Cancel

Open app

Search

Garlic City Cafe

4.0 (880 reviews)
ModerateAmerican, Diners, Italian
Closed 8:00 am - 1:00 pm

Order Garlic City Cafe Takeout or Delivery

Garlic City Cafe Photos

Business Info

GARLIC CITY CAFE ATMOSPHERE

What's the vibe?
Casual
Moderate noise
Good for kids
Outdoor seating

You might also consider

More like Garlic City Cafe

Recommended Reviews - Garlic City Cafe

Your trust is our priority, so businesses can't pay to alter or remove their reviews. Learn more about reviews.
Yelp app icon
Browse more easily on the app
Review Feed Illustration

Reviews With Photos

Lorraine omelette
Linda F.

Always stop here for breakfast when I'm heading south. The food is always good and a generous portion of food. Had the Lorraine Omelette with pancakes and country potatoes. Was a tasty dish with lots of bacon.

Condiments at table
Ms. Wong ..

Street parking available in front. It is cold near the door so take a table further back if you get cold easily. One bathroom for customers only. You can see the cooking done also if you sit further back. Music playing so there isn't dead silence and it isn't too loud so you can still talk to people. They serve breakfast 8am-noon. They have lunch after noon. Place looks clean. Located in downtown Gilroy. Coffee shop nearby. Food is good and portion size is nice. There is parking in the back and an entrance into the cafe also.

Garlic fries
Samantha N.

Crinkle cut fries is a bold move... not the best style of fry, but it fit this diner-styled cafe. The burger was solid, fresh accoutrement. The garlic soup is well worth it, very similar to a chowder. Would go back to try another sandwich or fresh pasta. The downtown area is super cute!

Garlic Chicken Sandwich
Jason S.

I am starting off this review by saying wow!!!!!! Garlic soup is a full 10 service is good but the soup is so good that it don't matter lol Burger was just a burger nothing special Garlic chicken sandwich was pretty solid as well Hot pastrami really good Our server, Abraham was amazing

Menu
Khang V.

Garlic City is a cute restaurant with interspersed sky-like ceiling tiles and fabric paintings of some famous Europe destinations hanging in the wall to trick your mind into thinking you're outdoors. Parking was easy for us. We came as a group around noon for lunch and all were able to find free street parkings (2-hour limit) almost right in front of the restaurant. Service was attentive and accommodating. Our server swiftly took our orders and frequently checked on our water and utensils' needs, such as extra bowls or dishes. I ordered the Garlic Chicken and Grilled Eggplant Panini with garlic fries. My friend ordered Penne Pasta and Prawn Florentine with clam chowder soup. My panini was a bit too garlicky for my taste. It has unexplainable bitterness to it. The chicken was moist and flavorful with a hint of ginger though. Garlic fries again didn't meet my expectations. Their breads, both the panini and the garlic bread, are the highlight of our meals. The breads have the right amount of garlic, buttery, crunchy and melt in your mouth. The portion was very generous and priced reasonably. Overall, a good experience for our group!

Ariel L.

I came here with my friend today. I had never been here but had been wanting to try it. I'm glad I came because it'll be my first and last time. They have limited seating and only one server. It was lunch time & pretty full so I understand why it'd take so long. However, they brought my friend's coke, took our order and still had not brought out my coffee. I had to ask for my coffee and they told us they had to brew the coffee. I continued to wait. When my tiny cup of coffee arrived, she asked if I wanted flavored creamer and I said yes. She brought me creamer with some open containers. My first impression upon seeing this is they are not throwing away the empty creamers after they clean the tables. Second thought was this is unsanitary and disgusting. Someone else touched this and they didn't bother to clean it or throw it away. When she came to take our order, I asked her what she recommended from several items. I asked her if the onions were grilled, she didn't know and turned around to ask the gentleman, and walked away. She didn't answer my question; she just walked away. When my sandwich arrived, it didn't have any onions. The chicken was super chewy and semi cold. It was supposed to have chipotle but all I could taste was bbq- I am not a huge fan of bbq sauce. My mug was so small, I needed more coffee, but the server wasn't coming over to our table. I placed the mug at the edge of the table so she could see it. We had to leave since we were on lunch, my friend went up to the counter to pay. The server wanted us to split it in half. My friend explained she wanted to pay for her food and I'd pay for mine. My friend and I left feeling so disappointed, especially after paying $17 for a dissatisfying sandwich.

Philly Steak Sandwich
Amanda N.

Yummmmmmyyyy garlic! That burger was deee-licious. Inside smells like garlic too so be prepared. Parking can be difficult to find, but there's a lot in the back. I loved the portion sizes. It was delicious and I'd come back again.

Rigatoni, Alla Siciliana
Missy M.

Phenomenal atmosphere! Very clean restaurant. Service was excellent, the food was made fresh to order, well worth the twenty minute wait for the food! I highly recommend eating here! There are so many options for food. Sandwiches, salads, pastas, soups, etc. Their breakfast menu was absolutely fantastic as well! Must try place!!!

Garlic burger and fries
Sherie K.

I was actually kind of excited to try the The Garlic City cafe -- when in the garlic capital of the world, try their garlic!! I was surprised at how robust their menu was, sooo many options packed onto the menu, there's probably something for everyone. I ended up going with the garlic burger with garlic Parmesan fries and asked for the garlic pesto instead of the garlic aioli because I really dislike mayonnaise. They said it was no problem, but unfortunately they have a garlic pesto aioli AND and garlic pesto and I ended up with the aioli on my burger. I didn't want to send it back and cause a scene so I asked for the real pesto on the side and gave it to me and one of the managers *I presume* told me I should have parked for the pesto, not the "garlic pesto sauce." You don't know what you don't know though and since it was my first time, I didn't realize they had two spreads with similar names. Anyway, I scraped off the aioli and dunked the burger in the pesto and it was good. The fries were pretty good too and they refilled my iced tea a few times and gave me one for the road. All in all it was okay! The inside was small and not too flashy, but it was an okay place to stop.

Mary N.

There's not many restaurants in the area that stood out to us, but this one caught our eye when we were scrolling. We decided to go here for lunch on a weekday and to our surprise, it was quite packed! The staff are very nice and sweet. The food was good but not super spectacular. Considering the options around here, I would say this is a great spot to stop by if you're in Gilroy.

Tidy Table corner

See all

Photo of Eve H.
0
50
8

23 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

11 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

6 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Linda F.
25
80
16

3 days ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 month ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Dennis P.
0
117
11

9 days ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0

8 months ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 0
Oh no 0

10 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 1
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

21 days ago

Exceptionally kind and good service. Everything was so so delicious and service was well paced.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

24 days ago

Delicious. Excellent service. Just happened to stumble across this place. So glad we did!

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Tom J.
0
45
0

5 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 3
Love this 4
Oh no 1

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 2
Oh no 0

2 years ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Lau P.
15
108
614

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 1
Love this 1
Oh no 0
Photo of Kelly A.
10
206
15

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

2 months ago

Food is outstanding with large portions. Service was top notch too. Waitress was friendly and cheerful and polite. I really enjoyed the meal

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Miranda W.
91
135
170

8 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 1
Love this 2
Oh no 1
Photo of Lupe C.
22
14
7

5 months ago

Their food is amazing. The servings are large enough to feed two people. The service and ambiance were very pleasant. I will be going back.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 2
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1
Photo of Greg R.
6
24
19

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 4
Thanks 1
Love this 4
Oh no 0

7 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

7 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

1 year ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Bob H.
3
69
50

11 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

4 months ago

Excellent service. Excelllent fresh food. You could taste everything fresh. The ambience was excellent and very clean.

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

3 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

2 years ago

Helpful 3
Thanks 3
Love this 2
Oh no 0

5 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0
Photo of Tony P.
0
15
33

1 year ago

Helpful 1
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 1

3 years ago

Helpful 38
Thanks 0
Love this 30
Oh no 0

3 months ago

Helpful 0
Thanks 0
Love this 0
Oh no 0

Page 1 of 22

Ask the Community - Garlic City Cafe

Is there a long wait in Sunday around lunchtime?

I was there on a Sunday and the wait was an hour long. I imagine it is like that on the weekends.

Don’t See Your Question? Ask Away!

You might also consider

Verify this business for free

People searched for American 1,413 times last month within 15 miles of this business.

Verify this business

Mama Mia's

Mama Mia's

3.3
(314 reviews)
1.5 mi
$$

Mama Mia seems like the popular local Italian eatery. This place was pretty full here on a Monday…read moreevening. Service was friendly. The food itself was average. This kids pizza, bread basket, and Caesar salad was great. The Capellini was somewhat bland though and the Linguini Pescadore had an unusual flavor (tastes like a bowl of marinated artichokes). Portions for all dishes are large so if you're hungry then this place will hit the spot.

Located on the right front side a a shopping center, lots of parking, if you are wheelchair bound…read moreyou probably won't find a handicap space as they are scarce throughout the whole shopping center. They have inside and outside seating, inside ac temp I felt was perfect. The inside of the restaurant has a bar at the center with multiple TVs to watch sports. The inside looks classy with white table cloths, however I don't understand why they put white paper over the table cloths. IMO I f you are going to do white table cloths then do white table cloths and change them out between services. So this is the first time my pops, my wifey and I all ordered the same dish, which is honestly crazy because we all have such different tastes. We ordered calamari antipasto and for our main dish the salmon with capers, steamed veggies and substituted the pasta marinara with pasta Alfredo. Pops also got his usual non-alcoholic Heineken beer. After ordering we were given two small loads of bread, cut and quarters with a small plate of garlic, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. The rundown: The bread looked and tasted commercial, store-bought and the dipping garlic, olive oil, and balsamic was way over powered with an old garlic flavor "I love garlic but this garlic was just not good. "We all had one small piece and stopped eating it" The calamari was definitely nowhere near the best I've had but it was good, quality wise. It struck me as though it was also prepackaged and frozen prior to cooking. The veggies were good but underseasoned "I dipped them in my pasta Alfredo sauce" The pasta Alfredo I must say was very tasty. The salmon was slightly overcooked but tasted good with the caper sauce they put on it, unfortunately the capers were flavorless. The server did a great job and paid attention to detail "he gets 5 stars" The price point "nearly $100" was IMO on the high side for the quality of food "or lack there of. They come in at 2 stars max IMO. I am giving them an extra 1star was for the great service, total of 3 stars.

Photos
Mama Mia's
Osso Bucco
Osso Bucco
Chicken pilaf

See all

Chicken pilaf
Maurizio's

Maurizio's

4.5
(1k reviews)
9.6 mi
$$

My husband and I decided to come here on a whim. We were staying in the area for the weekend and…read moredecided to try this place out based on the reviews and we were not disappointed.. well, my husband was with his steak but for me, my meal was absolute perfection! We got seated outside and immediately got the bread with garlic and olive oil. It was delicious! We ordered the calamari as an appetizer and the portion was decent. The sauces were both spicy which we loved! If you're not a spicy person, may not enjoy them. The calamari had an even ratio of rings and tentacles. The breading was light and the calamari tasted delicious and fresh. I decided to go with the Fettuccine al Pescatore and I was blown away by everything about this dish. The pasta was delicious and a very generous portion. The sauce was amazing with a spicy kick. The seafood was a generous amount and tasted fresh and cooked to perfection. As I was enjoying this meal, I looked to my husband and said "this is one of the best meals I've ever had!" My husband got the ribeye steak and it was over cooked. He didn't enjoy it and complained quite a bit as he ate it. I told him to send it back but he just ate it. It took a while to get the server to come back to give us the check. We had to chase him inside the restaurant to pay. Ambiance is very laid back. Small indoor seating space but felt stuffy. Outside seating space with heaters. Outdoor seating was nice especially with nice weather. Saw a lot of locals coming to the spot. I will be coming back to enjoy another delicious meal.

Food was good, not great. Ordered the special which was a New York steak over penne pasta, and the…read moresteak was overcooked, when I asked for medium rare, I got medium well. Pasta has balsamic vinaigrette over the Gorgonzola cheese pasta, which made the pasta sweeter. Different but I don't prefer it. Bruschetta was ok, the bread was like a crostini, very crunchy! The Rotelle di Parma was very rich, with the abundant cheese. Service was ok. When mentioned a lobster ravioli may be out, it was already out awhile ago! Requested bread twice and was stingy with the garlic. Bummed they did not have aperol spritz. Sat outside which was not the best ambiance, highly recommend to eat inside. Not very elegant outside and no design or decorations to create that elegance appeal. NY Steak Penne Pasta Special $50 - 4/5 Rotelle di Parma $26 - 3/5

Photos
Indoor decor
Indoor decor
Calamari Fritti
Calamari Fritti
Full body red wine  light, not bitter, slightly sweet.

See all

Full body red wine light, not bitter, slightly sweet.

Garlic City Cafe - tradamerican - Updated July 2026

Loading...
Loading...
Loading...