Popular SLO sandwich spot vandalized overnight
A popular San Luis Obispo sandwich spot was the victim of vandalism on Monday night.
Outdoor furniture and decor at High Street Deli’s original location in SLO was covered in writing Tuesday morning, the restaurant posted on Instagram.
The business was vandalized the same day as the local chain was having a soft launch opening of its second SLO location on the other side of town.
Writing in a light blue marker covered the outdoor bar, multiple tables and a family heirloom sign, owner Randy “Doobie” Coates told The Tribune. The writing appeared to be mostly nonsensical, with most S’s replaced by dollar signs.
Most of the writing was able to be washed off the wooden bar and other tables before opening at 11 a.m. Tuesday morning, but Coates said the vandalism on a red vintage restaurant sign from his great-grandparent’s hotel, the Gibson House, that hung outdoors would have to be professionally cleaned.
“I’ll probably have to get a guy to come stand everything down,” Coates said. “It sucks because we just did that.”
The words “that$ funny it u$e too $ay hear$t,” could still be seen on the sign Tuesday afternoon. Though mostly scrubbed clean, faint markings still remained on the wooden bar, too.
Coates estimated the damage may cost a couple of thousand dollars worth of cleanup and restoration.
Is there a suspect?
Multiple other local businesses commented under High Street Deli’s Instagram post reporting they’d also been recent victims of similar vandalism.
Employees spoke to the police and shared security footage, which showed a suspect police were familiar with — a local homeless resident, Coates said.
San Luis Obispo Police Department spokesperson Christine Wallace said the agency has a suspect and the investigation is ongoing.
This story was originally published June 30, 2026 at 2:50 PM.
