Gennaro’s Grill & Garden
Posted by SLO Critic | 4 comments
Tasty Cuban cuisine in a down home setting
Gennaro’s is located just past Landis Automotive on Marsh. We all drive right by it and don’t realize it’s there but you are really missing out. The Cuban/Italian food is fantastic and the friendly atmosphere makes it one of my new favorites.
The Digs:
Gennaro’s Grill & Garden
450 Marsh Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
The Scoop:
Located on Marsh in the cute Victorian house that has seen its share of restaurants come and go. They have a variety of Italian dishes as well as Cuban items and after having been there twice I am becoming a fan. This place has potential, but it needs to spread word of mouth as the location has consistently been a problem for every business that has tried to make it work.
What Rocks:
I cannot speak enough about how good the Cubano sandwich is. Mmmmm. I ordered it with a side of plantains and it was delicious. Next time I am ordering the Ropa Vieja as it also looked fantastic. (see pic)
What Sucks:
The location is a challenge. Also it is always a little strange when restuarants combine two different cultures together. (Italian and Cuban) I honestly think if they filled the menu with Cuban dishes it would do just fine and really catch on.
The Moolah:
Prices range between $8-14 for lunch. Dinner ranges between $12-32.
4 Responses to “ “Gennaro’s Grill & Garden”
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Hi: Your comments on our food were much appreciated — thanks. I would like to give you some info. you might find interesting. Gennaro Rosato, my husband, and I owned Benvenuti Ristorante which we purchased from Carmel Beach in 1991. We sold the business to Calago’s in 2005 and now we have the old Victorian back! Prior to Carmel Beach it was a Fraternity House –Now you have the scoop! Hope to see you often. Marrgo
Thank you for the comment back. Love going to your place and can’t wait to visit again.
My boyfriend and two of our friends, another couple, decided to check out Gennaro’s a few months ago. Let’s just say we will not, and have not been back. Nothing catastrophic happened but, we all strongly felt that that meal was a huge waste of our time and money.
We all eat out regularly at a lot of restaurants in San Luis and Paso so we have a good idea of what good local food is. The problems we had were: lack of beer and wine list, there was only one choice of beer available, and they boys thought it was mediocre and over priced. The wine was largely only available by the bottle. With only two of us having wine, a bottle seemed a bit much. The only glasses available were a house wine. When we asked the waitress to elaborate she had no idea the vintage, year, etc… Burnt gnocci, we were so starving by the time this first dish got to us that we had to scarf it down. Our next dish my boyfriend and I were sharing was a linguine dish that I no longer see on the menu. It had cream sauce and peas. This dish we HAD to send back. I am very familiar with al dente pasta and it’s texture. This was dried pasta thrown in a pot for a few minutes and served on a plate. It was hard to chew and swallow. Our second plate wasn’t much better. I would think that an Italian eatery would serve fresh pasta at $15 to $18 a plate but, I guess that’s asking too much? Our friends ordered the pork braciolettine. They ate it but said they wouldn’t come back to order it and was not worth the $15 they paid. Service was odd. Our waitress was straight out of Peggy’s dinner in Route 66, I was expecting someone more familiar with fine dining… All of our food came at random times, leaving 2 or 3 of us waiting on everyone else’s food. No one likes to sit there hungry while your friends are scarfing down. Major fail on the kitchen’s part. At the end of this venture we all felt exhausted and robbed.
Thanks for your comment Colleen. I am so sorry you had a bad experience there. I have been several times now and it has been great!