Trip repot: San Luis Obispo, Pismo Beach & Edna Valley

[Ruby Louise]

In November, my husband & I visited his daughter who is a 3rd year at Cal Poly. We’ve visited several times over the last few years, and have found a few favorites but I wanted to explore some new spots this trip. Friday night she and her roommate wanted sushi, and despite my suggestions (i.e. handing her a print out of eatery ideas culled from Chowhound), we ended up at Sumo Sushi. We’d never been before and the upside is that it’s in a small strip mall downtown with its own parking lot. It’s obviously popular with the college kids, but I didn’t see many “over college age” folks. I think I blushed several times just overhearing some of the boisterous conversations from adjacent tables! My stepdaughter likes it for its fun rolls, and combination platters served in enormous wooden boats. We just did rolls, and they were hit or miss, with the first round of rolls better than the last. One of the rolls had tuna that seemed mushy and overly bright as if dyed. It doesn’t seem like the kind of place you go for nigiri. It was entertaining, and met the need at the monet, but I’m going to push for other options in the future.

Saturday morning, stepdaughter and boyfriend wanted to go to Breakfast Buzz. We’ve been here before and the bottom line is go for burritos, or as a second choice, get an omelet. But really, the reason to eat here is the breakfast burrito. The rest of the breakfast items are just pretty mediocre and the servers are sweet but not very helpful in navigating the menu. They have some seating inside, but we usually opt to eat outside. We find that in college towns it’s best to get to breakfast by 10am, which is just before the local early rising students venture forth in search of food. Unless we’re all in the mood for burritos next time, I’ll push for other options.

Saturday afternoon marked a long awaited new adventure for us. The stepdaughter abandoned us to attend the Cal Poly/Davis game with her pals and at long last we were alone to go wine tasting. We decided to take a whirl through Edna Valley. We had a great time at our first stop, Baileyana/Tangent, and snapped up the Viognier, Riesling, Syrah and port. We found them to be balanced, with good acidity, at very reasonable prices. Turns out I know the woman that waited on us, but the building, the view and the wines were great. They have tables for picnicking and a bocce court, so we’ll be back.

Next stop was Saucelito Canyon, which was small, charming, again with a few tables for picnicking. Their Zins are just so old school, meaning that they aren’t these big, over ripe, alcoholic monsters. They are burly but in a gentlemanly sort of way. We bought the Reserve and the late harvest Zin because I’m a sucker for them and they served dark chocolate with the wine. We’ll be back.

Our last stop was Domaine Alfred, which was a disappointment. The staff wasn’t overly friendly, and took a long time to warm up to us. They couldn’t give us details on basic things, like the percentage of malolactic in the various Chardonnays. We weren’t very impressed with the wines either. The one bright spot was that Robbins Family Farm was sampling their olive oils and imported balsamic vinegar, which were delicious. We debated back and forth but ended up with a bottle of the Tuscan style oil and a bottle of the balsamic. We won’t be back.

Overall, we really enjoyed Edna Valley for the wines, and the proximity to SLO and to the beach. Salivating over toodie jane’s report on Longboard’s we decided to zoom down to Pismo Beach for a Baja Burger, fries and a chocolate malt. They were all delicious, the fries perfectly seasoned, the malt had just the right punch of malty flavor and the burger was nicely beefy. They also have a short breakfast menu, name dropping things like Hobbs smoked bacon and tri tip as fillings for the burritos. Next trip, I’m lobbying for breakfast here.

With more time to kill, we wandered the streets of downtown Pismo and discovered HotLix, which sells bug candy. No, not bug-shaped candy, but candy with bugs in it. They have prepackaged varieties in the back (my husband pondered the bacon-cheese flavored mealworms), and house made chocolate dipped bugs (like crickets and scorpions) in the front window. We were amused but I’m just not going to spend my money to eat bugs.

We finally met up with the stepdaughter and her boyfriend and decided to hit Mama Meatball in the old creamery building for dinner. It was a huge hit. Bonus points for having its own parking lot. I pointed our Tsurugi as we walked by so maybe that will plant seeds for a future visit. Mama Meatball is tiny and we were lucky enough to get the last table. The food is lovingly prepared and very inexpensive in a warm environment. We appreciated the option of half sized or full sized salads. We got a kick out of the warm, soft breadstick bites they brought to the table. No, they’re not full sized breadsticks, their small bites. My carbonara was deliciously classic preparation. They didn’t have the clams for my stepdaughter’s linguine with clams, but she agreed to a substitution of mussels. Her boyfriend got the special pasta with ragu, which came with large chunks of braised beef which he was thrilled over. My husband thought he had ordered the calzone but had ordered the cannelloni. No matter, he said it was excellent. We were stuffed and unless my stepdaughter and her pals eat themselves silly here over the next few months, we’ll be back.

Sunday morning my husband & I just nibbled through the complimentary breakfast buffet at our hotel, which was fine. Sunday afternoon, my stepdaughter wanted Firestone. We’ve eaten here before and I appreciate the fact that if you need meat, you can get your fix, but if aren’t meat-focused, there are other options. I had the ribs and a salad. The ribs were meaty and flavorful. My husband and stepdaughter got the trip tip sandwiches, which I’ve had before and enjoyed. We sat outside. There isn’t much shade to speak of, so it got kind of warm. But we’ll be back.

Thanks Central Coast chowhounds for all your reports, research and ideas. It was a very good trip.

[toodie jane]

Longboard's may be closed. I've gone by several times in the past week, to find it shuttered and the chairs and tables missing. Will report if I find conclusive info.

They served a great burger; I hope they are just regrouping.

[PolarBear]

Did Pizmo Taco return after being closed for the winter?

[toodie jane]

don't know...is that the place that went in next to the Crab Cooker, where Giovanni's Pizza used to be? near the Landmark hotel? I'll do a driveby.

[PolarBear]

That's the one, last visit they were still baking bread, wholesaling to local restaurants and retail to walk ins. Really nice folks and the best tacos around.

Actual name is El Pizmo Taco, 779 Price St.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=s&u...

[toodie jane]

it's now Hot Dogz

maybe El Pizmo moved...or went strictly wholesale and moved the bakery into a tin village somewhere for lower rent. I'll ask around.

Longboard's appears gone for good. >sniff<

[PolarBear]

Damn, that's the loss of a couple of good ones.

[lelliott]

My husband's parents have a place in Morro Bay and we love to visit Edna Valley. A place we enjoying tasting that were not on your list are: Wolf Vineyards (v. small family run winery with outdoor tasting).

If you have the chance for more extensive wine tasting nest time. West Paso is beautiful. Many of the wineries off of hwy 46 are fantastic and the drive is gorgeous.

[jmoule]

I second the recommendation of Wolf Vineyards.

[littlestevie]

I was dissappointed to hear about domanie alfred. I knew it was for sale and I am not sure if it did change hands, and I have not been in the tasting room for well over a year. I always liked his Da Red for a inexpensive wine to go with a pasta and hearty red sauce. Next time you may want to try Talley, great pinots, or Clayborne and Churchill for some of the best dry reislings in the state.

[dockhl]

Eating with a Cal Poly student (boyfriend in tow) and eating on your own are COMPLETELY different experiences, aren't they? (daughter, Math '06) It'll get better as she wants to spend less time with you ;-)

Good choices, you made the kid happy. That was the goal.

Best~
Kathy

(BTW, Peteit Soleil is a great hotel run by foodies , John and Diane Conner, (and nice people) if you can get one of their few rooms. Worth it !

[glbtrtr]

Been wanting to take an overnight train trip from Santa Barbara to SLO and back. How close is foodie haven Petit Soleil to the train station, or what other recs do you have that could make the train SLO a walkable experience? Walkable restaurants as well? Thanks.

[dockhl]

Hmm. It is a few blocks from the train station to downtown. Might be easiest to take a cab. Once you get to your hotel, however, pretty much everything is in walking or trolley distance. http://www.sanluisobispo.com/516/stor...

Lots of restaurants, depends on what you want. Give us hints :)

[glbtrtr]

How far are a "few blocks" from train station to hotel? We are walkers. A mile or so is no problem at all. Thanks.

[alanstotle]

Petit Soleil is about 12-13 blocks from the train station (at Santa Rosa St. & Railroad Avenue). Blocks in that part of San Luis Obispo tend to be fairly small. Also, some of the walk from the station to the inn is downhill.

Mapquest calls the distance between the two a little less than a mile (.9 miles to be exact; .88 if you want to be really exact).

Petit Soleil is next door to the generally well-regarded Splash Cafe & Bakery & about 5-6 blocks from the downtown area where there are restaurants & the famous Thursday night Farmer's Market.

[toodie jane]

It's a pleasant stroll--should take about 15 minutes through the leafy craftsman-era (and Older) neighborhoods just north of the station. One short half-block right at the station is quite steep; going back would be the haul. But if you're fit, no prob. Go Santa Rosa north to Marsh, east to Johnson, north on Johnson 1 block to Monterey, left 10 yards to PS.
Splash is always crowded with Poly kids--across the street is a great coffee house, Outspoken--Illy!--and kitty corner at Johnson & Monterey is Frank's Hot Dogs. They sell cheap and filling breakfast burritos and combos, along with normal lunch fare--hot dogs, burgers, shakes, etc) the rest of the day. The pancakes are as good as Apple Farm's but less glamorously served.

[toodie jane]

Frank's has changed hands but the same cooks are at the grill. Breakfast items remain the same. Can't vouch for the burgers or franks.

edit above post: "north on Johnson 1 block to Monterey, RIGHT one block to PS on right." sorry for the error. ALSO: the chocolate production facility above Splash Cafe now has a storefront for their chocolates, just a few doors down from Splach and Petit Soleil. Many tasty delights.

[glbtrtr]

While enjoying Mo's BBQ up the street in Pismo Beach we sure saw the crowds outside Splash.

Mo's slogan makes sense considering he is surrounded by all these seafood restaurants: "Mo knows BBQ, but he don't know fish and he don't know chowda".

[glbtrtr]

Thanks for taking the time to make your nice detailed report. It is so welcome when efforts here get rewarded with feedback. Toodie knows her stuff and has sent me on many wonderful explorations in this area as well.