Resty Gossip 9.24

I guess what they say is true: There’s SOOOO much money in events. Despite having all that area rear of O&A overlooking town, not to mention multiple ‘regions’ in Piadina able to separate, the Hotel SLO/Region folks have taken over Mestiza exclusively for events. I guess there just can’t be enough spots for Orange County…

Top 10 Pizzas

Hey, so I promised a Margherita Pizza round-up, so here goes. These things are all so different. Not all thin crust–some of it quite puffy and thick. Not all of it scorched–not all of it wood-fired. Only, like 4 here are wood-fired. Maybe 5. Some have copious basil–some have just a dusting. FWIW when I…

Top 5 Wine Service Peeves

Dear Restaurants: Can you please stop seating me without a wine-list.  This is wine-country.  THIS IS RIGHT SMACK DAB IN THE MIDDLE OF ONE OF THE FASTEST GROWING AND HIGHEST-ACCLAIMED WINE AREAS IN THE WORLD.  From where I’m sitting in your restaurant, I could hit 10 wineries with a 5-wood.  Hundreds of thousands of dollars…

Resty Gossip 2.12

Did you know there’s three Hawaiian spots here now? One in each town! You will never be more than 20 minutes from kalua pork and katsu chicken and SPAM musubi. Santa Maria (actually Orcutt) has Zoe’s, AG has Tropical, SLO has Nobu. Wait does Lahaina’s have Hawaiian food? I don’t remember seeing any. Does Paso…

Top-10 Clam Chowders

I’ve avoided the whole “Clam Chowder” thing the entire 20 years I have lived on the Central Coast. My first exposure to this odd stew was the ridiculous line wrapping around Splash Cafe in Pismo Beach. One look at the demographic queued up told me I NEVER needed to experience this soup. And I love…

RESTY GOSSIP 10.2

LURE FISH HOUSE of Ventura fame going into the most expensive gast station in SLO, and the most re-modeled new building lacking ANY tenants what-so-ever in the history of SLO. Can you imagine waht gas would be at that Shell right now?? haha $9.00/ fershure. I’m not angry about this addition at all. Sure it’s…

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,…

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 4.29

What is there to talk about? There’s so much. I’ve debated all month whether to write about things, and just finally put it all off until now. Obviously, there isn’t too much new gossip on resty openings or special events, that part of this column is empty. There were many calls in the early hours…

Resty Gossip π

Popped into the new iteration of DRAGON PALACE in Grover and I know the previous owners were Vietnamese but I feel like maybe there is a new “new owner”??? because I don’t recognize anybody inside and I was fairly familiar with the former management. Everyone in the place seemed younger and far more ESL than…