Great food, great service, friendly staff...it's a wonderful fly in destination. They have great views of the airport and some outside seating. I've been there many times. read more

No host and no servers around so I stood around for 15 mins at the front waiting to be seated even though it wasn't busy.Food took forever and was still cold when served. Everything tasted like frozen food. The ambiance is for old people. read more

Good food. Good service. - However... this restaurant is so noisy with just a few customers in attendance it's almost --impossible-- to enjoy a meal and conversation. - The print on the menu is so very small, one can barely read it. - Why have a menu folks can barely read?? read more

Finally tried this place after contemplating it for so long, went with my partner and we both had the fried artichoke appetizer which was delicious! We both also got the tri-tip sandwich with extra BBQ sauce on the side and it was also delicious! So hearty and well seasoned and the sauce was to die for. Lorie, our server was amazing and very professional, we also met the owner and he was very welcoming and was happy to see some new faces. Did I mention the prices are also very affordable? Can't wait to try other items on the menu! We will definitely be back! This place is a true hidden gem! read more

See all

Flew in for lunch and was pleasantly surprised by this place! I ordered a wedge salad with sub poppyseed dressing, my dad got a BLT, and we split the fried artichoke appetizer--all delicious! What elevated our experience was the amazing hospitality shown by our waitress Lorie. She was above and beyond friendly, communicative, helpful, and passionate about this restaurant. She explained that they source almost everything locally and make what they can from scratch. She also informed us of the prime rib dinners that they offer once a month at very affordable prices. As far as airport cafe's go, this is one of my favorites so far in Northern/Central CA. Most often, we come across some greasy diners (not knocking them--we enjoy ourselves there too), but this place had a real restaurant feel with nice table clothes and decor. We look forward to flying back down for another meal in the New Year! read more

My friend and I went for lunch today. Was both our first time trying this restaurant. My friend had heard it was good. The service was prompt, as we arrived a bit early for lunch. We were the only customers in there. My friend ordered the Cajun chicken Caesar Salad. The lettuce unfortunately was old and wilted, she had to pick through it, and set pieces aside. The sliced Cajun chicken on top was flat and dense, chewy and dry. She let me try it. I ordered the Prime Rib plate off the special menu at the suggestion of our waitress, she said it was "really good". The menu read Slow roasted prime rib, with au jus, horseradish, herb mashed potatoes and seasoned vegetables. The prime rib was ok, I don't like pink so ordered it med well. It was warm, tender and a bit juicy, not dried out, but not a lot of flavor. I wasn't give the side of au jus to dip it in, which would have complemented it. I did use the horseradish The scoop of herb mashed potatoes was barely warm, but tasted ok, and the "seasoned vegetables" was just a serving of it looked like roasted butternut squash, which I like, but when I tried it, it was a bit stringy, very bland tasting, almost tasted more like it was pumpkin pieces, it was very weird. Again my plate of food was barely warm. Ate about half and was done. Waitress did ask how things were and not wanting to complain, we said it was fine. She was getting our bill and the manager who had been mingling around the dining area, he was super friendly, came to our table and asked us how the food was, while our plates hadn't been picked up yet, and my friend showed him the wilted old looking lettuce,. He was very very apologetic and since our bill was already being generated, he gave her a card with her next meal on the house. He also spoke to the Chef. I didn't tell him about my dissatisfaction, but when the waitress came by after that, she did ask us why we didn't tell her we were unhappy with our meals, she told us she can "get into trouble", I told her we didn't like being complainers. She did ask me how mine was and I ended up telling her about mine. She said she was going to speak with chef, as she made up the specials board, and my meal didn't quite add up. (I think it was supposed to be a vegetable medley, and then I didn't get the au jus). Probably won't be going back, but since my friend has a free meal, I told her wouldn't cost her anything to give it another try. I mean, we were the only customers in there. Things shouldn't get overlooked before they leave the kitchen. And no reason for barely warm food. read more

Excellent selection of food, especially fried artichoke hearts. We've had lunch here n and used their catering services. Jonathan is a great host with a friendly and service oriented staff. Take the little extra time to go, you wont regret it. read more

Our server Lorie S was so amazing. She was friendly and helpful. The appetizer were hot and delicious: Past My Way had many options of f sauce and add one. Great atmosphere. Love watching the planes land. read more

I have to say the service is the best! The food is pretty good .... Coleslaw was sooooo delicious! Fried artichoke was great and I was pretty satisfied with my overall experience. I love the scenery and would definitely come back to try a couple different dishes!!! read more

The restaurant was clean and inviting, we really enjoyed the food and the staff was very friendly and helpful. I recommend this place for a casual meal, good experience for our lunch read more

In for a event, had the chicken picatta. Came with mashed potatoes, vegetables. All were seasoned well and flavors were on point. Will be back to try other things on the menu. read more

This is a preset neat place. Nice hidden gem. I can here for a special event, so i didn't get the restaurant feel. However, it was a buffet and the food was pretty good. There was prime rib, chicken, pasta. Oh and of course artichokes. So yah. Food was pretty good.. read more

First found this place when we visited their food truck, the Choke Coach, while shopping at Pazzini's Farm Stand for heirloom Artichokes. The truck serves really good Deep Fried Artichekes, Lumpia, and a very tasty Hamburger. Living in Salinas it's closer to visit the restaurant so we did. The Hamburger is just as good at the brick and mortar, which is a sit-down restaurant in the Salinas Airport. We've never sat down for any of our visits, doing all of our business take-out. I'd love to give a 5 star rave but my dealings with them have not been five star. When I go in to pick up my orders it always seems like the servers are disinterested and sometimes I have to look around for service. Granted, I come in during the slow time I'm not sure there is a rush at the Airport. Also, the last two orders I made had problems when I got home. Both were fixable and didn't ruin the meal, but it is annoying. To their credit, when I called to voice my concern the hostess was very concerned and offered recompense for my next visit and the manager called later to follow up. I hope to be able to give five stars some day. I will keep going out to the Airport because the Burger is one of the best and most flavorful around. read more

Don't eat here, the manger is very rude. Calls random people homeless. She could have made herself, and restaurant look incredible when someone came to video. Her ego got in the way. Epic fail! read more

Went for a quick lunch and the service was fast and friendly. We will definitely go back again. They do know how to fix artichokes. read more

Flying Artichoke - Penne pasta with chicken & artichokes in a light tomato cream sauce. - American Near Me - Salinas, California

See all

Excellent food and service. Can get a little noisy because of acoustics. Nice when it's quiet. Good view. A worthwhile stop. I'm going again! read more

The Flying Artichoke at the Salinas Airport was an ideal place to hold a Surprise Birthday Party for our Mother! The room was beautiful even before we decorated with helium balloons and Happy Birthday banners. Jonathan and his team had prepared a buffet lunch which was plentiful and delicious. The staff was very friendly and helpful throughout the entire event. Thank you Jonathan for helping us surprise our Mom for her 90th Birthday! read more

Artichoke burger for the win! It was so delicious! This comment needed 34 more characters, so here they are. read more

Locally grown food prepared to perfection and very reasonably priced. Staff extremely friendly and location really fun to watch airplanes come and go. Very clean and classy establishment. Great place! read more

The food was amazing ..an the service was immaculate..Lori is an amazing server! Shout out to Jeff the chef ‍. Spectacular wine an dine I strongly recommend read more

The food here was sooo delicious!! I had the fried artichoke wrap that was the special of the day with a salad and my mom and the chicken sandwich. We shared halves- oh my goodness it was yummy. The decor was cute too and there is an awesome view of the airport runway which is fun. However the service seriously lacked. We were not greeted when we entered. I had never been here before so I was unclear that it was a seat yourself type of establishment as there was no sigh but also no hostess stand. We sat for a long time without even being approached for awhile. Once we got our food though...yummy! read more

We used their catering services for our open house on February 16th, 2023! The food and the service were absolutely hands down outstanding! Exceptional! Delicious! Impressive! 5 stars aren't enough! From beginning to end, everything was perfect! At first, I was skeptical because they are located at the airport. However, I was so incredibly wrong! On top of having phenomenal food and price point, they were kind and professional. I was even invited to a taste test. I declined, but I was asked! I will definitely, use them again. I am actually taking colleagues to the restaurant for lunch today! read more

Pouring rain, pulling my trailer, missed my ramp to the freeway and I am starving. Drive to the airport parking lot to turn around when I saw the sign 'Flying Artichoke now open'. What amazing fortune! I was the only patron but was served a FRESH breakfast perfectly prepared. The toast was amazing, grilled on a grill..... yum. I can't wait to go back........ read more

Flying Artichoke - Menu cover - American Near Me - Salinas, California

See all

I wasn't sure if I should give it a chance based on some of the other reviews, but I don't generally make my decision based on what might have been a bad day for a patron. Hungry and tired of the rest of the food nearby, I popped in here for lunch. The restaurant is actually small, but very clean and nice. The lone waitress is friendly, but based on what I'm assuming is generally a low crowd, the service is somewhat slow. I ordered the artichoke poboy and was pleasantly surprised. It was very tasty, but there was more lettuce than artichoke hearts, which was mildly disappointing. The spicy mayo on it was spectacular. I enjoyed it enough to forget to take a picture until I was halfway through it, so take that for what it's worth. I think I'll probably be back, though the speed of service will probably make it a low priority. Overall a good experience. If you're nearby and hungry, give it a chance. read more

Flying Artichoke - Artichoke poboy. - American Near Me - Salinas, California

Super good I always go in and get my tri tip sandwhich and it always taste just as good as the first time

Went with group of friends. Food was all over cooked and was presented poorly on the at the table. Not the best service to boot. It must have been the owner/managers day off and showed. No one gave a shit about much of anything. It's a very small restaurant and shouldn't be that hard to keep up. Oh well so much for eating. read more

Great place to eat, the food is good but their servings might be kind of small to some people. So far I've had good experience I've been happy with my food and the service. I had the chicken sandwich with fries for $9 and it was good, i do plan to go back and try other stuff from their menu read more

Flying Artichoke - Chicken Sandwich $9 - American Near Me - Salinas, California

Food didn't look or taste appetizing. I couldn't take more than a few bites of my burger. Two people in our group got food poisoning- one from the burger and the other from the tacos. read more

I have made a tradition of taking my daughter to the monterey and salinas airports on the weekends and we always go the airshow. We always eat lunch and watch planes take off and land. In 2017, we saw that this place was opened during the airshow, and having been there many times, figured we would sit and watch the show. It was great, quiet, and we felt like we had found the best kept secret at the airshow.......fast forward to this year. Airshow 2018, we go in, there is a table, outside. They are somewhat busy. So I go in to make sure they know we are there. 15 minutes later i go in again, the guy comes out clears our table but still no menus, 15 minutes later I go in and see the server that normally helps me when i go. No smile, no i will be with you soon, just a scoul with" just a minute". I figure she is busy and stressed so I give them a few minutes. 5 minutes later i go back in and approach the server. And she rudely tells me that for the 3rd time she will be with us in a minute, I say ok i just wanted to make sure someone was aware that we were waiting. She says something under her breath and i lost it. Told her blank this restaurant and blank yourself. I will NEVER EVER go back to this place. The food is already sub par and i cant believe that on a busy day where the server is making more in tips than she probably ever does she is acting this way. Poor server, poor management, and bad food, i see this place closing in the next year. read more

Server was overwhelmed by excessive customers on the Saturday morning that I visited. I might suggest that we take it easy on her by not all going at the same time. But how will we know? Yes, exactly. The deep fried artichoke appetizer was disappointing for me as it had a really sharp flavor and the amount of dipping sauce given was insufficient. The panini was OK but not thrilling. Parking sure was easy. It seemed like a ghost town. Other than the restaurant, all was quiet. read more

Recently had lunch here. My husband had a hamburger with fries. He enjoyed it very much. I had the pulled pork sandwich and it was very tasty. Our server was great and we will be back to try other items. read more

We tried the Flying Artichoke for breakfast. Most of the food was cooked, which is good, but nothing special in terms of how it tasted. The pancakes were, unfortunately, not cooked, and gushed raw pancake batter when you cut into them. The scrambled eggs also were undercooked. The waiter didn't say anything when we showed him, he just took the pancakes away and brought us cooked ones that were okay. read more

If I was staying in town longer I could easily eat my way through this menu. Fantastic food at a reasonable price!

I stopped into the Flying Artichoke, we had already had lunch but the kids wanted a dessert. We were seated promptly and placed our order for a simple scope of ice cream. To the kids surprise they brought over a huge Sunday, covered in chocolate and whipped cream. It was a real treat. This made the kids day! We loved the amazing service and friendly staff. I couldn't be happier with the service. I'm planning on flying over again tomorrow! Thanks Flying Artichoke! read more

Flying Artichoke - Flying Artichoke! - American Near Me - Salinas, California

The ambience is wonderful but I wished it matched the food. They served us a raw burger and the smallest tri tip sandwich I have ever had. It wasn't worth the money. read more

This place is amazing! They have great artichoke soup and fried artichoke. The burgers and lumpia are also great! Fun to watch the airplanes coming in and out too! Highly recommended! read more

The food is great and so is the waitress I had. Sometimes when the cook or manager is out they will go and greet tables and don't hesitate on refilling drinks. My favorite is the choke burger and the seasoned fries. The other great thing about this place is that they have a back office room where you can have lunch meetings or little parties during lunch time and already have a Work Christmas party booked wooo! read more

Flying Artichoke - Meatball Sub Sandwich Yum! - American Near Me - Salinas, California

We recently had the most pleasant dining experience at the flying artichoke. The service was great the food was bomb(means excellent). We got a chance to meet the chef. He was friendly and warm. Just all around nice place. We will be back. read more

I had a Cuban sandwich and fried that was pretty good. The service was good and I did not wait long for the food. There is a nice view of the airfield. I would recommend it. Nice friendly attitudes here. The manager is very nice. read more

We flew in today for lunch and were pleasantly surprised. My copilot had the choke burger and a wonderful slaw. I had the grilled artichoke. Service with a smile and really good food. What more could you ask for. I'll be be back! read more