Edna Valley Market San Luis Obispo

Some of the best food in SLO from a gas station?

I have to admit until about 5 months ago I did not know about the Edna Valley Market in San Luis Obispo. I had heard of it but had never been and had no idea it was located inside the Shell gas station. Located at Tank Farm and Broad you will recognize the car wash with the grass growing on the roof. It’s diagonally right across from the Marigold Center in SLO. This place is has a hidden surprise as not only is it a gas station, car wash, and mini mart inside it also has some of the best food for lunch in San Luis Obispo and I am not kidding.

The Digs:
Edna Valley Market
4021 Broad Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

The Scoop:
Edna Valley Market serves everything from salad to sandwiches to mexican food and they even have a great breakfast menu. What I love best about this place is they are always changing it up. If you subscribe to their email list you will get a weekly update of their specials for the week and it can be anything from a Chile Verde Breakfast Burrito or Cinnamon Roll French Toast for breakfast to an Asian Chicken Wrap or Albondigas soup or Coconut Shrimp for lunch. Wow! At a gas station?

What Rocks:
I don’t know where to start but to say every single thing I have had here has been fantastic. I am especially fond of the Cobb Salad as it huge and always so fresh. I have also had the sandwiches as well as a burger and fries and its all done very well. This is a place I can safely say you can order anything on the menu and you will not be disappointed. They do a great job and the staff is pretty friendly and there is a great outdoor patio area in the back to eat. You will be shocked how busy it gets as the word is out how good it is.

What Sucks:
Well, it’s in a gas station but other than that nothing. The prices are reasonable and there is a great selection. It does get a bit windy out on the patio sometimes but I really have no complaints here.  Would be very cool if they had a couple beers on tap and you could hang out after work with a pitcher and food.

The Moolah:
Salads are $5.75-7.75. Sandwiches and burgers are $6.50-7.50.

The Rib Line San Luis Obispo

Burgers, chicken and ribs – oh my!

I can remember The Rib Line when I was growing up in San Luis Obispo and it’s as good today as it was back then. Located off the beaten path on Los Osos Valley Road, The Rib Line serves up (and delivers) some of the best ribs you will have in San Luis Obispo.

The Digs:
The Rib Line
12308 Los Osos Valley Road
San Luis Obispo, CA 93405

The Scoop:
The Rib Line is known for its ribs but their menu has everything from salads to burgers to chicken and yes of course, beef and pork ribs. This is a place for a meat lover.  While it is more suited for delivery or takeout, The Rib Line is in the small strip mall off Los Osos Valley Road just before Sunset Honda off the 101. It’s very small and does offer a few tables to eat there but don’t expect anything fancy as it all about the food.

What Rocks:
This place is all about ribs. If you love ribs, you will love The Rib Line. I wanted to try something different so I went for the SLO Town burger. It was very good. The fries aren’t really fries they are more like potato wedges but you will be surprised how good they are.  For the family you can get one of their selections of Family Meals which include ribs, chicken, or tri-tip and it includes coleslaw, beans, baked potatoes, and cornbread. Yum.

What Sucks:
The location begs for something more. It’s in a small spot and there really isn’t much seating and Los Osos Valley Road gets so windy you really don’t want to sit outside either. I can’t help to think if this place was in a more central location it would do fabulous as a retail restaurant but if the focus is to stick with delivery its fine where it is.  While we had fun going there the next time I would get it to go or have it delivered.  One could say it’s a bit pricey too but for all that meat you can’t complain and its oh-so-good.  One thing that was very surprising when we were there is the time it took to get our food. When we arrived the staff was all standing up front talking as they were obviously slow but even after we ordered it took more than 20 minutes to get our food and we had to ask to get drink refills.

The Moolah:
Most of the sandwiches and burgers run between $6-10. Ribs are $10-23 depending on what you get. Family packs start around $37. They also have great lunch specials that include a side and a drink starting at $7.

Meze Wine Café & Market

Beautiful Atmosphere but don’t go Hungry

Meze Wine Café & Market is a new place by the train station in the Railroad Square building. It’s a wine bar, café, and market, and the décor is beautiful and the layout is very open but if you are looking for the “SLO atmosphere” you will be disappointed.

The Digs:
Meze Wine Café & Market
1880 Santa Barbara Avenue, Suite 130
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

The Scoop:
Meze would be a great place to stop in to have a glass of wine, but don’t expect much local wine as they focus on wines from other countries instead of our wonderful SLO offerings.  The bar is very nice how they built it around the open kitchen so you actually see the chefs running around making your food. They have no real stove so they use hot plates to warm dishes and make their creations.  This place is more of a see and be seen environment and it really has no SLO feel to it at all. Although the staff was very friendly I found the whole thing a bit snobby.

What Rocks:
The presentation. Every dish I saw looked good, you just had portions the size you would give your children and for the price your first reaction was “wow, really?” The seating in the place was also good; love the big open window and the open environment. The market is well laid out but it’s not really some place you would specifically go to buy things unless you were already there.

What Sucks:
I really wanted to like this place. The people were very friendly. The food looked good, but the portions were literally a joke. I ordered a Mediterranean Pita salad and when it came I thought it was some kind of appetizer. I literally looked at my friend and we both laughed. Plus it was VERY oily…I mean so oily I couldn’t finish the dish. And this was a salad.  For the price I was expecting something a little more substantial and if I wanted to walk away feeling like I had a good meal I probably would have needed to order 3-4 of this dish as it was so small but at almost $7 a pop, no thank you. I got my dish after about 10 minutes of ordering. My friend got theirs almost 15 minutes later and I was done. Bad.

The Moolah:
It’s pricey but in all honesty, I think they want it that way. Prices for lunch start around $6-7 and go up from there.

Bridgeview Asian Grill