Extensive Paso Robles knowledge available to you on request

Americas - USA West California - elsewhere
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The meat was definitely well done all the way through but not the shoe-leather tough you get when it’s completely pounded. I personally prefer mid rare to rare but all the store bought tri-tip I’ve had was medium well/well done (eg, at this place, Harris Ranch Express BBQ, Old San Luis BBQ Company).

I honestly don’t know if this is some kind of choice or tradition but the fact that it’s served next to mid-rare cuts alongside at some places made me think it’s on purpose. Regardless, I would say it’s not juicy but neither is it chalky or chewy. That may not be a ringing endorsement but I’d certainly try it again (if not necessarily go out of my way for it).

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Thanks for all the great responses. Everything was super helpful.

Santa Maria
In general, the Santa Maria BBQ hunt was a bust. Some said time of year, but the cruise down Broadway yielded very little except the Filipino Community Truck. Even Spencer’s and Old Town Market just had tri-tip on the menu.

Pismo/Grover Beach
One meal at The Oyster Loft. Okay food. Oysters were very good, but the selection was fewer than advertised and one must order by the half dozen of a single variety. Loved sitting by the aquarium.

Central Coast Meat Market with Texas-style BBQ was excellent (thanks Melanie Wong). We had everything but the pulled pork. Having had Franklin BBQ, Loro, Salt Lick and Cooper’s in Austin the week before, Central Coast is good 'cue for sure. Worth a stop.

Grover Beach Sourdough and Red Bee Coffee also worth a stop.

Paso
Had an agreeable, but not groundbreaking meal at Hatch with terrific service. The new Les Petites Canailles (owned by the son of the L’Aventure owner) is promising having opened November 1. Service needs a little work.

Herman Story wasn’t our jam, but if you like Herman Story, you’ll really like Law Estate Wines. Beautiful property, forward and extracted juice. We had a great visit to Steve Hawley’s Torrin which also pours Lagom (Chard and Pinot Noir label). Earthier, more terroir and balance. Delicious.

SLO
Surprise find: Farmhouse Corner Market. Didn’t try the restaurant, but the market was exceptional. Former chef at Justin Winery, Will Torres and his wife, Kari. Wonderfully curated with a concise cheese selection (Meadow Creek and Valley Forge are what I bought and they’re beautifully kept), Whalebird Kombucha, Copper Cow Coffee, Noble Maple products all reasonably priced compared to other retailers. Terrific beer and wine selection and their own handcrafted ice creams.

Kin Coffee was pretty good and heard great things about Scout Coffee from a caffeine head I trust.

Los Alamos
Had a nice Happy Hour meal at Bell’s in Los Alamos where everything was exceptional except the French Dip. Maybe my new favorite egg salad sandwich and (can’t believe I’m saying this) a perfect, perfect salad. Best canelé in recent memory at Bob’s Well Bread. Lovely tasting at A Tribute to Grace. Just want to spend a couple of days here without driving.

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Was that it for winery visits? We do a dozen per weekend lol

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In the area for other reasons. Not a holiday. Maybe if we had gone to Tin City. Only one day to taste and driving south the same day, so spitters by necessity. Most Paso juice not our jam, so more was not necessarily better.

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Fruity, bright and zesty GSM

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So good. 4 years of rest

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Robert, It’s academic right now but Nemroz’s latest post to this topic brought me back to it and I have a site mechanics question:

This topic started as a Paso Robles wine topic then a poster brought in food. No real issue so far. Then it went back to its original intent and classification WINE. This being a food board it then became restaurant focused again so you moved it.

I really appreciate this board, and I’m not complaining, but is there a viable way you could have split the topic? Leaving the original topic posts in a wine sub-topic would have honored the OP’s intent and been more useful to me and others who wanted to continue that discussion. Splitting off the restaurant posts would have acknowledged the topic drift for those who had that focus.

There are often posts here that drift back and forth. I’m just wondering if splitting is a viable option or too much work. Certainly it is if there are a large number of posts when you or mods come across them. Please understand that I probably wouldn’t have asked if we hadn’t been staying home for the past two months with too much time on my hands.

Thanks for all you do.

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This topic headed in a restaurants / food direction immediately.

You could start a topic in the wine category explicitly about Paso Robles wines as opposed to wine tourism.

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So it doesn’t matter what the OP intended it to be and where it was intentionally placed? It just goes where it goes despite the OP’s in-topic protest? I’d think a topic split would be preferable, if it’s technically possible.

Again, I know I wouldn’t pursue this in different times. Just my 2¢ anyway.

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It’s technically possible, but I don’t see a subset of topics that would add up to something that would make much sense in the wine category. If you start off talking about visiting tasting rooms, that’s regional, and people are always going to spend a lot of time discussing restaurants.

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I’m getting the issue, but it brings up a question: If Nemroz had specified wine and/or wine tasting in the topic title it might not have changed the course of posting but … would it have been a valid topic title for this board?

I know this is a food board but (at the risk of going full Francophile) food and wine are kindof inseparable for a whole lot of people. My favorite wine board has separate fora for cooking, restaurants, and (unfortunately) politics.

I suppose it is obvious that I felt the Paso topic could have been a good discussion of wineries and wine there … but it was ‘hijacked’.

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Paso Robles wines are available all over, so that’s a non-regional discussion.

Discussion of tasting rooms is a regional topic.

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This is reminding me of a VERY old joke that ends with “you can’t get there from here”.

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Can’t believe we’ve given up all of our remaining Paso clubs and the only one left is Stolo in Cambria

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There was an article the other day in LA Weekly or another local publication that said Central Coast wineries think they will have a good summer/fall. Lots of people from LA who would normally have traveled internationally to Europe, Asia, Mexico, etc… are not going to get on flights and will be looking for local destinations. Santa Barbara, Paso, Los Alamos, will benefit from people’s reluctance to go abroad. We’re thinking about places to go for summer vacation (hopefully we’re able to go on vacation) and Paso is at the top of our list.

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Yep. I know we already have 2 bookings up there. We were supposed to leave for europe’s wine country today in fact… f corona

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Oh man that’s terrible. Hopefully you can go to Europe next year or 2022.

Where you staying? We are looking at Santa Barbara, Paso and Buellton. Looking for good deals in July and August.

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We are booked in Paso and Cambria. Definitely next year. We are half hoping for a November trip still

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Haven’t made it to Cambria - we generally don’t go that far north but that area looks lovely. I think we are going to do Paso, SB or Ojai for July 4th

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Cambria is a big reason for us to go to Paso. It’s about a half hour directly west to the ocean. Some of the prettiest drives are between the 2. I’d recommend it :slight_smile:

we just extended Paso for july 4th weekend for another day… if you end up there, holler… easy to drink some bottles on winery lawns

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Most hotels in Santa Barbara and Paso are closed except for first responders. There are a handful of places open. List of tasting rooms that are open right now.

They have the same rules as down here - you need to buy food in order to do a tasting. We would stick to restaurants that have outdoor patios. We were planning a trip up the 2nd to last week in June but it doesn’t seem likely unless things open up more in the next 2 weeks.