artichoke, and fried artichoke hearts) and we also bought a bowl of cream of artichoke soup to share. It was way more food than we could handle. I, for one, wasn't fond of the bread but my fiancee liked it a lot. It was similar to cornmeal bread. Anyway, the rest of everything was great although, beware, too much artichoke and you'll be on the pot for a while. Good prices, good food, good service, and pictures with a giant artichoke. What more could you want?
Castroville, CA
Category: Beer, Wine & Spirits
Castroville, CA
Category: Specialty Food
Monterey, CA
Category: American (Traditional)
Some places we frequent when we're at Pajaro…
