Resty Gossip 6.19

Been out to Mulligan’s recently? So here’s a covid success story of sorts. Before the pandemic, COMPLETELY unknown resty–one of my favorite *secret* places to visit and plug–lots of parking, rarely busy, decent food. At the first ‘opening up’ to outdoor dining, Mulligan’s began a hearty marketing campaign: installing signs downtown and on leading roads,…

Resty Gossip 5.22

Highlight of my last weekend was FINALLY sliding into Pig Iron at the Templeton Mercantile. Been watching this thing from the sidelines for a couple years now but just never pulled the trigger. Nice location, plenty of sunny people-watching–not that Main Street Templeton is exactly a PARADE, but still. There’s also quite a bit of…

Resty Gossip 11.21

When I first started scribbling on these pages maybe 10 years ago, I complained constantly about how Paso got all the good restaurants, and SLO seemed to plod along with the usual suspects of pretty safe stuff. OK, maybe not *complained*, but observed loudly. Anchored by the Artisan-Bistro-Villa Creek trilogy, but also Panolivo, THO, Mistura,…

THE TACO LIST

Roughly North-to-South from Salinas to Santa Barbara–with heavier population Paso to Santa Maria. Please note this is not a “Best Mexican Food” list. It is STRICTLY taquerias, and I only order ONE thing. Scroll to the bottom of this list for a rough outline of my parameters for “Tacos”. ◊◊ No No ◊ No ♦…

RESTY GOSSIP 10.24

Have you been to the new HIGH ST. DELI in Los Osos yet? Baywood, actually. Menu’s a bit different–not quite as large as the midtown location–but has most of the favorites. PLUS–and this is key–a WINE SHOP on site! Yes, there’s a place to buy wine in Los Osos now besides the Shell station and…

Resty Gossip 10.10

Well, boys & girls: it’s been a year… and what a blurry year. A lot has happened since March 19, 2020, and here we are in the surreal new normal. Covid-restrictions have come and gone; masking has become de rigueur, parklets seem to be standard–even to the extent of some restaurants seemingly DOUBLED their dining…

10 towns 12 Burgers

Every menu on the Central Coast has a burger on it–it’s something I have learned to accept in dining along the coast.  Burgers are popular, no doubt: a welcome menu item for no-fuss dining and ubiquitous with American culture.  There are probably 300 burgers within 10 miles of where I stand and yes, I could…

Resty Gossip 7.26

Well, we’re back at it again. Good job, California. The dining industry is turned upside-down again. Did I ever tell you how much I hate eating outdoors? So here’s what you have to do–and my apologies to those resties scrambling to adapt to street-dining, I get it but hey: facts are facts–just look around for…

Resty Gossip 2.15

There’s a new fresh produce market up in Morro Bay. THE AVOCADO SHACK. Kind of an interesting theme. You don’t often see brick & mortar shops dedicated to fruit and vegetables. It’s a small shop, but stacked high inside and out with layers and layers of fresh offerings. Gooseberries, basil, fresh farm eggs, mangos and…

Resty Gossip 1.26

Popped in to HALFWAY STATION 41 Saturday night after ESPRIT DU VIN because on Google it looked like they were open a bit later than normal and OMG was I met with a surprise. It’s, like, 7:30, the place is PACKED, several people I know, a crazy-good band is playing some mellow vibes. SO much…