SLO County restaurant celebrates nearly ’80 years of success’ and family ownership
About 75 years ago, newly minted Manhattan lawyer Harry Amsel strode into Morro Bay and fell in love — with the town, its people and Breakers Café, a tiny restaurant with a sweeping view of the bay and Morro Rock.
He promptly bought the circa-1942 eatery and its attached cowboy bar.
Members of Amsel’s family have owned and operated the oceanfront restaurant at 801 Market Ave., later renamed Dorn’s Breakers Café, since 1948.
It’s “truly a family business,” said restaurant co-owner Nancy Dorn, whose husband and children have all worked at the restaurant.
Success came early at Morro Bay restaurant
Despite his lack of previous restaurant experience, Amsel soon built a solid reputation for his little cafe and himself.
“He was always in full business dress, complete with suit, tie and spats,” Nancy Dorn said of her dad, a rarity in a fishing town where folks dressed more casually.
He even dressed that way when he went down to the docks to buy fish, she said.
According to Dorn, Amsel insisted on fresh, locally caught seafood and local ingredients bought from local farmers and ranchers, as well as consistent quality, community involvement and friendly service.
When the restaurant was packed with diners, Dorn said, Amsel didn’t want to turn anybody away — so he’d serve customers in their cars.
At one point, Amsel built a new dinner house at 781 Market Ave. in Morro Bay, on the other side of what’s now Centennial Parkway. He used it as a detached extension of his original coffee shop, which only served breakfast and lunch.
Together, the two eateries were known as The Breakers.
Eventually, Amsel sold the newer structure. It’s housed several other restaurants over the years, including Hungry Tiger, Brannigan’s Reef, Anthony’s and Distasio’s on the Bay, and currently belongs to the city.
SLO County eatery is a family affair
Nancy Dorn was practically raised at The Breakers, she said.
She got her first “job” at the restaurant at age 2.
“They gave me a stack of napkins and I folded them,” Dorn recalled. “I don’t think any of them ever made it onto the tables.”
Nearly two decades later, she met Cal Poly business student Dan Dorn on his first day of work as a host at The Breakers. The two were married five weeks later on July 20, 1966.
After a few years, Nancy Dorn and her husband bought Breakers Café from her father, and expanded the hours to include dinner. They also changed the restaurant’s name from Breakers Café to Dorn’s, the Original Breakers Café.
Their son, Chris Dorn, has managed Dorn’s since 1998. He estimated that he started working at Dorn’s on weekends and summers when he was in fifth grade.
“Then, when I was 16 and had my driver’s license, I worked regular shifts,” Dorn recalled.
Now a busy 51-year-old entrepreneur, Chris Dorn also owns Mersea’s in Avila Beach and Duckie’s Chowder House in Cayucos.
He lives in San Luis Obispo with his wife Brandi Dorn; son Nolan, who is a Cuesta College student, and daughter Annie, who is in eighth grade.
One of Chris Dorn’s two sisters is also in the bar-and-restaurant business.
Jennifer “Niffy” Dorn bought the Merrimaker in Baywood Park in September 2022. The other, Lori Dorn, lives with her family in Malibu.
What’s on the menu at Dorn’s Breakers Cafe?
Today, customers at Dorn’s can enjoy some of the same celebrated dishes that diners have enjoyed for decades, including pancakes and New England-style chowder.
“My dad used to call the Breakers his pancake house,” Nancy Dorn said with a wistful look on her face.
Other fan favorites include burgers, steaks, chicken Marsala, seafood jambalaya, blue cheese-centric salads and a dozen different omelets, including one with oysters and another with mixed seafood.
Chris Dorn thinks Dorn’s may be the one of the only SLO County restaurants not affiliated with a motel or hotel that serves a full breakfast, switches to a seafood-focused menu at lunch, then morphs at night into a classy dinner house with a San Francisco vibe and a full bar that serves cocktails.
How have remodels changed oceanfront restaurant?
According to Dorn, Dorn’s has undergone a series of remodels over the decades.
During the first major expansion project in 1989, Chris Dorn said, the restaurant was converted from a coffee shop and bar specializing in lunch and dinner to a full-service restaurant serving all three meals.
Five years later, a second remodel added the ocean-view patio between the building and the bluff.
A floor-to-ceiling revise began in March 2022 and ended three months ago.
“We replaced the walls, ceiling, flooring and the booths,” Chris Dorn said. “We also replaced some tables with booths and, in a big change, moved the restrooms to the back” behind a wall at the far end of the new, larger bar area.
The restaurant only closed for the project during March and April, because much of the earlier work was done offsite.
The rustic former cowboy bar was totally revamped, making it sleek, modern and larger. It now has bistro tables, a wide, folding window that opens onto the front sidewalk area and a long, curved bar accented by a big silver punch bowl full of chilling martini glasses.
It’s a prime space where people want to be, Dorn said.
The bar features photos of various views of the restaurant through the decades, along with dozens of pictures of his grandfather, Warren Dorn, posing with Hollywood and political dignitaries.
Warren Dorn was a former Pasadena mayor and longtime Los Angeles County supervisor who also served as Morro Bay’s mayor. His wife Phyllis Dorn founded the the Morro Bay Beautiful Foundation.
For decades, Warren Dorn was a sociable symbol of Dorn’s, even though he never owned, managed or even worked at the restaurant.
Nancy Dorn said her father-in-law was there daily, using Dorn’s as his remote office and extension of his nearby home.
Throughout the years, Morro Bay Mayor Carla Wixom wrote in an email, Dorn’s has “played a significant role in our community, serving as a gathering place for locals and visitors alike.”
“Dorn’s has not only provided exceptional dining experiences but has also been a source of employment and economic growth for our community,” said Wixom, who owns Morro Bay restaurant Carla’s Country Kitchen.
“On behalf of the entire city, I extend my heartfelt congratulations to Dorn’s restaurant on their 80 years of success in our beloved town,” Wixom said. “Congratulations and wishes for many more years of success.”
More information about Dorn’s Breakers Cafe
Dorn’s Breakers Café serves breakfast from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., lunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and dinner from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m.
For details or to order takeout, call 805-772-4415 or go to dornscafe.com.
This story was originally published July 31, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
