It’s been several years since eating at LUNA RED and I’m here to report it is as good as ever. The menu and wine list here has had numerous tweaks over the years, rising and falling in popularity with me, but right now it’s hitting pretty hard with lots of Iberian favorites and a nice curt wine list with at least a couple interesting regional wines.

Morro Bay: Maya open. La Katrina open. Milanes going Chinese.

I know I’ve gone on and on scoffing about the five new Mexican restaurants opening in Morro Bay and I won’t back away from that because they’re all junk, but the one I forgot about is LUNA LLENA opening in the pink spot where Bumblebee Ice Cream used to be on Main Street and I wandered by and found them fully operational. This is the real dealio here, boys and girls, not some chili rellenos – enchilada – iceberg salad with ranch – type place. Mostly tortas with Mexican desserts and ice cream. A Cubano was on the chalkboard and of course that’s what I grabbed. Been searching high and low for a proper replacement to Milanes, and this comes really really close. Not an ooey-gooey melted cheese version though so if you want that I can suggest a couple other places. This one is done really really proper: the bread is perfect, proportions are perfect, ratios are perfect. The pickles are hot and spicy and good mustard.

LURE FISH HOUSE has informed me they are projecting August 2023 for opening at Santa Rosa and Higuera downtown SLO.

Have you been to Christmas at the Carrisa or Sunday Brunch there yet? I’m going to hit it up for the third or fourth time today. It’s a shame–and resty owners need to seriously pay attention to this–everywhere I go, I get to listen to people complain about their experiences at “The Carrisa” when it first opened in that transition, what, 4 years ago? Just last night I sat at a table of several families–industry folks–as they all listed off crimes against humanity they experienced at that short-lived stint. Stuff like that is hard to re-brand and out-live. But they’ve basically pulled out all the stops here for this holiday season–NOTHING is the same as before–and it should be experienced. Just drop by any evening after 5 for the Christmas wonderland. Another funny story: I stumbled upon several people on the sidewalk peering in the windows the other day before opening, and they were just like, How much does this cost to get in???!? And I was all, Nothing. It’s free! Just come by tonight and come on in! and they promised to, still in wonder there was no cover charge.

Did a little unofficial poll the other day on best spots around town to watch the World Cup. Of course, it doesn’t even get GOOD until Dec 3, but BEDA’S BEIRGARTEN seems to be pretty much hands-down winner, followed by BLACK SHEEP and McCARTHY’S. Have it on the jumbo-tron out at ROD & HAMMER too…

My first time back to BLUE SKY BISTRO since Roger Sharp bought it. I don’t hate the guy, and the boycott wasn’t completely intentional… It’s just… I had a lot of friends who worked there… and you know how people talk during such transitions. Also, his BBQ restaurants are SO BAD, that’s also hard not to hold against him in other endeavors. Here’s the deal though: other than a few faces, NOTHING’S CHANGED at Blue Sky Bistro. He even backed away from changing the name–in probably a very smart move. The winelist (an old beef I had with the original owners) is way better now too! The BLT–untoasted– is one of my favorites in the county and one I used to eat almost weekly. I have missed it so much. But I’m not going to miss it anymore. I’m not gonna skip something great just because of business evolution. That’s just plain petty. And remember: this is the ONLY resty on The Embarcadero without fish & chips! So there’s THAT. You KNOW Sharp Concepts has THREE restaurants in MB now, right???

OK, so… finally tried the coffee at WAYWARD BAKING. Been loving this place on Saturday and Sunday mornings even though there’s a bit of a line but been lucky last few weekends. I’m always leery of coffee machines in bakeries because often they are cold (you people who drink keurig-krap just skip this part–you wouldn’t understand) and/or the cashier who has to stop what she’s doing to make an eXpresso just hasn’t had the training. Wayward has this tiny, one-head, La Marzocco which seems to be quite busy and have someone dedicated to its care & feeding and I am here to tell you that person has it all figured out FAR ahead of most places with grinding, dosing, tamping and extracting ONE OF–if not THE–best cafés I’ve had in some time.

PARK 1039 doing italian pop-ups–not something you see every day. Not sure how that is structured… I know they were looking for someone to take over the lease and just start cookin. KULT next door for sale and everywhere: the stupid parklets are coming down.

I’ll think of some more. Couple places DONE but don’t want to publish quite yet… And I haven’t gone through my txts yet from all y’all.