San Luis Obispo neighbourhoods
Top-rated food tour in San Luis Obispo
3-Winery Paso Robles Tour with Picnic Lunch & Tasting Fees
Order King salmon on the creekside deck, or the Tikka Masala Chicken.
Novo runs a creekside deck over San Luis Obispo Creek, pouring local wine against a menu that hops from samosas to Tikka Masala Chicken and King Salmon.
Order The seafood paella, built for the table and priced accordingly.
Luna Red sets seafood paella, lamb lollipops and shared plates beside Mission San Luis Obispo, with a plaza patio that fills fast on Thursday market nights.
Order The tri-tip sandwich on a garlic-butter roll, with a side of fries.
Firestone Grill is San Luis Obispo's tri-tip sandwich benchmark, carving oak-grilled beef onto garlic rolls since 1995 for a queue that snakes out the door.
Order The cioppino, loaded with Central Coast seafood.
Giuseppe's Cucina Rustica serves farm-driven Italian cooking in San Luis Obispo's 1876 Sinsheimer building, with produce grown on its own Edna Valley farm.
Order A blistered Neapolitan pizza from the copper-clad oven, then a house-made pasta.
Flour House bakes Pizza Napoletana and rolls fresh pasta in downtown San Luis Obispo, and 50 Top Pizza has ranked it among the top 50 pizzerias in the USA.
Order A wood-fired pie and whatever local can or draught is on rotation.
Bear & The Wren fires sourdough-edged pizzas in the Creamery Marketplace, a rebuilt 1906 dairy plant on the quieter west end of Higuera in San Luis Obispo.
Order The nigiri selection; the fish case moves quickly on weekend nights.
Izakaya Goshi has cut sushi in San Luis Obispo for decades from its Creamery room, and its Sushi Goshi counter at SLO Public Market flies in special fish.
Order The gyro wrapped in pita baked in-house that morning.
Petra Mediterranean Pizza & Grill bakes its own pita and carves gyro and shawarma on Higuera Street, a Diners Drive-Ins and Dives alum in San Luis Obispo.
Order Fettuccine Alfredo finished tableside, then the tiramisu.
Mama's Meatball cooks gnocchi alla Sorrentina and tableside fettuccine Alfredo in the Creamery, one of San Luis Obispo's most reliable red-sauce rooms.
Order Whichever handmade pasta special came off the market run that week.
La Locanda keeps an open kitchen on Garden Street in San Luis Obispo, rolling Northern Italian pasta by hand and shopping the farmers' market every week.
Order Hand-pulled noodles, pulled to order, with the house chilli oil.
Shake Shake Fresh Noodle pulls its noodles by hand to order on Nipomo Street, the closest San Luis Obispo gets to a northern Chinese noodle bar.
Order The namesake piadina flatbread with whatever the kitchen is stuffing it with that season.
Piadina cooks Italian-leaning Californian food inside Hotel San Luis Obispo, folding its namesake Romagna flatbreads around Central Coast produce.
Order A burger and garlic fries, ideally during a televised Cal Poly game.
Black Sheep Bar & Grill keeps its kitchen open past midnight on Chorro Street, feeding San Luis Obispo burgers and garlic fries long after most rooms close.
Order A dry-aged cut with a bottle of Edna Valley Pinot Noir.
Ox + Anchor is the modern steakhouse inside Hotel San Luis Obispo, plating dry-aged beef and coastal seafood five nights a week beside the Palm Theatre.
Order Seasonal farm plates with a glass from the short, sharp wine list.
Granada Bistro serves French and Mediterranean farm cooking off the 1922 Granada Hotel lobby, the most handsome dining room in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Order Fresh pasta with a Northern Italian white; the lunch prix-fixe is the value play.
Buona Tavola has plated Northern Italian dinners beside the Fremont Theater since 1992, a white-tablecloth stalwart of Monterey Street in San Luis Obispo.
Order A large pie on the cornmeal-dusted crust, split over pitchers.
Woodstock's Pizza has fed Cal Poly students at Higuera and Osos for over three decades, the default late slice and pitcher stop in San Luis Obispo.
Order Oak-smoked tri-tip by the plate, with pinquito beans and salsa.
Old SLO BBQ Co. smokes Santa Maria-style tri-tip over red oak on Higuera Street, and keeps carving until 02:00 on San Luis Obispo's weekend bar nights.
Order The Pastrami Sensation on Dutch crunch, plus a fresh-baked cookie.
Lincoln Market & Deli, a 1941 corner store on Broad Street, stacks sandwiches like the Pastrami Sensation for San Luis Obispo families and Cal Poly students.
Order A carnitas burrito, which also happens to be downtown's best 00:30 decision.
San Luis Taqueria grills burritos and enchiladas on Chorro Street until 01:00 on weekends, downtown San Luis Obispo's dependable after-bars kitchen.
Order Cafe de olla with the rotating Latin breakfast plate.
Corazon Cafe is a family-run counter on Higuera Street pouring Southern Mexican coffee drinks with a rotating Latin brunch menu in San Luis Obispo.
Order Chop suey from the wok, the dish this room has cooked since 1927.
Mee Heng Low Noodle House has cooked chop suey on Palm Street since 1927, the last kitchen of San Luis Obispo's once-thriving Chinatown block.
Order Honey lavender latte
Scout Coffee has anchored Garden Street since 2014, pairing its own HoneyCo-roasted espresso with scratch pastries in San Luis Obispo's prettiest brick room.
Order Spicy Mexican mocha
Kreuzberg California styles itself on a Berlin coffeehouse, serving espresso, sandwiches and cocktails until midnight on weekends in San Luis Obispo.
Order Organic fair trade drip
Linnaea's Cafe is San Luis Obispo's bohemian living room on Garden Street, pouring organic coffee over a garden patio, art walls and evening music sets.
Order Espresso with a house-baked pastry
Blackhorse Espresso & Bakery pairs espresso with its own pastry case on Higuera Street, a San Luis Obispo morning fixture open daily from 06:30.
Order Abuela's Coffee
Buen Dia Coffee brings design-studio polish and Latin-accented drinks like Abuela's Coffee to the Creamery Marketplace in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Order Joebella house espresso
Joebella Coffee SLO pours beans roasted at the company's Atascadero roastery from a bright corner shop on lower Higuera Street in San Luis Obispo.
Order Cinnamon rolls
House of Bread bakes old-fashioned American loaves and cinnamon rolls on Marsh Street, the homestyle counterweight to San Luis Obispo's sourdough wave.
Scout Coffee roasts as HoneyCo Coffee Roasters, the sibling label born a year after the 2014 Garden Street opening; three San Luis Obispo cafes pour it.
Joebella Coffee Roasters fires its beans in Atascadero and pours them at this San Luis Obispo shop, the roaster local delis stock behind their counters.
Dunites Wine Co. pours its coastal Syrah-led wines in a small Garden Street tasting room, one of the quieter serious stops in San Luis Obispo.
Central Coast Wines runs a bottle shop and pour-by-the-glass bar on Higuera Street, mapping San Luis Obispo wine country one small producer at a time.
Couch Family Wines pours current and library vintages in an evening-hours tasting room on Higuera Street, next door to Woodstock's in San Luis Obispo.
Club Bubbly pours nothing but sparkling wine in the Creamery Marketplace, from Cava and Prosecco to Sekt and Cap Classique, unique in San Luis Obispo.
Drink Seasonal craft cocktails
Sidecar Cocktail Co. shakes San Luis Obispo's most serious cocktails on Broad Street, backing the list with a comfort-food kitchen four nights a week.
Drink Guinness and a whiskey back
McCarthy's Irish Pub has poured in San Luis Obispo since 1952, opening at 10:00 daily with Guinness, whiskey and zero pretension on Marsh Street.
Drink Rotating craft taps
Frog & Peach Pub has run live music seven nights a week since 1994 on Higuera Street, the reliable free stage of San Luis Obispo's bar crawl.
Drink Well drinks and draught beer
Bull's Tavern is San Luis Obispo's historic dive, a long wooden bar on Chorro Street that has outlasted every polished cocktail newcomer around it.
Drink Cheap doubles
The Library packs the Cal Poly weekend crowd into a two-level room on Higuera Street, the loudest three nights of the week in San Luis Obispo.
Drink Spirit-forward classics
Nightcap hides behind the Granada Hotel on Morro Street, a dim speakeasy-styled lounge stirring the most precise late drinks in San Luis Obispo.
Try Ribs, tri-tip and chicken off open pits
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.
Central Coast Brewing has brewed in San Luis Obispo since 1998, pouring lagers like 1422 Light and Pete's Pilsner across two taprooms in the city.
The Downtown SLO Farmers' Market closes five blocks of Higuera Street every Thursday night, stacking barbecue pits, produce and bands since 1983.
On this list, shown aboveLincoln Market & DeliSan Luis TaqueriaPetra Mediterranean Pizza & GrillMee Heng Low Noodle HouseFirestone GrillWoodstock's Pizza SLO
Order Biscuits with anything; the batch rarely survives Saturday morning.
Louisa's Place flips omelettes and pancakes at a Higuera Street counter that has run as a diner since 1958, San Luis Obispo's breakfast constant.
Also on this listSeedsCorazon Cafe
On this list, shown aboveWoodstock's Pizza SLOOld SLO BBQ Co.San Luis TaqueriaBlack Sheep Bar & GrillNite Creamery
On this list, shown aboveFrog & Peach PubNightcapBull's TavernMcCarthy's Irish PubThe Library
