Extensive Paso Robles knowledge available to you on request

Americas - USA West California - elsewhere
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I don’t want to sound argumentative but also want to give a true picture for anyone reading.

  1. I didn’t say “bang for your buck”, I said “bang for your TIME”. And BTW, I just checked, and Aaron’s current offerings top out at $48.

  2. While a tasting room on vineyard property is certainly a more complete experience, the wineries at Tin City aren’t all just tasting rooms. They actually MAKE wine at some of them. We could go on forever about ‘virtual’ wineries. Half of California’s wineries don’t own any vineyards, yet lots of them make great wine.

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Yes i agree with all of your points. We’ve been in tasting room areas like los olivos and wine ghetto and tin city a LOT. it’s a great way to taste a lot of stuff… just missing the aesthetic of beautiful places …

Thatcher for example. The old ranch of Lucky Baldwin with animals etc.

That’s good news about aaron. we bought our bottles in 2014 when tin city had 3 wineries. before Benson moved in

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Herman Story was great. Excellent wine and the people place have a lot of character. Fun times. I can see why this place is popular

The other wines we really enjoyed was at Aaron. Very good pinot and a very nice dry old world style Riesling. Tin city is a cool spot. The ice cream next door was really good. Good creamy texture. Traditional flavors but you could taste all the ingredients.

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Nice. Herman story isn’t very popular but it is amazing. Glad you hit up Aaron also. Miss that stuff. last 2 times in paso we didn’t go to tincity at all… that reminds me… we rented this Geo Dome last time… so dope

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Bump.
Heading to the area next week. Chiefly interested in good restaurants between Santa Mara and SLO. One restaurant in Paso maybe.

Might visit a winery or tasting room for wines not widely distributed. Rick, the somm at Auburn, gave me:

  • Law
  • Adelaida
  • Paix Sur Terre
  • Tablas Creek
  • Epoch
  • Linne Calodo
  • Booker
  • Torrin

We’re mostly into old world wines, but always like to drink in the terroir we’re in.

Any reccs appreciated.

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Nothing fancy but I visited Rancho Nipomo BBQ and deli last Thursday on these two recommendations.

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I got the tr-tip torta and West Coast Chili Beans. Torta comes with jalapenos, onions, tomato, lettuce and special sauce (which I think is Tia’s sauce pictured upper right with salsa verde). The tri-tip was decent (not overdone or chewy) and decently portioned but I was glad I got it in torta form because it wasn’t quite good enough for the basic “meat on bread” option. They don’t have the prototypical Santa Maria bean side but the chili was very meaty, decent use of spices (but not spicy) and a nice thick tomato heavy consistency. Finally, there was a decent selection of garnishes and salsas with mild and spicy options in case you do order the meat on bread option and find it a little plain.

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Here are some suggestions
Buellton - Industrial Eats

Paso Robles - Hatch or Artisan (although its been a few years since my last visits)
Spearhead coffee is great
Loved Herman Story wine and atmosphere in the tasting room. Very laid back. I think @Nemroz is probably your huckleberry for more wine suggestions in the area.

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I moved this to the California - Elsewhere board since it’s mostly about food.

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I highly recommend Somm’s Kitchen in Paso Robles. Small dining room featuring direct contact with the chef, who explains each small plates course and each glass of wine paired with it. Special ingredients and sophisticated technique combine to create a memorable meal.

Also, Jocko’s Steak House in Nipomo for dinner is a standby, for good reason. Grilled steaks and chops are excellent and QPR is huge. Menu even has sweetbreads. Wine list includes nice local choices including L’Aventure, Booker, Sea Smoke and Laetitia.

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Those are quite good. Some of the more high end ones listed.

I like Terry Hoage, Thatcher, Paix Sur Terre as well

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Thanks. I’ve read several reviews and heard personally the tri-tip is as dry as sawdust. Was that the case with your sandie?

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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.