Odyssey World Cafe — Restaurant in Paso Robles

Odyssey World Café – A Longtime Favorite with a Recent Misstep

I've been meaning to write a review for Odyssey World Café for quite some time. My family stops here almost every time we’re driving north along the 101, usually for lunch. We grab takeout and eat in the nearby park, which makes for a lovely experience. The setting, combined with the food, has made this a go-to stop on our journeys.

The standout, and our most consistently ordered item, is the salmon salad. We’ve gotten it every time, and it continues to deliver. Five out of five. The grilled salmon is perfectly cooked and flavorful, paired with fresh vegetables, pine nuts, and cheese in a well-balanced combination of textures and tastes. It's genuinely something to look forward to and enough to make me recommend Odyssey to others without hesitation.

Another absolute gem on the menu is the brown butter strawberry cake, which we’ve also ordered repeatedly. This dessert is a divine experience—a complex tapestry of flavor and texture. The sweetness is perfectly restrained, allowing the fresh tartness of the strawberries and the subtle, earthy, slightly salty richness of brown butter to shine. It's one of those rare desserts where brown butter is not just present but the undisputed hero. It tastes like the feeling of coming home.

We’ve also tried various entrées in the past—most notably the lamb burger and the tri-tip French dip sandwich—and they’ve been decent. Not quite on the level of the salmon salad or cake, but solid, respectable choices.

Unfortunately, I can’t give Odyssey a five-star review this time. My most recent experience left me genuinely disappointed, specifically with the French dip sandwich. I had enjoyed it on previous visits, but this time, the quality fell noticeably short.

The sandwich itself was slightly dry—not terribly so, but enough to be underwhelming. The meat lacked its usual flavor, and the bread and cheese were unremarkable. On its own, it was an average sandwich—neither terrible nor great.

But where it truly fell apart was with the au jus. And I hesitate to even call it that. The dip was appalling. I’ve had tea with more flavor. It tasted like one part broth mixed with nine parts hot water, resulting in a liquid that did nothing but make the sandwich soggy without adding any of the expected savory richness. A proper French dip should reward you with a burst of meaty umami when dunked; instead, this one gave me a choice between choking down a dry, claggy sandwich or soaking it in a tepid broth that was the flavor equivalent of light beige.

There is no excuse for this. The au jus was inferior to watered-down beef ramen or even cheap bouillon—and I’m not convinced either of those fully qualify as food. It was a $20 sandwich I wouldn’t have been satisfied with at $5.

I sincerely hope this was just a one-off misfire and not a sign of declining standards. Odyssey World Café has been a favorite of mine for years, and I’m rooting for it to redeem itself next time. But this experience did leave me questioning the consistency of their quality, and that’s not something you want in a place you’ve...

Our evening at Odyssey started off rocky as our order was partially lost and consequently much of our food that we had ordered wasn't brought to our table. We waited for a long time and then the issue was sorted out.

We were cared for like royalty once the error was discovered. Our entire meal was comped, and we were treated to complimentary dessert as well. Everyone on the staff was apologetic and solicitous. I have never experienced such kindness, concern and service after an error.

As to the food, it was superb (I wish I could type that in bold font)! I had the lasagna and enjoyed it very much with a generous portion and plenty of sauce. My wife had the chicken picatta which was delicious (I tasted it; the chicken breast was prepared perfectly.) Our guests had the tri-tip french dip , and the Lamb Feta burger, both excellent. They said the burger was like gyro in a burger, and the french dip sauce was unique and really enhanced the sandwich. The sweet potato fries were excellent, as were the french fries I ordered. They were cooked perfectly! Light outer crust while being still fluffy inside. The Cesar side salad I had was nice, with a lot of shaved Parmesan, and good croutons, but not drenched in dressing. It was very light, just perfect. The desserts were also top-notch, we had the cheesecake and it was very good, and our guests split a souffle cake which was lovely.

I so appreciated the friendliness of the staff, they didn't treat us like lepers after there was a problem, they were insistent to fix it. We were checked on no less than three times by different people after we received our food. The owner took a personal interest in making sure everything was taken care of, and thanked me for giving them the chance to make things right. They know how to treat guests. The service and food were so good after the mishap that I was prepared to pay something by the time we were ready to leave.

The outdoor patio in the rear where we were seated was charming and gave shelter from breezes and a touch of privacy. Nice heaters kept us toasty.

Without question we intend to return; there are so many tempting choices on the menu, that it was almost hard to choose. And the food lived up to the title "fresh" in the restaurant description. Elegantly prepared food with nice portions from a variety of world cuisines. The presentation was marvelous, and the prices very reasonable. You could exhaust a thesaurus looking for positive descriptive...

i am a local in a service business and invited my wife for lunch. We ended up at the Odyssey. World Cafe. We checked the menu and decided to eat there.prices were good. When we walked to the counter area the gal seemed to be very niceThe surroundings were hard to see, poor lighting for afternoon lunch. Counter area a little better.The gal asked me what i selected and told her i need two orders. After ordering and paying for the menu price she said the machine would like to ask you a question. This is the question. How much of a tip would you like to pay. I hesitated and responded that I generally would tip depending upon the service rendered,after not before.I took a chance and said ok, i will select a small tip of 15%. This was a mistake. There was no real service.The gal at the counter gave me a number for the table and said the waitress will bring us the food.We were on the outside front patio.She did and was very nice. We never saw the waitress again. My wife had left some left overs and wanted to take them home.Without the waitress returning to our table once after delivering our lunch, my wife went into the restaurant for a take out box. i believe there was no way i needed to tip for service. A gal packing groceries does more for us than our waitress. I don't tip the grocery gal.If there was a way for me to receive what i had paid for i would have done that.There should be no tip prior to the finished service.There is no reason to ask customers for a tip period by machine before the service. Very not nice. Bad taste after a ok lunch. I will not return. Sorry. Besides i usually tip better being in the business.Sorry! I noticed there were other comments regarding this tipping business. It is apparent that the management is not reading...