Review - San Luis Obispo Restaurants

Denny's
(208 Madonna Rd.)

I had a coupon and was going to be in the neighborhood around lunch time, so I thought I would five the Denny's on Madonna Road a chance. After I chose my spot, I placed my order. It was not really a complicated order, but of course the server got it wrong. I had ordered a chicken sandwich without the tomatoes, pickles, or onions. Also, I had ordered a Caesar Salad with blue cheese dressing instead of Ceasar. What came out was the sandwich with all the fixin's and a salad with Ranch and Blue Cheese on the side. She told me she couldn't remember which I had ordered. In fact, we had to fish around in the dressing to see which was the blue cheese. When the sandwich was delivered I told the busser that I had ordered the sandwich without the pickles, onions, or tomatoes. She just shrugged and said it wasn't her problem. I told her I could pick off the fixin's. Then the server came back and was all defensive about the confusion. She claimed that I didn't order it that way, and that she thought it was the salad that I had not wanted the tomatoes and onions on. The salad dressing was watery, and the salad was full of slimy pieces of lettuce. Bottom line, food was all right, service sucked. I left exactly 15% for her, and perhaps I shouldn't even have done this!!

IHOP
(212 Madonna Rd.)

I had a hankerin' for some waffles one day. I figured IHOP on Madonna Road would be the perfect place to have some waffles. I ordered a combo meal, and asked if I could substitute waffles for the pancakes. She said I could, and when they came out they tasted like dough. They were way over cooked, I couldn't even finish them. She had the cook make some more, but they were just as bad. I noticed that a guy at another table was having issues with how his eggs were cooked, also. I just finished what I could and got the bill. Boy was I surprised when I saw that she had upcharged me for the waffle substitution!! I called her over and told her that she should have told me there was an upcharge for the substitution when I ordered!! She finally got her manager to take off the upcharge, but my credit card had already been run so they ended up giving me back some cash. Of course I still had to pay tax on the upcharge amount!! I won't go here again.

McClintock's
(686 Higuera St.)

This is one of the first restaurants I visited when I was deciding if I should move down here. I had been to the Shell Beach restaurant, and I enjoy a good meal. I can't remember exactly what I had, probably a steak and salad. There is a small area out back where you can sit on the Creek, but I was in the front of the restaurant. I enjoyed the fact that there was quite a cross-culture of customers during lunch. There were some tourists, some men on lunch break who were at the bar, a couple, and another solo woman eating lunch. The servings were hefty and price was reasonable. I will definitely return here in the future.

Natural Café
(698 Higuera St.)

I met a friend at this restaurant, and was a bit apprehensive because I am not a "natural" food eater!! I was afraid that I wouldn't find anything to eat. Well, I ended up with the turkey sandwich and a salad. I was impressed by the atmosphere of this restaurant. I understand that the line goes all the way out to the street during popular times, so they are quite popular. We were there for an early dinner and it wasn't so crowded. The workers seem to be devoted to the restaurant and appear to be wholesome and friendly. I might return here, but only if I am meeting someone. Although the food was good, there wasn't enough of a selection for someone like me!!

Creekside Brewing Company
(1040 Broad St.)

I was out and about town one weekday and needed a place for lunch. It was a nice day, and the appeal of dining on the Creek was too much to pass up. I can't remember what I ordered, probably a beef sandwich and a salad. I was happy enough that I wanted to return someday. I don't drink beer, so I can't appraise the quality of their beer. I enjoyed the slow, peaceful late lunch by the creek.

Mo's Smokehouse BBQ
(1005 Monterey St.)

I was in town for a movie, and I was early. So, I thought I would eat at Mo's. I am not a BBQ person, but I was happy to find a chicken Caesar salad made with roasted chicken. I loved the warm croutons, unique flavor and a pleasant combination with the cold lettuce!! I would return here, they get pretty crowded, but they are reasonably priced for what you get. I ordered a burger the last time I returned to this restaurant, along with a little potato salad. The burger was great, fries were OK, and the potato salad was nothing to write home about. I had high hopes in the potato salad because she said it is not really mustardy. I tried chicken strips the last time I was there, they were OK dipped in Ranch dressing. I ordered the side salad, which came with the delicious warm croutons. If only they would have brought out the salad earlier, it was hard to decide which to eat first. Their fries are seasoned steak fries and are not crispy enough for my taste. I wonder if I can substitute the side salad for the fries next time. Great decor here, and good music.  I try to stop by here for some protein before my popcorn movies at the Fremont!!

High Street Deli
(350 High St.)

When I worked over in this neighborhood I went to this deli a couple of times. I like how they do their ordering, where you fill in a checklist of ingredients you want on your sandwich. This technique seems to be a popular way of ordering sandwiches in this area. I like that the decor, something to look at while you wait. I always order a turkey, lettuce, mayo sandwich on a sourdough roll. I often get the TacoWorks chips and bottled soda, last time I got the kettle chips and a Cactus Cooler. I will definitely return if I am in the area, their sourdough rolls are usually fresh and taste fantastic!!

SLO Fresh Market
(1285 Laurel Ln.)

I wanted to try out another deli while I was waiting between doctor's appointments. This is a cute neighborhood market, the kind I like to patronize in these trying times. I ordered a deli sandwich and bought chips and a soda. The ordering technique is the "check-box" technique that is so popular in this area. The sandwich was great, I will return here the next time I am in the area.

Tacos de Acapulco
(1273 Laurel Ln.)

This place is great, you order what you want and it is popular with the locals. If I need a Mexican food fix and I am in the area, I will definitely return here. As I recall, I had the taquitos, or a burrito. Either would be good here!! I went there yesterday and had a chicken burrito combo, which was good but too much for one serving. Their chips are a bit greasy and overcooked, but came with the combo. This place is always hoppin', usually with the young folk.

Petra
(1210 Higuera St.)

I met a friend here and was expecting a sit-down restaurant, but was surprised to see an "order-at-the-counter" place. The dining area is small, but it wasn't too crowded. They had free refills on sodas, so while I waited I ordered a soda. I also checked out the menu, and asked the people behind the counter about the difference between a shwarma and a gyro!! I am still confused, but apparently you can't get a chicken gyro so I ordered a chicken shwarma, with pine nuts. My friend ordered a beef gyro plate and some falafels on the side. The sandwich was large, but it was in layers so all the chicken and nuts were on the top. So, by the time I got about half way through there was only lettuce at the bottom!! I guess that is one way to get my salad!! My friend enjoyed her food, also. The other guests ordered pizza. I always thought of pizza as Italian, but apparently it is Greek also. The pizza appeared to be the same style and several people came in to get it to-go. If I feel in the mood for this style of food I will definitely return here.

Carl's Jr.
(195 N. Santa Rosa St.)

I stop into this restaurant as often as I can, usually on my way from Morro Bay to SLO. The people at the registers always remember me and my special order, which is nice customer service!! I used to get the Bacon Swiss Chicken Sandwich, which I order "no bacon, no cheese, plain, with lettuce and mayonnaise." They always got it right!! I don't really like their fries, which are fresh cut from the potatoes, so I get the sandwich by itself with a drink. I like that they have an XL size of soda (they call it a Large) for when I am running errands. They have eliminated the Bacon Swiss Crispy Chicken sandwich in favor of the Hand-Breaded Chicken Sandwich, which I don't care for. Unfortunately I won't be stopping here any longer when I need a fast food fix on the way into SLO.

Copper Café (Madonna Inn)

I had a doctor's appointment that was rescheduled in San Luis Obispo, so I had a couple of hours to kill. I wanted some breakfast so I decided to try out the Copper Café at the Madonna Inn. I had been there once before, with my family. As I recall there was a bit of a wait for a table and, although we were impressed with the quality of our meal, we all felt it was overpriced. So, I decided to eat at the sit-down bar, shaped like a horseshoe and covered in embossed copper. They use multi-colored glass goblets and their sugar is pink!! I ordered the Eggs Benedict and was pleasantly surprised by the quantity and quality of this dish. There was so much of the Hollandaise sauce that I didn't need ketchup for the hashbrowns!! The ham on the eggs was about a 1/2-inch thick and was tasty, even though I am not usually a ham person.


I would definitely come here again, the atmosphere was great, lots of "regulars", especially at the bar. There were also some soldiers and travelers. When you visit this site you MUST check out the toilets in the Men's room, have a guy check first to see that there are no other men in there first!! Fantastic!! On the way out I couldn't pass up a couple of cupcakes. Their bakery offers beautiful cakes, although they don't taste as good as they look they are fun!! They need to develop some specialized boxes that will keep the cupcake upright. After I took the picture these beauties fell over and got all messed up.

Frank's Famous Hot Dogs
(950 California Blvd.)

I have driven past Frank's so many times and I finally had a chance to stop and try it out. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the service was great. The hotdog was good, I chose mine without all the fixin's, just ketchup. I also ordered some chicken strips, which came with fries. The chicken breading was not good, but at least there was real chicken in the middle!! The fries were slightly seasoned, but I prefer mine to be hot and crispy. These tasted mushy and were cold like they had been sitting around for too long. I will be back, perhaps bringing someone next time!!

Big Sky Cafe
(1121 Broad St.)

A friend was in town and wanted to go to Big Sky Cafe for dinner. She remembered this restaurant from when she used to live here several years ago. I am not usually a "health food" diner, but she and her husband are vegetarians. I checked out the menu on their home page before I met them to make sure there was something for me to order.

They brought out these spicy corn muffins, which I tried but didn't prefer. There was also another bread under them, which I also tried but it was really dry.

Their salad was nice, with healthy lettuce and some peppered-sugared pecans on the top. I tried their house dressing which was meant to go with the salad, it was a perfect match.

I ordered the steak, it was nice. Although I tried the squash on the right, but I did not prefer it. This is not unusual, as I am not a "squash person". The greens in the middle were a bit too bitter for my taste. I had high hopes for the potato fritters on the left but, alas, they were a bit too dry and had no flavor.

I am not likely to come here again unless I am meeting someone here. If I do I will order the steak again, and hope that they will substitute a side salad for the other stuff!!

Pepe Delgado's
(1601 Monterey St.)

We had a work lunch here while we were in a training class at a local hotel. They accommodated our short lunch break schedule well. The chips and salsa were great.

I always order a salad when I have a meal, since I tend to prefer meals that are not always to healthy!! Theirs was a wonderful salad, with cheese and olives. I asked for no tomatoes, and I was happy that they gave me enough blue cheese dressing (see tall container to the right)!!

I ordered something that would be quick, a taco. It was a bit spicy for my taste, but I forgot to ask for no hot sauce. The pieces of chicken were large and were breast meat!! I used the leftover salad dressing to finish up the shredded lettuce on the plate!! Oh, they also have bottomless sodas, something I always appreciate.

Pappy McGregor's
(1865 Monterey St.)

After the class, we went to happy hour at Pappy McGregor's. They had some amazing appetizers, we tried the calamari and the tri-tip nachos. An awesome band was playing that evening, so we had a wonderful time.

I am not usually a calamari person, but these were cooked perfectly and almost melted in my mouth. I wish they had different sauce options, or more of it. The tri-tip nachos were WAY to spicy for me, but my coworkers liked them. I was happy that they had free refills on the soda, since I was driving!!

House of Bagels
(158A Higuera Street)

I was getting some work done at Jiffy Lube and hadn't eaten lunch yet so I thought I should try out the bagels at House of Bagels next door. I am pretty particular with my bagels, and I have yet to find a place on the Central Coast where they serve authentic East Coast style bagels. Usually it is just a dense bread shaped like a bagel. Dry in the middle and the consistency is all wrong. I had high hopes, but my hopes were dashed!! Locals might think these are great bagels, but if you know a great bagel you will also be disappointed. They are better than the bagels you get at the grocery store bakery, but nothing like they should be. I will have to see if there is a Noah's Bagels around here, they are a chain that knows how to make a proper bagel. Also, the seeds kept falling off, when they should have been secured somehow!! Sorry.

The Golden Gong
(Madonna Rd.)

I wanted to try the Chinese Chicken Salad, and was told that they had a side version for me. Not only did it not have nuts, it didn't have the noodles either. The lettuce was floating in a large pile of dressing at the bottom of the plate, which had the chicken in it as well. The dressing was tasty, as was the chicken, so presumably the full-sized version would be good as well.

The wonton soup was good, with large wontons. I wanted to save room for the rest of my meal so I didn't finish all the broth. The soup base was a bit too fishy for my taste.

Both the fried wontons and the egg/spring roll was nice and hot. The red sweet and sour was as it should be. The wonton was a bit too salty for my taste.

I ordered the lunch special with Almond Chicken and it was tasty. They brought me out some chopsticks and I finished off with the fork. Of course, I didn't eat the broccoli, the onions, and the mushrooms, but the rest was nice. Unfortunately, the almonds were a bit stale, and the sauce tasted a bit too fishy for me. I also wish they offered steamed brown rice.

I would eat here again, if I was craving some nice Chinese cuisine while I was in SLO. They have lunch specials for around $8 or $9, a large parking lot, and a patio.