Restaurants in San Luis Obispo reflect the heart of California’s Central Coast. Enjoy sunlit patios and fresh ingredients from local farms.
Best Restaurants in San Luis Obispo:
1. Luna Red
Rating: ★★★★★
Located in the heart of downtown San Luis Obispo, Luna Red is an artistic and lively restaurant with a late-night music scene that offers guests a unique dining experience. Overlooking the Mission Plaza with beautiful views of the historic Mission de Tolosa and San Luis Creek, the popular dining destination has a cozy and comfortable dining room and a vibrant outdoor patio and serves a globally-inspired menu of market-driven fare, craft cocktails, and an award-winning wine list. The restaurant transforms into Luna Noche, a late-night concept with a rotating selection of DJs, dancing, and spirited atmosphere every Friday and Saturday night.
1023 Chorro Street, San Luis Obispo CA 93401, Phone: 805-540-5243
2. Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steak House
Located in the Madonna Inn, Alex Madonna's Gold Rush Steak House is an award-winning chophouse with elegant interiors and a warm and intimate ambiance. Renowned by tourists and locals alike for its outstanding cuisine, the restaurant features spectacular pink and gold décor, cozy red leather seating, elaborate wood carvings, and hand-painted murals to create a charming, old-world experience. A seasonally-inspired menu boasts sizzling oak-pit-barbecued steak, organic chicken, fresh seafood, and vegetarian entrées, all of which is accompanied by decadent world-famous desserts, a superb wine list, and nightly entertainment and dancing. The Silver Bar Cocktail Lounge serves classic and inventive cocktails.
100 Madonna Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405, Phone: 805-543-3000
3. Cafe Roma
Cafe Roma is a long-standing white-tablecloth Italian restaurant in San Luis Obispo’s Historic Railroad Square that has been serving traditional Italian cuisine and fine wines since 1980. Owned and operated by the Rizzo Family who captured the heart of both locals and visitors over 40 years ago, the charming restaurant exudes an old-world feel and serves a menu of Italian favorites prepared with old family recipes and ingredients sourced from local farmers, fishermen, ranchers, and vintners. The restaurant features an inviting dining room, an elegant cocktail bar, and a scenic shaded covered patio for alfresco dining. The food is accompanied by an extensive wine list with wines from Italian wineries and small vineyards on the Central Coast and Italy, along with classic cocktails and craft beers. Cafe Roma is open for lunch and dinner Monday through Friday and dinner only on Saturdays.
1020 Railroad Ave, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, Phone: 805-541-6800
4. Ciopinot
Ciopinot is a second-generation family-owned restaurant that specializes in fresh seafood, American Waygu steaks, and oysters from a raw bar. Named after the Cioppino and white Pinot wines that pair perfectly with fresh oysters from the raw bar, Ciopinot is renowned for serving the freshest seafood, catch-of-the-day fish and shucked oysters on the half shell, along with prime Waygu steaks, salads, and vegetarian options. The wine list focuses on white and red Pinots from around the world, which can be enjoyed by the glass, half bottle, or full bottle.
1051 Nipomo St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, Phone: 805-547-1111
Romantic Restaurants in San Luis Obispo:
5. Gardens of Avila
Situated in a beautiful garden setting in the Sycamore Mineral Springs Resort & Spa in the Avila Valley, the Gardens of Avila is a favorite spot for locals and travelers that serves award-winning contemporary coastal cuisine inspired by the surrounding local wine country. The restaurant features an intimate indoor dining space with a handcrafted mahogany bar and a cozy natural stone fireplace, and an outdoor terrace with a relaxed vibe. The eatery serves an inventive menu of farm-to-table fare such as local seafood, prime meats and produces harvested in the restaurant’s one-acre organic Chef’s Garden and the food is paired with wines from the surrounding wine country.
1215 Avila Beach Dr, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405, Phone: 805-595-7365
6. Giuseppe’s Cucina Rustica
Giuseppe’s Cucina Rusticais a traditional Italian restaurant that has been serving authentic cuisine from Italy's Pugliese region for over 30 years. Owned and operated by Giuseppe DiFronzo, the family-friendly restaurant focuses on a farm-to-fork philosophy and uses only the highest quality of fresh locally sourced ingredients from surrounding farmers and producers. Giuseppe also runs his farm, DiFronzo Farms, which produces the heirloom varietal vegetables, salads and fruits from figs and olives to Meyer lemons, Hachiya persimmons, and San Marzano tomatoes. The farm also produces five grape varietals that produce Giuseppe's own DiFronzo Vineyards brand wines, which are served in the restaurant.
849 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, Phone: 805-541-9922
7. Granada Bistro
Granada Bistro is a charming French-inspired bistro that gives diners a glimpse into California’s Spanish colonial past with classic French bistro fare and an extensive wine program and classically-focused cocktails. The beautifully renovated space features an industrial-chic design with exposed brick walls, cozy, cushioned velvet chairs and soft lighting, and an inviting outdoor patio with fire pits. Taking culinary cues from timeless French cuisine and using seasonal, farm-to-table ingredients, the menu features dishes such as carrot risotto with green garlic, burgers with bacon-onion jam on a brioche bun, and small sharing plates of charcuterie and cheeses. An eclectic wine list includes Spanish and French selections and a range of the Central Coast’s finest vintages.
1126 Morro Street, San Luis Obispo CA 93401, Phone: 805-544-9100
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