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.

The Neon Carrot San Luis Obispo

An off the beaten path gem in SLO

Last week I was taken to lunch by a friend who said “Let’s go to The Neon Carrot.” “The what?” I had never heard of the place until now but will be going back often.  Located on South Higuera just past Prado Road and across from what I call “Tire Center Row” where all the tire stores are, The Neon Carrot offers up a delicious menu and I promise you won’t know which thing to pick as it all sounds so good.

The Digs:
The Neon Carrot
3536 S Higuera St # 206
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

The Scoop:
The Neon Carrot San Luis Obispo offers up a tasty variety of sandwiches, salads, soups and their own baked goods but what makes this place shine is they use as much local organically grown produce as they can in their food.  On top of that their menu changes frequently so you’ll want to keep coming back. They also do catering as they are formerly Maegen Loring Catering and based on the food I had at lunch I can bet the catering options are equally delicious.

What Rocks:
The food and the people. When you walk in it’s not overly fancy but you walk to the back counter to order and you can see everyone working in the back, catering style, to make the food. Everyone was very friendly, service was good, and it was fun to watch them all running around. I had the Grilled Romaine Salad and my friend had the veggie burger and both were great. My salad came with a crème fraiche blue cheese dressing that was fantastic! You really won’t know what order as it all sounds so good. I have also heard on Fridays they do Happy Hour (great unique beer selection!) and each week they mix it up and do something new and fun to eat.

What Sucks:
Paper plates. For food this good the fact that it comes on paper plates is a bit weird. I get why they are doing it but seems like they could present it a bit better. The atmosphere there can get a little cramped at lunch time as the word has gotten out about them. While it wasn’t bad at all when I was there, it was getting very busy when we left and I heard it can be noisy, but what SLO restaurant isn’t at lunch time? This is nit-picky but it wasn’t clear where to get my ice tea when I ordered as there is a place to get your own water and coffee but they didn’t say they would be bringing the drink to me so I was confused.  (Overall not a big deal) Also their web site needs some serious love as it doesn’t accurately reflect how great everything is. (Again, not a big deal)

The Moolah:
Prices are what you would expect for this kind of restaurant in SLO. Sandwiches are $7-9. Salads are $4-9. They are open Monday through Friday from 8am to 3-pm.

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

Big Sky Cafe

An icon restaurant in SLO with a fabulous menu but some things are VERY expensive

Big Sky Cafe is well, awesome. Breakfast, lunch, or dinner is sure to find you trying to decide on which “Fresh Market Cuisine” you want to dive into. It’s a healthy/savory menu with something that should please just about anyone, but I think some of its success has gone to its head with some of the prices of the menu items.

The Digs:
Big Sky Cafe
1121Broad Street
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401

The Scoop:
Big Sky is located on Broad Street in downtown SLO. It’s neighbors have all changed out in the past years and there are three new establishments coming in around them but Big Sky has been serving it up well for since the mid 1990s.  It has been reviewed by some famous food lovers from Rachel Ray to Sunset Magazine and even The Wall Street Journal. It really is a “must eat” stop for folks who are new to San Luis Obispo.

What Rocks:
So much. The outdoor patio, the open feeling of the interior, the dishware (I know, it sounds strange), and let’s not forget the food! Their daily specials will not disappoint and if you get there for breakfast, try the Roasted Mushroom Benedict. I was there this time for lunch. My friend got their daily special which was a pasta dish with some spicy sausage and I had the grilled soft tacos with sirloin. His dish was better than mine as the spicy sausage made the meal. It was fantastic.

What Sucks:

Would you pay $13 for this?

The food is amazing, hands down, but some of the items are just too expensive. My soft tacos were $12.95 for two corn tortillas stuffed with meat and lettuce. Really? $13 for that? In my mind that was overpriced even for Big Sky by about $4.  In a time where people are being more cautious with money I would say several items need their prices reduced by about 20-30%.  Even my friend’s dish, that was 3 times as much food, was under $10.  Also, both of us noticed that bottoms of our plates had huge chips in them. Sorta tacky for such upscale pricing.

The Moolah:
For breakfast, most of the mainstream entrées  are around $9-11. Lunch is around $9-$17.