Cachagua General Store

This was a 20^th Anniversary dinner that my husband planned. Fun for us, very eclectic décor and especially the menu! Everything was made with TLC and the pairings of flavors were strange and delicious. Beef tartare with tarragon ice cream was my favorite – if I had to pick one! The drive was fun, too!

This place is an absolute gem. Plan for a multi hour experience — the meal is your entertainment for the evening. Grab a bottle of wine from their excellently prepared list, settle in, and enjoy the music and bustling activity.
First off, the environment. I love it. This place is eminently casual. There isn’t any BS — just food and drink, with thrown together décor that reminds me of a backroads BBQ joint back home.
The wine list is spectacular and ranges from affordable to, well, not. All are well selected, and I encourage you to get a bottle or two with your meal — you’ll have time to drink and enjoy.
Then the food. The food will come out piece by piece, you’ll likely get some plates that you didn’t order on the house, and each plate is an adventure. While their entrees are excellent, the creativity and variety of the small plates are where the general store shines. If there is a tasting menu (there isn’t always), you should jump at the chance. Ordering many smaller dishes fits with the restaurant’s overall flow — rather than the often long wait (it’s a small kitchen), you’ll have a steady stream of food. The dishes are original and exciting.
I love reading the negative reviews on this place. If you want rapid service, an orderly environment, and predictable food, go to Applebee’s. If you want to sit back and enjoy a wild ride of a brilliantly crafted multi-​course affair, the General Store is your place.

Carmel Valley, CA (Carmel By The Sea)
— 30 to 45 minutes from The Carmel Valley Village.
— Drive through the countryside, very rural, up a windy road.
— Mobile Internet stops working 5 minutes before arrival.
Nothing really new to add to the already lengthy review I posted in the past.
— This is a 2 — 3.5 hour dinner no matter where you sit. So, know this in advance and be patient and Do Not arrive hungry.
— Think eating a at a fine dining establishment where you can actually enjoy yourself and dress as casual as you like.
— The value, quality and consistency of the food will want you coming back for more. Not hard to laugh when all the «other» folks who visit the Monterey Bay — yap about their «favorite restaurant» and have no idea about this real gem.
— Visiting CGS and eating family style is the only way to go to really maximize the culinary skills brought out by Michael and his team Monday Nights. Especially at these prices, you have to go all in. Apps to the entrees — order up and you will not be let down.
— If you are remotely a foodie or at least enjoy a solid meal at a more than affordable price, taking a risk by going off the beaten path is a real experience you will be able to share (brag) with those you know for years to come.
— Bar none one of two destination restaurants in Monterey County where if you plan out properly can enjoy some great activities along the way. Also, one of two spots where they are none like you have ever visited before.
— Must call in advance to make sure you have seats waiting upon arrival.
— Not sure if Discover is accepted but AMEX, VIsa and Mastercard are.
— There is also a Sunday Brunch, posted some pics. However, if I can have one option I would do dinner. A Sunday Brunch review is coming up after I have gone back once or twice.

Had a truly wonderful, memorable dinner. We were tipped off by our more experienced member to focus on appetizers and we ordered so many apps, we didn’t need any entrees. It was the way to go! Each and every app was amazing. In the end, our only problem was that we got full and therefore didn’t enjoy the last few as much. The portion sizes were surprisingly large. The flavors… unusual and fantastic. For example, beef tartare with tarragon ice-​cream! The experience was definitely a foodies paradise. One star off the 5 because the place needs a good cleaning. Oh, camping in the parking lot? A definite plus after a long night of eating and drinking!

If you love food, you will love this place.
Disclaimer: Be prepared to drive a long windy road to the middle of nowhere and wait a while for your food to come. Also, only open Monday for dinner and Sunday for brunch.
The items on the menu are definitely unique. I tried the quail, venison, pumpkin ravioli, and apple crisp. I LOVED them all. I feel like the flavors in each dish all complement each other really well and I was impressed with each and every dish. This is definitely a «foodie» restaurant, not just a restaurant to please the masses with run-​of-​the-​mill dishes.
If only this place was open more often and wasn’t so darn far away! I would come here more often to try the other menu items because I have never seen such an awesome menu! Also, the prices are so reasonable. I was surprised that our bill wasn’t more expensive.
As a plus, they had live music (IDK if they have live music every Monday night) which was awesome and made the evening extra special.

I wish they gave half stars here. My rating would be 1.5 stars. Maybe it was my high expectations… Besides my great company of my friends and the décor. I would pass
First the drive to Cachagua if you follow the gps would take you to a shorter but windy road. Going there was fine since the sun was up but after dinner we took the longer route and less curvy.
The place is really out of no where. You can hear rosters crowing and see a peacock roaming around the lot.
The interior of the restaurant was very eclectic. I love the curtains that looked like it came from Minnie Mouse playhouse, colored bottles on the railing of the other window. The big moose with a moose headband was adorable. I could just look at the décor all night… in which we did.
We were a party of 8 with reservations at 630pm. We sat down around 615pm and my party was complete by 645pm. They got our drink orders immediately. Drink menu was pretty vast, good set of wine and beer. The guy was on top of that. Food on the other hand is another story. We waited an hour and half before they took our order. Then it took them an hour to deliver our appetizers. One hour to prepare salad? We got our main course around 930−945pm. It was staggering in. Guests from the second seating came in received their food about the same time as us. One of our friends did not even get his food. Another had to leave at 930 because she had to get home to her kids. 3hours and half for an entrée?
The food was alright. My friends chicken was cold and so was the soup he ordered. So was it standing around for a while? The pork chops was massive! Tri-​tip was heavily recommended and my friend finished the plate clean… and I mean clean! My duck was a bit dry. In short I do not think it was a yummy in my tummy restaurant. The presentation on the other hand was wonderful, it was like a piece of art.
The did give every table complimentary appetizers like jalapeño and pizza. Instead of whipping up appetizers that people did not order maybe they should cook the meals that were ordered. But they were tasty. The waitress said it was for waiting yet, they gave it to all the tables, so it did not seem as special when the table that came 3 hours after us received it also and was given the same spill about waiting…
The lady at the cashier was RUDE. Tip was included because we were a big group. yet tip should be earned, and we did not get the service that of 18%. There were more bussers than servers.
To sum it up… it was very disorganized. They did not know what was going on with our orders and where it was in the queue.
I am glad other guests were able to enjoy their food but unfortunately we did not. The food was not worth the wait. We left at 1030pm all unsatisfied and slightly hungry, we wanted dessert but then that would be another 2 hours, we think not.
We did expect to wait a bit, but not for cold food and definitely not for 4 hours… Maybe if there was a sincere apology for the wait and a discount we wouldn’t have been bitter leaving the restaurant. Good luck to all who eat here. it is a gamble… Or at least buy chips at the general store while you wait for your meal, to hold you off a bit.
OH and there is banjo and harmonica duo to render us with entertainment, it is not free, they come and stand by your table with the tip jar until you put something in.

The food was good but we waited 1 ½ hours for our apps and 3 hours for our dinners and one person in our party still hasn’t received his meal at 3 ½ hours now… Don’t waste your time driving out hear the people are rude and you’ll wait for hours or never get your meal!

I had been wanting go here for months, after they had catered a holiday party at a friends house! I finally was able to take off a Monday night from work just to go! (They only serve dinner on Monday nights as far as I know.) After a long drive filled with twists and turns we finally arrived deep into the forest to the find the famed General Store. As far as parking goes it seems like you just park wherever you see fit, almost anywhere will do.
We were greeted and escorted to a cozy table not too far from the live music! (Which was nice, minus the fact the the gentleman playing guitar trolled for tips table to table every few songs, which ultimately became tiresome.)
We brought wine because I had been advised to do so due to their semi nonexistent corkage fee. Now here is how it works. If you would like to drink your wine out of a glass jar you may do so for free. If you want a real wine glass it costs a mere $ 10, which we were absolutely willing to pay since we had brought an incredible bottle of Pinot.
When our ‘order taker’ (calling her a server would be giving her too much credit) came to our table her first and only greeting was, «Are you ready?» Honestly… That could not have been any more off putting. We were far from ready being as the menu is quite extensive and filled with tons of interesting items, which we wanted to hear more in depth descriptions of. Her knowledge of the menu was minimal at best and after a few questions and suggestions of house favorites we realized she wasn’t going to be much help.
Appetizers:
1) Chesapeake bay oysters with a poblano chile infused mignonette.
WOW. These were awesome! Fully shucked, they are placed in Asian soup spoons. Really cool presentation! The oysters were delicious, creamy and juicy. And the mignonette had just the right amount of kick!
2) Ceviche
The fish was so fresh and perfectly zesty from the lime. With their house made tortilla chips and guacamole this was definitely a favorite. Really flavorful!
3) Pear Salad
Nice flavors, crumbled Point Reyes blue cheese, sliced pears and lightly dressed greens in a honey mustard vinaigrette.
The wait between appetizers was roughly 35 – 40 minutes, which we had been told was standard, so it didn’t bother us. In the meantime we ended up ordering a bottle of the Morgan 12 Clones Pinot Noir, which at $ 35 a bottle is a STEAL.
Entrees:
We ordered the Rib Eye, as well as the Duck. To say that both were underwhelming would be an understatement. Both were terribly under seasoned, and virtually flavorless. They were both served with the same sides which I thought was odd: asparagus, and grains. The ribeye which we had ordered medium rare, came out raw, but we opted not to send it back or complain, realizing maybe we should have asked what their meat temperatures were like there. The chefs medium rare might be different than typical medium rare anywhere else on the peninsula. The steak itself had no flavor whatsoever. The duck was served a berry reduction which could have saved the flavorless duck, but it was so sweet it made the plate unenjoyable. We tried to force ourselves to eat about half of each plate especially since we were so hungry, but eventually gave up.
Dessert:
Anaya a runner/​dessert order taker was sweet enough to come by and talk to us about the dessert menu, what was best and her favorites. We went with the crema catalana, which is like a crème brûlée which was tasty, and had a nice fruit component.
Overall: 2 stars. 1 star for the Appetizers, and 1 star for Anaya. It was nice to see that at least 1 employee cared enough to check on us during our meal, and she made the experience for us there. She’s the best! She should 100% a server there, and I hope they pool tips because the 20% we left was all because of her.
Frankly, it is not worth the 45 minute drive. I would be willing to give their Sunday Brunch menu a shot if someone really twisted my arm, but will not be returning for dinner. Save yourself the trek and drive down the coast to Big Sur.
The hype about this place is not real. OVERRATED.

The food is really good but the service is terrible and they do not honor reservations. Plenty of better places in Carmel Valley or in Carmel to put up with the drive and poor service. If you do go, do not take the late seating. You will eat at 11pm.

I have to say the general store isn’t the best but if you need a small snack or alcohol, it’s sufficient. The dinners served here, however, are amazing. I had bone marrow, a pizza, a full bottle of wine, scallops, and crab cakes all for only around $ 100. The cabin itself is very inviting and has great entertainment. I also have to hand it to the staff who dealt with a customer’s dog that kept getting in the way — very well. I would definitely come back if I’m ever in Carmel Valley again

If I dreamed of the perfect restaurant experience, the Cachagua General Store would still be better! I went in with very high expectations and my expectations were still exceeded.
We came here for a Monday night dinner (dinner is only served on Monday) to celebrate our wedding. We’d rented a nearby cabin though Airbnb which was also perfect. We had a 6:30 pm reservation and were welcomed by the warm staff and seated at a cute table when we arrived.
We started studying the extensive menu and wine list and decided we’d order a bottle of white and one of red in honor of the special occasion. Our waiter helped us choose a reasonable (~$ 30), delicious bottle of white from a wine-​maker who was at the table next to us. We went fancier for the red and ordered a 1986 bottle of Silver Oak. The price was $ 100 but it’s more than that basically anywhere online! They also had the 1998 for $ 80 and the 1985 for $ 120. It was one of the best (if not the best) reds I’ve ever had! We took about ½ of each bottle back to our cabin and loved finishing the rest.
We also ordered a lot for dinner to celebrate and because we were in awe of the selection and prices. We had steak tartare (~$ 10), seafood soup ($ 4 for a huge cup!), a beet salad (~$ 10), ahi poke (~$ 12), and yellowtail prepared two ways $ 20). For dessert, we had a chocolate moose with salted caramel. Everything was incredibly delicious!
In addition to the amazing food, wine, and service, there was a small live band and two pugs wandering around and visiting us (I love dogs!). I’m already trying to figure out when I can go back!

I would actually give them a 3 ½ star for the following reasons. Food 4 ½ and service 2.
Got there via a twisting turning mountain road to the middle of nowhere. Place looks like a dive road house. Get inside and it still looks like a dive but the kitchen is solid. We sat at the bar which looks at the kitchen. Five stools and one chair. I wind up on the chair, which means the bar is at chest level. How hard is it to by another used bar stool?
Reservation is at 7. We get there at 6:45, At 7 we still haven’t been waited on. I ask a waitress and she states that they start waiting on people according to their reservation time. OK… At 7:25 I ask can we make our order now? Different waitress says it takes 30 minutes after our reservation time to make our order.
7:55 I go to the hostess and make my concerns known. She states that they are slammed tonight (Labor Day Weekend). States that this is normal, but there is a look of concern in her eye. Five minutes later a waitress shows up, apologizes and gives us a few slices of comp pizza to hold us over. She then takes our order and says she’ll get it out as soon as possible. We gel all of our food just about at once.
OK, now for the food. Very fresh and original. Some hits, some misses. Extremely well priced. Orders are too large. Appetizers could be entrees. I hate to waste food so I eat most of what I’m served. You want to try multiple things but the sizes make that difficult. The menu has too many selections. This may be why the kitchen is overwhelmed and service is too slow. Cut back and move things along.
Wine list is really good. Local wines are maybe 25% markup over retail. Wine guy has a bit of an attitude.
So this is a mixed review. Carmel doesn’t have many toe tapping restaurants. This one come close. Just get a very early reservation before the kitchen is slammed

I had perhaps the best overall dining experience I have ever enjoyed last Monday evening at The Store. Our party of five ordered a wide variety of appetizers to start with. Each dish served seemed more memorable than the previous one. Every appetizer, main course, and dessert dish was perfectly prepared, layered with flavor, and was lip-​smacking delicious.
Our service was comfortably attentive. Prices remain incredibly reasonable, especially given the quality of ingredients and excellent results on the table.
Thank you to Michael and his entire staff for providing us with such great food and a relaxing experience.

What a true hidden gem! I can’t begin to describe what a true magical culinary experience we had. The food, the ambiance, the service, ALL perfect!

Best breakfast ever! The atmosphere is eclectic and colorful. This is an old roadhouse and you feel like you’ve gone back in time. The breakfast includes hot coffee, orange juice and mini organic blueberry pancakes and organic maple syrup. We had the salmon omelet which was out of this world! Also can substitute for farm fresh vegetable sauté. Our waitress was so cute and sweet. We had a delightful time!

Had the most wonderful dinner there last night, in fact, it was probably the best meal I have ever had. I get water in my mouth just thinking about the crab cake and the chevre-​brie starters. As for entrees, The beef was epic and so was the wild salmon. Everything was made from local produce and was thus super fresh. I had the white chocolate with fruit for dessert. Again I get water in my mouth. The best part: the prices are low. We paid 112 $ for 3 starters, two entrees, wine, two beers and dessert. Unbeatable. At least for a Norwegian.
It was supercosy with the guy singing Cash with his guitar as well. I even think Janis Joplin was there ;)
Yes it is busy, but which good dinery is not. I say: book well in advance and do it now! Or you will regret it.
Btw, Yes it is a curby drive too– take your time and enjoy the view, it is beautiful.
Lovers of authentic food: enjoy one of the best meals you will ever have. amen.
Ps looking back– this was the best meal on my entire trip by far.

You probably cannot duplicate this experience anywhere else. I’ll try to distill it: take a very passionate, highly trained, experienced chef and wife team, drop them into the middle of a rural area, give them access to the freshest, locally produced/​caught meats and ingredients, surround them by dogs and other raving fans, and you’ll sort of get the gist of it. Oh, and by the way, put it all in an old roadhouse-​type building that just happened to once have been the province of Hells Angels and other no’er-do-wells.
But, this place is the crème de la crème of roadhouses. Gas up, leave the crowds down valley, put on your jeans and boots, and saddle up for one hell of a culinary ride.
The facility’s not fancy, but the food makes that irrelevant.
Since Michael is (one of? the?) premier caterers in the area, the General Store only serves Sunday brunch and Monday dinners.
It’s really way out of the way, far up the Carmel Valley, and the road is very winding. If you’re coming from down valley, Carmel or Monterey, plan on a long drive that never seems to end. For this reason, I think that this is either a better place to visit for the Sunday Brunch, early evening Monday dinner, or summer daylight savings time Monday dinner. Daylight would be really helpful for that road. Plus, it’s a really pretty drive in the country.
We went for a Sunday brunch, but since we’d already eaten eggs at home, weren’t in the mood for more egg dishes. It was a late brunch and not crowded, so they were not only willing but happy to serve us a lunch portion of what would normally be a dinner menu. Wow, the food was fabulous. I had freshly-​caught salmon filet that Michael filleted before serving. One of us had the scallops over pasta (big, fabulous scallops) and the other had the rabbit five ways. Each dish was great. They also feature mostly local wines, all of course chosen to best complement the cuisine.
Michael’s culinary style is strongly influenced by French and Spanish cuisines (modern renditions). He has lived and worked in France (and speaks French), and worked in a number of French restaurants in New York.
Michael and Amanda treated us as though we were guests in their home. Not only did we have a great meal, we felt like we were making new friends.

Mark and I finally made it to Michael Jones’ Monday night dinner at the Cachagua General Store. If you don’t already know where Cachagua is, then forget it – it’s too far. Don’t bother dressing up, Ugg boots and jeans is the dress code.
Michael Jones owns A Moveable Feast. I first became aware of his food because they have catered Monterey Museum of Art events. I worked for the museum and quickly learned that standing by the kitchen door as they came out with trays of devine tidbits was a good plan.
Monday night dinners, what a great idea on his part. Cachagua is too far out there to really get a nightly crowd. But one night a week, and now brunch on Sundays seems to be the trick for way out in the country dining. It was packed when we walked in. We came for the late seating at 8:30. This particular late seating really became a series of unfortunate events so crazily bad that we laughed about it the next morning. I think if service goes bad, it should go crazily bad. Then the customers have a good story.
So here’s mine.
We went with my devildaughter C and her boyfriend. We waited a half an hour past the reservation, no problem, we had a nice time at the bar and football was on. They sat us finally at a rickety table and plastic folding chairs that would not have held a medium sized man. Michael, can’t you steal some decent party chairs from one of your catering events somewhere?
A lovely young woman came up to us and said cheerily, «are you ready to order?». «Yes!» we responded eagerly. «Okay I’ll go get your waitress.» Awww man. Another wait. Meantime it began to clear out and so we moved to a better table with upscale cushioned metal folding chairs. The menu is huge and very exciting. A real nod to Cachagua wines and food.
Mark made me order the mushrooms with cepes. The dish came with no cepes in it. Wow! That’s crazily bad and now I have a great story. The menu should read,” Mushrooms with cepes except there are no cepes, really, dish”. I ordered quail, it was an appetizer but she said she would serve it as an entrée. Sounds perfect.
My quail comes, the lovely waitress announces, «here’s your entrée». I see 6 eyes staring at me. It’s a tiny quail, it’s my entrée, it’s shared by 4 people now. Okay, we all ate my entrée and 15 minutes later an even sweeter young woman comes with dessert menus. Yes, that’s right, they had forgotten to serve dinner.
My highlights: The pizza was quite good and the bacon donut for dessert was wonderful. The bathroom has a curtain dividing it from the office. Ballpoint pens hold the toilet seat together. Truly a fine Cachagua work of art if you ask me. Pat Clark, Cachagua’s quintessential musician, was playing guitar. A waitress sang and we danced and had a wonderful time.
For best service I highly recommend the earlier seating. For dancing and carrying on, the later seating.
It was whackadoodle but still worth going. The menu is large, interesting and very local.

The Good:
— Fantastic food!
— Excellent pricing!
— Great service.
— Great atmosphere.
The Not So Good:
— Unique menu is part of this place’s character but it makes it hard to find what you’re looking for.
— The drive (If you’re not local). It’s a long and winding road but what can you do, huh? This is what: Pee before you leave and bring some of those ginger candies they make for pregnant ladies.
— A little noisy inside.
P. S. Try the gazpacho!

Is it worth the trip? Yes.
We had brunch today, which consist of:
Best Omelet ever: chard, spinach, local cheese, herbs, and mushrooms
Eggs Bene: meyer lemon hollandaise yummmmm
The bacon is Magnificent.
The pancakes were light and fluffy. I love this place. The owner/​chef is amazing, funny, and really loves his craft. The staff was super friendly.
Now, I’ve eaten at French Laundry and Noma… and honestly, I would rather come back here to eat. Can’t wait to try the Monday night dinner.