A new restaurant, bodega has opened in SLO neighborhood. See what’s on the menu

Wine and a classic sit-down dinner are offerings of a new brick-and-mortar shop in downtown San Luis Obispo.

Wren Provisions at 1901 Broad St. started in San Francisco in 2019 as Wren Foods. with co-owner Kimi Walker Ahrens doing catering for parties and pop-ups at breweries and wineries.

The chef and co-owner has been working in the culinary industry for 22 years. A Cal Poly graduate from the ‘90s, Walker Ahrens worked in restaurants in San Francisco and Tel Aviv, before starting Wren Foods.

“I really can’t seem to get away from food and the creativity of it,” Walker Ahrens told The Tribune. “The whole time I was catering, I just felt that was too much volume for me.”

Walker Ahrens was “passively” looking for a space, so when the spot at 1901 Broad St. came open, she jumped on the old brick building.

The spot has hosted several short-lived eateries in recent years following the closure of the long-time Broad Street Giant Grinder Shop in 2023.

Wren Provisions opened in SLO on May 2.

“It was the perfect size,” she said. “It has such a character. It’s just a really beautiful old brick building, and looking at it, I just saw so much potential that I basically decided to go for it.”

Once the lease was signed, Walker Ahrens changed her business’ name to Wren Provisions to show the changes that having a brick-and-mortar will provide.

“That’s sort of the provisions,” she said. “During the day, you come in and just grab something to snack on. Maybe right after you get off work, you want a little snack and grab a bottle of wine for home. You have the opportunity to do that too.”

For the “wren” part of the name, the decal birds engraved on the business’ glass windows don’t tell the full story. “Wren” is a combination of Walker Ahrens’ and her husband Mike Ahrens’ last names.

“We were just talking about it one day, and we were like, ‘That’s kind of a cool little combo of our names.’ That’s actually how it came about — less about the bird,” Walker Ahrens said. “I like the name Wren.”

While grab-and-go options are in the works, Wren Provisions has a sit-down area for its restaurant section, serving Italian, Mediterranean and Japanese-influenced dishes like a seasonal crudo, manila clams, a warm mushroom toast, seasonal salad and a crab deviled egg.

Beverages to accompany the plates include wines, beers and spirit-free drinks.

“Although sometimes it can sound cliche, it really does matter to me to try to base my menu on what I find is the freshest and the most in season,” Walker Ahrens said. “Creating menus around that makes your creativity a lot easier, because the ingredients really speak for themselves.”

For more information

Wren Provisions at 1901 Broad St. is open Thursday to Saturday from 5 to 9 p.m., and its grab-and-go provisions section will be open Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For more information about the business, visit wrenprovisions.com.

This story was originally published July 16, 2025 at 5:00 AM.