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CLOSED: Big Sky Cafe
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16
Closed
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Veg-options
Serves meat, vegan options available. Busy restaurant billed as "fresh market cuisine." Its varied lunch and dinner menus feature a handful of vegetarian and vegan items, marked. Has a vegetarian bahn mi sandwich (with tofu), vegetable spring rolls, black bean chili, noodle bowl with choice of tofu, local fresh vegetable plate. Breakfast items contain egg/dairy (no vegan). 20 wine selection from the local vineyards. Casual and spacious with red tile floors, oak wood furniture, some mission style decor. Reported closed October 2023.
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1121 Broad St (at Higuera St, downtown), San Luis Obispo, California, USA, 93401
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- Outdoor seating
- Wheelchair accessible
- Accepts credit cards
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Last update on 16 Oct 2023 by moretofuplease
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17 Reviews
First Review by hespedal
paigembf
Points +16
Disappointing - Edit
We didn’t have a great experience at all!
Read moreOrdered the Brussels & cauliflower which both have a Vegan V next to them. Came out with feta & a non vegan dipping sauce (which wasn’t stated on the menu)
They had to go back and change them.
The vegan paella was not edible! Had a terrible after taste and veggies were still raw.
Salad wasn’t great either.
There was also a sewerage smell that didn’t help the situation.
Guest
adri5995
Points +27
Great food and Great Service - Edit
Very friendly service and love the food. We always get the Big Sky Bowl with tofu, polenta fries and sweet potato fries.
Read morePros: Vegan Options
Cons: Expensive
Guest
missfury
Points +285
Great staff, good food! - Edit
This wasn’t our first choice for dinner, but we are glad we tried it. Vegan paella was delicious, fruit crisp was very tasty.
Read morePros: Tasty vegan options, clearly marked, Very nice staff, reasonable with good portions
Guest
rebsy
Points +120
Solid vegan options - Edit
I really enjoyed the vegan chopped salad and asparagus with balsamic reduction. My husband liked the noodle bowl. Drinks were cheap compared to what we have in LA. The complimentary rolls are vegan. Service was a bit slow. I thought the atmosphere was nice and think this would be a great place to dine in mixed (dietary preference) company.
Read moreGuest
vegankatiexoxo
Points +155
good but could be a whole lot better - Edit
The atmosphere is very casual and on a hot day, it's hot inside since there's no air conditioning, it's just open to the outside. We ordered the spring rolls which were really tasty and came with two different sauces, both good. The black bean burger was less than impressive. It was very dry... the bread and the patty were both dry. Charged $2 for a couple slices of avocado to be added. The chili was very tasty. Be careful though they serve the soups with cheese unless otherwise specified. I really liked the veggie pozole but it had pumpkin seeds in it which wasn't my favorite so I picked them out. The regular and sweet potato fries were delicious. Hibiscus tea was good too. We got the fruit crisp with no whip for desert but that was really disappointing. It was super watery and not crispy at all. It tasted like watery oatmeal.
Read morePros: chili beans, veggie pozole , fries
Cons: burger was dry, fruit crisp was mushy and watery, cheese was served on their soups
Guest
Osty
Points +65
top non vegan restaurant in SLO - Edit
Before switching to a plant based diet Big Sky Cafe was our favorite vacation spot on the central coast. We enjoyed the menu so much we would often times eat breakfast and dinner there all in one day. We still enjoy frequenting the restaurant as they do offer vegan options and the staff is very accommodating to substitute items expanding their vegan options.
Read morePros: black bean chili, salads
Cons: few options on the menu.
Guest
Popcorn!
Points +135
Elegant and Memorable - Edit
Great for vegans and non-vegans alike! Tasty, different (And very fresh!) food. I would recommend their pancakes, fruit cobbler and spiced apple cider. Service is very helpful and knows the menu! Not necessarily cheap, but reasonable for an elegant, satisfying meal.
Read moreGuest
moretofuplease
Points +548
Not so vegan-friendly - Edit
Big Sky is a well-established semi-upscale eatery. Their menu is marked with about ten "V" symbols, which the menu explains are items that "can be made vegan". As it turns out, making something vegan means taking away essential parts of the dish and either having no replacement or having an unsuitable replacement. For example, the flatbread with hummus and baba ganouj is made with butter, and the server offered no other bread to go with (he suggested cucumber slices). The vegan option on the Reuben Sandwich is replacing the meat with beet slices, and no replacement for the thousand island dressing (we sent that one back). I had the Noodle Bowl with Tofu, which is one of the few vegan items worth pursuing. Nice place, just wish they were as vegan-friendly as their menu leads you to believe.
Read morePros: Atmosphere, Late hours, Menu clearly marked
Cons: Vegan items are lesser-quality, A little pricey
Guest
amberleyp
Points +16
Good Food, Awesome sraff - Edit
Adorable venue in a really cute part of downtown. There is some limited parking right across the street from the café. The staff was very knowledgeable about their menu. Only let down was their breakfast variety. The food was good for my family who are 'normal eaters', but sadly my only option (vegan, gluten-free, no added sugar) was steel-cut oatmeal dashed with some cinnamon and a tiny side plate of fruit.
Read morePros: Parking, Helpful staff, Great veg/non menu combo
Cons: Bad veg breakfast selection
Guest
OrganicSTL
Points +18
Love their use of local ingredients! - Edit
This restaurant focuses on local ingredients and seems to do a lot for the community in terms of fund raisers and their community involvement. If in the area, we would recommend this restaurant because of these good practice attempts, along with the tasty food. Check out our blog for more info!
Read morehttp://www.organicstl.com/bigskycafe/
Guest
fiddletunes
Points +33
Food OK, but not spectacular - Edit
We went here for my birthday and ordered spring rolls, a tofu dish and veggie burger (all are supposed to be vegan) and none of this was very flavorful. My husband asked them to bring a vegan dessert for my birthday and it was a fruit crisp that was excellent. The restaurant is busy and therefore service was slow. The seating was tight, causing customers to bump into each other leaving and coming back to their seats. The prices for the appetizers and entrees were higher than I thought the food we ordered was worth. While the dessert was excellent, we won't be returning.
Read morePros: excellent dessert
Cons: slow service, bland, uninspired food, tight seating arrangement
Guest
mickeythemystic
Points +54
Great vegetarian options - Edit
Have eaten here many times -- they always have unique vegetarian food on the menu.
Read morePros: Creative vegetarian food choices
Guest
Chia
Points +3635
Busy, okay food - Edit
I had read about this place on happycow and decided to stop in on my way from San Francisco to Los Angeles 2 weeks ago. Here's my Big Sky Cafe review.
Read moreI went during lunchtime on a Thursday, and the place was packed with diners. Seemed like such as popular place. The host at the door directed me to the bar for the waitress to take my to-go order. I took my food outside to eat -- didn't want to wait for a seat & order.
I got the vegetarian bahn mi sandwich with fries as my choice of side (salad, soup, or fries), $8.95. The sandwich was a decent attempt at a Vietnamese sandwich but did not taste very ethnic to me; it was filling though: french roll filled with grilled tofu, pickeled slices of onion/daikon/carrot, and mustard. The fries were very good, even the cold ones I saved for later.
While the menu marks which items are vegetarian/vegan, it was still primarily a meat-centric menu. And it seemed that most of the other diners were ordering meat stuff (I looked at what other people were eating).
Pros: good fries, sandwich not bad, friendly waitress
Cons: meat
Guest
irlandaise
Points +149
Not great... - Edit
The ambiance of this place is like a southwestern TGI Fridays - totally cheesy theme restaurant vibe. The menu had a few vegan options, but when our food came it didn't seem very fresh and was not flavorful at all. I ordered some sort of noodle bowl and ended up feeling pretty gross after eating it - how do you OVERCOOK a noodle bowl?! Seemed like it had been sitting for a while. The service was friendly but they seated us all the way in the back by the kitchen door when there were plenty of booths and nicer tables available (they said they were ALL reserved - hard to believe.) If you need something fast and casual this restaurant will serve in a pinch, but I don't recommend it (especially considering all the other options San Luis Obispo has to offer!)
Read morePros: Casual, Cheap
Cons: Not very fresh, Not very flavorful
Guest
magicrabbits
Points +31
Great food, been eating there many years. - Edit
I have never been dissapointed at Big Sky. One of my favorite dishes is the Vegetarian Postole. Have it without the cheese and cornbread, you have a delicious vegan dish. The steel cut oats are great, and they asked if I had any dietary requirements. I got exactly what I wanted. As far as the tofu situation from another reviewer, I'll ask them to fix it the way I want it. At least one soup was vegan each time I came in. Bean burgers, were not my favorite, a little spicy for me. If you love spicy, then get the bean burger. We loved the fruit salsd, however it would be nice to have a vegan yogurt with it. Just a suggestion. Service and food was good. I come from Bakersfield and get to San Luis a couple times a year. I recommend this for good eats.
Read morePros: oatmeal, fruit salad, vegi postole
Guest
veggefatale
Points +45
Great Food! Great service! - Edit
There are many vegan and vegetarian options here. One of the soups of the day is usually vegan. The complimentary wheat rolls are as well. The staff is very knowledgeable and friendly. Amazing place to eat!
Read morePros: Great food, Great service, Great art
Cons: Sometimes busy, Sometimes pricey
Guest
hespedal
Points +34
Not worth it for breakfast - Edit
I went in for breakfast very excited about trying a place that I had been told has vegan entrees. I found that they only serve breakfast before 11am and that their only vegan breakfast items were fruit and steel-cut oats. After exclaiming this to the counter guy, he said they would sub tofu for any of the egg scrambles for a vegan breakfast. I think: "great! I will just get this one with tofu and sans cheese.. great vegan breakfast!"
Read moreI was wrong. The dish came back as cubes of flavorless, barely cooked tofu. Tofu scrambles are quiet possibly the easiest thing to make (especially with tofu), so I was disappointed in the chefs abilities.
Guest
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