We recently dined at TASTE! Craft Eatery with a large group of 45 people, and I cannot say enough…read moreabout how accommodating and welcoming the team was--especially since our reservation was made the same day. As college staff taking students on a Central Coast campus tour during spring break, we needed a place for lunch on short notice. When I called, the staff was incredibly helpful and connected me with Caitlin via email. Not only did she respond quickly, but she was also kind, flexible, and truly accommodating throughout the process. From the moment we arrived, everything was handled seamlessly. Organizing a group of our size is no small task, but the team managed it with professionalism, patience, and genuine care. The seating was thoughtfully arranged, service was efficient, and every member of our group felt welcomed and taken care of. The food came out in a timely manner, was well-prepared, and absolutely amazing! It was so nice to see everyone enjoying their meals, and it really added to the overall positive experience. Even when we decided to order dessert at the last minute, the staff remained gracious and accommodating. We are incredibly grateful for the effort and flexibility shown to us. I would highly recommend this restaurant to anyone--especially those planning group events. Thank you for making our visit such a success!

I've been here a couple times now and truly the name is how the place is. You really only get a…read moreTASTE of how the different menu items will taste like but I personally am still hungry after I leave. I would recommend someone with a slightly over average to larger stomach to get a quad instead of a trio and that may satiate you, otherwise if not, this is not the place for you. For people that enjoy eating smaller meals or are indecisive about what to get, I would highly recommend this place! Other than that, though, the place is very clean with a cute slightly rustic modern aesthetic going on and the food is all really good! I got a truffle burger, Mac and cheese with chorizo, and Brussel sprouts with bleu cheese and mushrooms! The menu is a little on the pricier side for what you're getting but always worth a taste and try!

There's something about winning a Novo dinner package at th Lumina Alliance Gala auction that feels…read moreless like luck... and more like destiny making very good decisions on your behalf. Novo Restaurant & Lounge donated to the Lumina gala, and I was the happy bidder who took it home -- which means a beautiful evening is officially on my calendar. Novo has always had that effortless allure... tucked along the creek, glowing just enough, with the kind of atmosphere that makes you linger a little longer than planned. Supporting women and families in need and setting someone up for a memorable night out? That's how you do it. I'll be enjoying every bite with a little extra appreciation... and probably a touch of smug satisfaction. Scarlett Cougar (AKA Sher McG)

Novo is such a cute spot. I was definitely a little confused coming in because the front desk is…read moreall the way in the back patio, past the kitchen hall. Once you get to the patio, the dining space is so cute! There's so much greenery and what seems like a small stream of water. Our waitress was really friendly. I had a hard time deciding on which craft cocktail to order, so she recommended the apricot drop. (It's on the list of my all time favorites!) My favorite part of the meal was the ahi nachos. The food was really tasty, but I think a little too rich for my palette. I thoroughly enjoyed the experience tho!

If your looking for a Detroit style pizza with great tasting toppings this is the place to go to…read more We ordered the Meat Kingdom (highly recommend) and it was flavorful. Sauce is great and meats were delicious. Enough for 4 people. PS - Order a beer or two you will feel good. Especially if they have live karaoke going on. Good times.

Great food and great service. My go-to for pizza everytime I'm in town. If you get a chance to…read moremeet Benny, he's a great guy.

My myself and some friends stopped by here for a drink before dinner as we were staying next door…read moreat one of the hotels. It's a couple minutes drive from downtown but still close enough. Driving is a few minutes and walking is probably a good half hour or so depending on how fast you walk. It's located on the other end of downtown but still on the Main Street. The property itself was massive. We checked it out for a drink which they had a really nice patio. Hi top seating as well as tables. Also some of the seating had fire pits for the nice chilly night. Inside was pretty massive as well with main and up stairs seating. I believe it's also a full restaurant but we only utilized it for drinks before dinner. Menu wish did looked good but we only stick to a cocktail and some beer. Service was great and the staffs were friendly. It's was still a little early so the place wasn't that busy. Just from the cocktails, it was great. The property was nice and pretty massive. Location is quieter but still brought in a good amount of foot traffic. Now that we've been here, we know there's a place we can stop by for a meal and drink whenever we stay down in the area again.

2 hours! That's the wait another location gave us. My wife wanted to stay, but not the rest of us…read more Or at least, I didn't, and that's all that mattered. After finding 4 other options, all the others cared about was: which one is closest and which has the highest stars? Ultimately I picked the one that had the most variety. My brother-in-laws kids are very picky. Like, pizza and chicken nuggets are all they really eat. And my in-laws are picky in the other direction. They like nices restaurants and my father-in-law likes to critique other people's cooking, especially BBQ. Anyways, as we are walking up, you can tell very quickly that this is a fairly fancy restaurant. In fact, if it was warmer outside, we would have opted to sit beside the fire. It kind of made me wish we had come here at lunch to take advantage of the beautiful view. If I have the opportunity to come again, I'll definitely try to plan it around lunch. I think my wife was expecting the worse initially because she stood at the front waiting to be helped. Meanwhile, I took my son to the restroom and came back while she continued to wait. Not a minute later, we get greeted and we put in our group. I think she took that personally. We were kind of a large group. 11 in total. Still, the wait was less than 5 minutes. Soon we were ordering drinks and appetizers. The elote corn, guacamole and chips caught my eye. The elote mostly. It was a disappointment though. It was basically cheesy cream of corn. The brussel sprouts on the other hand, were great! My daughter felt they could use a little salt. I would probably add pine nuts, but thats about it. What surprised my wife was the SLO burn mixed drink. Appropriately named because it was spicy, made with habanero infused tequila. It was spicier than the jalapeño inspired drink my father-in-law had during lunch. For our main meal, my wife and I had our eyes on the same thing. I just knew she was going to want the prime rib dip since French dips are one of her faves. As a compromise, we decided to split it and the short rib grilled cheese sandwich. To my surprise, the grilled cheese, which was more hot sandwich than grilled cheese, was better. When dipped in the tomato soup, it was even better. The prime rib dip was good, but the grilled cheese was great. What's funny is that 3 people in the group ordered the Korean beef salad. I snatched a taste from my daughter. I thought it was really good. I'm just a sucker for Korean food in general, and the dressing had a nice citrusy taste to it. Probably the nice twist we didn't expect was the live singer. The women in the group were familiar with most of her songs, and they can appreciate a good singer since singing runs in the family. All in all, this was a great spot that I hope to try again in the future

Best grilled artichoke I've ever had! I keep her returning here so that I can have the grilled…read moreartichoke with some bread and a nice glass of Sauvignon Blanc. The only thing holding me back lately is the parking, but there were free parking days in the pre-and post Christmas season. We took advantage of a free Sunday, parked right outside and sauntered to enjoy a good lunch! Of course I ordered the artichoke! It's artichoke heaven! I've eaten artichokes all up and down the California coast, and once had only a bushel of artichokes as snacks on a summer vacation! I am an artichoke fiend and love them in all their tantalizing incarnations! What's so good about this one? The savory puddle of butter mixed with parmesan cheese that blesses the top and bestows flavor combined with the tang of the grill! You can add a spritz of lemon and experience artichoke nirvana! I sat welcoming the New Year, enjoying every savory succulent bite of that great big grilled thistle known as the artichoke!

The husband and I headed out for date night (which was long over due) and went to Piadina (our…read morefirst time). We started with their take on chips and salsa, House Chips (whole fried mini tortillas) and the Grilled Artichoke - and let me tell you, it was fantastic! For dinner I had the Top Sirloin (perfectly cooked) and Chopped Salad and the husband had the Ahi Tuna Sashimi. After dinner we enjoyed their popular Lemon Cheesecake. HIGHLY recommend ordering this dessert. As for our cocktails, my husband ordered the Mendoza Marg and very much enjoyed it. I first requested a glass of Moscato (which they don't have), so then I requested a cocktail with Malibu and to my surprise they don't carry Malibu. I asked if they can make a fruity cocktail with a rum close to Malibu, which they did, however it was not the flavor profile I was looking for (pretty bland). Our service (once seated at our table) did not start out that great. The server seemed a bit annoyed with my cocktail questions and requests and he also seemed as though he had better places to be than our table...until he found out (via night manager) who my husband was in relation to Hotel SLO. It shouldn't take name/position dropping to have your server treat you well, every customer should feel VIP. Our next venture will be trying their breakfast.

I had my elopement dinner here with 13 people, and the entire experience was incredible. I even had…read moreto add a few guests at the last minute, and they were so easygoing and accommodating about everything. Making the reservation was simple, the food was amazing, and everything came out right on time. The service truly stood out. We also did a cake gender reveal, and the staff went above and beyond to help make it special. They stored the cake for us while we ate, brought it out at the perfect moment for us to cut it, then took it back and served individual slices to each guest. They even packed up the remaining cake into to-go boxes for everyone. They truly made my wedding dinner and gender reveal feel special, seamless, and stress-free. I would absolutely recommend dining here or hosting any small event. It was the best choice we could have made. 10/10!

The service was Excellent. Could not have asked for better quality service…read more This is the first time we went for ( so called early meal) We both had the regular egg Benedict. Really was not impressed with the food at all. Sauce tasted tangy, hardly any Canadian bacon, too much bread and most potatoes were burnt. We will give it another try as the dinners use to be awesome. I do hope it was just an off day.

Do yourself a favor and visit Nate's on Marsh!!…read more We had the wild arugula salad, calamari, lunch burger, and lemon madalde. Everything was cooked to perfection! You can tell the ingredients were fresh and high quality. The surprising standout for me was the arugula salad. The fresh, quality ingredients really got to shine through. The ambiance is adorable. It's cozy and feels like you're dining inside someone's home. The weather was beautiful out so we opted to dine on the patio. My bf and I were visiting for our anniversary and our server Rick went above and beyond to make it extra special. He was very attentive and personable. We will be back next time we're in SLO!

Came to Nate's on Easter Sunday which offered only a pre-fixe menu. While the menu did feature many…read moreof Nate's star dishes, it was also a lot for brunch and I honestly could have forgone dessert which was the least memorable part of the meal in my opinion. For starters, we tried both the crab bisque and the arugula salad. The salad was dressed well and fluffed nicely. The shaved fennel added a nice crunch to the salad and the beets added that nice earthy sweetness. It was a little odd the beets were just two thick slices on the bottom though...not exactly conducive to eating as a salad. As for the crab bisque, it featured a generous amount of crab meat making the soup sweet yet seafood forward. For mains, we tried the breakfast pasta and the lemon mafaldine. The mafaldine honestly blew me away. The lemon was bright with pops of freshness from the mint and the sauce was creamy but not too thick! The breakfast pasta tasted like an upgraded carbonara. The meatiness of the bacon lardon was probably my favorite part of the dish. For dessert, we went with one of each. The strawberry sorbet fit the weather better but the chocolate torte did have that fudgy richness that you just want for the weekend. But, as previously stated, if the pre-fixe menu wasn't required, we probably also could have gone without it. Servicewise, Nate's was impressive. Fountain drinks refills were swapped seamlessly, dishes were described impeccably, and I also loved the little postcard they wrote for our anniversary. Details matter, and Nate's nailed it here.

Pleasantly surprised at this local gastro-pub. Don't usually bother with Los Osos but have run out…read moreof places to frequent in Cayucos so we thought that we'd give it a try. Good selection of beers, wine and a cider. The wife had a Guinness which she liked, which was a pleasant surprise after having lived in Dublin for five years she's picky about it. Nice, varied menu. Food was out really quick and was nicely presented. Service was way above normal pub standards. Two different TVs were on showing obligatory sports but what was was really impressive was the turntable playing LPs, something that I would expect in hipster Portland but not the central coast.

A great early dinner last Thursday night. Consistently friendly service when we ordered at the…read morecounter. Tried a sample (and then ordered) the Shrine herb IPA, which was herbal for sure but not too hoppy ($9). Very good with the apricot and Brie grilled cheese! Yum, that was crazy. Very generous portion of Brie (and cheddar?). $17. Love their house vinaigrette on a generous portion of green salad as a side. The Oklahoma smash burger is a little light on the beef but very well prepared. Quality bun. Not quite enough to fill up my friend who ordered it; he asked how much a second patty would be: $5. On top of the $18 (with yummy fries), that might be a little pricey. But for the lighter appetite, or combined with a starter, this could be great. They had four beers as a special on this Thursday for $6. We sat inside by the door to the patio so stayed comfortably warm but could also enjoy the view of the pretty gardens. I love their signage about keeping your children "with you" (not running wild through the garden). Family friendly while keeping it adult-chill.

I had completely forgotten about this place, and I'm so glad I found my way back. This is easily…read moreone of the best Mediterranean spots in SLO. If you're craving great kabobs, a classic fresh salad, or creamy hummus, this is the place to go. There are plenty of paid parking spots nearby, which makes it convenient. You might have a short wait, but it's absolutely worth it. Delicious food and totally hits the spot every time.

This pains me, but I must report that their gluten-free pizza is close, but it is NOT CELIAC SAFE…read more It used to be, so it was an awful surprise last week when I developed the tell-tale signs of being "glutened" & couldn't eat solid food at all for a three days, and then only rice for three more. I'm 80% okay now, 9 days later. That's a steep price for 2 slices of a small pizza. My family & I love this place so it's a loss. Just a word to my fellow Celiacs, I don't trust their kitchen. Whatta bummer because that artichoke pizza of theirs was my all-time favorite pizza. Petra, please inform your staff that takes orders and add it to your menus. It means the world to us when restaurants are honest about their gf options & cross-contamination.

Wow is a good start rating this place. I've walked by it numerous of time and only checked the menu…read moreonce a while back. It's one of those things where you don't know what you want but every menu all looks the same. We finally tried it out for dinner after a weekend in the wine country. The restaurant is right in the heart of downtown SLO next to the park and riverwalk. We had an early reservation at 6 on a Saturday and let me say the place was packed. The outside patio was completely full which was nice to see. Checking in was easy with the hostess. All was sweet and made it fast and simply and we were seated right away without having to wait for the whole party to arrive. Menu wise, a bit of everything but they specialized in paella's. And that was had. Our waitress Kaitlin was the sweetest. Right from the start, she was a major doll. Made sure we were taken care of throughout the whole dining experience. Started off with a bottle of red for the table. A good selections from their menu. Then a few small shared plates for the table. An order of the bacon wrapped dates, Brussels sprouts, Peruvian shrimp ceviche and the gambas al ajillo. First off the dates, very tasty with salty and sweet. A good bite size with about 6 piece. Then the ceviche, nice chunks of shrimp with all the trimming. Cucumber, red onions, tomatoes , avocado, cilantro and chips. Then you have the sprouts which is pretty self explanatory. Roasted to a nice crisp with golden raisins and almonds. Pretty decent and delicious. Lastly the gambas, sautéed shrimp in paprika garlic and white wine sauce with a Parmesan slice of sourdough bread. Everything was delicious and a good start to an amazing meal. I do recommend the starters. For our entree, even though we started off with loads of the shared plates. The mains all looked amazing. Clearly we had to have the paella which they're known for. There were couple options in them but we opted for the mix which was a combination of the seafood and meat paella. Let me say it was massive and clearly more than enough for four of us. The nice big chunks of seafood and meat which they did not skimp on. The flavors and the whole combination of everything together, chefs kiss. It was pretty massive as well. Of course we couldn't just stop there, we also had the lamb chops with frites. Cooked perfectly and very tasty. The hanger steak with chimichurri sauce accompanied by roasted potatoes and sautéed broccolini. That dish was excellent and steak was cooked perfectly. Lastly, I believe it was one of their specials the sea bass. A nice thick and flaky piece of fish on top of a red sauce of tomatoes, olives. The flavor was excellent and worth it. The food was excellent and it was a surprise when there were leftovers. We may have over done it with the extra entrees after seeing the massive platter of paella. But every dish was excellent and worth it. The service was great with everyone involved. Friendly staff and excellent customer service. The food and wine were great. The whole dining experience was top notch and greatly enjoyed. We will definitely be back. At least we know about the paella now...lol... A must and highly recommend. Too full to even looked at the dessert menu.

We were in San Luis Obispo and were walking around downtown to find the most enticing restaurant to…read moredine at. After checking out around half a dozen options, we decided on Luna red as the ambiance looked amazing and the menu had options for all the picky eaters in our group. We got seated outdoors and they had sufficient number of patio umbrellas to shelter us from the afternoon sun. The outdoors was really beautiful, they had plenty of greenery and it was like a tropical paradise. We got a lot of appetizers to share, they have options to order 4, 6 or 10 tacos. We got 10 start off with. I personally got a paella as it has been forever since I had it. *brussel sprouts- 4.5/5- one of the better versions of brussel sprouts I have had in a while, they were beautifully roasted, they retained their character but at the same time were delicious instead of tasting too healthy. *fingerling potatoes-4.5/5- potatoes tend to be tasty any which way they are cooked. The standout in this version was the finger licking sauce it was doused in. *paella- 4.5/5- I got the chicken paella. It came with a soft jammy egg. The dish had 75% protein and about 25% rice. The rice at the bottom was nicely crisped up. The chicken was in large chunks but surprisingly non funky and wonderfully flavored. I stole some of the sauce from the tacos to amp up this dish further. 4.5 for the food, rounding up for the good vibes and great ambiance!