SLO County restaurant briefly shut down due to rodent activity

One restaurant had a rodent issue, two had issues with employee handwashing and several had problems with keeping food the correct temperature.

Those were some of the notable conditions San Luis Obispo County health inspectors found in December 2025 during dozens of surprise visits to eating and drinking establishments.

Many food and beverage sellers passed with flying colors, while others needed to make serious improvements. Every month, The Tribune prints the lowest- and highest-ranked eateries to give diners more information about the places where they buy food and drinks.

Inspectors visit restaurants, bars, coffee shops, grocery stores, mini-marts and more on a monthly basis. They score eateries on a 0-point scale and make deductions based on the severity of the violations they find. Negative scores represent businesses with violations, while a restaurant with a score of 0 received a perfect score.

This is a change from the agency’s previous scoring system, which ranked eateries on a 100-point scale.

To check out the safety and cleanliness of your favorite restaurants around the county, visit EatSafeSLO.org and use the interactive map to view full inspection reports.

Here are the highs and lows of the 156 inspections Environmental Health employees conducted in December 2025.

Lowest-rated restaurants

Me-n-Ed’s, 110 Mary Ave., Nipomo, CA

Points lost: 62

Notes: The Nipomo pizza joint lost a number of points for repeat violations during its routine inspection in December, including the presence of fruit flies throughout the facility and a build up of food debris in the restaurant’s pizza pan shelving. There was also a noted accumulation of food debris and grime underneath the equipment, according to the inspection notes, and a need to refinish the concrete floor in the most high-traffic areas. Other notable violations included an employee wiping their gloved hands on their apron rather than changing gloves and too-warm refrigeration units. The latter violation prompted a warning for the restaurant to fix its refrigerators ahead of a reinspection the next day or potentially face further penalties.

La Palapa Baywood, 1346 2nd St., Los Osos

Points lost: 56

Notes: La Palapa temporarily shut down in December, after an imminent threat to public health was allegedly found at the establishment during its routine inspection. According to inspection notes, an inspector observed evidence of rodent activity in the restaurant on Dec. 2. Though the initial report said evidence of rodent activity was found near the hot line, restaurant co-owner Monica Flores told The Tribune this was not the case, and that the evidence — which she characterized as some rodent droppings — were limited to areas away from active food preparation. In light of the findings, the restaurant was ordered to close until it had remedied the issue and obtained permission to reopen from the county Health Department.

Other notable violations found during the initial inspection included a slightly too-warm walk-in cooler, fish being improperly defrosted in the hand sink and an “accumulation of unused equipment in the courtyard behind the restaurant,” the inspection notes said.

The restaurant was approved to reopen the following day, Dec. 3. A follow-up inspection dated Dec. 18 found no health code issues at the restaurant.

The La Palapa family shared the following statement with The Tribune regarding the inspection results:

“La Palapa is our family’s livelihood and our heart. For many years, we have poured our time, hard work, and love into this restaurant, and we take great pride in serving our community. We acted immediately and worked closely with the health department to address everything that was requested. The matter was resolved quickly, and we were able to reopen the very next day.

We understand how alarming it can be for the public to read reports like this, and we want our customers to know that some of the information originally shared did not accurately reflect what actually occurred. As part of our ongoing commitment to safety and cleanliness, we work with a professional pest control service and take proactive measures to prevent issues before they arise. Our commitment to cleanliness, safety and integrity has never changed. We stand behind our restaurant, our team and the standards we uphold every single day. We are deeply grateful for the trust and continued support our community has shown our family, and we look forward to continuing to serve with honesty, care and pride.”

Raku Ramen, 799 Foothill Blvd., San Luis Obispo

Points lost: 41

Notes: The San Luis Obispo ramen restaurant was ordered to be reinspected after its routine December inspection revealed a number of violations during. According to inspection notes, the food handler in charge of ramen “was not able to demonstrate knowledge of required cold holding temperatures” while another employee did not wash their hands before putting on a new pair of gloves. Meanwhile, several potentially hazardous foods — like shelled soft-boiled eggs, cooked pork belly and cooked cabbage — were being held without temperature control. The restaurant also didn’t have a probe thermometer suitable for measuring cold temperatures available at the time of inspection

Morenos Taqueria, 704 Dolliver St. Pismo Beach

Points lost: 39

Notes: The Pismo Beach restaurant was another ordered to be reinspected in December after its routine inspection revealed a number of health code violations. Many of the restaurant’s issues centered around proper washing and sink use, including that employees were not washing hands between tasks, there was no soap or paper towel at the kitchen handwashing sink and a mop sink was blocked by equipment and not in use. The inspector also noted there was evidence of a past cockroach issue with sticky traps, dead cockroaches and feces, though no current infestation seemed to exist. The restaurant was ordered to remove all evidence of the past issue and immediately clean and sanitize all floors, equipment and surfaces. Dishes were also not being properly washed and sanitized, according to inspection notes, and several food containers throughout the facility’s refrigerators did not have lids.

Morro Bay Golf Course, 201 State Park Road, Morro Bay

Points lost: 38

Notes: The Morro Bay Golf Course voluntarily chose to temporarily close in December after an inspector observed some evidence of rodent activity at the site. According to inspection notes, rodent droppings and urine stains were found in the clean towel storage area near the bread storage, in the dry storage area on the tops of canned food and on clean food storage utensils and under the bar near the ice storage bin. The golf course was then told to have a pest control company service the area, seal all cracks and crevices and remove sources of water or food that can support a vermin population. The golf course also lost points for several other violations found during the inspection, including breading fish over clean towel storage, an open container of grease on a lower shelf of a pantry, food debris on a deli slicer that is cleaned once a week and a cold top cooler not keeping food items at the correct temperature.

These businesses also lost 30 or more points due to violations.

• Los Berros Market Deli, 2021 Los Berros Road, Arroyo Grande
• Shandon Market & Deli, 240 El Centre St., Shandon
• Food4Less, 1132 W. Branch St., Arroyo Grande

Highest-rated restaurants

These stores and restaurants received scores of 0, with few to no violations.

San Luis Obispo

• Abbott Apartments, 1807 Abbott St.
• Anderson Social, 951 Monterey St.
• Bon Temps Creole Cafe, 1819 Osos St.
• Central Coast Brewing, 6 Higuera St.
• Crossroads Liquor & Deli, 3211 Broad St., Ste 101
• Efren’s SLO Mexican Restaurant, 1285 Laurel Lane
• Inn At San Luis Obispo, 1895 Monterey St.
• La Quinta Inn & Suites, 1845 Monterey St.
• Lahaina’s, 3975 S. Higuera St., Ste 120
• Mission View Health Center, 1425 Woodside Drive
• Pine Apartments, 885 Leff St.
• Pure Green SLO, 848 Higuera St.
• Royal Oak Motor Hotel, 214 Madonna Road
• San Luis Post Acute Center, 3033 Augusta St.
• Sinsheimer SLO Swim Center, 900 Southwood Drive
• Starbucks Coffee #6731, 3970 Broad St., Ste #1
• Subway, 158 Higuera St., Ste D

North Coast

• Groggy Scallywag Coffee House, 571 Embarcadero, Ste A, Morro Bay
• Hungry Fisherman, 399 Beach St., Morro Bay
• Morro Bay Golf Course, 201 State Park Road, Morro Bay (reinspection)
• The Brightside, 1236 Los Osos Valley Road, Ste A, Los Osos

South County

• Avila Beach Market, 354 Front St., Avila Beach
• The Beauty Lab, 261 W Dana St, Ste 261, Nipomo
• Brix Wine Bar, 753 Shell Beach Road, Pismo Beach
• Gilligan’s Sandwich Shop & Twisted Sodas, 671 W. Tefft St., Ste 11, Nipomo
• Kon Tiki Inn, 1621 Price St., Pismo Beach
• Pismo Beach Athletic Club, 1751 Price St., Pismo Beach
• Pismo Sands RV Resort, 2220 Cienaga St., Oceano

North County

• ABC Cafe-Sunroom Coffee, 6225 Atascadero Ave., Atascadero
• ABC Prep Kitchen, 6225 Atascadero Mall, Atascadero
• Adelaida Cellars, 5805 Adelaida Road, Paso Robles
• Barney Schwartz Park #1, 2970 Union Road, Paso Robles
• Barney Schwartz Park #2, 2970 Union Road, Paso Robles
• Brown Butter Cookie Company, 801 12th St., Paso Robles
• California Coast Beer Co, 1346 Railroad St., Paso Robles
• Cane Tiki Room, 1240 Park St., Paso Robles
• Changala Winery, 3770 Willow Creek Road, Paso Robles
• Colony Cinemas, 6917 El Camino Real, Ste #i, Atascadero
• Fish Gaucho, 1244 Park St., Paso Robles
• Happy Bites, 8075 El Camino Real, Atascadero
• Jersey Mikes, 8304 El Camino Real, Atascadero
• La Luz Del Mundo, 2055 Riverside Ave., Paso Robles
• La Salsa Market LLC, 120 N 3rd St., Shandon
• Le Cuvier Winery, 3333 Vine Hill Lane, Paso Robles
• Le Dolce Vita, 98 S Main St., Ste #A, Templeton
• Lxv Wine Live Area LLC, 1306 Pine St., Ste B, Paso Robles
• McDonalds #26241, 2715 Black Oak Drive, Paso Robles
• Paso Robles Mart - I & S C-stores Inc, 2340 Spring St., Paso Robles
• Paso Robles Swim & Tennis Club, 2975 Union Road, Paso Robles
• Serial Wines, 1226 Park St., Paso Robles
• Slow / Rush, 915 13th St., Paso Robles
• Sticky USA, 3777 Ruth Way, Unit B, Paso Robles
• Tea Trolley, 5932 Entrada Ave., Atascadero
• The Full Belly Deli, 1718 Commerce Way, Paso Robles
• Trader Joe’s #211, 1111 Rossi Road, Templeton

This story was originally published January 14, 2026 at 10:47 AM.