Dry Creek General Store — Restaurant in California

Summary: Pretty solid sandwiches for about $10. Lots of salads, snacks, drinks, etc. Inside is pretty chaotic, so make your way to the Order Here sign first (further away from entrance), then get in line at one of the two checkout spots and pay for your food while it's being prepared. After that, wait for your number to be called, then make your way to a table (there are some in the back left of the restaurant behind everything that are much cooler than the outside area on hot days and were completely empty when we came).

My wife and her parents came here for lunch on a toasty Saturday afternoon while doing some wine tasting in the area. Parking was pretty limited in the lots, so we got a spot along the road right in front. The place was buzzing with people outside, and inside was even crazier. It was hard to identify where the various lines started to place orders and pay for items. Eventually we found the correct line, quickly checked out the menu and placed our orders. We then paid for our items and waited for their assembly to complete. It was about 10 minutes from order to pickup, so the staff work very fast despite the number of orders that were coming in and the wall of sound that must have constantly made it difficult to communicate.

My wife and I got a Tuscan turkey sandwich and a pulled pork panini. The pulled pork was definitely the preferred sandwich of the two. It was pressed well, making it nice and toasty, but not overly crispy or dry. The pork was very tender, and the mayo or spread that was used help keep everything juicy and very tasty. Great textures and flavors all around. The Tuscan turkey was a little too charred, unfortunately, which left the sandwich much harder to eat and much drier. Fortunately, my mother-in-law got a turkey and provolone sandwich on normal soft bread that proved to be much better and easier to eat, and she shared half of that with us, so we had plenty to eat and only spent about $20 per couple. Overall, a pretty solid lunch option for not too much money if you...

Such a bummer. The building is awesome, historic and full of character. The bar is a great place to grab a drink. The folks working were very kind. It was slammed at lunchtime on a Saturday and the main room was full of smoke. That should have been my first red flag about the food, but as i was getting a deli sandwich I didn't think too much about it.

The mortadella looked amazing, so I opted for the special of the day, a muffaletta. Also grabbed a small container of the old fashioned potato salad.

At our picnic destination I unwrapped the sandwich only to see that not only had it been toasted (muffaletta is served cold and nothing on the special description indicated that it would be panini pressed) but it was completely burnt. Like charcoal crumbling in my mouth burnt. The bread was completely inedible. i took everything off the bread and the mortadella, salami and aged parm were really good quality but the olive salad contained huge chunks of raw (not pickled) carrot and the marinade had a bizarre sweetness. The potato salad had smooth pureed potatoes but weird bits of skin and huge chunks of celery and red onion. The potato salad dressing was also super sweet. i ended up throwing most of my lunch away. I was super bummed, glad I bought a chocolate chip cookie as that was quite tasty.

This is the only spot for food in Dry Creek Valley so if I return I would likely stick to...

We finally came here after hearing quite a bit about it from friends. We were both honestly quite disappointed. The prices are pretty high. A couple of sandwiches and a couple of drinks and the total came to over $70 dollars. The food also took a very long time, about 30minutes for a couple of sandwiches? I am not sure if our order was lost or something as plenty of people who ordered after us, including some much larger orders were served first. Even when out food was ready it took several minutes to actually wave them down to collect it despite standing right at the counter and waving to the guy as he called our number.

The food itself was a mixed bag as well. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich and it was fine, definitely not worth $17 but tasty enough. My wife's grilled cheese was an eye watering $19 and tasted awful. The ham seemed to be very very cheap, the whole sandwich tasted sweet and watery.

I will admit we had pretty high expectations after the recommendations of folks who's taste we know and trust, and maybe it was an off day but at the prices they're charging, I'm not planning to come back to find out. I'll leave this place to the hordes of tourists that seem to keep it...