“Johnny Garlic’s is a dynamic California Pasta Grill that bursts with energy and a diversity of food choices that reflects the personalities of its owners Guy Fieri and Steve Gruber. Started in 1996, Johnny Garlic's has grown to three locations (Santa Rosa, Windsor and Roseville, California) and showcases the famous Tri Tip Dip sandwich, Fire-Roasted Quesadilla, Cajun Chicken Fettuccine Alfredo, The Tortilla Cake, Pesto Goat Cheese Pizza, and the famous Breathe Mint Pie for dessert. While the menu is expansive and ever-evolving, the atmosphere is warm, inviting, and also stimulating with a buzz of camaraderie that creates an almost theatrical experience” (from Johnny Garlic’s web site).
If I had to guess, I would guess that the building that houses Johnny Garlic’s has lived another life as a Chinese restaurant. At least, that’s how the entrance appears to me.
There is nothing subtle to the food here. As one tripadvisor.com writer described it: “It's Guy Fieri's restaurant, so we weren't expecting super fancy-schmancy gourmet stuff. It's dude food and it's good.” Like Guy Fieri, the food is bold and brash, but—despite the name Johnny Garlic’s—not every menu item is redolent of garlic.
For starters, there were: American Kobe Sliders (Wagyu beef, sweet onions, and cilantro lime aioli), Sashimi Won Tacos (sashimi grade ahi, mango jicama salsa and wasabi soy), Roasted Duck Taquitos (cherry BBQ duck, sweet onions and mango jicama salsa), Crispy Artichoke Hearts, Garlic Potato Chips, Key Lime Calamari with Cilantro-Lime Aioli, roasted garlic soup, butternut squash soup, and the day’s soup.
There was a selection of wood stone-fired, thin crust pizzas including: BBQ Chicken with red onions, cilantro and sweet BBQ sauce; the Hot & Spicy with hot links, 7 spice chicken, pepperoni and fresh tomato sauce; the JG Classic with sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic, basil and extra virgin olive oil;
Pasta choices included: Cajun Chicken Fettuccine (blackened chicken breast, sun dried tomatoes, and creamy parmesan sauce); Chicken Mamou (7-spice chicken, cappellini pasta, mushrooms, tomatoes and spicy Mamou sauce); Penne Pesto Vegetable (artichoke hearts, olives, tomatoes, mushrooms and pesto cream sauce); Shrimp Scampi (gulf shrimp, cappellini pasta, white wine and lemon garlic butter; Chipotle Shrimp & Hotlinks (fried leeks, penne pasta and chipotle cream sauce); or Parmesan Chicken (breaded natural chicken breast, whole-milk mozzarella, cappellini pasta and tomato sauce).
And there was a selection of Kobe Burgers (half pound ground Wagyu steak on grilled buns and served with garlic potato chips, seasoned, or garlic fries), seafood, steaks, ribs, chops, and something called Hunter’s Creation, which is a rotating selection of exotic game, such as, alligator, buffalo, elk, venison, wild boar, ostrich, rattlesnake, pheasant, quail or rabbit.
We consider ordering from a menu to be the equivalent of choreographing a dance. The various tastes need to be complimentary, but not repetitive, and we want to take the measure of what the kitchen can do. In this case, we had one misstep that probably would get us eliminated from Dancing with the Stars.
The soup was extremely good, not too thick, but yet not thin and watery, and had that intense and almost sweet flavor you get from sun drying a tomato.
But the Lava Rocks were—to use a Guyism--“On the bus to Flavourtown.” The serving contained six ounces of rock shrimp that had been lightly fried and then tossed in a honey/lime/chipotle sauce,
We then decided to share an order of the Cajun Chicken Fettucine (blackened chicken breast, sun dried tomatoes and creamy parmesan sauce)—but our server mentioned that she preferred this dish with penne rather than fettucine. Penne it would be.
When you see the word “Cajun” on a menu, you immediately think fiery. And while the pasta sauce had some heat, it was not overly spicy and had a creamy richness from the sauce. And the dish contained large chunks of moist chicken and a generous amount of sun dried tomatoes, thus making penne the perfect pasta choice.
Now here was our misstep. We also ordered the JG Classic pizza with sun dried tomatoes, roasted garlic,
We did manage to clean our plates and still have room for dessert. Our choice?
I worried for naught. We had a great lunch with warm, friendly, and helpful service and give Johnny Garlic’s a 4.5 Addie rating.
This is the Empire Building, completed in 1910 and a Sonoma County landmark. It was seen in Shadow of a Doubt (1943), Alfred Hitchcock's personal favorite.
Located across the street from the building above were two interesting works of art. This bench provided a good vantage point for watching people and enjoying this Robert W. Ellison sculpture called "Renaissance,"
The city deserved more time from us, but we were short of that commodity.
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