Native Lounge
1023 Chorro St
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
(805) 547-5544‎

A little over a year ago the overpriced and unnoteworthy Mission Grill was replaced by Native Lounge, a trendy big city club that set a new bar for classy drinking in an otherwise average small college town. Native stripped the old wood decor in favour of glass sliding walls and a shiny silver bar. The dining room was replaced with a good sized dance floor, and the tables were replaced with modern sectionals for reclining and tiny drink tables to hold the small plates and mojitos. It was shaping up to be the best thing that ever happened to San Luis Obispo’s nightlife, and for a time it was.

Native operates as a restaurant during the afternoon and early evening until about 9 when the music picks up and it reorients itself as a lounge. After about 10:30 on weekend nights it reverts to more of a bar and club with mostly upper classmen and sophisticates from the Bay area or Los Angeles that enjoy a collared shirt requirement and a $5 cover charge. I first heard of Native soon after I turned 21 when the head chef Charles A. came into the olive oil store I worked at on repeated Farmer’s Market nights. We got to talking food and olive oil and inevitably he invited me to try out the restaurant. He explained that the restaurant had a tiny fridge capacity and he used the Farmer’s market to stock up on fresh local produce and a bottle of olive oil for every weekend. Local food freshly procured! I set a date and a few days later there I was with 6 of my friends. Charles A. is the best chef in San Luis Obispo, and when he’s preparing the meals there is no better restaurant in the town. Unfortunately, most often he isn’t preparing the meals and the food is just so so and I picked up the habit of going only if I know he is working. But when he is cooking it’s as good as any restaurant in any big city.

Native has the trendy small plate envisionment of food which allows for maximum sampling (a plus) and maximum cost (a negative). To start, I picked out the Armenian special, since Charles A. is Armenian I figured he’d be able to do a good job with this one, Parmesan and White Truffle Fries, and Baby Purple Artichoke Hearts served Crispy. All of these plates were absolutely bursting with flavour. Since truffle is my favourite flavour, of course the fries were stupendous and one order of those was enough to go around and then some. The artichoke hearts were the most unusual dish, but I have to admit easily as my favourite of the night. Sadly they no longer serve the artichoke hearts at the moment but hopefully I’ll persuade a comeback for it. For the entree small plates we got a wide assortment: Duck Confit empenadas, Meatloaf Sliders, Ostrich medallions on black rice with a sweet spicy sauce, Kimchi Chicken Wraps, and the fantastic Tuna Tartare tacos with Avocado Tempura. The Tuna Tacos were the best of the entrees and the avocado was so surprisingly good I don’t understand why more restaurants don’t do it. The Ostrich was cooked just right and spicy enough even for a chili fiend like myself. I was most unimpressed by the Meatloaf sliders, and the Duck empanadas were a little sparing on the duck although still delicious. For dessert Charles brought out Petron Chocolate Expresso Granites which were sweet, sexy, and the best way to end a meal.

Then there are the drinks. Native like most clubs and restaurants makes most of its money from the drink menu and do they have some fantastic drinks. All the mojitos are first rate, I tried a strawberry mojito and it ws stunning. My favourite drinks they offer are made with Dry sodas and the rhubarb soda based drink is as good as any classy club’s. And lest I forget, Native has a hibiscus champagne with a whole edible flower that’s to die for. The negative is the drinks are small and expensive so bring a big wallet if you’re planning on drinking a lot because they are dear.

Native was fun for a long time bringing big city djs to a town devoid of good club music. After establishing a good name for themselves, Native hired some local djs that unfortunately had the effect of ruining the good music and replacing it with crap top 40 hip-hop and R&B hits that play at every other bar in town. Now I primarily go for the food and only return on friends’ requests during my downtown sojourns. On occasion they bring in out of town djs and those are always parties worth attending. More information on special nights can be found at their website.