If you're anywhere near San Luis Obispo and don't stop at Old SLO BBQ, you're doing it wrong. The baby back ribs are next-level -- fall-off-the-bone tender with just the right amount of smoke. No gimmicks, just real wood-fired flavor that speaks for itself. Pair that with their Santa Maria-style beans, and you've got a meal that sticks with you (in the best way). Those beans are smoky, hearty, and taste like they've been slow-cooked with actual care -- not dumped out of a can. And then there's the tap list. Local craft beers, rotating seasonal picks, and classics that actually complement barbecue instead of fighting it. Pro move: order a flight, settle in, and let the ribs do their thing. Fast service, good vibes, no frills -- just excellent food done right. read more

Old Slo BBQ - Taps - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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Does look like the same place we ate at by the pictures... of course it is just this place has become very very dirty cobwebs inside the restaurant!!! Plastic to go containers all over the counters that are dirty over flowing trash cans. The counter in front of the cashier you can view from when you pick up your food has caked on dust dirt grime... wouldn't have order anything had I seen that. The "yelling" order system can definitely be fixed! Walked up around 1205 on a Sunday... no ribs ready at all... so we asked to have them made if possible and yes it took a little bit but they were not fall off the bone at all... very tough. Tri tip sandwich.. should just say bread and meat no cheese no pickled onions no sauce nothing! No sides for $18 plus dollars. Needless to say not pleased at all. Before eating had to ask for tables to be wiped down there wasn't a clean one at all and none of the glasses were picked up the entire time we were there so the trash area continued to become overfilled. read more

My in-laws have the SLO Eats app and Old SLO BBQ is on the list so we decided to go there to take advantage of the great deals(buy one get one free or free side with purchase). Inside they have an arcade machine, TVs playing sports, and a self serve beer station. We did ToGo and my wife LOvED her burger. The sweet potato fries were the star of the show. My tri tip sandy contained HUGe slices of meat and they took into consideration my dairy allergy by not putting butter on the bread. The regular fries I wouldn't get again. I still think if you are in SLO and want a tri tip sandy you need to go to Firestone. If the line is too long or not close by; then would hit up Old SLO BBQ which is also more affordable(especially with the SLO Eats app which you can get a 2 week free trial). I'm not affiliated with SLOEats, but I really do think it is worth the download. read more

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Visited this place based on some of the reviews and even a local recommendation and let me say I was deeply disappointed. I will start my review like this. When the garlic bread is the best part of the meal in bbq restaurant you know the bbq needs improvement. I'm from Texas so I know what bbq should be and taste like. The ribs were fatty and hard to eat with the amount of fat and what appeared not to be cooked all the way. The beans were basically like they opened a can of pork and beans and added a little bit spices and tried to make them like chili beans and that was a fail in my eyes. The service was rather dry by the gentleman at the counter and the ambiance was nice with a good indoor/outdoor set up they have. I certainly will not eat here again and honestly don't know how others eat the ribs. Unless it was a bad day, but this bbq is just not for me knowing what true bbq should really be read more

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One star cause the smash burger was eatable but not worth the price. A very lack luster kinda place.

You order at the windows, and grab a glass to mix your own beer, kind of like the style at Yogurtland. My wife's tri-tip salad and my pulled pork sandwich were mediocre at best, but the large seating area gave us the perfect venue to watch the epic game 7 of the World Series between the Toronto Blue Jays and the LA Dodgers. read more

Old slo bbq down town on Higuera is our favorite! So we wanted to give this new location a try but we left disappointed. Tables were all dirty. We kept moving to get away from the smell of the trash cans... The tri-tip was sadly tough and the fries were so greasy. The pulled pork on the other hand was good but I don't know if we will go back. read more

We stopped by for an early dinner after my husband's Dr appointment. We had never eaten here before. We ordered 2 tri tip sandwiches and a half a rack of ribs. The husband and our friend said the tri tip sandwiches were excellent. The ribs I ordered were dry, overcooked and salty. They were not edible. Since we took our order to go and live in Nipomo, it wasn't possible to take the ribs back. We were they only people in the restaurant and the service was very slow. I sent a message to Old SLO BBQ by way of their website 4 days ago and they didn't respond. Guess we won't be going back. read more

I needed a snack so I stopped in! Candy bacon tri-tip slider was sooo good! Chocolate bacon, milkshake was absolutely amazing and a great choice! This was the best BBQ place I have been to in a longtime a true culinary treat! I can't wait to come back! read more

Old Slo BBQ - Candy, bacon slider, and a chocolate bacon milkshake! - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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Friday afternoon we stopped in for a late lunch / early dinner after a doctor's appointment in the City of San Luis Obispo, CA. Best Sweet Potato Fries we have ever had. The Pulled Pork Sandwich was excellent too! We also shared a Cowboy Corn Pie side. I had a Chocolate Milk Shake and my wife a TAP Beer. It is right on HWY 226 in the Vons shopping mall. They do catering as well. read more

Old Slo BBQ - Some of our meal, it does not all show or show clearly. - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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I understand that sliders are small, but the size they offer is tiny. I thought I was missing half of it. Three very small slices of tri-tip. I ordered two, and they came with the bread fused together and wrapped as one which was confusing, not sure whether I was getting two tiny sliders or one bigger than average. I had to ask the counter staff if that was actually two sliders considering how small they were and that they were each over five dollars. The fries tasted stale and no bigger than 3 inches long, most of them significantly smaller, like just fragments of fries, as if they hit the bottom of the barrel. Over four dollars for those. It's better not to serve any than serve those. Very disappointing and expensive for what I got. read more

Old Slo BBQ - Tri Tri-Tip Slider and Fresh Cut French Fries - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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food ok. a dump otherwise. slow service, no ice in the ice machine. stay away. ugh. read more

Old Slo BBQ catered our wedding and they were wonderful. The food was great and their staff did an excellent job with staying in touch and communicating beforehand. The team was also awesome on the day of, everything went seamlessly. read more

The food here is good, but the service is terrible. Nearly every order they mess something up, forget an item, or forget to make the food entirely until you remind them. I'm assuming they don't have a manager back there or just don't care. The last time we went, they gave us a comical amount of meat in our sliders, which were also cold. read more

The food was delicious. I will go back. Enjoyed the porj ribs a Claire enjoyed the cobb salad. Great!

The food was fine. Maybe I was expecting a bit more from the experience. Beer wall, sure. But vibe? Fast food. Perhaps if you go in with those expectations you'll focus more on the food, which was okay. Brisket was lukewarm. Fries came from the bottom of the bag. It was fine. I had hoped for more. read more

I ordered the pulled pork sandwich for $10.95 and my husband ordered the tri tip, pit plate which includes garlic bread and one side for $15.95. The side he ordered was the sweet potato fries. My sandwich was just okay. It needed some more sauce and some crunchy element to go along side it such as coleslaw. My husbands pit plate was good, but again, nothing special. The service was quick and the restaurant had plenty of seating options. There are several table games to play while you wait for your food. I really enjoyed playing jenga while waiting. read more

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Was in SLO for the weekend and placed an online order for take out. My order was still not ready when I arrived. They were slammed with several guys putting together orders in the back. They were NOT wearing gloves. Disgusting. I go back to my Airbnb and found out the problems with my orders: 1. Tri Tip Plate - Was given fries instead of Quinoa Salad. 2. Chicken Plate - Missing BBQ sauce. SLOW DOWN guys! Read the receipt and put the right food in the correct plates. Wear gloves please! read more

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The location in the marigold shopping center is super convenient with ample free parking. The food however is so so. Don't get me wrong, the tritip is excellent but it seems like some of the sides are down right bad. I got the tritip pit plate, the tritip was tender, and juicy, a nice medium rare. Loved it. The slaw, I was kind enough to give it a fair 3-4 bites to finally make the ultimate decision that it was just really bad and I wouldn't recommend it to anyone. The garlic bread was very under cooked, not toasted, and they cover the top with I think parmesan crumbles? If I had taken this home to eat I would have put it back in the oven and the broiler to finish cooking it. The beer wall on tap was fun and enjoyable. So all in all, the meat and beer were great, but the 2 sides I tried were pretty terrible and I don't use that word lightly. Luckily we live in an area with lots of good bbq places. I would pass on this location. read more

Old Slo BBQ - Tri-Tip Pit Plate - DO NOT get the slaw. It's awful. - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

This branch has all the excellent food of the original but with free and plentiful parking. Staff are courteous and attentive, and the food is great...as long as you like BBQ--and who doesn't? read more

Great food, great service and 40+ beers and wine on tap. The linguica was to die for and the ribs, just wow. Gotta love it!!!

I ordered the tri-tip platter and this is the disappointment I received. This place used to be good and now I will not recommend it ever again. Not worth the money! read more

Old Slo BBQ - This is their tri-tip platter - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

You find a selection of self serving beers. Get a card from the cash register, you can serve yourself and pay by the oz at the end. There were family and kids sitting at the table next to us eating very good meat sandwiches. The sauces for the sandwiches are complementary and also available to serve yourself. We recommend it. My companion gave it a 5/5 I give it 4/5 but just because there is so much competition in this area. read more

Take-out heaven! This branch of Old SLO is basically designed for take-out, although it does have spacious indoor-outdoor seating on a patio that is open to the restaurant, making it an outdoor eating venue, and safer dining during the COVID times. Old SLO was always my favorite BBQ at our world famous Thursday night Farmer's market, and is a welcome addition to this SLO neighborhood. It seems like a lifetime ago that Old SLO graciously hosted a rollicking New Year's YELP event with generous sampling of all the meats and sides, and beer on tap from the beer wall. I was so happy to see my YELP pals at the event, and happy to return to this venue, remembering that it is ideally designed for safely distanced eating and take-out. We ordered the tri-tip plate and the pulled pork plate. These came with their delicious sour dough garlic bread, smothered in a cheesy, garlicky topping. Then we chose the scrumptious "Cowboy" corn bread which is a kind of pudding bread embedded with corn kernels and jalapeno nuggets as our side dish. The tri-tip was cooked to perfection, with a delicious rub on the well done outside, yet remaining pink and tender inside. The pulled pork is rich and the BBQ sauce on the side gives it a sweet and sassy bit of spice. The portions are generous, and we made two meals for three people from the take-out dinner all priced under $30. This is a neighborhood treasure, and we will be back. read more

Delish. Love how soft the sourdough bread is for tritip sliders. Great service and fast. Strawberry fields is a dream and French fries read more

Old Slo BBQ - Yummy strawberry fields and French fries and triptii sliders - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Great little bbq joint here. Pretty decent beer selection, deliciously tender pulled pork sandwiches and amazing chocolate bacon milkshake. Even the slaw was different, yet yummy. I can't wait to go back and try their fries! I love that they offer yellow bird hot sauce as well! read more

Old Slo BBQ - Pulled Pork Sandwich - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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Stopped here for lunch today!! It was one of the best Tri tip Sands I have had in a while. Flavorful and huge!! Got the Sour Dough Bread!! Loved it and they have Spicy BBQ Sauce!! I got the sand with a side salad!! Will be back!! read more

Old Slo BBQ - Tri Tri-Tip Sandwich - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

Revisited local new restaurant review: Excellent again...but the Pork was a bit dry...would love a French dipping type broth to dunk. The mini-Tri-Tip slider was a winners as was the fries. Skipped the beer this time. First visit: Pulled Pork Sandwich sans dressing was moist, smoky, and tender. Well worth it! Coleslaw was also good! The wonderful Jacob provides superb service and wisely advised me about both their great Tri-tip (with a yummy sample slice), and how to navigate the tap beers with their card. Even though Tri-tip is usually not my thing, since it was both tender & had a great crust of spices, I then added it as a side. Excellent! I then left my CC with the amazing Jacob and proceeded to carefully take tiny samples of each and every offering! My reflexes gave me anywhere from 1/2 oz to just over an oz for each one, as I rapidly tested all the offerings one by one. It went quite well, but with such tiny amounts you can get half foam. Amazingly, there was not one that I did not like. The comments on the wall help advise me as to what I though I preferred....citrusy! Much to my surprise I like the whole range of samples including the stouts & spouts. As a sampling desert, the trio of Cider samples were a good finish. Jacob was cool when I somehow got a fly in my sample, and they do minus such mistakes. The 15 or so beer samples came out to be about $10. The amount was about 1.5 servings which is said to be about 1.5 pints. The rapid firing sampling that I did was super fun, and went so fast, no beer buzz was evident, so my tasting was quite quick and accurate. Never thought I could have such fun, just by checking out a new place for the Pork sandwich! Right before this, I also discovered Tuesday's shop nearby. For some odd reason, I have not explored this particular shop in the past several years that I have lived here. I also found the perfect gift for my wife there at sub-Amazon prices to boot! What fun! I recommend this new BBQ location, especially at off peak time. The service, food, beer, was all superb! The location was also spotless, airy, and pleasant. It made a good sunset dinner & lifted my spirits as well! Thanks! read more

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Service at the downtown SLO location is terrible. An hour before they close they stop taking orders at the window. If you go early enough you get to experience rude employees. They forgot bbq sauces for all orders and the ribs were inedible. If you really want bbq find a different spot. Definitely not worth it. read more

This location of Old SLO BBQ has been open about five weeks in the Marigold Center. They are still in the process of doing their soft opening. We were greeted warmly when we placed our order at the cashier. There is only one menu-monitor, with a limited selections of food items. One orders at the register. When the order is ready, they call your name. Our food came out in a reasonable amount of time. There is indoor dining as well as outdoor patio seating. An entire wall is dedicated to beer & hard cider taps. They still have several taps that are empty, but they expect to fill them shortly. One is charged by the ounce, which is what you have after the foam settles down. The wall also has hand written suggestions for the best operation of the taps. The Pulled Pork sandwich had a generous portion of very tender pork, and came with some excellent barbecue sauce. The Tri-Tip Plate consisted of tri-tip slices, garlic bread and a choice of three different sides. We chose the side of Corn Pie. It consisted of corn meal with whole corn kernels, bits of jalapeño & melted cheese. We did not enjoy it ourselves, and would not recommend it. The tri-tip was plentiful and delicious. The restaurant is very clean, with a good selection of drinks. The employees are friendly. The food was tasty & of good quality and quantity. We enjoyed our meal here. read more

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Bought a bunch of sandos for a company event and they smell amazing! Didn't get to try anything but the vibes were high and the tap selection seemed super good! I'll definitely try to find myself here someday soon to try the tri tip! read more

Old Slo BBQ - Hope I win the $100 gift certificate give away! S/O SLO BBQ!! - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

The actual restaurant itself was the normal casual restaurant. I wasn't drinking alcohol that day but they have a pretty cool (what looks to be) self serve draft beer wall that I've never seen anywhere else with at least 15 different options! The food however was fairly disappointing. I was looking for a place to get a good tri tip sandwich so I decided to give here a shot. I walk up to order and the interaction goes well. I asked for a tri tip sandwich with salsa since they had the option to pick bbq or salsa. They call the order and I go grab it, they had given me bbq sauce instead of salsa but that's not a big deal, I just asked again for salsa which they gave. The salsa ends up having no real flavor and mostly is just large chunks of tomato and onion (maybe I guess more pico de gallo type thing then?) which ok, disappointing but bbq sauce isn't a bad 2nd option. The bbq sauce was pretty good! The tri tip itself was also very tender which was great but it lacked any real flavor or seasoning so I was pretty disappointed with the food overall. read more

Went there the other night. Friendly service and fantastic food. We had the tri-tip plates and could not have asked for better food and service. read more

Went to Old SLO BBQ yesterday evening. Ordered a tri tip sandwich and a chicken sandwich. Waited a long time. When food finally came, there was just the tri tip, they forgot the chicken sandwich. They said they would make the chicken sandwich with the options I requested. Pretty quickly this time, they came out with the second sandwich in a bag, and as long as I had waited, I needed to hustle and did not check the sandwich. Instead of a chicken sandwich, it was a second tri tip sandwich. Additionally, neither sandwich had the promised salsa or bbq sauce and the meat was very fatty. Never going back. read more

What I like about this location versus the one in downtown SLO is that it's easier to park, more spacious, and feels much more comfortable when eating outside. Other than that, I thought our tri-tip was a bit hard and dry. The cowboy pies were also not as soft and slightly cold. The bread and beans are very good nonetheless. read more

Old Slo BBQ - Mulitcade - an arcade for playing all of the old favorites - sure brings back memories - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

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Ordering online on Old Slo BBQ's app is very easy and quick. They also offer various sauces to choose from for your sandwich. Also, the app lets you select the time frame within 15 mins (i.e. pick up times 7P-7:15P, 7:30P-7:45P, etc.). Thank you so much to everyone at Old Slo BBQ! read more

I love Old SLO BBQ!!!! Reliability very good Tri-Tip sandwiches, easy to order sides and condiments, and extremely important in delivery or to go order; they get the order right every time (unlike a former South @ Broad Tri-Tip place that the orders wrong ever time without fail, so important). Great indoor and patio seating is nice and open. Reliable accuracy on to-go and delivery orders. Highly recommend, with exception of their odd slaw. Tri-Tip sandwiches - are perfect every time with your choice of bread type and condiments including BBQ sauce, Salsa, or several other choices. Cornbread - tasty twist that dense moist and touch spicy from jalapeños. It a love it or hate version, I love it but wish portion was just a tad bigger. Beans - classic Santa Maria BBQ style with doe cubed tri-tip. Particularly good if like your tri-tip with salsa. They are not BBQ sauce type beans or baked beans and not a stand alone type version but spot on traditional for Santa Maria style BBQ, so don't expect something like served at Mo's or Rib-line. Fries - both standard and sweet potato fries are tasty and perfect every time. Slaw - I love Old SLO BBQ but I just can't figure out why anyone would get this slaw except by mistake wishing it was traditional variation of slaw expecting it to be good on its own or added to a BBQ sandwich like pulled pork. Here is my attempt to describe this disaster of a version, mildly picked fresh cucumber with apple, a touch soggy cabbage with a ton of green herb stems and leaves (flat leaf parsley??). Note Old SLO owners: PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF SLAW change the recipe to a classic slaw with a minor house twist that taste great as a BBQ side or topping a pulled pork sandwich. Apple is great, cucumber and herbs, just NO! I guess no place is Percy for everyone, but Old SLO has become my go to place for tri-tip sandwiches. read more

Old Slo BBQ - Slaw is a serious fail, taste weird, soggy young pickled cucumber with herbs (lots of parsley?) with apple who knows. Trust me skip this... - Barbeque Near Me - San Luis Obispo, California

I was fortunate enough to have lunch provided for me last week. I'm new to the area so I haven't heard of Old SLO bbq. We had our choice of a pork or tri tip sandwich or the strawberry salad. I chose the tri tip but that salad looked mighty good. Nice fresh greens and a ton of strawberries. I now need to have lunch here so I can get that dang big salad! Anyways, the sandwich was very good. The meat tender and seasoned well. What they gave us as a side was a savory cornbread slice of heaven. This really was a wonderful addition to an already awesome lunch. I probably shouldn't have eaten the whole thing but I just couldn't stop myself!! read more

Not as good as its sister restaurant, we stopped here first and discovered dry tri-tip, flavorless beans and mediocre slaw...but the customer service made up for some of it. Unfortunately, we ended up dumping our plates and running to the other location. read more

Food was good; weird DIY drink set up. Service consisted of an order taker, cook, and the cashier Ambience lacking; it felt rather cold and sterile in the dining area. There were games and an arcade machine -- so, I think that they welcome families. read more