Way Way Downhill Well we have tried this place three times over a few years. The first time it was kind of an off-beat kind of place with some good dishes (and some not), slow service, an atmosphere of country diversity, run by a cook/owner who gave an initial appearance of caring about whether his customers enjoyed the food and experience. Our first visit was with a party of six. It was a bit odd because the place was way (and I mean WAY) out in the country beyond Carmel Valley. We finally came to this funky little ex-country beer bar that turned out to be the place. We got a friendly greeting from the head lady (Gilda?), got a bottle of wine, and ordered some salads. They used old wine bottles for water bottles, so we wound up with a lot of wine bottles on the table, even though we only ordered two bottles of wine. The waits for the salads and for the entrees were each over 50 minutes, I remember that five of the people were happy with their dinners, all except for the one that was stone cold. But overall, the experience was reasonable, despite the long waits between courses. They did seem to have a problem coordinating the delivery of the dishes to have them all be warm and arrive at the same time,apparently due to the limited kitchen or staff training. The price was relatively ok, although since it was all a la carte, it did mount up. On the second visit about three years later, we went with a group of four. We now knew to fill up the gas tank before leaving Monterey, and allow a lot of extra time for the long windy road. We went in and immediately noticed that it had gone down hill a bit. It just looked dirtier somehow, the dirt parking lot had more trash, the corners of the restaurant had obviously not seen a broom in some time, the windows had mega cobwebs, and one of the women in our group said "yuck" after a trip to the bathroom. However, none of us were so picky that as long as we didn't get sick, we were still open to the experience. The staff had had a noticeable turnover, and the welcoming lady had apparently moved on to greener pastures and been replaced by a relative of the owner. He condescended to seat us after a 15 minute wait. It was weird because although we had a reservation, and there was an empty table, we were still made to wait and then were finally seated at the same table that had been empty all along. We ordered a bottle of wine, three salads and four entrees. The salads were good, and the four entrees were mixed. My friend got venison, which is easy to overcook and dry out if the cook doesn't pay attention. He didn't and it was overcooked and dried out. I got lamb and it was overcooked as well. The other two entrees were good, and well presented. When we got the bill, since between the four of us we had only had one bottle of wine, we could still see the bill. Hmm, we found that we had been charged for four salads, not the three ordered and received. After a polite request from us, and a snotty comment from the owner, he finally took it off the bill. On the long way back to the Peninsula, we concluded that perhaps the owner had just had a really off-night and we would give them another try sometime in the future. After another year, we again went out there with a different party of four. This time while the the parking lot was still dirty, the inside was even dirtier than before. Not a good omen. After being seated, we ordered two hoerdoervres and two salads plus a bottle of wine. On the salads, the lettuce was limp with age. It took a forever for the wine to come, another 45 minutes for the salad and hoerdoervres, and when we finally got the waiters attention and ordered the entrees, another full 60 minutes for them to arrive. After nicely asking what had ever happened to the entrees, the owners son gave us a sarcastic comment. One of our party had duck, and it was also overcooked. The cook had probably realized this and so he drenched it in a sauce, but that wouldn't help at that stage. Another entree was the braised short ribs, which had been overcooked to an extent that they were basically mush. The last entree was a beet ravioli, which we all agreed tasted as if the raviolis were precooked or the pasta was very old. It just didn't taste like fresh pasta. When we got the bill, guess what? They had added an additional bottle of wine but this time we were on to it, and after an unpleasant little exchange it was taken off. On the ride home, we agreed that you could make a lot of $ if you can slip phantom dishes on the bill, and that with all of the really fine restaurants on the Peninsula, there was no need to go way out for some spotty food and a bad attitude. Or for a restaurant that has gone way downhill. Lession-Next time we will also look at the filtered reviews before going anywhere for a high price. Wow the filtered/banned one-stars are really piling up at this loser. read more

Had the bad luck to go out there on a Monday for dinner with three friends. First it is a forever drive on a winding back road into the middle of nowhere. We were enticed into this venture by some other friends who said the food could be good, if you were lucky. So always in the mood for something different, we said ok. But we all needed to work on Tuesday, so made a reservation for 6:00 and figured an hour out from Monterey, two hours to eat and drink, and with an hour home we should be home by nine. Big mistake. It was an hour drive each way, but in between it went way downhill. We pulled into the dirt parking lot right on time at 6. As we were going across the parking lot to what looked like an old time run down country beer bar, we unfortunately passed one of the other customers peeing on a tree. Hmm-this is not what we want before dinner. Later we found out that the bathroom is so filthy that the men who have a choice often go outside. Nevertheless, not a good start. We ordered various items, most of which came in odd or interesting combinations with other items. Some were good combinations and some definitely weren't. My friend had a pork chop, that while it was incredibly thick, had been done to death and was so dried out as to be virtually unchewable. It certainly wasn't good. One of us had venison, which also was overcooked, dried out and stringy. The duck was good, and it was not overcooked. The fourth was a tuna dish, nothing particularly special after the buildup. All of these dishes about $20+, so with three glasses of wine, salad, tax and tip you can run up a fairly sizeable tab rapidly. If only one out of four of the entrees is actually good, then the average price for a decent meal is very high and this spot is no great deal. Service is incredibly slow. I guess that they expect that if you are that far out, you have no choice. There were long waits before each part of the meal. By long, I mean you would wait 45 minutes for a salad. You would wait 55 minutes for an entree. In the long waits between each transaction, the waiter would push wine. Since we all had to both work the next day and face the long drive back, we only wanted 3 glasses for the 4 of us. He was disappointed and showed it with sort of a snotty attitude. We tried to be as polite as possible when asking whatever had happened to the salad or to the entrees. We finally escaped at 9:40. Over 3 1/2 hours for a not so good meal. By the way, the one person who used the restroom found out why we saw why the guys avoid it. We will avoid this dump in the future which shouldn't be a problem with all of the fine choices close to home. read more

Too bad yelp doesn't have a zero star restaurant ranking. This dump should get the prize for the worst restaurant on the Peninsula and be a good candidate. This is a long, long ways on a winding road in the dark to the Cachagua valley beyond Carmel valley, in the middle of nowhere. There are no other restaurants out there (Perhaps they didn't want to compete with any quality or even mediocre other places to eat.) They are open only on Monday nights, and we can see why, They only have enough potential dupes, starving locals with no other options or first timer's to do one night a week. It looks like an old country beer bar. After you have staggered in after spending some real dollars at the gas station, we were forced to wait, even though there are open tables, and we had a reservation for our group of four. The reception is sort of rude, and there is definitely an atmosphere of chip on the shoulder. We should of known after the unnecessary wait for the table, that there would be more to come. Sure enough there were long waits to take a drink and salad order, another long wait to get the drinks and salads, more time for the entree order, another long wait for the entrees to appear (and when they finally arrived some were hot and some were cold), and finally the last two waits for the coffee order and the bill. During this entire period, we probably spent 2 hours waiting, and 30 minutes actually getting to eat or drink something! The waiter was consistently rude and condescending. The final insult was that they tried to add in items on the bill, which we hadn't ordered. After another nasty comment from the waiter, we finally got it taken off. We can see why they do this, how else would they make any money out there? Moral-the number of adjectives on the dish is inversely proportional to the quality of the experience! read more

We tried this place on a Monday night with a party of 4. We hadn't been there before but were prepared for the endless drive out into the backwoods, expecting (hoping) it would be worth it. Not! It sort of had a dirty look to it from the time we parked in the dirt parking lot. We wondered how they keep all the dirt from getting inside the restaurant, which sort of looks like one of those rundown beer bars you see in some bad movie. The answer is that they have given up trying to keep the dirt out or never cared. We had a reservation, but still had to wait about 15 minutes. That should of been a tipoff that the rest of the meal would be as slow. After finally getting to order, there were endless waits of 15-45 minutes for each of the salad, the entrees, etc. Some of the dishes were served piecemeal to the four of us, instead of arriving together. All of this time, the waiter was aggressively pushing wine, which we didn't need a large amount of because we were faced with that endless drive back. Absolutely the worst part of a bad experience though, was using the restroom, which faces out into the dirt lot. When I went in, I was apparently the first person to use it and so I turned on the light switch. I screamed as two of those big, about 2" long, reddish brown, cockroaches raced for the dark spots behind the toilet! When I went back to the dining area, I told my BF and the other couple. We agreed that when the cockroaches are in the bathroom for the water or whatever, they are also in the kitchen. We scrutinized each dish for insect parts, but they weren't visible or were cooked down. Needless to say, with this kind of cleanliness standards, we really weren't too interested in the food and just wanted to get out of there. It's sort of like Louie Linguini's-where is the Health Department? read more

Yikes! This may be the worst dining experience possible. First, you need to drive about 50 miles round trip from the Peninsula to get out there. That's a lot of gas and time in today's world. Second, it looks like an old beer bar or something out of the movie Deliverance. It just has a grubby look and when you look inside, it matches the dirt outside. Third, after showing up on time for a reservation, it took 45 minutes for our wine and salad to appear. When we politely asked about whatever happened to the salads, we were answered with a snotty remark from the waiter. Two of the salads for out group of six were limp with age. Obviously,, last weeks lettuce is kept around. We ordered two bottles of wine, one red and one white. They also appeared after about 45 minutes. Note that they use old wine bottles for water bottles-that's fine. The entrees took a full 2 hours to emerge. Either the kitchen is totally disorganized, undersized, or inadequately trained and staffed, the effect is the same. My GF's duck was way overcooked and dried out. Our friends supposedly "wild salmon" was fatty and tasted just like Atlantic Farm Raised Salmon. When the check finally came, we found that they had charged us for a third bottle of wine, neither ordered or delivered. It wa another struggle to get the bill fixed, with some additional rudeness .from the owner or waiter We now new why they use the old wine bottles as water bottles-to confuse the issue. We thankfully left for the long ride home, and all agreed this was one of the worst restaurants we have been in in a long time. read more

A long long ride into nowhere for an overpriced meal on a Monday night. The menu items are very flowery descriptions, long on adjectives describing every possible ingrediant, but curiously lacking on forethough of whether or not one ingrediant goes well with another, so some of the dishes are great and some are downright ugly. It was difficult to know in advance which will be which. Our group of four had two hits and two misses for a .500 batting average. That is not nearly good enough for the prices they are charging. Note-particularly avoid the venison, which was so overcooked, dried out and tough as to be virtually inedible. Sort of like jerky, but not with a low jerky price. One thing that does seem to be consistent is the really slow service for many tables. We got there for a reserved 6-ish seating and didn't get out until 9:45. There were long waits to order, get the drinks, get the food, get the check and get it paid. Some tables seemed to know the manager and get better service, but if you don't, watch out. Two things to also watch out for: 1. Dirty bathroom characterized by lots of wet toilet paper on the floor and indescribeables-best to use only after dinner because it could be a real put off before dinner. 2. Overcharging on the bill. Hmm-they initially put down one extra bottle of wine, one extra salad, and one extra dessert. We could forgive one error and chalk it up to a mistake, but three phantoms on a bill for four people says there is something more ugly going on. We won't patronize a restaurant that does this. read more

Awful, just awful. We get there at 6:00 with a reservation for four. Whoops they've lost the reservation. We then wait 30 minutes to get seated even though we can see an empty table for four. Their attitude is we should be happy to get in at all, despite having driven halfway to the end of the earth for a d#$ball attitude from the staff. Where do they get this attitude problem from?-we assume the owner sets it. Then we wait 15 minutes for them to take a drink order and another 10 minutes for the order to come. After the salad and entree order is taken when the drinks are brought (they finally get one right), it is another 22 minutes for the three ordered salads to arrive. Then another long, long wait for the entrees to come. One is cold because the inadequate kitchen/cook obviously can't coordinate the dishes. We then wait another 27 minutes for then to get the coffee/dessert order. Signaling the waiter dosen't work. They are more interested in chatting up the girls. We finally stagger our about 2 1/2-3 hours later. The bathroom was dirty and to add insult to injury, they tried to charge us for four salads when we only ordered three. Another rude exchange from the staff to get the bill padding fixed. This dump needs honest management, a cook, some polite staff, some cleaning occasionally from the staff, avoidance of bill padding, and a general attitude adjustment. What's left? read more

My family drove from PG to Cachagua for Sunday Brunch. I had heard so many great stories that I wanted to try it, with visiting family members. Yes, it is a long drive out there - glad it was during the day - but worth it. Brunch menu is minimal - 3 or 4 entrees - but they will mix it up, add anything you want and guarantee an awesome meal! I'm not a big fan of eggs, but these were seasoned so well and flavorful that I almost wanted seconds! Bacon, potatoes, pancakes (OMG, the lightest, fluffiest banana pancakes!), sausage, english muffins, OJ and coffee for only $15 each! Then Michael thought it was too quiet in there so he brought us all mimosas on the house! We brought 2 dogs with us, thinking we would sit outside, but they didn't have any tables set up, so we sat at the back table "in the pit" and the dogs did very well. You will see other dogs wandering in and out, but we kept ours close at hand. Very kind, accommodating owners and staff. Funky, simple place - very casual attire. I hope to try the Monday night dinner soon (the early seating - don't want to drive that road in the dark). read more

This unfortunately is the bottom of the barrel on the Monterey Peninsula. Actually it isn't on the Peninsula, but about 1 hour out in the woods on what has to be the world's windiest road. Believe me, the long ride isn't worth it. The place looks like a converted beer bar, and it turns out to be that. What they have kept is the dirt. It has to be the dirtiest restaurant around, but somehow gets away with it because maybe it is too far out there to get a health inspection. There have been reports of cockroaches in the bathroom, which empties straight out on the dirt parking lot. The service is slow and rude, the food can be good or terrible, all at the same table. Our table of four had three badly cooked, overdone and dried out entrees, with one rather good one. Who figures? There are numerous reports of bill padding, and they did try to add an additional salad on our bill, (we had only ordered three) but we caught it. There are plenty of quality restaurants on the Peninsula or Carmel Valley Village without needing to get ripped off at this dump. read more

Well our group of six had a thoroughly disagreeable experience here on a Monday night. The food was very spotty, some good, some barely edible, but all of it slow. When asked politely what ever happened to the salads after almost an hour's wait, we were made to feel uncomfortable in a very hostile and rude way by the owner's son. Apparently a bad attitude starts at the top, and the employees carry it out. When the main courses finally arrived after almost a two hour wait, the dishes were sort of banged down on the table as it they were doing us a big favor. My boyfriends duck was cold and dried out. Rice was overcooked and had that slight smell of being burnt. We were overcharged for an unordered and undelivered salad, which was grudgingly taken off the bill. All in all, that was the last time that we will make the very long trip out to this dump. read more

This is one of the very best restaurants I have been to in my life. Fist and foremost the food was SPECTACULAR. The chef brought my steak out to show me prior to preparing one of the best steaks of my life. We had everything from appetizer to dessert and everything lived up to and far surpassed expectation. The drive although beautiful becomes slightly tedious after a long night at the restaurant, but I will make that drive for the rest of my life for this place. The atmosphere is beyond charming, don't be scarred away by the lawn chairs and basically hill billy ambiance, they have LIVE music and great staff. This place is the REAL DEAL! You can take yourself to all the pretenders in town, but for the REAL DEAL look no further then the Cachagua General Store! FIVE STAR AND BEYOND! read more

The slowest, rudest restaurant in the area. Long long ride way out there for a very ugly experience. Waited 21 minites for them to take an order, 35 minutes more for the drinks and salads to appear, 53 minutes for the entrees to come out, and another 45 minutes to extract a bill-and then the bill had padding for items (salads) we hadn't ordered. (or received). The atmosphere was that they were doing us a big favor to allow us in-even though we had a reservation. The food wasn't all that great anyway-as some was undercooked and some overcooked. The kitchen must be in total disorganization. Avoid read more

If you like eating deap fried squirrel nuts, or or whatever disgusting road kill is served that particular week, then The General Store is your dream restaurant. If you like getting a knife held to your throat and called an asshole by a crazy old convict that smells like a bar floor, then "chef" Mike Jones is your dream cook. If your are the health department on the other hand, I highly recommend going. read more

The tastiest, most interesting food in Monterey. Not pretentious or boring. Love it!!!

just because you cook well doesn't give you license to be a jerk. Check your ego dude. read more

Fucking amazing place. Go there. I will many more times.

This place is pretty good, but you wouldn't like it.