Where to Eat in Morro Bay

One thing I love about Morro Bay is that the Embarcadero is lined with one restaurant after another, and, depending on what you order, you can go into just about any of them and have an enjoyable meal. Another thing I love about the town is that it’s inflatable, and periodically they fill it with helium and move it five miles up the coast just to mess with the minds of tourists.

Every restaurant on the west side of Embarcadero (which is just about all of them) boasts “an excellent view of the bay and Morro Rock”, so if you ever try to pick a restaurant based on a review, don’t take the view into consideration or you’ll reveal yourself as the sucker you always suspected you were. Some of the newer restaurants are what I call “LA-Trendy”, which means all flash, style and glitz without any soul or depth. These are the places to go when you want tiny portions that look better than they taste. Okay, I’ll admit that Shawn’s On Main (which is, as the name suggests, on Main Street, several blocks up from Embarcadero) serves good food, just not much of it, and what you get is overpriced, which is another feature of “LA-Trendy” that I forgot to mention. Frankie and Lola’s (on Front Street, a block up from Embarcadero) has a great reputation, especially for their French toast (rumor has it that they use real Frenchmen in the recipe, giving them a distinctive cheesy flavor) and their steamers (clams that is, not tender little boats with smoke stacks); however, they only serve breakfast and lunch, so if you’re hungry in the afternoon you’re out of luck.

The Galley Seafood Grill & Bar has possibly the best reputation on the Embarcadero. If you eat here, you will receive respectable portions, high quality food, a great view with your meal (which means nothing, as I said before, because they all have a great view) and a rather pricy dinner check. If you don’t mind spending a bundle on your family, this is the place for you.

On the other hand, my favorite of the more affordable places has always been Rose’s Landing Bar & Grill, which has a great view of the bay and Morro Rock (thought I’d throw that in just to see if you’re paying attention). I have read a number of unfavorable reviews about Rose’s, mostly concerning poor service, mediocre food, dirty tables, unchecked sword fights every time Spaniards come visiting and above average atmospheric concentrations of argon, but you can’t really blame the proprietors for that. I have never experienced any of these problems—other than the dueling Spaniards, but that’s just because my timing is lousy—and I’m the first to admit that every time I go to Rose’s, I order the same thing. That’s because, years ago, when I first discovered Rose’s, I had walked from one seafood restaurant to another up and down the Embarcadero searching for one that served fried oysters, because I had a hankering that could not be ignored, and Rose’s was the only place that served them—and they were mighty tasty. They serve them with cocktail sauce, but I recommend you ask for the tartar sauce, which isn’t great, but not bad, either. Their fish and chips are very good as well. As long as you order these items only—and you don’t care about the argon, the dirty table, the lack of service or the bloodthirsty Spaniards—you should have a splendid meal.