Giant Artichoke Restaurant, Castroville CA

Upon entering, we took advantage of a photo opportunity in front of this gigantic artichoke. We sat in the patio area of this casual diner type restaurant. I love sitting amongst all the greenery they care for. The wealth of artichoke items were amazing, and we all enjoyed ourselves: vegetarians as well as meat eaters. The Wikipedia page about artichokes in the menu was a cute touch. I would love to go again one day.

The best place to stop at with your children. I did every time my children and I went to Monteray years ago. My son and I just talked about it. We have lived in Arkansas for almost 24 years now.
We miss the fried Artichoke Hearts.

My son asked how could we get some sent out here?

Deep fried hearts were amazing! Steamed artichoke was delicious and the artichoke bread was so good!

When coming up north, the fried artichokes are a must with a cold beer and a deli sandwich in Castroville.

Best fried artichokes in Castroville, the Artichoke Center of the World.

See y'all next time at Artichoke Fest 2024

It's still there needing some old and new folks to visit and eat some fried artichokes, hot sandwiches, or whatever is on the menu for that day. The owner Juan, is a friendly person to know and serve e you!

The atmosphere was dark and dingy, the waiter was wearing a backwards ball cap and seemed to not know the menu, and the food was microwave meal quality. Overall disappointing experience.

Good Sandwiches in the deli and wine section.
Hope this place regains its liveliness. Seems old and slow. Wish it looked more poppin and new and full of groceries.

Lots of passer buyers no reason they can’t compete or gain new traction

Maybe some good seating, music and lights.
This place should be its own non chain jewel like a Santa Fe but more custom and heartfelt.

I had the chicken fajita salad which was great and we shared the fried artichoke hearts which were also great and we're the reason we went.

Stumbled on this place by making a wrong turn and Im super happy i did. The food was really good and staff was great. Definitely a place i will be going again when i get the chance. Make sure to try their deep fried artichoke hearts. They are amazing.

We didn’t stay to eat- just got fried artichoke hearts to go. They were delicious and fresh and the dipping sauce was great too.

A great quick stop! They are friendly people that you can tell care! I always stop through here for their fried artichoke hearts. It's delicious! I would say you're missing out if you don't stop! Yum!

The artichoke bread was really delicious, same with fish from fish and chips, the fries weren't that good but the batter on the fish was light and crispy. Service was a little slow and seated everyone into one room, felt crowded.

The best type of kitsch - passionate employees, a fun theme, local connections and delicious food. The steamed artichoke was enormous!

Let's start with the positives:
The cupcake was great. I could have eaten another. The deep fried artichoke were pretty good, but lacking in creativity. It's just artichoke in batter, deep fried, and served with bottle ranch. The fire roasted artichoke was ok.
Now the negative:
The pizza and nachos. Bad. Let's call these "bachelor food". The pizza crust tasted IDENTICAL to totinos freezer pizza in flavor and texture. The sauce was.canned tomatoes? Canned olives, canned jalapenos. Lots and lots of cheese, but it didn't help. The artichokes were the only thing worth eating.
The banks were canned queso, canned tomatoes, canned jalapenos. There's no love in this dish. No thought.
Open can, pour on chips. Next.

Maybe I just got unlucky in what I ordered but I almost felt insulted at how poor quality the food was.

Good food, service and prices, plenty of parking and seating, atmosphere is retro and needs some TLC. Artichoke heart soup was very good, medium thickness, not salty and a nice flavor.