The food was outstanding as was the waitress, she was attentive without hovering The outdoor patio was lovely Good location, within walking distance of our hotel and shopping
John S.
Four of us older males had a great dinner experience on a Thursday evening @ 8:00am in early June, 2022, at the Ciopinot restaurant located @ 1049 Nipomo St, San Luis Obispo. As wine makers, we were in town for a wine convention, so wanted to go to a highly rated restaurant that not only had good food but appreciated good, local wines. We ended up bringing a great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that we purchased at a great nearby wine store, SLO Wine & Beer, since Ciopinot offers free corkage on one bottle per party, and only $25 per bottle corkage otherwise. The restaurant has an extensive selection of Pinots and other wines available to its customers. We all enjoyed our food that included Oysters and Mexican Stuffed Prawns appetizers, Apple Walnut and Caesar Salads, Chilean Seabass, Northern Halibut and whole Dungeness crabs. We also had a bottle of Chablis from the restaurant. The owner, Leonard Cohen, was very personable and spend some time talking to us about local wines and the food offerings at his restaurant. His two female wait staff were excellent as well. All in all, the four of us from San Diego had a great experience eating dinner @ Ciopinot and will return again given the opportunity.
Carlos Alfaro
Great food, pasta, the Ribeye steak was amazing and also good wine from local central cost wineries.
V L.
Extensive menu very hospitable, if you like wine they have a great wine list and we experienced a great service.
Ellie S.
Had dinner here and was really looking forward to it. It is pricey so it was a splurge and we were disappointed. First of all, or server was really bad. Spilled water and just left it, had not brought our cocktails after two asks, tried to pour our wine before our cocktail came, served our food before our cocktail came, had to ask for bread twice, didn't bring silverware, didn't check in, it was bad. He just did not seem to care at all, it was weird. (We are polite, respectful and treat servers nicely). Our appetizers (the crab claws and the mussels in wine sauce ) were okay, not spectacular, but good enough. There were three of us, we ordered Sea bass, Cioppino, and Halibut. The Halibut was small, thin and average. The Sea Bass was actually very good, definitely the winner of the evening. The Cioppino was the big disappointment, the broth was more like salsa, the fish and particularly the shrimp had clearly been left in the broth far too long and were overcooked, I mean REALLY overcooked. It was sad but I did not even eat the shrimp because they were really rubbery. At the end of the fairly disappointing experience, we got our check and they had added a drink we did not get, so kind of a fail there too. (If you do go here check your bill before paying) I will say that when he finally did bring the cocktails they were good especially the smoked old fashioned so the bartender is good. Unfortunately that is not enough, we will not be coming back.
O O.
Hmmm... where to begin. To be fair the special appetizers of the day, the mussels in a wine garlic broth served with French fries - moules frites - was good. The mussels were fresh and tender which saved the entire dish. The fries were fine at best but the minute my 10 year old refused to eat them, I should've seen the warning signs. It's like watching a bad horror movie. You the audience see the signs and you're like Don't order more food, don't do it , but no, the characters still need to play the whole thing out and so yes, we did. We started out with the moules frites. We ordered clams with linguine, prawns with fettuccine, the halibut and the rib-eye steak, the latter two which were both recommended to us. I had high hope for the seafood after the mussels but alas, the clams were rubbery and the shrimp tasted like it was defrosted from months of freezing. All very lackluster in terms of freshness. On top of that, the "tomato cream sauce" for the shrimp fettuccine was tasteless, the pasta over cooked and overall, just a bad dish. Both children ate less than half their dishes. I would say that the pasta dishes here are below even what you'd expect at an average no name Italian restaurant. It's epically bad when children who live on carbs refuse to eat them. We also had the rib-eye, which looked so impressive but alas, I thought it tasted bland. Finally, we had halibut, which I think wasn't halibut at all. The whole time I was eating the fish something was not right but I was so tired and hungry I didn't think about it. But then I got home and looked at the photo I took and I realized I was given Sole or some other white fish and not halibut! I'm almost positive. I'll attach a photo so you can see. Additionally, I don't eat starchy roots so I asked not to have the Pomme Anna that the dish came with. I was going to ask if the asparagus or something other could be substituted. The waitress interrupted me and said, you want double veggies instead? I said yes and she literally just gave me double steamed broccoli. It was the most unrefined, unimaginative kitchen I have ever encountered. Maybe it's her fault and she told them the lady wants double giant awkward cut broccoli but still, any self respecting decent kitchen would be like, no, that looks terrible and literally no one wants to eat that much broccoli and should've done something else. Maybe I expect too much because, I don't know, most kitchens where I pay $50 for halibut usually know how to do their plates correctly... but whatever... So why am I writing this long review = so some of you will know, it's not worth it. All this mediocrity cost close to $250 and tasted like it should cost $70. This place is not worth it. They price everything as if they're find dining, but the food is stuck in about two decades behind. this is definitely where Yelp failed me and I had to let others know. Not worth it. Go around the corner to Mistura where I had a lovely, delicious meal.
Lucy Z.
Came here thinking that it would be a nice special occasion place. The cioppino which is their signature was really bland and not tasty. The wines were not great either. I think we ordered one of the price year options and were underwhelmed.Overall they are overpriced for what they offer. However I haven't been back since they switched store front locations with their sister restaurant. Maybe it's gotten better?
Tyler W.
Ordered 3 items off the menu and everything was made to perfection. Was greeted the second we stepped in the door by a very kind gentleman. Took the time after our meal on the way out to chat with us about our experience. Talk about professional. The staff is clean cut and very high quality. Thank you again! Will be back soon.
Michael S.
If you are in the mood for seafood, this is the best in SLO. The service is excellent, the atmosphere very pleasant, and the quality of the food is excellent, and very well prepared.
Seaside299663
Service was excellent. The food prepared very well, and it was excellent quality seafood. Highly recommend their food.
Excellent service and food ! Have tried many meals over the years , never disappointed ! Amazing wine list and servers educated in pairing and wine choices !
steven guthauser
Very attentive service, nice surroundings and good food. The fish is fresh and prepared with the minimum of extra spices so you enjoy the freshness of fish. Sadly the stuffed shrimp were deep fried way too long . Still tasty but overcooked.Price wise the food was very expensive however I'm not that familiar with Central coast costs so maybe it's all very expensive. If you are interested in good fresh fish and have a good supply of money this is a very nice place
Robert Krivak
It ain't cheap, but it's our (the wife's & my) favorite for seafood when we visit the area. She loves the Mexican Stuffed Prawns and a nice glass of wine; I, the no-work Cioppino, or some oysters and fresh fish.
Cristina Suarez
Great seafood food in downtown SLO.
Charles Alexander
A very special place for us when visiting SLO. It was our anniversary and the food was very good. You never know what apitizing specials they might have that day. Can't go wrong with the fresh oysters. Great service too!
The food was outstanding as was the waitress, she was attentive without hovering The outdoor patio was lovely Good location, within walking distance of our hotel and shopping
Four of us older males had a great dinner experience on a Thursday evening @ 8:00am in early June, 2022, at the Ciopinot restaurant located @ 1049 Nipomo St, San Luis Obispo. As wine makers, we were in town for a wine convention, so wanted to go to a highly rated restaurant that not only had good food but appreciated good, local wines. We ended up bringing a great Chardonnay and Pinot Noir that we purchased at a great nearby wine store, SLO Wine & Beer, since Ciopinot offers free corkage on one bottle per party, and only $25 per bottle corkage otherwise. The restaurant has an extensive selection of Pinots and other wines available to its customers. We all enjoyed our food that included Oysters and Mexican Stuffed Prawns appetizers, Apple Walnut and Caesar Salads, Chilean Seabass, Northern Halibut and whole Dungeness crabs. We also had a bottle of Chablis from the restaurant. The owner, Leonard Cohen, was very personable and spend some time talking to us about local wines and the food offerings at his restaurant. His two female wait staff were excellent as well. All in all, the four of us from San Diego had a great experience eating dinner @ Ciopinot and will return again given the opportunity.
Great food, pasta, the Ribeye steak was amazing and also good wine from local central cost wineries.
Extensive menu very hospitable, if you like wine they have a great wine list and we experienced a great service.
Had dinner here and was really looking forward to it. It is pricey so it was a splurge and we were disappointed. First of all, or server was really bad. Spilled water and just left it, had not brought our cocktails after two asks, tried to pour our wine before our cocktail came, served our food before our cocktail came, had to ask for bread twice, didn't bring silverware, didn't check in, it was bad. He just did not seem to care at all, it was weird. (We are polite, respectful and treat servers nicely). Our appetizers (the crab claws and the mussels in wine sauce ) were okay, not spectacular, but good enough. There were three of us, we ordered Sea bass, Cioppino, and Halibut. The Halibut was small, thin and average. The Sea Bass was actually very good, definitely the winner of the evening. The Cioppino was the big disappointment, the broth was more like salsa, the fish and particularly the shrimp had clearly been left in the broth far too long and were overcooked, I mean REALLY overcooked. It was sad but I did not even eat the shrimp because they were really rubbery. At the end of the fairly disappointing experience, we got our check and they had added a drink we did not get, so kind of a fail there too. (If you do go here check your bill before paying) I will say that when he finally did bring the cocktails they were good especially the smoked old fashioned so the bartender is good. Unfortunately that is not enough, we will not be coming back.
Hmmm... where to begin. To be fair the special appetizers of the day, the mussels in a wine garlic broth served with French fries - moules frites - was good. The mussels were fresh and tender which saved the entire dish. The fries were fine at best but the minute my 10 year old refused to eat them, I should've seen the warning signs. It's like watching a bad horror movie. You the audience see the signs and you're like Don't order more food, don't do it , but no, the characters still need to play the whole thing out and so yes, we did. We started out with the moules frites. We ordered clams with linguine, prawns with fettuccine, the halibut and the rib-eye steak, the latter two which were both recommended to us. I had high hope for the seafood after the mussels but alas, the clams were rubbery and the shrimp tasted like it was defrosted from months of freezing. All very lackluster in terms of freshness. On top of that, the "tomato cream sauce" for the shrimp fettuccine was tasteless, the pasta over cooked and overall, just a bad dish. Both children ate less than half their dishes. I would say that the pasta dishes here are below even what you'd expect at an average no name Italian restaurant. It's epically bad when children who live on carbs refuse to eat them. We also had the rib-eye, which looked so impressive but alas, I thought it tasted bland. Finally, we had halibut, which I think wasn't halibut at all. The whole time I was eating the fish something was not right but I was so tired and hungry I didn't think about it. But then I got home and looked at the photo I took and I realized I was given Sole or some other white fish and not halibut! I'm almost positive. I'll attach a photo so you can see. Additionally, I don't eat starchy roots so I asked not to have the Pomme Anna that the dish came with. I was going to ask if the asparagus or something other could be substituted. The waitress interrupted me and said, you want double veggies instead? I said yes and she literally just gave me double steamed broccoli. It was the most unrefined, unimaginative kitchen I have ever encountered. Maybe it's her fault and she told them the lady wants double giant awkward cut broccoli but still, any self respecting decent kitchen would be like, no, that looks terrible and literally no one wants to eat that much broccoli and should've done something else. Maybe I expect too much because, I don't know, most kitchens where I pay $50 for halibut usually know how to do their plates correctly... but whatever... So why am I writing this long review = so some of you will know, it's not worth it. All this mediocrity cost close to $250 and tasted like it should cost $70. This place is not worth it. They price everything as if they're find dining, but the food is stuck in about two decades behind. this is definitely where Yelp failed me and I had to let others know. Not worth it. Go around the corner to Mistura where I had a lovely, delicious meal.
Came here thinking that it would be a nice special occasion place. The cioppino which is their signature was really bland and not tasty. The wines were not great either. I think we ordered one of the price year options and were underwhelmed.Overall they are overpriced for what they offer. However I haven't been back since they switched store front locations with their sister restaurant. Maybe it's gotten better?
Ordered 3 items off the menu and everything was made to perfection. Was greeted the second we stepped in the door by a very kind gentleman. Took the time after our meal on the way out to chat with us about our experience. Talk about professional. The staff is clean cut and very high quality. Thank you again! Will be back soon.
If you are in the mood for seafood, this is the best in SLO. The service is excellent, the atmosphere very pleasant, and the quality of the food is excellent, and very well prepared.
Service was excellent. The food prepared very well, and it was excellent quality seafood. Highly recommend their food.
Restaurantji Recommends
Excellent service and food ! Have tried many meals over the years , never disappointed ! Amazing wine list and servers educated in pairing and wine choices !
Very attentive service, nice surroundings and good food. The fish is fresh and prepared with the minimum of extra spices so you enjoy the freshness of fish. Sadly the stuffed shrimp were deep fried way too long . Still tasty but overcooked.Price wise the food was very expensive however I'm not that familiar with Central coast costs so maybe it's all very expensive. If you are interested in good fresh fish and have a good supply of money this is a very nice place
It ain't cheap, but it's our (the wife's & my) favorite for seafood when we visit the area. She loves the Mexican Stuffed Prawns and a nice glass of wine; I, the no-work Cioppino, or some oysters and fresh fish.
Great seafood food in downtown SLO.
A very special place for us when visiting SLO. It was our anniversary and the food was very good. You never know what apitizing specials they might have that day. Can't go wrong with the fresh oysters. Great service too!