New pizzeria opens in SLO County. What’s on the menu at ‘loud and fun’ spot?
A bustling new restaurant whipping up wood-fired pizzas and flavorful small plates has arrived in San Luis Obispo County.
Lebber’s Pizza opened its doors at 5943 Traffic Way in Atascadero on Wednesday, Oct. 1.
A week later, the first-come, first-served pizza joint was already slammed with hungry patrons.
By 4:30 p.m., a line of customers had nearly stretched out the door of the counter-service restaurant. Several people eyed the menu and struck up conversations with friends while waiting to place their orders.
Servers navigated the crowd, bringing Caesar salads and pepperoni-topped pizzas to guests seated at indoor and al fresco tables scattered around the eatery.
Owned by married couple Caleb Salisbury and Kacee Fox, the restaurant began as a popular pizza pop-up operating out of Hubba Wines in Paso Robles’ Tin City.
Now a brick-and-mortar establishment, the San Luis Obispo County eatery is focused on highlighting local, seasonal ingredients through made-to-order pizzas and handcrafted snacks.
SLO County chef went from fine dining to pizza pop-ups
Salisbury, the architect behind Lebber’s menu, started his career in the fine dining world.
He cooked and created pastries at his family’s upscale eatery — The Cat & Custard Cup in La Habra — for several years until it shut down in 2020.
The closure was a blessing in disguise for Salisbury, who left the Los Angeles area for SLO County shortly afterward.
“It was definitely more of an uptight kind of environment, and I definitely have a more playful personality,” he told The Tribune.
Salisbury dabbled in the wine industry for a short period before he teamed up with his wife and began selling pizzas baked in a tiny Ooni pizza oven at Hubba Wines in 2021.
Salisbury said he named the pop-up operation Lebber’s Pizza after his childhood nickname Leb — short for Caleb.
It was his first time professionally making pizza dough.
“You’re kind of a slave to the dough,” he said. “You’re on its clock always ... so that was a very big learning curve.”
Over time, Salisbury figured out the perfect fermentation period for his sourdough pizza — 24 to 36 hours — and began using stone-milled flour from Cairnspring Mills in Burlington, Washington.
Salisbury said he and his wife created their “own little cult” during the three-year stint selling pizzas at Hubba Wines.
Eventually, the husband-and-wife duo upgraded to a bigger mobile pizza oven and started dreaming of launching a restaurant in North County as their customer base grew, Fox said.
In 2024, the couple ended their popular pop-up pizza nights to focus on opening a brick-and-mortar eatery in Atascadero.
They took a “nerve-wracking” year off to finally find a spot on Traffic Way and open Lebber’s Pizza, Salisbury said.
Lebber’s brings artisan pizzas to Atascadero
On Wednesday, Oct. 8, locals poured into Lebber’s Pizza as young families scarfed down an early dinner.
“It’s going great. We’ve been running around like mad men,” Salisbury laughed, as more people lined up to order pizzas.
The new Atascadero restaurant has about 40 seats, including indoor and outdoor dining options for patrons.
The vibe at Lebber’s is meant to be lively, playful and colorful, Salisbury said.
Orange stools line a counter overlooking the open kitchen while mismatched chairs found on Craigslist are arranged around wooden tables.
Fox described Lebber’s as “loud and fun” with “lots of energy in here.”
Besides the electric ambience, the wood-fired pizzas constantly coming out of a massive Fiero Forni oven are the stars of the establishment.
The pies are “farmers market-driven pizzas,” Salisbury said, featuring toppings like guanciale and pepperoni from Alle-Pia Fine Cured Meats in Atascadero and fresh veggies from local vendors.
What’s on the menu at new local pizzeria?
Lebber’s Pizza’s 10-item menu contains a salad, snacks, appetizers and four made-to-order pizzas.
Staples at the pizzeria include the Peeper-Roni pie, featuring mozzarella, pepperoni, garlic, vinegar-charred onion, Calabrian chili and basil on tomato sauce, and the Toadhead, which is covered in a lemony cream sauce, mozzarella, roasted mushrooms, guanciale, Fresno chili, Parmesan and parsley.
The menu will be in flux as seasonal ingredients become available, but Salisbury said the pizza joint will always have at least one salad available.
As of early October, the eatery offered a Caesar salad with little gem lettuce, parmesan cheese, biber breadcrumbs and a garlic-anchovy dressing.
Lebber’s Pizza is also dishing up a tomato-and-potato side dish with aji whipped feta, as well as saucy wings paired with pickled celery and green garlic ranch dressing.
“The sides and salads and the snacks on here, are just as good as all the pizza,” Fox said. “That’s one of the things that I love.”
Drink options at Lebber’s Pizza include sodas, a house-made lemonade, beer and wine. The extensive list of local and West Coast wines is curated by Fox, who works full-time at Saxum Vineyards in Paso Robles.
More budget-friendly options are available for thirsty customers, Salisbury said, including $4 cans of beer.
“We want to see as much people our ages here, not just like wine tourist people that have the bank accounts that can afford to go out,” he added.
What are open hours at Lebber’s Pizza in Atascadero?
Lebber’s Pizza is open from 2 to 8:30 p.m. from Wednesday through Saturday.
Wine, beer and snacks are sold from 2 to 4 p.m., while the full pizza menu is served from 4 to 8:30 p.m.
The casual, counter-service restaurant does not accept reservations.
