The Central Coast Restaurants
We’ve compiled the best of the best in The Central Coast - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in The Central Coast - browse our top choices for Restaurants during your stay.
The owners of Toscana, a popular eatery in L.A.'s Brentwood neighborhood, run this rustic-chic restaurant with an Italy-meets-California-Wine-Country vibe. Chef and co-owner Luca Crestanelli, a native of Verona, Italy, typically offers multiple seasonal daily specials.
Authentic flavors of coastal Mexico and fresh local ingredients make for packed indoor and outdoor tables at this eatery a block from the train station. For breakfast, fill up on huevos rancheros or chilaquiles; for lunch or dinner feast on seafood ceviches, grilled chicken breast with authentic mole poblano, or Mexican shrimp in a creamy mezcal sauce.
Stop at this casual café–market in the Upper Monterey neighborhood for a sit-down or takeaway meal all day. In addition to full meals, you can order specialty sandwiches, farm-fresh salads, and baked goods, or hang out and taste wine or beer at the casual tasting bar.
A bakery, shop, and café by day, this lively locals hub, run by longtime friends, morphs into a Burmese-Californian restaurant and bar by night. Menu items range from croissants, flatbreads, sandwiches, and salads to tandoori chicken or seafood dishes, and most ingredients used to make them come from eco-minded purveyors within 50 miles (some from a co-owner’s family farm).
A wood-fire rotisserie in an open kitchen, simple but tasty comfort foods, and a lively bar scene attract locals and visitors alike to this cozy, casual space in an historic brick building a block north of the main square. Although reservations are recommended, bar seating with access to full dinner menu is available for walk-ins.
A silver spoon display at the entrance reflects this casual eatery's mission to "spoon food and trade stories" with diners who indulge in traditional American comfort food that's given a modern twist. Perennial menu faves include tri-tip tartare, grilled artichoke, duck ramen, and fried chicken with sourdough waffles; save room for a root beer float or brown sugar pot de crème for dessert. During the day, pick up fresh goodies at Grover Beach Sourdough, the restaurant's bakery across the street.
Authentic Italian fare, an open kitchen, and festive, family-style seating make this trattoria equally popular with celebrities from Hollywood and ranchers from the Santa Ynez Valley. The noise level tends to rise in the evening, so this isn't the best spot for a romantic getaway.
Perched on a bluff at the northern edge of Pismo Beach, Ventana Grill offers ocean views from nearly every table, unusual seafood-centered Latin American–California fusion dishes, and more than 50 tequilas plus craft cocktails at the bar. Reservations are essential—this place is almost always packed, especially during the weekday happy hour.
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