Fruit Barn

Don’t be fooled by the false advertising. I was driving through and saw the 6 Avocados for a $ 1 sign.
Yes there was 6 avocados for $ 1…6 TINY avocados the size of a tangerine.

Awesome roadside stand with PLENTY of garlic! Very locally sourced as the majority of the garlic comes from the town of Gilroy! I always stop here if I am in the area whist passing through back to LA. The entire town smells like garlic. If you’re anything like me it’s like the sweetest perfume drawing you in!
Great prices, and again… LOTS of garlic!
Oh, and they have cups of garlic ice cream, which is quite good.

DON’T STOP HERE. KEEP GOING. SERIOUSLY.
I stopped by this place on my way home from San Francisco (to LA). We saw so many signs advertising fresh fruit so my boyfriend and I decided to check it out because we love fruit. The store itself is pretty small. There weren’t as many fresh fruit choices as they had advertised so I was disappointed.
They had all sorts of things from fruits, veggies, dried fruit, chips, seasonings, drinks, ice cream, etc. My boyfriend and I picked up some dried kiwis and chili mangos. I also grabbed a garlic vanilla ice cream because it seemed interesting. I happen to love garlic so I was down to try it. It was a really strong garlic taste but you get used to it after awhile. I ended up really enjoying the garlic ice cream. My boyfriend wasn’t a fan though.
If you’re gonna go to a fruit stand and come across this one, to be honest, just keep driving. There are way better fruit stands less than a mile away. I wouldn’t come here again considering the fact that there are way more fruit stands down the road with ACTUAL FRUIT. The fruit at Fruit Barn was so limited that I was almost mad.

Stopped by this place on our way home to LA coming from San Francisco. Saw a whole bunch of signs for this place, so we decided to stop by.
The store itself is relatively small, and has a small selection of fruits and vegetables along with other snacks such as dehydrated fruit, chips, seasonings, drinks, etc.
We bought some dehydrated kiwis and mangos and decided to try their garlic ice cream. I personally didn’t like the garlic ice cream as it was too strong of a garlic taste for me, but my girlfriend enjoyed it.
I honestly wouldn’t come to this stop again, it is the first stop on the road, BUT THERE ARE PLENTY MORE FRUIT/​FARMER MARKET SHOPS DOWN THE ROAD, just keep on driving.

DO YOURself a «flavor» !!!
KEEP GOING !!!
Drive right on by this place
Plenty of other places with very pleasant and friendly staff Who treat you with respect and kindness on the Same road
Everybody close to the Bay Area should know a thing or two about being in a cultural melting potj

Fruit Barn caught our attention on the drive back to LA because of the signs advertising their various goods. Also, from the outside Fruit Barn looks impressive and more so than many of the other fruit stands you could stop by on the drive back.
Parking was easy as there were a lot of spots out in front. When we went in we saw various fruits and veggies as well as Gilroy’s famous novelty in their Garlic ice cream.
I have to say the cup is rather small ($ 3/​cup), imagine the cups of ice cream we used to get as kids from the cafeteria. At first that garlic taste is way overpowering and makes you pucker your face from the potency of the garlic. But a few scoops in you get used to it and it really ends up like many wacky ice cream flavors in that you get accents of nasty followed by smoothness of vanilla. There is also a chocolate version too.
We also picked up a few cherries which were decently sized. Some were fresh and others really had been out too long. In terms of flavor they were fine though not as plump and firm as I would like my cherries to be. A good level of sweetness and not overly tart either.
Nice people here and their stuff will make your drive back more enjoyable. But there are a lot of options on the road and Fruit Barn shows up early so you have to make the decision quickly. It is more spacious and less cramped than other fruit stands but I can’t yet say it is above the pack.
Tip: $ 15 min on credit cards.

If you are ever in the area, make sure you stop by and try their garlic ice cream! It sounds funky but it smells and tastes so good! I got one to share with my boyfriend but I could have easily had 2 by myself. They had a whole shelf of garlic flavored condiments, pickled stuff, and other stuff as well as fresh fruits and veggies and actual garlic! We picked up a few bags of dried/​fried soybeans and a bag of nuts. I also couldn’t resist the honey sticks so I got a few of those for the road. The garlic ice cream was definitely my favorite thing. I really recommend it to travelers passing the area. I love garlic and I love ice cream but the thought of putting the two together never really seemed appetizing. Well I was wrong. And that rarely happens. Get yourself some garlic ice cream and then give your significant other a nice long tonguey kiss! Yummmmmmy!
Btw.I think it was cash only or maybe they required a minimum for using your card. Everything is worth buying so no worries.

You will be tempted by the garlic wreaths, but the single bulbs is where it’s at.
Fruit Barn isn’t the largest or fanciest or most charming of the fruit stores or fruit stands in Gilroy along the 152, but it is easy to get to, has loads of garlic, some fruits, some flavored nuts, some jams and olives and the inside of the store is spaced out, which makes it a pleasurable and un-​claustrophobic shopping experience.
The small garlic wreaths are $ 12 each or two for $ 20. You get about 15 – 16 bulbs on each wreath. If you want it to hang as decoration in your kitchen, then get that. But if you just want garlic to use, Fruit Barn sells individual bulbs in a box towards the back and they are a steal. $.50 each for huge bulbs of garlic, each with big, juicy cloves. I picked my own a huge bag of garlic for only $ 7. Or you can buy the pre-​packed bags, those are a good deal too (but some of those bulbs are smaller in size).
They also sell elephant garlic, which are gigantic bulbs. I have no idea how those taste or cook up. They also carry the most common seasonal fruits. The nuts they sell are the pre-​packaged nuts from the same distributor that most of the other markets in the area sell. The nuts are about $ 8 for an 8 ounce bag and aren’t that sexy. I would skip those. If you want nuts, go up the road on the 152 (towards San Jose about a half mile up) and look for the Yellow and Red stand on the right. That stand specializes in flavored nuts. Their nuts are $ 8 a bag and you get about 12 or 14 ounces and each nut is smothered in garlic, cinnamon sugar, honey mustard, jalapeño or whatever other topping you want. I was impressed.
Anyhow, back to Fruit Barn.
The lady that works there is really nice. Even though the sign said the port-​o-​lets were only for employees, she let me use one of them. In the five minutes I was there, four separate big rig drivers stopped by to pick up drinks (sodas, energy drinks, fruit juice, water) and snacks.
One trucker guy storms in and asks, «What’s organic here? I’m looking for organic. Is the garlic organic?»
The lady says, «Nothing here is organic.»
Trucker walks back to his truck and takes off.
That was pretty funny.
Yes, you can also get get Garlic Ice Cream here. No, they don’t make it themselves. Everyone in the area gets their Garlic Ice Cream from the same distributor in Santa Cruz.
If you just want garlic, this is as fine a place as any to get it, and cheaper than Casa de Fruta. Good prices, good selection. If you were looking for all kinds of different fruits, well, then you might or might not find the fruit you are looking for here. Or maybe it’s because I was there in November and it’s not really fruit season.

great place. we saw the signs saying garlic and then below was written ice cream. I thought it was advertising they sold garlic AND ice cream, not garlic ice cream. when we got there we were in for a surprise. we HAD to try it and it was good. definitely different and fun. a memorable experience for sure.

We stopped in after the many road side signs guided us to the spot. Surprised to find that the shop was a lot smaller than expected and had a lot less produce. With the numerous signs shouting the delicious wares I expected more. The strawberries for sale did look amazing and the artichokes they had for sale were a fantastic deal at $ 1 a piece for a larger size. They also had the much searched for Garlic Ice Cream on hand. I looked around and had to really try to find something to buy to make our stop worth it. I settled on a jar of local garlic stuffed olives and thankfully they were a fantastic snack for the long drive home, much better than a bag of chips.

«Vulgarity is the garlic in the salad of life.» –Cyril Connolly
Oh Gilroy… it’s the only city I know of that you can recognize simply by smell. That savory scent of thousands of garlic plants dances on the breeze and subtly suggests you stop at one of the fruit /​veggie stands along the road.
The Fruit Barn is a rustic little highway shack bursting full of delicious Gilroy garlic, and other seasonal treats including fresh fruit, nuts and garlic ice cream. On this day in particular, the garlic shared center stage with luscious cherries and sweet, plump apricots.
How could you not purchase garlic when in Gilroy? Amazing aromatic Elephant Garlic, as big as baseballs! I bought two and can’t wait to roast them in olive oil, butter and a hint of truffle salt:
My mom took home a bag of garlic as well:
We also grabbed a few containers of nuts. Everything looked delicious!
My «loot & scoot»:
The guy at the register was helpful and polite. We paid with cash, but I did notice a credit card reader. Pretty dang hi-​tech for a tiny wooden shack! If you’re ever driving through (literally), make a note to stop by this little shack. All the cooks in your life will love the heck out of you if you bring them back a few edible souvenirs!
We also got a few sleeves of heirloom garlic, which from what I understand are the only varieties that can be cultivated from seeds, instead of the replanting of cloves. I will have to do a little more research on that. Until then, I may be a little stinky. At least I know I’ll be safe from vampires… and possibly my hubby.

This place is right off the road-​go too fast and you might miss it, although the signage is pretty good! A great place to stop and get some fruits-​or even some garlic vanilla ice cream!
The ice cream was good, believe it or not! It really had the garlic taste, but you really could taste the vanilla. They also have chocolate garlic ice cream, which I didn’t try.