Giuseppe's Cucina Rustica is an italian restaurant in Downtown, San Luis Obispo.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Signature dishes: Cioppino, Wood-fired pizza
Must order: The cioppino, loaded with Central Coast seafood.
Tip: Since 1988 the kitchen has grown heirloom produce on the family farm; ask which vegetables came in that morning.
Address: 849 Monterey Street, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
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.
Signature: Pizza Napoletana, House-made pasta
Order: A blistered Neapolitan pizza from the copper-clad oven, then a house-made pasta.
Tip: Meter Monday puts a metre-long pizza on the table; bring three friends and split it.
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.
Signature: Wood-fired pizza
Order: A wood-fired pie and whatever local can or draught is on rotation.
Tip: The Creamery courtyard connects to Buen Dia Coffee and Nite Creamery, so dessert is a ten-step walk.
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.
Signature: Sushi, Sashimi
Order: The nigiri selection; the fish case moves quickly on weekend nights.
Tip: Lunch runs 11:30-13:30 only; arrive before noon for a seat at the small bar.
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.
Signature: Gyro, Chicken shawarma, Fresh pita
Order: The gyro wrapped in pita baked in-house that morning.
Tip: Happy hour runs 15:00-18:00 and all day Sunday; the second branch sits inside SLO Public Market.
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.
Signature: Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, Fettuccine Alfredo
Order: Fettuccine Alfredo finished tableside, then the tiramisu.
Tip: A separate gluten-free menu covers most of the pasta list; reservations run through OpenTable.
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.
Signature: Handmade pasta, Lasagna
Order: Whichever handmade pasta special came off the market run that week.
Tip: Corkage is $22, so bring an Edna Valley bottle from an afternoon of tasting.
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.
Signature: Pizza Napoletana, House-made pasta
Order: A blistered Neapolitan pizza from the copper-clad oven, then a house-made pasta.
Tip: Meter Monday puts a metre-long pizza on the table; bring three friends and split it.
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.
Signature: Wood-fired pizza
Order: A wood-fired pie and whatever local can or draught is on rotation.
Tip: The Creamery courtyard connects to Buen Dia Coffee and Nite Creamery, so dessert is a ten-step walk.
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.
Signature: Sushi, Sashimi
Order: The nigiri selection; the fish case moves quickly on weekend nights.
Tip: Lunch runs 11:30-13:30 only; arrive before noon for a seat at the small bar.
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.
Signature: Gyro, Chicken shawarma, Fresh pita
Order: The gyro wrapped in pita baked in-house that morning.
Tip: Happy hour runs 15:00-18:00 and all day Sunday; the second branch sits inside SLO Public Market.
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.
Signature: Gnocchi alla Sorrentina, Fettuccine Alfredo
Order: Fettuccine Alfredo finished tableside, then the tiramisu.
Tip: A separate gluten-free menu covers most of the pasta list; reservations run through OpenTable.
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.
Signature: Handmade pasta, Lasagna
Order: Whichever handmade pasta special came off the market run that week.
Tip: Corkage is $22, so bring an Edna Valley bottle from an afternoon of tasting.
