Dining Out: A popular corner

Shortly after the Corner View Restaurant & Bar replaced Linn’s in downtown San Luis Obispo, it quickly became a popular hub for locals and tourists alike.

The wide range of cuisine, array of appetizers and nightly drink specials made it a suitable replacement to Linn’s, which had a longstanding and loyal following.

Owners Patty and Bill Carpenter have been actively involved in local charitable programs, consistently offering the use of their facility to benefit a greater good. That involvement has accrued a following that has helped the restaurant as it approaches its fifth anniversary.

The restaurant pays homage to much of what San Luis Obispo has to offer. Saltillo tiles, white walls and high ceilings create a rustic mission- style interior. Large photographs of beautiful county spots such as vineyards and coastlines are displayed.

The restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and boasts happy hour specials, as well as an impressive brunch menu on weekends.

A visit for lunch

It takes some time to decide on an entree at Corner View—the menu options range from soup and salads to stir-fry and fettuccini alfredo. Bun-less hamburgers and plenty of healthy substitutions for fries are available, including the potato-artichoke salad, which is a nice touch for the calorie-conscious diner.

The drinks we ordered — iced teas and Diet Cokes — arrived quickly. They were huge and required few refills.

Although it was lunch hour, I figured there was time to squeeze in an appetizer with our meal. The artichoke appetizer ($9) was a halved, grilled artichoke served with a side of pesto aioli. It took a while before it was served but perhaps that meant it was cooked fresh to order.

It was quite large, although the meat of the artichoke’s leaves was a bit hard to find.

The fresh pesto aioli was delicious and was a perfect cool accent to the steaming artichoke.

We waited a long time for our entrees. Our server may have thought we wanted to eat a slow-coursed meal, as we likely would at dinner, but that wasn’t the case on a weekday lunch run. We found ourselves noticing others were eating and leaving before our entrees showed up.

The prosciutto sandwich ($11) was the day’s special and came highly recommended by our server. Served on warm ciabatta bread, with thick slices of tomatoes, torn romaine lettuce and fresh mozzarella, it was an appealing sandwich. However, the proscuitto was thick-cut and salty, not like the deep maroon-colored thin slices that I had envisioned.

The spinach salad ($7) was a delightful pile of crisp baby spinach blanketed over warm bacon, vinaigrette, sautéed mushrooms, and slivered red onion. Mixed together, the warm dressing slowly wilted the spinach and made for a delicious, although a bit vinegary, salad.

The sand dabs ($13) are a specialty at Corner View and for good reason. The ample portion of sautéed sole fish was served with rice pilaf and steamed vegetables. The fish was served in a lemon caper sauce that complimented it nicely.

Hamburgers are king here and come with delectable toppings including blue cheese, guacamole and bacon. The monster burgers are served with delicious crispy fries and start at about $7. When we visited, we asked for a medium-rare burger and it came out a little too rare for comfort, but I’ve enjoyed perfectly cooked burgers there on other occasions.

Another visit for dessert

Our lunch had taken too long so we didn’t have time for dessert, but I’ll likely return to try some of the sweet endings and to sample more appetizers.

A restaurant that is open as much as Corner View is bound to have its good and bad days, so I’m hoping my recent visit was an anomaly.

Corner View has an inviting ambience, extensive menu, and friendly staff that have done an impressive job evolving it from Linn’s. I hope they keep it up.

Reach Dawn White at 781-7946.