Coffee Shops & Bakeries in the South County

Here are a couple of places we recommend that are a little off the beaten path, but well worth trying.

Photo Courtesy of  Sweet Pean Bakery

SWEET PEA BAKERY

Location: 1200 E. Grand Avenue, Arroyo Grande

On the corner of East Grand and Brisco road next to Ember Restaurant

Hours: Tuesday - Saturdays 6:30am - 2pm

SweetPeaBakeryAG.com

Photo Courtesy of  Sweet Pean Bakery

With a full array of cakes, cookies and pastries this is a great place to stop in the morning for coffee and pastries or to order that sweet for a special occasion.  One of my favorites is the savory prosciutto gruyere croissant, these sell out fast so you may want to call ahead and they will hold it for you.

8575 Perfetto Caffe

1750 El Camino Real, Grover Beach, CA 93433

 6:30AM–4:30PM

8575perfettocaffe.com

Phone: (805) 994-7112

Courtesy of 87575 Perfetto Caffe Instagram Page

This Italian coffee house and cafe is just off Hwy 101 at the Oak Park Exit if you are heading south (see map below).  The couple that owns and runs the place are originally from italy.  There coffees are wonderful and theur pastires and other food items are just what you would expect to find in Italy.  There is a nice little patio to sit and enjoy the company of friends.

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El Niño and the Central Coast

As I write it is warm, sunny and the hills are finally turning an incredible green.  With all the hype about El Niño, I thought it was a good time to list resources and activities in the event of inclement weather.  When I started to write this today, I thought I do it all in a brief article, but decided put out a couple of different posts as there really are lots more things to do during rainy weather on the Central Coast.  For today here is some basic information.

Hill on the Central Coast

General Weather and Road Conditions

We have a resident weather expert ,John Lindsey, located at Diablo Canyon Power Plant that does a pretty good job.  He releases a weekly weather forecast in the local paper, The San Luis Obispo Tribune, and you may read his in-depth  weather predictions at  http://www.tenera.com/weather/.   When it comes to the weather around here it may be significantly different  from town to town.  An example of a typical summer day; it may be foggy and cool at the beach with a temperature around 60’, San Luis Obispo City 80’ and sunny while Paso Robles could be sunny and 100’.  The winter temperatures tend to be a bit more consistent during the day and the inland areas are colder at night sometimes dipping below freezing.  This makes it a bit tricky when you are packing for a vacation here.  Winter daytime temperatures range from 50 - 70 with nights cooling off into the 30’s and 40’s.

For winter make sure you pack rain gear and have layers.  I don’t go anywhere without a jacket  or sweatshirt in my car even in the summer as it can be a bit chilly if I head to the beach or some of the windier areas.

Road Conditions 

Current local road problems can be found at: http://www.localconditions.com/weather-san-luis-obispo-california/93401/traffic.php  

Don’t be surprised when you travel throughout San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara Counties that there are plenty of dead spots just off the beaten path where you will not get cell reception.

If you are planning to head north to the Big Sur area from San Luis Obispo check the road conditions.  Construction and other events may make travel tedious and it is not uncommon to have the road closed overnight or completely.  During significant storms the road may be closed due to mudslides, etc.  I strongly recommend you have alternate plans.

http://www.bigsurcalifornia.org/highway_conditions.html

http://www.localconditions.com/weather-big-sur-california/93920/traffic.php

Quick Ideas for a Rainy Winter Day on the Central Coast

Although it seems obvious, one of the best Adult activities whether rain or shine is hitting the wine or the beer tasting trail.  The area is home to world class wineries and recently has become a beer lovers paradise. There are a handful of wine/beer tour companies to pick from if you do not have a designated driver.  I will write a separate post exploring these options in detail.

A quick list of activities to try with the kids are listed below starting in the south and moving north:

PISMO BEACH

Bowling at Pismo Bowl http://www.pismobeachbowl.com

AVILA BEACH

Central Coast Aquarium   http://www.centralcoastaquarium.com

SAN LUIS OBISPO

SLO Children’s Museum http://www.slocm.org

Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa http://www.missionsanluisobispo.org

Bowling Alley on CalPoly Campus

General Public Pricing is listed on the website along with hours.  I would recommend you enter the campus from Grand Ave. and stop by the Parking/Information Kiosk to buy a daily parking pass as you will need it.  It is hard to find metered parking.

http://www.mustanglanes.com

Kids pottery classes

Anam Cre Pottery Studio, downtown SLO http://www.anamcre.com/kids.html

MORRO BAY

The Natural History Museum http://ccspa.info/morrobay/

PASO ROBLES

The Children's Museum at the Paso Robles Volunteer Firehouse

http://www.pasokids.org/

SAN SIMEON

Neptune Pool at Hearst Castle

Hearst Castle

http://hearstcastle.org/

Elephant Seal Rookery, check out the newborn calves at this accessible spot on the north coast.  

If you are at Hearst Castle use should definitely check it out as it is only 9 miles north on Highway 1.

http://www.elephantseal.org/

Enjoy your vacation in this beautiful area of California.  Please comment and let me know if this was helpful.

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SLO Saturday Morning Farmers' Market

San Luis Obispo is well known for it's Thursday evening Farmers' Market in Downtown.  I suggest you go if you are in town on Thursday, but many travelers are here only for the weekends.  If you are staying in SLO I suggest you hit the Saturday Morning market at the Madonna Plaza.  This market has a great mix of local fruits and vegetables as well as prepared foods, breads, local cheeses, salami, meets and more.




Starting at 8 am in the World Market and Embassy Suites parking lot it is perfect to go there early, pick up all the supplies you need for a picnic and go enjoy the beautiful Central Coast. SLO Wine Country Association sells wine 2 Saturdays per month.  If you need other supplies, there is a grocery store on the opposite side of the shopping plaza or World Market.


http://www.slocountyfarmers.org

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Dunbar Brewing, Santa Margarita, CA

Dunbar Brewing 

2200 El Camino Real

Santa Margarita, CA

93453

Phone: (805) 704-9050

Please not this is a reprint from a previous post.  They have moved down the road to the location listed above, but I have not been there.  

5/28/10

Whether you are a local or just passing through the area, plan on stopping by the Dunbar Brewing in Santa Margarita, California.  The town of Santa Margarita is about 10 minutes north of San Luis Obispo off of highway 101.  It is a quaint town with a population of less than 3000.  There are a couple of places to eat, a handful of shops, wine tasting and of course Dunbar Brewing.  

You would miss Dunbar if you weren’t seriously looking for it.  Look for the black and white sandwich sign in front of Ancient Peaks Wine Tasting.  Dunbar is located in a new building on the west end of town, behind Ancient Peak Winery’s tasting room, but in the same building. 

Chris Chambers owner, brewer and host has been brewing and selling beers on the Central Coast for years.  Previously he had a larger place in Los Osos.  Chris has taken his experience of over 13 years of brewing to create his dream.   I would have to classify the place as a micro-pub specializing in Irish style beer.  He makes 3 barrel batches and they are only sold at his place.  No bottling, no growlers, you must stop in to try his artisan beers. From the conversation we had, you can tell he is passionate about the quality of beer he serves.  

We played hooky the other day and took a field trip to check out Dunbar Brewing.  The day we were there, he had the following on tap:

Dunbar Brown Porter

Dunbar Oatmeal Stout

Sierra Nevada Summerfest

Sierra Nevada Harvest Ale

Dogfish Head 90 min. IPA

Although he does not sell flights, he was very generous allowing us to taste before we picked the pint for the afternoon.  I had the Dunbar Brown Porter, while Eric had the Sierra Nevada Summerfest (Eric isn’t a big fan of porters and stouts).   Great tasting beers brewed on site, a nice clean establishment, an impressive selection of craft beers and a very informative host made it worth the trip.  I definitely recommend the place. 

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