Artichokes from the fields half an hour north of Carmel, grilled, fried or stuffed; the vegetable the whole Monterey coast claims as its own crop.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Castroville, up Highway 1 from Carmel, has called itself the Artichoke Center of the World since the 1920s, when Italian growers planted the Salinas Valley's foggy edge with globe artichokes. The crop never left, and neither did the local habit of treating artichokes as a main event rather than a garnish. In Carmel that means grilled Castroville artichokes at the restored Hog's Breath Inn and fried artichoke crochette at Vesuvio, both minutes from the fields that grew them.
Tours, tastings and classes from the cities on this page, bookable on GetYourGuide.
Guided tour · 2 - 3 hours
Choose a 2-hour express or 3-hour full Boston food tour. Taste clam chowder, arancini, brick oven pizza, cannoli, and more while exploring the North...
Guided tour · 2 hours
Taste some of Chicago's most iconic foods while walking through one of the Prohibition Era’s most fashionable and notorious gangster-ridden...
Guided tour · 2.5 hours
Experience the flavors of Charleston with the help of local guides. Delve into over 300 years of culinary history as you taste your way through the...
Tip from the editors. Steam fully before grilling; the grill is for char and smoke, not for cooking through, and an undercooked heart ruins the effect.
Hog's Breath Inn serves Carmel's latest full dinner, the kitchen running to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday and the courtyard bar pouring on to 00:30.
OrderA nightcap beside the courtyard fireplaces after the kitchen closes.
TipNew operator Lee Morcus calls the 2025 restoration a tribute, not a reinvention; the sunken courtyard fireplaces survived the remodel.
Vesuvio runs the Pepe family's wood-fired Neapolitan kitchen at 6th and Junipero in Carmel, with the rooftop Star Bar pouring above the dining room.
OrderWood-burning-oven pizza or the truffled gnocchi.
TipThe rooftop Star Bar takes no reservations; it closes at 22:00 on weeknights and runs to 23:00 on Friday and Saturday.
Not on this list, but close by, nearest first. Every one is in our guide with its address, hours and what to order.
More cities are in research. Want castroville artichoke covered somewhere specific? Tell us where you want to eat.
