Slothrop wrote: >I'm spending the weekend in SLO. Any ba.foodie recommendations as to >restaurants not to be missed in the vicinity? I'm open to all types of >food. Thanks to all who made eatery recommendations for San Luis Obispo. In the 24 hours I had there, I tried the following locations: o Apple Farm Restaurant o McClintock's o Big Sky Cafe o Frank's Famous Hot Dogs Apple Farm Restaurant: Although it is somewhat of a tourist trap, the Inn itself appears to be very well done -- nice rooms with real furniture as opposed to the stuff from hotel supply catalogs. It sits on a small creek that runs through SLO. It is also very near 101. We had a small brunch there around 2pm on a Saturday. The restaurant was packed and waits for tables appeared to average around 20 minutes. The decor is Laura Ashley rustic. It has some nice, but small, deck seating. I had a bowl of chile which would probably have been tasty had it been more than lukewarm. The chile was quite mild, though, for those who appreciate the fiery hot. The other dishes were an unacceptional vegetable soup which also could have used a higher flame, traditional cornbread, and a meatloaf sandwich. The meatloaf was well spiced in a traditional way. McClintock's: Also somewhat of a tourist trap. The decor is old west chic with boars' and deer heads, all forms of barbed wire and animal traps, and a stuffed buffalo in the lobby. It's also a meat eaters paradise, so vegans and animal rights activists are hereby warned away. BTW: there are at least 3 McClintock's locations. We went to the Shell Beach location, the downtown SLO location is much smaller. We arrived early since reservations are't taken on Friday or Saturday and it was a good thing since the parking lot (large) was packed and the flow of customers increased dramatically from the time we arrived (~6pm) til we left. There is an early diner's menu (4 - 6pm) with reduced prices even on saturday. I had a BBQ rib/5oz NY steak plate. The steak was very good, well spiced and cooked exactly to order. The ribs were acceptable, but I am very picky about BBQ sauce and how the ribs are cooked. These were not fall off the bone ribs and were somewhat chewy. The sauce was tasty and not too sweet, but would have been better served on the side rather than pre-slathered. Others had a full rib serving and the shish-kabob. Side dishes were pine nut pilaf, which I fould a little incongruous served with BBQ, BBQ beans which were good but didn't need the hamburger in this already meat heavy dinner, potatoes, which I'm sorry to say were way overcooked and onion rings which are served as appetizers and are very good. It would be easy to overdose on the rings if you're not careful. The service is a bit overdone. Very nice and friendly, but very intrusive. Ask for a refill for your water glass to see what I mean. McClintock's is also the place for birthdays and anniverseries based on the 6 or 7 times the waiters broke into "song" in the hour and a half we were there. Not for an intimate dinner. Big Sky Cafe: We went to this downtown SLO restaurant for breakfast. It tends to Southwestern style food but not uniformly. We arrived around 8:30am and there were only two or three tables out 40 or 50 occupied which suprised me if this was such a hot spot. I ordered huevos rancheros which were gussified with red and blue corn tortillas and sufferred slighly from a lack of salsa. They were still good though and I would order them again. They came with a fruit cup and cornbread made with cheddar cheese and bits of jalapeno. I could have made the entire breakfast out of the corn bread -- highly recommended. The other breakfasts were more traditional: scrambled eggs with thick smoked bacon (excellent) and a ginger coffee cake (also very good), and strawberry pancakes which were very liberal with the strwberries. The service was very friendly and efficient though casual. Frank's Famous Hot Dogs: On Monterey just before you hit downtown. Having just about hit my food limit for a 24 hour period, I suggested something simple for lunch before I hit the road back to SFO. We ended up at Frank's, kind of a flashback to the 50s-60s. It's just a little stand with 15 or so seats. Kind of an old fast food place that serves hot dogs, hamburgers, fries and shakes. It's very clean and friendly and appears, even on Sunday, to have a loyal clientelle. I had an Ortega Burger. It wasn't bad at all. The sesame bun was freash enough to have a little bit of crunch as you bit through it and the meat was fresh and tasty. I sampled the chile dogs and would probably order one when I was feeling nostalgic. Overall, SLO seems to have quite a bit of good eating, heavy on the BBQ and steaks. One place that looked interesting, but I didn't get a chance to try was Mango's Cantina which sits on the creek where Monterey dead-ends downtown. eet smaakelijk, jd
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