Giant Artichoke Restaurant — Restaurant in California

In short - an interesting and tasty place to stop.

Obviously this place is a novelty restaurant, capitalizing on the artichokes known to grow fresh in the area. My family stopped here to try everything that is artichoke and we had a fun time, but it is far from fine dining.

The four of us (mom, dad, wife and I) purchased a large platter (bigger than the sampler platter) that was listed on the menu of just about everything the place had to offer for about $50 bucks. Since soup was not included, we got that separately. The service was polite and quick. Some other reviewers said this place was "modern", but I would describe it as very "70's" on the inside. We showed up after the adjoining gift-shopish portion had been closed though, so maybe thats why I had a different experience.

We all agreed the soup was the best thing we had that night. Other highlights included the fried artichoke hearts (though the name is misleading - when they say "fried artichoke hearts" and then list the amount of "pieces" - these are more like 1/4 artichoke hearts, not full ones - so we got 1/4th the food we though we were buying in this section). We also all enjoyed the artichoke bread. The steamed artichoke was perfect. Odder elements were the artichoke nachos which were pretty heavily seasoned (a bit too much in my opinion), and an artichoke cupcake with frosting on top -- which after eating a whole plate full of artichoke items no one seemed to be able to taste any hint of artichoke in, maybe it was there but it was light in comparison to the more robust artichoke flavored items in the evening - so we were sad we didn't try it first.

If you like artichokes, you will be in heaven here. I just wonder if it weren't for the gimmick factor if I would say any of the food beyond the soup was much more...

We ordered the full platter of artichoke hearts for an app and well, we got artichoke hearts and a ton of grease and oil to go along with it. Didn't have much flavor unless we drowned it in ranch. We both ordered the giant artichoke burger for our meal. We were waiting for the giant part. For $16 this better be one of the best burgers I've had and sadly, it wasn't. It was hot and juicy but I wasn't given the option of bun for it to come on and it had maybe 4 pieces of artichoke on it. We sat in the patio area because the weather was really nice. The patio needs a complete overhaul. Potted plants line the entire area along with spiderwebs, dead bugs, dirty windows and dirty lights. Maybe if there was a theme it would be different but nothing matches. Our server was just ok. Didn't refill our glasses, forgot our lemons and asked for other items and we had to go to the counter and ask for them again. It wasn't busy but I think the staff was more worried about watching the TV and sitting at the counter together instead of checking on their tables. This is the 1st place I've been to in over a year and was excited to have a sit down meal I didn't have to cook. Should have taken the $50 our meal cost and made my own. Unfortunately, we...

I am only giving this one star because I had to in order to write something. We took out food yesterday and given what supposedly was called Spinach Artichoke dip. It was basically chopped up artichokes in either sour cream or mayonnaise, little leaves of spinach and a few chopped up tomatoes. It was not warm and least of all creamy. I called just now to let the resraurant know and was met with hostility and defensiveness from the manager. She continued to talk over me and blamed me for not tasting the food correctly. When I tried to tell her that I was the customer and to stop talking over me, she immediately raised her voice, continued to talk and said I could not tell her to stop talking. She laughed when I told her that this was not good customer service. She said if I didn't like the "dip" I could bring it back and she would refund me. This is not about the ridiculous $13 my friend was charged. It's about poor management and customer service. I will not be going back and will not recommend eating at this establishment to...