Stopped off at the General Store after wine tasting! There really aren't many dining options in Boonville, especially in January (off season). Very cute and "general store-ish" inside. There are booths and benches inside and picnic tables if you want to soak up the California sun outside.
Food isn't fancy, but it's good. We ordered two samiches and shared a bag of BBQ chips. I had the chicken salad, 'cause it said on the chalkboard menu it was a house speciality. Made with almost all dark meat, it definitely caters to the types who like down home cookin'. The BF had a roast beef sammie with a delicious spicy brown mustard. We switched plates after eating one half each, which is one of the biggest perks to being in a relationship, right? If you have to share a couch, TV and toilet, better be sharing your food too!
Don't come here if you're in a hurry! Service is not the fastes. However, I'm assuming if you're reading this, you're heading up North to do some wine tasting and aren't in a rush. It's not a bad idea to stop here and sober up before heading home. Water is free, so take advantage!
Nothing too terribly special to report beyond what I've already said. Come here for a good deli sandwich and share a giant cupcake if you like sweets. That's all, folks!
Stopped in for a quick lunch on the way to Anderson Valley Brewing Company. Large garden salad with field greens, a few pear slices, and tossed in vinaigrette held my appetite for a few hours, and all for $6.95. It came with 2 large thick slices of their stone-baked bread that I thought was dense and delicious. $5 minimum for credit card. The rest of their cafe offerings seems just OK.
They have free WIFI, a clean restroom, and free water, which was were nice plusses.
We checked out of Hendy Woods campground and decided to find a brunch spot in Boonville on our way home. Â We drove down Route 128 and passed the general store which seemed to be busy with people inside and people dining outside. Â
We stopped to take a look at what they offered and seemed to have a pricey but healthy, organic menu. Â I tried to order a 2 egg omelette for breakfast, but was told we had just missed breakfast; which was okay because then I opted for a chicken salad sandwich with capers on foccaccia and a chai latte. Â My friend settled with a ham and swiss sandwich on foccacia and his favorite bottle of ginger brew. Â
My sandwich was fresh and crisp like a salad, only it was on bread.  I was very disappointed in my chai latte.  A young man was in the process of making it when the server/cashier said aloud from the end of the counter, "You are making that wrong." As soon as I heard this, I crossed my fingers hoping the young man didn't screw up my chai.  As soon as he brought it to my table, I knew it was screwed.  It was brought in a tall glass and it looked like straight up milk.  I had a sip and it was all milk and a faint taste of chai.  I was disappointed. I didn't want to make a big deal out of it. I kept it for choking precautions, taking a few sips to wash down my sandwich  -_-
Anyway, my friend liked his sandwich but was slightly disappointed that the swiss wasn't melted unto his ham. Â Other than our food and beverage experience, I just hope the young man now knows how to make a chai right after he was told the first time.
After reading many of the other reviews, I decided to take my chances with the hefty prices and try this place out to pick up lunch on the way to the brewery.
As soon as we approached the door to this place, the fetching aroma of freshly crisped bacon practically wafted out from the building itself. Â Thus, BLT (specials menu) was a logical choice, and was great. The sweet potato fries that accompanied it was just ok - kinda soggy, but tasty enough.
HOWEVER, what seems to be their specialty, the brisket sandwich, was pretty terrible and a huge disappointment. Â It can't even pass for mediocre. Â I don't understand shredded carrots in a sandwich (at least not this particular instance), and the beef was so bland. Â All for $10 and change.
I do believe you get what you pay for, and quality comes at a price. Â But come on...more than $5 for a cupcake? Â I feel like I've been to super popular hipster-ish places in SF, which still use quality ingredients and pay sky-high rent, that charge less than that for a cupcake.
All that dealt with not the friendliest service from staff that seems rather discontent and incredibly bored. Â I saw an older couple who clearly could have used a little patient guidance from the menu trying to order, only to be met by a blank stare. Â That just speaks volumes to me.
Kind of wish I had tried one of the other nearby eateries...or at least just not had the brisket sandwich!
We ran into Liam Mayclem (of Eye On The Bay TV show) here on a rainy Friday in April. He was having lunch with his crew and were filming an episode for Mendocino County that recently aired.
Had an amazing time chatting with him and the project he was working on. They were wrapping up their nosh as we started ours.
Luckily my mug$hot and video wasn't captured for the world to see.
That was my 3rd brush with fame. I can count the wayz.
1 - Kirk Hammett of Metallica walking out of SF J-town Mifune restaurant with his wife circa summer 1999 as I was waiting in line for mediocre udon and California rolls.
2 - Robin Williams picking up his sooosheee takeout from Shimo's on Clement in SF while we dined at the bar.
3 - Liam Mayclem at The Boonville General Store. $core!
A $10 ish sandwich might not be everyone's idea of a good time, but in these parts it's pony up more for mediocrity elsewhere, or eat stuff like this.
And this stuff was actually quite good. Roasted thinly sliced brisket sandwich with organic vinegared slaw on home made wheat bread. The brisket was very tasty, even better than Boar's Head brand. Doesn't look as messy (or drunken sexay) as some Ike's Monster, but heck when you're in Boonville and hungry, better wolf it down. The General Store offers breakfast fare in the morning, then your typical deli lunch (sandwiches and salads).
The brisket sandwich provided me with more calories, or sitergy (that's energy for sitting on my ass at the wheel going through winding roads that will give folks with motion sickness a REAL good time) till I reached Mendocino County. By then Liam and his crew were nowhere to be found en route.
Mediocre food, high prices and truly poor and rude service. Â This place has it all - or nothing at all depending on how you see it. Â And it wasn't even a busy day.
We stopped in here after seeing some good reviews on Yelp. Â I ordered eggs with potatoes and homemade tortillas but they said they were out of tortillas so I had to re-think what I wanted and I just couldn't make up my mind. Â So I waved the people behind me ahead so I could think. Â The tortilla sounded so good it was hard to figure out what else I would want. Â I noticed they had some interesting looking items in the case and found there was a quesadilla with cheese, onion and mushrooms that I thought could be good heated with a couple of eggs over easy so that's what I ordered.
With that, my friend's omelet and two coffees it was almost $30. Â Kind of pricey for counter service but it's organic so OK. Â I went to get my coffee from the dispensers but there was only a carafe of decaf. Â I waited for a while and no other coffee appeared so I had a half a cup of decaf. Â Refills are 50 cents by the way.
The waitress eventually appeared with my friend's omelet and my eggs but no quesadilla or coffee. Â She said the quesadilla was being heated which seemed odd since I ordered them at the same time. Â I wanted to wait to have them together but I was starving so I took a bite of my eggs which were strangely salty. Â Salted butter? Â Hmmm. Â Then I noticed a big blob of something black ooze out of the egg. Â OK, that was it, back to the counter. Â The waitress told me rudely it was something from the grill, which is kind of disturbing, and stood there just looking at me but finally did take the eggs back for replacement with a little gentle encouragement. Â Â No explanation about why gunk from the grill is in my egg. Â Do I really want to know?
I sat back down and a few minutes later I got my quesadilla - but no eggs. Â Now I had a half a cup of cold decaf, and what turned out to be a lukewarm quesadilla. Â At least the outside was warm, oddly charred but only lukewarm. Â However the inside was room temp so that the cheese was congealed and the onions completely overwhelming. Â There may have been some mushrooms embedded in the cheese somewhere but they were unrecognizable. Â At this point I didn't want to have to deal with sending that back too, the clown car had already been around the ring a few too many times by then.
The waitress finally brought the eggs and announced that the black mystery substance was pepper. Â I don't know if they did a mineral analysis in the back room but perhaps the cook had some insight. Â But I realized then why the eggs had been so salty. Â The cook had put the salt and pepper on the eggs for me! Â Really? Â If that really was pepper why would anyone salt and pepper someone else's eggs? Â What if I didn't like pepper, what if I had a sodium restriction? Â And why the major attitude when I sent them back?
Eventually more coffee showed up so finally I had my eggs, my quesadilla and my coffee. Â Unfortunately I only had all three of them together for about 3 minutes, not particularly ideal. Â For the amount of money I spent, at least they could have been polite even if the food was at best marginal.
There is a lot of good food in this area and most of the people are very nice. Â So I have absolutely no reason to ever go into The Boonville General Store again. Â Seriously I might as well just burn $30.
This is a great place to stop for breakfast or lunch when you're in Anderson Valley. It's a little pricey--a sandwich or an omelette will cost you more than $10, but they use quality organic ingredients and make their own bread and pastries. The blueberry pear scone was possibly the best scone I've ever had in my life!
Review Source:We stopped in here for a picnic lunch to take with us on our wine tasting trip through the Anderson Valley. We enjoyed our lunch at Navarro, a winery just up the road with great views and a wide selection of picnicking opportunities. The deli inside the general store had all the usual selections. The rolls were a bit too chewy and the veggie sandwich didn't have a very good mix of vegetables. The sandwiches were nevertheless tasty and hit the spot.
Review Source:Beautiful bounty... salad never showed up so sexy before.
Beets, and true blue cheese, and gorgeous grilled onions.
The lemonade was lovely, and the BLT delicious.
Chef Julie really knows how to put her all into all that she offers.
Shoulda-woulda-coulda....
gone home with a dozen of Darius' multi-colored farm fresh eggs.
And as we strolled away we smelled the stream of fresh baked cookies, that stayed with us the entire winding way home.
We will be back, sooner than later.
Fresh-fresh-fresh... and fun.
Cheers!
Great breakfast spot that serves a wide range of items, so if you are looking for something more than just pastries and baked breakfast goods I would make it a point to eat here.
There are not a whole lot of options in the Anderson Valley when it comes to quality dining but this one left us satisfied as we started our wine tasting day off. Â The breakfast was fresh, cooked to order and quite tasty using local ingredients (when possible). Â If we needed another breakfast spot, we would have definitely gone back a second time during our stay.
Not a whole lot of places to eat, especially on Sunday when half are closed.
Boonville General Store was a great find. All the food is organic and grown locally. Comprised of soups, salads, sandwiches, and pizzas. I ordered the Point Reyes blue cheese salad with beets and pecans. It was absolutely wonderful. Really surprised with how good the food was.
Limited seating inside, but plenty of tables outside.
Great stop for a day of wine tasting.
I have a love hate relationship with this place. The menu always reads so well but then when I get my meal I'm often left feeling let down.
Case in point:
Menu says - Egg & Cheddar sandwich with pickled onions, and other
awesome sounding fresh ingredients on sourdough
What arrives? - a warm scrambled egg with some cheddar on dry toast...wtf???
Oh yeah that was about $8. Â
Other times...the food isn't bad.
See,
I want to go inside the General Store,I was there 4:45pm on friday.
It say, it is CLOSE at 3:00PM.
I think it is slightly early for "general store". I read other people's review,
including from LA times, all said it is COOL and nice.
But if the owner could extend the "hours" will be nice.
Scones. Galettes. Chai. All good.
Brisket sandwich used to be like top 15 favorite foods grade delicious.
Last time I went it sucked, the cole slaw was inside the sandwich and there was like no meat. I wish the owners worked here more often. I remember when they started out, before the remodel, etc.... Tall, bearded balding muscular man in a wifebeater, pretty wife, kids, kneading bread. All the antiques seemed to fit in better, serious down home love flowing into food. The sconesssss... They still work here occasionally, but as so often happens, as soon as the owners stop working there all day every day the quality will slip a bit. The Pizzas and breads are still amazing. Deli items still overpriced.
Coffee is Taylor Maid... .. ehh, its aight. Mosswood's is better.
Also, I think they serve Blue Bottle across the street in the Hotel, but don't quote me on that.
Don't miss a chance to eat here! The food is amazing! We used to stop here on our way to Comptche every month, and then we decided to have them cater our wedding. Julie was our contact person, and she was amazing. Â The food was delicious, and everyone went above and beyond to make the day perfect. Â Everyone loved it so much that most of the wedding guests stopped there for lunch the next day on their drives home. Â We recommend them for breakfast, lunch, or an entire party! Â Thank you BGS!!!
Review Source:It was very busy, consistently 3-5 people in line, on a Sunday at about 1. Â The service was very friendly and attentive for such a crowded place. Â But what blew me away was the delicious bread and roasted veggies and greens on our sandwiches. Â Amazingly fresh and all local and organic - with the sources listed right there on the menu! Â They bake their breads on location, so I made sure to take home a recipe, which they kindly wrote down for me on a sticky note. We were savoring every bite, and looking forward to returning on our next bay area-Mendocino trip.
Review Source:Whenever I visit a new place, I'm always sure to read up on all the Yelp reviews to make sure I never have a bad experience (and so far it has served me well - thanks, fellow Yelpers!). I hadn't read up on the Boonville General Store, however, since on our drive back from Mendocino to the Bay Area we made a change in plans and decided to forgo Rt. 20 from Hwy 1 to 101 and take Rt. 128 instead. I had a delightful experience here, so I'm a little surprised to come back and see all the negative reviews!
We ordered the grilled veggie sandwich with mixed greens, goat cheese and pesto on focaccia, and vegetable custard pie (which came with a piece of crusty bread and a cup of tomato chipotle soup). It was all DELICIOUS. I might even drive all the way back there for the sandwich or the soup. Seriously.
Contrary to some of the naysayers, I don't think it was expensive at all. Each dish was around $10 (incl. taxes), Â which I think is reasonable, especially given that the ingredients were all local and fresh and organic. I didn't find the service a problem either - we were served in a friendly and efficient manner.
This restaurant came recommended by the owner of the B&B we were staying at in Gualala for the weekend. The restaurant itself is charming and the menu looked good; however, the service was horrible. They had run out of pizza, chicken, and of all things bread by the time we arrived. While they informed us they had no bread, we saw 6 loafs of bread behind the counter. I asked if they could prepare the 3 sandwiches we ordered with the bread behind the counter. They said no because it was baked today and too soft to cut? They need to let the bread harden for a day before they can cut for sandwiches? While this seemed odd to me, we went ahead and opted for a breakfast item (granola/fruit) because they were out of many other items on the menu.
Not 5 mintues after we had the discussion about the bread they proceed to allow customers to order sandwiches on bread. I couldn't believe it. Now they were cutting the bread that was told to be too soft and serving sandwiches. We went to the counter to see about changing our order since now they had bread and the staff was very rude. They got upset with us for wanting to change our order and to get the sandwiches we originally wanted. They degraded us by saying "apparently you've never worked in a restaurant before. We can not change your order. Your granola/fruit are done and you must take what you ordered." The only option they had for us was to refund our money and to not give us the granola/fruit.
We were very frustrated at the attitude and poor customer service demonstrated that we accepted that offer for our money to be refunded and left. We heard from another store near by that they often run out of bread and food items. The management needs to do something about the service and the pre-planning of food! Go elsewhere for lunch!
It's a hippy-dippy health food kind of cafe with odd flavor combos (corn fritters + pesto, sweet potato fries + ketchup). Â But the ingredients are seriously fresh and local, the preparation several steps above the usual, and they don't do a whole lot to mess things up. Â If anyone ever went to the original Moosewood or bought the cookbook, I think they're channeling the moose here. Â Prices are hella high - it's easy to hit $15 for a snack, but the food is memorable so it's probalby worth it.
Also, between calling themselves a general store, and looking like one from the outside, you have no idea what it's going to be until you walk in.
This is one of the only places we eat while staying in Boonville, as we usually drive out to the coast for dinners. Over a combined period of 3.5 days, we ate here five times, and it was always good, so I feel qualified to comment on the consistency.
As another Yelper noted, this is much more cafe, less general store, though they have some cheeses, spreads, breads, and crackers you can purchase for a winery picnic. I love that it's all ladies who run and seem to own this place--in fact, Boonville seems to be dominated by female-run businesses. You go girls! I will have to research more on this interesting phenomenon.
Anyway, the young ladies who run the counter are beautiful (not that that matters in service, but still) and always pleasant to us. The egg dishes are solid; the bacon amazing; the fresh fruit, yogurt, and granola home made and delicious; and the tri-tip sandwich...well, we get it every time if that's any indication (YUM!). We had a pizza once and that was very tasty as well. It's not exactly cheap, but all local and organic so I think it's worth it.
Pretty good place for breakfast or lunch. Â It's not really a general store, rather a cafe/bakery. Â The food is all local/organic/sustainably farmed, and I love supporting places like this.
However, the service and the prices leave a lot to be desired, and also if you don't get there really early, they're often sold out of a lot of things (hand pies, bread, scones, etc.). Â They do have a deli, which is nice if you're packing a picnic basket to take on your journey - bread, cheese, meats, etc.
They do have outdoor seating, which is great, and it's also a good place to get a feel for the local vibe, if you're not often in Anderson Valley!
Stopped in here for a light lunch on our way to Mendocino from the Bay Area. Â
It was packed at 1pm on a Sunday afternoon! Â Cyclists coming in to use the restroom and buy a snack. Â People traveling through like us. Â Locals reading in the corner and sipping a coffee. Â I enjoyed this stop which was not even OFF the beaten path. Â I'm not sure why the address is Farrer Lane because I literally PULLED OVER on the side of Hwy 128 as we drove through Boonville and decided to stop and eat.
There were 2 lines when we entered. Â 1 for food, 1 for bathroom. Â This joint was jumping!...and not really big enough to do so. Â Maybe 9 small tables and 3-4 stools at a small counter (and some tables outside - but it was too windy and cold today). Â We were able to snag a small 2-seater table as someone left.
Cup of mushroom barley soup, [large] Point Reyes blue cheese salad with toasted walnuts and sweet beets and a [not very sweet] cafe mocha cost me $18! Â What an expensive light lunch! Â ($4, $9, $4, + tax respectively.)
I'm guessing them Boonville locals stroll past here and cluck their tongues at the yuppie suckers from the Bay Area who come flocking. Â But I AM a yuppie sucker from the Bay Area... So cluck all you want. Â This is my kinda place. :)
Generally good service, wireless internet access, great baked goods, wonderful pizzas and the best scones this side of Scotland. Â Patio tables in the sun provide a great place to watch the world go by, or to craft your own work of sidewalk art from the complimentary bucket o' chalk. Â A favorite locals hangout, where out-of-towners can get acclimated to our more rural lifestyle.
These are just some of the many reasons to endure the high prices and make this a regular stop on your way through the valley.
Stopped in for lunch with my brother and sister-in-law. Â Awesome, SUPER-thin-crust pizza of the day (chesse, olives, carmelized onion, chevre, tomatoes) and iced mocha. Â The quiche was also good. Â Nice little place, maybe a bit slow/casual in service for their image, but great food!
Review Source:Excellent sandwiches. Â Try the ham and cheese or the roasted veggie with smoked mozzarella. Â The bread is homemade and if you get there early enough, you can snag a loaf. Â Otherwise, go for one of their breakfast pockets or quiche and a damn good latte (they don't have skim, so don't even think about asking). Â It's a great place to grab a picnic before some wine tasting in Anderson Valley.
Review Source:
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