Moroccan restaurant is closing in SLO after 21 years — but keeping another location open
Moroccan-themed restaurant Oasis officially has departed downtown San Luis Obispo after 21 years.
Business owners Karim and Chantale BenBrahim have closed their eatery next to Kreuzberg Coffee on Higuera Street. But they’ll continue to run their Pismo Beach location, also called Oasis, which opened in early 2019.
Karim BenBrahim first opened his restaurant in San Luis Obispo on Foothill Boulevard in 1994 after coming to the Central Coast to study at Cal Poly.
He said the Pismo Beach spot, located at 1351 Price St., offers better parking and delivery access than the San Luis Obispo location, where an alley is now closed at the back.
“There is a lack of parking and the deliveries were a problem, too, because of the in and out on Higuera and that made it more of a hassle for catering,” BenBrahim said. “The Pismo Beach restaurant is a better fit for us and for our catering businesses.”
BenBrahim said the owners had “good times overall” in San Luis Obispo over the course of two decades.
“Our recipes have been in chef Karim’s family for generations,” the restaurant’s website states. “You can taste the history (passed) down through every bite. ... In fact, we are the only restaurant in San Luis Obispo that offers authentic Moroccan cuisine that is similar to Lebanese cuisine and different from Indian cuisine.”
SLO restaurant featured food from Morocco
BenBrahim, a native of Fes, Morocco, featured Middle Eastern food menu options such as chicken kabobs, couscous, fish tagine and lamb shanks.
“I really want people to have the chance to learn about Moroccan and Mediterranean cuisine,” he told The Tribune in 2010. “Come in, sit down and have a nice relaxing meal with some tea.”
The restaurant had a Moroccan look, with diamond-tiled tables, tapestries and intricate lighting.
Although his eatery initially featured a more luxurious interior, BenBrahim decided to tone that down a bit to reflect “what regular restaurants look like in Morocco, a simple place where you go to enjoy good company and good food.”
The restaurant also used to have belly dancers, who performed as part of the eatery’s dining experience for customers until the mid-2000s.
The eatery made the move from Foothill Boulevard to downtown in 2000.
“I have seen a lot of changes in downtown SLO in recent years,” BenBrahim said. “The prices for rents have gone up. My situation wasn’t as bad as others.”
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