Chicken shack and smokehouse

Super tasty grub! Brought the kids to see the animals at Avila Barn and was pleasantly surprised by the food options.. ice cream was fantastic. Same goes for the tritip sandwich and Mac and cheese. Only wish there was more bbq sauce on the sando. Small gripe. Lovely place!

Outdoor seating with good food. It's self serve to order and pick up. Chicken and pulled pork were both good. Cute farm zoo next door with gift shop with honey and pies. It can get busy on nice days on the weekends.

Been enjoying the food here for a couple years now. The spot is great since we can sit on the benches or the grass to enjoy music or just relax. The service even during busy summer days is pretty fast all things considered, I think the longest wait we had has been about 20 minutes. During the weekdays or off-peak times our food is usually out in 5 minutes or so. It's good food and a fun place that we like to visit regularly.
The tri-tip sandwich is tasty, though I wish it were rarer. It is great that the include the salsa and BBQ sauce with it. The meat despite being basically well done is still really tender.
Their fried chicken sandwich is among the best in the SLO area I think, big chicken breast, nice seasoning, and crunchy throughout with a nice slaw on it. I think the only thing missing is being able to adjust the spice levels like other places.
Pulled pork sandwich is one of our go to sandwiches, it is always loaded up, juicy and delicious. Having the bbq with the nice crunchy slaw and onions makes for a great treat. We usually split it because it is big and messy. The pickles here are great, not sure if they do it in house or not, but they are really good and it is how we found out our toddler likes pickles.
I decided to try the chili dog on our last visit and was shocked at the size of it. There was practically a bowl of chili on top of their hot dog. Great amount of food and perfect for the cooler weather. I don't know if I would get it again just because of needing a spoon to eat it, but it was delicious.

This place is so amazing!! Great to bring kids to as well. My favorite thing is to do the hike nearby and then end at the chicken shack for lunch. Like hike is amazing and ending at Avila farms for a delicious meal ends the day on a great note. Plus you can stop by and feed all the cute little animals and check out the farm right next door!!

Kid-friendliness: amazing for kids

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 5

Service: 5

I have been looking to check this place out. The atmosphere was fun with tons of people, live music, beautiful outdoors, and lots of farm animals. Unfortunately, there was way too much breading on the chicken. I literally couldn't taste anything but breading. It was also supposed to be hot chicken and there was no spice. I broke it up and the coleslaw on the sandwich was great. The chicken without the breading was moist and tasty. Maybe it was just my piece, but seems like they need to use larger pieces of chicken with less breading and more hot sauce. The house pickles were good.

Atmosphere: 5

Food: 3

Service: 4

One of the best casual meals in SLO County we've ever had. Outstanding in every way down to the smallest details. We will definitely be back the next time we pass through!