Popular SLO restaurant Taste moves to new spot with double the space. Here’s a look
After outgrowing its former location, popular San Luis Obispo restaurant Taste Craft Eatery has opened the doors of a new spot just up the road from its old stomping grounds.
The new Taste opened at 2550 Broad St. on Sept. 8. and so far, things have been going well, co-owner Gretchen LeMiere told The Tribune two weeks after opening.
“So far so good,” she said. “As far as like restaurant openings go, it was the smoothest one I’ve done.”
LeMiere said the restaurant needed to move because Taste had outgrown its old spot at 2900 Broad St., where the business had been located for almost a decade.
In that time, Taste has exploded in popularity, becoming a go-to spot for residents and visitors alike.
But the 2,000-square-foot space just wasn’t big enough to keep up with the burgeoning crowds — even with the addition of the outdoor parklet seating due to the coronavirus pandemic, LeMiere said.
“We just always made it work,” she said. “It was just really small and we were body-on-body.”
That’s no longer the case at the new space, which is roughly double the square footage of the previous location, LeMiere said.
“We have lots of space between our tables, and it’s just really comfortable,” she said. “It’s easy to walk around for our staff and for our customers. ... It’s kind of luxurious for us.”
It was important to stay in the neighborhood when finding a new spot, LeMiere said.
“We have a lot of regular customers that live around, you know, our little Broad Street area, and we didn’t want to lose them and we didn’t want to inconvenience them,” she said. “Finding this building was really key.”
What’s new at SLO restaurant?
Beside being larger, LeMiere said customers can expect a few notable differences with the new spot.
First and foremost, there are bigger and more elaborate bathrooms.
“We have great bathrooms (now), which we really, really lacked (before),” LeMiere said, noting the new facilities are “a little on the wild side.”
“I was like, since we haven’t had bathrooms for so many years, we might as well just go all out and have bathrooms where people are gonna walk in and be like, ‘Wow, either I love this or I hate it,’ ” she said.
That’s certainly been the reaction so far.
LeMiere said one woman, upon entering the new restrooms pronounced to those inside, “Wouldn’t want to live with it, but love it.”
The new location serves up the usual Taste menu, but LeMiere is in the process of procuring a liquor license so the restaurant can start selling cocktails in addition to its existing lineup of sangria, wine, beer and cider.
Taste already serves cocktails at its second location in Paso Robles, which opened in May 2020.
LeMiere said another aspect of the San Luis Obispo restaurant that excites her is the interior design, done by her longtime friend Carey Herlihy.
“Somebody said, ‘I feel like I’m in your living room’ and I was like, ‘I wish my living room with this nice,’ ” LeMiere joked. “It’s a family business and we do feel like this is our home ... so it’s nice to have people feel that way — very comfortable and at home.”
What’s up next for Taste?
LeMiere said she and her husband Scott are satisfied with the Taste business as it is now, and don’t plan to expand more just yet.
“It’s our family business,” she said. “We happen to live in North County. So we’re exactly halfway between both restaurants, which is perfect for us.”
“We’re pretty satisfied with what we’ve got,” she added.
Taste Craft Eatery is open daily at 2550 Broad St. in San Luis Obispo from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.
For more information, call 805-200-2978 or visit tasteslo.com.
This story was originally published September 27, 2022 at 5:30 AM.
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