Garlic City Cafe

On our way traveling past Gilroy, we decided to sample their famed garlic at some local establishment. "Garlic City Cafe" proudly proclaims the theme in its name, so we headed there for lunch. Unfortunately, we all found our meals rather lacking. I ordered a Crab Melt Sandwich with their homemade Cream of Garlic soup on the side, my husband got a Calamari Steak Sandwich with a side of Garlic Fries ($1.50 extra to the meal cost), and several of our friends ordered the Garlic City Burger. Each entrée came with two slices of watermelon, which were a nice addition. Crab Melt Sandwich - this was just alright. The crab cake was nothing to write home about and in general, the flavors were mild and not standout. I wouldn't order this again. Calamari Steak Sandwich - this was REALLY bizarre. Somehow, the calamari was sliced into a thin "steak" shape and sandwiched along with some lettuce and tomatoes, all seasoned with chipotle mayo. The textures really did NOT work well- namely, the wet squish of the calamari with the bright tomatoes and crisp lettuces... it was just all a bit of a confused mess. Do NOT get this, unless they change how they make it in the future... Cream of Garlic Soup - this was really strong, and not in an appetizing way. It has herbs and potatoes in it (as well as some penne pasta, for some odd reason), which is fine, but the overall effect was just overwhelmingly garlic-musk-heavy. My husband LOVES garlic as a general rule, and even he thought this was funky and didn't like it. :( Garlic Fries - these were pretty "meh". Crinkle-cut fries (which could easily have been frozen before) sprinkled with a mix of garlic and herbs. It was pretty bland tasting and the textures weren't standout, either. Garlic City Burger - the "garlic" component of this dish is just a few cloves of roasted garlic plopped onto a fairly thin charbroiled patty. One of our friends ordered it "medium" while the others ordered "medium-rare", and none of them could see a difference between their patties (i.e. all of them were pretty darn cooked through). The rest of the dish is pretty simple with some slices of cheese, lettuce, and tomato. It overall felt like a bit of a disappointment given the price tag (I could have easily made this at home). That said, a couple of our friends were fans of the Strawberry & Banana smoothie (one of them curiously reported seeing the owners throw some tangerines into the mix) and declared that this ended up being their favorite part of the meal. One of my friends ordered a Chicken & Prawns Fettuccine and was the only one who seemed to thoroughly appreciate her entrée. Additionally, our receipt was incomprehensible. The itemized list had everything listed strangely as "Item A" (or something like this) all the way down. There were over a dozen lines of "Item A"! It was impossible to tell who had ordered what (for the purposes of splitting the bill). Whereas this café provides good portion sizes and fresh ingredients, their cooking (textures and flavors) could use some serious work. Also, although we were the only ones in the restaurant at the time (it was a late lunch for us), some of us had to ask for water 4 times before it arrived. I would not recommend coming here, given other options. While researching places to try, I had noticed multiple BBQ joints in the area. I would personally look into a meal at one of those instead, if given another day around Gilroy.

I work close by and tend to order takeout from this restaurant about once a week. I find myself craving it! It's family owned and operated and the food is always delicious. Large portions for the price as well. They tend to have to go orders ready within 15 mins, 20 -25 if really busy. My favorite dish is the Italian Chicken Sandwich with Garlic fries. It comes with a grilled red bell pepper and a sun dried tomato pesto, along with the fresh, crisp produce and melted mozzarella cheese on a fresh french roll - it's to die for. The best chicken sandwich in the area!

The portion sizes were generous. The quality of each sandwich we ordered was nice. I suggest paying the extra $1.50 for garlic fries as your side dish. The fried garlic chips and chives they use heightened the flavor. I also liked how the fries weren't overly greasy and stayed extra crispy. Pricing is very fair per dish. Highly recommend coming here if you're looking for a place to eat in Gilroy with garlic fries.

Great little Cafe serving Med-ish flavors. We stopped by for breakfast and all was great! Portions were spot on, not too much, but plenty food. Nice outside seating as well as inside. The pancakes are outstanding! I know, how can you screw up a pancake BUT the flavors of pancakes is where is at! Only downfall is that was no tequila available, it was breakfast after all ;)

Looking to take pops out to lunch today, I broke out the ol Yelp app and found this place. We got there at 11:15, found a handicap parking space right across the street, and was able to get seated right away at one of the three tables outside with umbrellas. “The outside temp was a Beautiful 75° with a slight breeze just wonderful” The Waitress took our order right away I opted for the El Paso burger “med rare” that comes with cheese, bacon, Ortega chiles, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, pineapple and avocado. I added the garlic fries for an extra $1.50. Pops got the cowboy steak that comes with wedge cut fries, salsa, two slices of bread, and butter, two eggs of your choice, and pineapple. We waited almost an hour to get our food but when it arrived we were served 2 stunning dishes. (Pro tip) if you want your food fast don’t come here, McDonald’s is down the street. But if you want a Delicious meal then it’s definitely worth the wait Burger: oh my gosh, so many subtle flavor, Tex-Mex meets Mexico meets Gilroy meets the USA. The first bite came in at so many levels. 1st the taste of The perfectly cooked medium rare burger, and a hint of salt, then the sweetness of the Ortega chili melded with the perfectly crisp bacon. Honestly there was nothing in this burger that stood out it was just so beautifully put together in its flavors. 5 stars Garlic fries: oh yah baby these are the real deal, with chunks of minced garlic the garlic flavor shined through. “Garlic lovers this is a must” 4 stars. The cowboy steak: pops liked it but for him it was a little spicy, the steak comes smothered with salsa. Bottom line: this is a book mark place for everyone to enjoy.

The staff was amazing. I went because it always smells so good walking past Garlic City Cafe. Sadly I didn't know that they used pineapple as a garnish of a French dip and I am super allergic to pineapple and shellfish. I'm fairly certain the french fries were cooked in the same fryer as shell fish because I had an allergic reaction and booked at home as fast as possible. They did remake my French dip. It was my first and last time there due to my severe food allergies of pineapple and shellfish. My bad for not asking first. I didn't see anything pineapple on the lunch menu but I didn't read the whole menu. I also did not clarify if there was a specific fire just for seafood and that is the reason it is 4 stars.