Fruits de Mer

August 7, 2014

Destination: Pismo Fish and Chips

Cost: $13.25 plus gas

Before summer slips away, I’ll record another adventure from the August road trip which took me up the California coast to Clear Lake and then back to San Francisco and the Outside Lands festival. “Day One” of vacation always hints of unlimited possibilities, so I decided to beach hop up the coastline. After leaving LA in the early morning, I got coffee and a breakfast burrito to-go in Carpinteria – perhaps my favorite Southern California beach town -  and noshed on the strand.

After exploring the Santa Ynez Valley for a while, I made a late lunch stop in Pismo Beach. While I’ve stayed in motels here, I’ve never actually explored the downtown area. I liked that it was unglamorous and apparently so did the bustle of tourists from all over the world. It didn’t hurt that it was a perfect summer day – sunny with a fresh salty breeze. The restaurants on the main drag were jammed, and I was hoping the spot I’d read about on TripAdvisor, a few blocks away at the corner of Cypress and Stimson, wouldn’t require a long wait.  

No worries – Pismo Fish and Chips had plenty of open tables. Their menu offered a variety of options with reasonable prices. Shunning the obvious choice (fish and chips, duh), I selected the half-size Shrimp Louie which seemed perfect for a summer afternoon.

This restaurant has been owned and operated by the same family for over fifty years and its old school décor was a delight, featuring a hand painted mural of Holland on one long wall.

I’d hate to see what the full sized salad looked like. My large bowl was filled to the brim with crunchy lettuce, eggs, tomatoes, olives and piles of small tender shrimp, served with a thick slice of warm and crispy Sizzler-style garlic bread. The Louis dressing was the de rigueur salmon color and brought back memories of lunches with my grandmother at the Cliff House in San Francisco. It seemed as though I ate and ate and ate – but finally waddled out into the sunshine to continue my northward journey.

The combination of friendly service, reasonable prices and fresh, tasty food made Pismo Fish and Chips a winner, and I look forward to the chance to eat my way through their menu.