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.
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.
2 editor picks for Tri-tip sandwich in San Luis Obispo, ranked by editorial score. All San Luis Obispo signature dishes · Tri-tip sandwich across every city.
Firestone Grill ★ 4.7
Downtown · 1001 Higuera Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
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.
Thursday Night Market Barbecue Pits ★ 4.6
Downtown · Higuera Street between Osos and Nipomo Streets, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
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.