Top Chinese Noodle Restaurant in San Luis Obispo
Mee Heng Low Noodle House
815 Palm St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, United States
I miss the old Chinese-American restaurant (Mee Heng Low), which I had gone to as a child.However, this noodle house is very good.Would be nice to have more Chinese-American businesses in old SLO Chinatown ?
Top other services in San Luis Obispo:
Bamboo Bamboo
1049 Nipomo St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, United States
Ultimately, I enjoyed my experience here despite some confusion due to a language barrier that resulted in awkward seating and being served the wrong order.It was my first visit and the layout of the restaurant resembles a traditional dine in restaurant. I arrived about a little less than an hour before close and asked if they were still seating, after some failed communication, I asked if it was okay for me to sit down and eat.I was soon seated. One of the waiters (I assume) was really kind and offered me some water. I sat there probably for a few minutes awkwardly sipping my water questioning if I was misunderstood.After sometime passed I turned around and asked the host behind me for a menu in which he kindly handed me and settled on the chicken chow mein and cream cheese rangoons!After some more time of sitting there and wondering why no one was coming up to take my order, I started glancing around looking for signs of my error. I didnt see any, so I got up and returned to the hosts desk and told him Id like to order some food.There was no confusion this time and the interaction felt natural, it felt familiar and somehow here it still did not dawn on me that this is a fast food restaurant. You pay prior to receiving your meal.He placed his phone down mid game and took my order while frantically glancing back over at his phone to not miss his next move. I paid and sat down and shortly after the host came up to me to repeat my order so all could be well. Had a difficult time understanding him but my order was confirmed by reading the receipt he was pointing at. Nodding my head and saying yes, chicken chow mein.The next minute Im rushed a delicious plate that was well prepared and steaming, except it wasnt my chicken chow mein. Back to the hosts desk I go.In the end, aside from our funny misunderstandings I enjoyed the food, the service was good and the atmosphere was clean and impressive.
Tiki Hut
1340 Taft St Suite114, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405, United States
I really like this place. Its good for meat eaters, and vegetarians. It reminds me (a little bit) of a Mongolian BBQ restaurant. You choose meat or shrimp (or no meat), sauce, veggies, and rice or noodles (or both).Im glad it wasnt overloaded with sauce. I was able to taste everything since it wasnt overloaded with sauce & spices. My friend needed extra sauce in hers.....thats how it goes....we all have different taste buds.Even though this isnt Chinese food, its similar to panda express; but waaayyy BETTER.Not a lot of room for seating groups of 4 or more. But, definitely worth a try.
Papas Thai Cafe
1308 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, United States
This will be the most authentic review regarding Papas Thai Cafe.Lets start with the food: VERY, very good if you want authentic Thai—fresh ingredients, piping hot. However, the service is filled with attitude and straight disrespect, and the atmosphere is dull and filled with negativity from employees.Now, by the slightest chance, you MAY NOT like your food; this is where the problem occurs.Personal experience: I've had Penang curry at multiple renowned restaurants and felt as if the one I ordered here had too much coconut milk and less flavor. As I didn't initially read, there was no refund and no consideration, which is interesting in the first place that was listed on their digital screens above, I was told in short by the man, “no refunds or remakes, sorry” after stating “We felt as if the dish had a little too much of a milky taste as opposed to any of the other flavors” then as I walked away heard the wife of the business mumble and made comments as such “what do they expect, it's Penang's curry it has coconut milk” imagine even saying that out loud for the chance of a customer to hear? We were so kind and were simply curious, but to listen to that? Incredible. Along with that, we were treated with multiple up-down stares by the woman and a disgusted face the entire night. She also routinely does this no matter what.On my first visit to them, I asked the man upfront who runs the orders to tell me what the banned list in the back left wall was, and that was the first red flag. It was a list of banned customers with their respective receipts from orders. He explained it were times in which “customers disrespected my wife and I” Now, while I can sympathize with that, their attitude and lack of being able to take criticism may have absolutely played a role here, as I saw on display time and time again walking into the establishment. I have never ever seen a list as such as a food critic. It was concerning for them to feel the need to scare customers as such and is alarming for any new customers to see.Consistently throughout your night at Papa's enjoying good food, you'll hear the owners fighting and arguing and making comments and odd stares at all guests, mainly by the woman upfront who is the man's wife. She even talks to him very badly. The primary debate that takes place in my mind to go there or not is to suck up the terrible vibes to eat good hot food as opposed to getting carried out by them, but it's clear as to why their carry-out runs so well. NO ONE wants to sit in there. The chef seems to notice the disrespect as well, making eye contact with me and nodding and shaking his head in disappointment when he catches the woman saying certain things out loud that are rude and disrespectful.Here's the deal: great food, indeed, but horrible in every other regard. Its pretty uncomfortable even to sit down and eat without having the woman up front make a disgusted face at you. From my own experiences, I didn't even want to support this business for the way they treat customers, but I have found myself going back from time to time because of how good the food is compared to any other nearby spots. There's this weird sense of unhappiness and projection that comes from all of them. The customer shouldn't be able to feel that you've had a long day or that you're frustrated, yet you absolutely feel that as SOON as you walk in, and that's just not welcoming.Take this all into consideration before your visit.
Sidecar
1040 Broad St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, United States
BARTENDING SERVICES (not restaurant)My wife and I recently hired Sidecar to provide bartending services for our small wedding in Templeton, CA. We spoke with Danielle about our signature cocktails, wine table service and paid for her recommended luxe package and two staff to service our event. We kept our wine and champagne chilled and the rest of our alcohol cool for days prior to the wedding reception. We followed Sidecar's recommended shopping list and ultimately purchased nearly 120 bottles of alcohol. The 32 adults present generally drink and like wine so it would be rather uncommon that at the end of an evening such as this, less than twenty bottles of alcohol had even been opened. Here are some highlights of our evening with Sidecar:We spent $3500 on almost 120 bottles of alcohol that their bartenders actively chose not to provide to our guests.They refused to make the signature old fashioned recipe that we agreed upon and provided all the components for. My new father-in-law even called them out on it. Given that this was his recipe, he knew that this was not our requested drink. He asked the bartenders to use the maple syrup (per the recipe) that we had provided and their response? “No sir, our simple syrup is fine.”Their bartenders decided they were on break during dinner service, so people were not getting table service until we went up to the “CLOSED” bar (by the way, no one bothered explaining to us that our bar would be closed during dinner) and explained that people should be getting wine served to them. When they did finally start table service, they went around asking red or white. This would have been fine if we hadn't provided a Sav Blanc, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Cab Sav, and Champagne. Therefore, almost 40 bottles of wine we purchased went untouched because our guests simply didn't know they were an option. To top it all off the Cab Sav was served HOT. We chilled that wine for TWO DAYS prior!In simple terms, while our guests had dinner, one of your bartenders stood behind the bar with a closed sign and we found the other one socializing in the kitchen. How is it possible we had to explain to TWO bartenders that it was their job to serve the alcohol.They put out a tip jar without our permission and given that we were advised to tip them 20% already, it certainly looked tacky given what we know we had already paid for their services.We feel as though we had enough discussion with Danielle to understand our expectations and we were under the impression we were going to have the best bartending service in SLO. Their bartenders ability to serve our guests wine, make cocktails, and even have good attitudes was a complete embarrassment. They were by far the sore thumb of our entire event and multiple guests complained to us about their service and attitudes.
Koberl At Blue
998 Monterey St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, United States
I'll start with the food. It was exquisite! My whole family enjoyed their meals and frankly we couldn't stop eating even after we were full. The food was very fresh and plated quite beautifully! We got a chance to meet the owner and she was lovely and friendly. Our waiter was amazing and very funny and even though it was busy, he still managed to attend to our every need. The prices on some of the entrees were high but pro tip: the vegetarian menu is quite affordable and offers delicious substitutes to many of the entrees. The most expensive thing on the vegetarian menu was $19 (which wasn't bad at all considering the quality and quantity of food given) The atmosphere was lovely. It was a perfect fancy/casual dinner. If you're looking for a nice meal in a professional yet comfortable atmosphere, come to Koberl at Blue. Also it's very close to The Madonna Inn and a great, less expensive alternative to the Gold Rush Steak House (it also has more availability than the steak house) Our server was amazing (I've forgotten his name but it was something fancy that started with a B. Maybe Byzan or Bizan?) If you happen to get him you are very lucky although it seemed like all the waiters were all very kind! 5 stars isn't even enough to express our enjoyment of this restaurant!
Daves Hot Chicken
299 Madonna Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405, United States
Very poor service, but great tasting sandwich. Big portions too.Regarding the service, I came in for my first time to try out the sandwiches and just walked away feeling kind of sad. I'm not trying to be mean, but while I was getting my order in, I couldn't hear and understand the cashier very clearly. Maybe my ears are going bad, or it was the music, or the face mask, or the accent she had, but I couldn't understand that she was asking if I wanted cheese on my sandwich.I gave an apprehensive “yes”, which was my mistake because later I saw the additional two $.50 charges for cheese on my sandwiches. I apologized and asked if I could actually do “no cheese”, which she got very upset with me over by saying to me, “you told me yes” and shook her head the whole time while she tried to figure out how to cancel my order and start a new one on the iPad. She got more upset with me because she didn't know how to cancel my order and I just felt a ton of pressure from her to say that it's ok and that I'll buy the cheese, until she asked another worker to help. After paying and deciding to leave a small tip for her trouble, I apologized again and she said nothing and handed me my receipt.I left sad, but I did enjoy my lunch back at the office. I'd probably go back just because the sandwiches are that good, but interacting with that cashier was very tough for me.
Raku Ramen
799 Foothill Blvd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93405, United States
The food here is plated for Instagram likes, but does not have much flavor. I ordered the Tonkotsu Ramen and an appetizer of Chicken Karaage, they were edible but also quite sub-par.The ramen broth had little to no flavor, wasn't really salty unless you are quite sensitive or have been fasting maybe. One point I'll give them is that some of the chashu pork I received was cooked a little crispy which was nice. Unfortunately, the rest of the pieces lacked flavor and tenderness, like they had just been sliced from the refrigerator and thrown in the bowl. They didn't have time to soften up and absorb some of the broth like chashu pork is traditionally served. The noodles tasted like they were just a step above the cup of noodles you buy at the store, if they did use instant noodles, they should've thrown the flavor packet in the broth at least. The scallions and seaweed didn't provide any flavor either, they didn't let it sit in the broth and let them stew to absorb each others' flavors.The Chicken Karaage appetizer admittedly was better, but not by much. The texture of how they fried the chicken pieces was quite good. However, the chicken wasn't really seasoned well, and the sauce they provided was basically mayonnaise with the mildest amount of chipotle to make it look pink. In addition to that, they hardly provided enough sauce, not that it was worth asking for more.I hate to gut a restaurant like this, but charging $25-30 per person for this is a crime, especially since it's a popular spot for the local college students. Ramen is not an easy at-home meal to make if you want to make it right and have it taste good, which is why many of us eat out to enjoy this cuisine. I hoped I just came in on a bad day, but seeing other reviews tells me that's not the case.
Thai Palace
1015 Court St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, United States
Ive walked hy this place many times and have always wanted to try it. My friend and I decided tongive it a chance and were pleasantly surprised. Its larger inside than you would expect. The feeling is warm and feels inviting. The service was fantastic. They continually checked on us...without constantly asking us or interupting our conversation either. They would just slowly walk by, look at our table to check and see that our beverages were full etc.I had the Scallops under the chefs favorites section. I must say, Inwas expecting maybe 4 moderate size scallops at the most. They scallops were HUGE and therebwas at least 8 of them. They were cooked perfectly, nice and tender and not rubbery and definitely not fishy tasting. The sauce they were in was moderately spicy but it was the perfect touch. It had basil and some veggies mixed in. Along with it comes your choice of white rice, brown rice, or steamed vegetables.My friend got the red curry with squash and said it was very tasty too. I cant comment much on that one sorry.Oh, i also got the Thai iced tea...it was good, not tooo sweet like some ive had but it was kind of strong. I couldnt finish it. We also shared an order of Thai spring rolls. They were very tasty, simple, and their dipping sauce was great. It comes with 6, but theyre more like the size of 1 regular spring roll cut in half.All in all..give it a try, you wont be disappointed!