Mexican restaurant moves from Morro Bay to downtown SLO: ‘We’re so happy to be here’
A family-owned Mexican restaurant that operated for about two years in Morro Bay has opened in downtown San Luis Obispo.
Chinelo Restaurant opened its doors on Saturday at 1131 Broad St., across the street from Hotel Cerro and next door to Big Sky Cafe.
“We’re very excited about opening in SLO,” said Chinelo co-owner Diana Perez Tifuno, who operates the restaurant with her two sisters and their mother. “We closed our Morro Bay spot, which was smaller, to come here because we liked the location and the patio.”
The restaurant’s new San Luis Obispo location was home to another Mexican restaurant for 21 years, Tio Alberto’s.
The Wild Donkey restaurant, which served Greek and Mexican dishes, opened at 1131 Broad St. in 2010 after the city required the building to undergo a seismic retrofit.
Before Chinelo, the most recent business to operate at the spot was Vietnamese eatery Lotus, which moved to a new spot at the end of the Mission Mall on Higuera Street last year.
Perez Tifuno said that Chinelo features “excellent authentic Mexican food, just like you were to eat in a Mexican home.”
In addition to tamales and mole, the restaurant serves traditional foods such as burritos, tortas, enchiladas and fish tacos. Other menu options include atole, birria and pozole.
Prices for most dishes range from $9 to $13.
The restaurant has patio seating for about 25 people, and customers order inside and can either take their food home or eat outside according to current COVID-19 guidelines.
Chinelo is in the process of applying for a license to serve beer and wine.
Mexican restaurant moves from Morro Bay to SLO
Perez Tifuno said her family opened Chinelo Restaurant at 525 Morro Bay Blvd. in Morro Bay in October 2018.
“We wanted to find a new spot because it was getting difficult to do business during the pandemic,” Perez Tifuno said. “We looked at found this one in SLO. We really think it will be a good place as more people hear about us and know we’re here.”
The restaurant’s new San Luis Obispo location is on on the same block and side of the street as bakery Monika’s Macarons, which recently opened at 1127 Broad St., Suite A.
On the next block, Buen Dia Design opened in December at 1023 Broad St. That new business offers photography prints, art, home goods and brand design services.
Chinelo Restaurant started tenant improvements in mid-December, “and a month and a half later we opened,” Perez Tifuno said. “We’re so happy to be here.”
Chinelo takes its name from traditional costumed dancers popular in the Mexican state of Morelos, from which the business owners hail.
Chinelo dancers celebrated the opening of the eatery on Sunday, accompanied by brass band music.
“People from our region who find us become very emotional because of the name, the culture and the food,” Perez Tifuno said.
This story was originally published February 4, 2021 at 5:05 AM.
%20Cropped.jpg)