Bottom sirloin tri-tip, grilled over red oak until rosy, sliced thin and piled on a toasted garlic-butter roll with barbecue sauce. San Luis Obispo's defining fast meal, done canonically at Firestone Grill.
Where to eat it: 2 restaurants across 1 city.
Tri-tip is the Central Coast's cut: butchers in nearby Santa Maria popularised grilling the whole bottom sirloin over red oak in the 1950s, and the sandwich version became San Luis Obispo's own when Firestone Grill opened on Higuera Street in 1995 and made it the house order. The queue outside has been a downtown landmark ever since, and the Thursday night farmers' market pits sell the same cut by the plate.
Common allergens: Gluten
Tip from the editors. The grain changes direction halfway along a tri-tip; split the roast at the seam and slice each half separately.
Firestone Grill's tri-tip sandwich remains San Luis Obispo's best-value famous meal, oak-grilled beef on a garlic-butter roll for fast-food money.
Try: Tri-tip sandwich
Tip: The line moves faster than it looks; order at the counter and grab a patio table on Higuera Street.
Every Thursday the barbecue pits roll onto Higuera Street, grilling ribs, chicken and tri-tip in the open air at San Luis Obispo's farmers' market.
Try: Ribs, tri-tip and chicken off open pits
Tip: F. McLintocks' crew grills ribs, kebabs and tri-tip mid-market; plates sell down before the bands finish.
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