Biz Buzz: Tio Alberto’s reopens after fire risk is fixed

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• More restaurants moving in: Are eateries taking over downtown?

  More restaurants moving in: Are eateries taking over downtown?

  A recent trend shows that more restaurants than retailers have been opening in downtown San Luis Obispo.

  According to the city’s business license database, 18 restaurants have opened in the downtown in the past two years. There were six in 2010 and 12 so far this year. Three others have either moved into larger locations or are expanding their current spaces.

  That compares to the 14 retail stores that have opened in the downtown area during the same period: eight in 2010 and six this year.

• Gardens of Avila living up to its name

  Gardens of Avila living up to its name

  A new chef has taken root and some new gardens have sprouted at Sycamore Mineral Springs’ Gardens of Avila Restaurant.

  Chef Pandee Pearson joined the Boutique Hotel Collection property in May, bringing with her not only an impressive résumé, but also a fervent dedication to locally grown products.

  A graduate of the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco, Pearson went on to work with some of the country’s finest chefs, including Wolfgang Puck, Dean Fearing and Cindy Pawlcyn.

• Fire closes Denny’s in SLO

  Fire closes Denny’s in SLO

  A gasoline can stored in an electrical room with a water heater and an electrical panel sparked a fire Thursday morning that shut down the Denny’s restaurant on Madonna Road in San Luis Obispo, according to the city fire marshal.

  The fire, contained in the restaurant’s attic, caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage and left as many as 40 employees temporarily out of work.

  Firefighters responded to the call around 7:18 a.m. and extinguished the fire by 7:38 a.m. Witnesses said they could see smoke rising from the building’s roof but did not see flames at first. But as fire crews worked to cut ventilation holes in the roof, the flames could be seen rising hot and quick.

• Savor a second time: Food-and-wine extravaganza returns to Central Coast

  Savor a second time: Food-and-wine extravaganza returns to Central Coast

  As San Luis Obispo County’s $1 billion tourism industry remains one of the main drivers of the local economy, organizers of Sunset Savor the Central Coast say the second annual four-day food-and-wine event is the most recent — and high-profile — attempt to increase awareness of the region.

  The event, which organizers say generated $1.7 million in tourist spending to the local economy in 2010, kicks off Thursday.

  “Visitors may choose to come to Savor, but the reality is they are probably spending dollars outside of Savor, too,” county Visitors & Conference Bureau executive

• In Brief: Hamlet buyer talks about plans for restaurant; Highway reopens through Big Sur; Vacation rental rules could change; Cambria man arrested for gun sale

  In Brief: Hamlet buyer talks about plans for restaurant; Highway reopens through Big Sur; Vacation rental rules could change; Cambria man arrested for gun sale

  Hamlet buyer talks about eatery plans

  The Hamlet at Moonstone Gardens—Cambria’s hilltop restaurant overlooking the Pacific — has a new owner. Escrow closed Wednesday, Jan. 25, on the $2.475 million sale to Dave G. Robertson of Centrally Grown Inc. of Compton.

  Robertson, though other corporations, also owns nearly $4 million worth of ranchland northeast of San Simeon Creek Road.