Firestone Grill
| Address: | 1001 Higuera St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, USA |
| Phone: | +1 805-783-1001 |
| Site: | firestonegrill.com |
| Rating: | 4.5 |
| Working: | 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–11PM 11AM–10PM |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 5
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Brandon West
I give this place a one star not because of the food but the owners customer service. I have been coming to firestone for a long time and visited them today. I am from out of town and we make a stop at firestone for the tritip every time we can. Today we got to firestone at 1030am. We waited outside until 1045 when they allowed everyone to come inside. We sat at the booth and a waitress came over to take our order. We always just wait in line to order...this was the first time we were ever approached. We told the waitress that we would rather just wait in line to order (we had 3 families total). After we told waitress we were just going to wait in line, this older gentlemen yelled at us from behind the cook station and said "settle down, we arent even open yet. I asked my wife and friends if I heard that right, and the disrespectful owner gave me a look like I was being impatient? I was sitting their minding my own business waiting for 11am...not even in line yet and he made that comment. I proceeded to the line at 11am to order and asked the cashier if he was the owner and of course this old grumpy man was. I asked her what she thought of him....the cashier said she worked there for many years and has made one eye contact with him. She told me that at least she hasnt been yelled at yet. I asked the waitress who was trying to take my order how the owner treated their employees....she proceeded to tell me that at least she hasnt gotten yelled at yet. This grumpy man is running a business where he doesnt appreciate his employees and hard work. Obviously he feels like yelling and treating his employees disrespectful is the proper way to run a business. He almost lost our business today. I wish I would have just left. This wasnt even a situation where I had any complaints about the food....it was simply an old grumpy man who wants to control everything and everyone. I will not be supporting this business any longer just because the poor customer service this owner has. He did not apologize and looked at me like I was in the wrong. Food is great, bad business owner unfortunately
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Austin Doucette
Food (5/5) - Excellent BBQ style food grilled in the open kitchen visible within the restaurant. The "Tri-Tip Steak Sandwich" is a standout item on the "Bar-B-Que" menu, with sliced Tri-Tip & BBQ sauce on a french role. Simple, but wonderfully executed. Any of the BBQ will be tasty, at a great price-point. Even so, dont miss out on the exceptional Firestone Salad. This red-onion, bell pepper, tomato, pine nut, and feta mixture is the perfect option for anyone opposed to consuming meat. Every time I visit Firestone, I end up getting the large salad sharing their namesake, which is a massive amount of food. Finally, dont miss out on the fries. You get an incredible amount of cajun-spice seasoned, thin-cut fries at an acceptable cost. Theyre definitely the best fries Ive tasted. Ambiance (4/5) - Theres almost always a line out the door during peak lunch hours. It moves fast enough and its worth the wait. Plenty of seating is available outside - though I cant say the same for the interior. A large portion of the building is devoted to a sports bar with screens, but outside of this, indoor seating is limited. The rugged metal seating situation outside will appeal to those hungry for the Sunday BBQ feel, though for others the lack of shade and moderate cleanliness may be distracting. Service (5/5) - Service is quick and simple. With no waiter/waitress to tip comes the responsibility of picking up ones own food, drinks, condiments, and so forth. Almost all of the workers are young college students. Since interaction is purposefully limited, this isnt an issue.
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Jason Lum
My quest for the best BBQ in Cali has ended. Thank you Firestone Grill. Every time I visit SLO this place on the top of my list. I usually go to Firestone and later have Fish N Chips and clam chowder at Pismo to top a perfect weekend. It is nearly impossible to find great BBQ. I have never lived in the South so you may give me the "you dont know what you are talking about" look. I do know the difference between boiled, grilled, and BBQ ribs. I appreciate when meat is slow cooked for more than 3 hours and lightly char on the grill later. Great BBQ always starts with great meat and great spices. You can throw the BBQ sauce out the window and it should still taste good. Tender and fall of the bone is the way I like it. Firestone does not disappoint. This is a great find for a small college town in Central CA. There is great BBQ and great seafood in SLO although they lack great Chinese food, but thats another review. Just thinking about the ribs brings tears to my eyes. I may have to make an excuse to visit SLO. Why do you have to be 250 ish miles away from here? I guess thats about the same distance as Vegas and I can always hit up Chumash on the way. In the mean time, I can make my own BBQ and maybe have some Firestone BBQ sauce sent UPS to me so I can feed my addiction. If you are on a road trip up the CA coast stop by Firestone! Highly Recommended.
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A Private User
Dont go here. I have never been treated so rudely in a place of business as I was here. (Im 42, and I eat out 3-4 times a week. Ive worked retail and in restaurants.) There are so many places in SLO with good food and great service; this isnt one of them. While we were eating, we were told (not asked or treated with any measure of common courtesy) to leave because another party had "reserved" our table. And as we ate, the waitress and the guy that runs the place repeatedly came to our table to harrass us, yelling -- yes yelling -- things like, "You knew this table was reserved!" (No we didnt--there was no sign when we sat down, nada.) And, "Whats taking you so long?!" (Um, we just got our food 5 minutes ago.) And, "You enjoyed your meal, now its time to go!" (Can you imagine a restaurant manager yelling that at you, with food still on your plate, after being harassed the whole time you ate? Its so false and at the same time so hilarious on so many levels....) We were a party of nine, and well never go back. I suggest you skip it too, unless you are a masochist. I regret every penny of the 80 bucks I spent here. And in case the food tempts you, heres my experience. My tri tip cobb salad was 95% shredded lettuce with just a tablespoon of tri tip. And the tri tip was primarily gristle and fat.
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STEVEN VONG
This place has almost perfected the tri-tip, but for me its slightly overpriced and I still prefer McClintocks farmers market sandwich. It is still very solid and one of the best sandwiches in SLO. For 9.25 you get a buttered french roll with 5 layers of tri tip and a hint of BBQ sauce. A half is pretty filling, and the meat is usually cooked and flavored well. But sometimes its a little dry and although the ingredients are simple and fresh, its missing the Central Coast soul and smoke and seems more commercial than homestyle. This place is a well-oiled machine with its separate assembly lines and announcement number system- so I do appreciate its efficiency and that the turnaround for a sandwich is usually less than 15 minutes. The other food usually comes out too and is a pretty good deal - the side salad is humongous for $5 and the burgers are reasonable priced. The sides are also pretty bomb. I just dont think the tri tip here captures the spirit of the Central Coast when it seems warehouse produced.
