Oyster Loft — Restaurant in Pismo Beach

This might be a slightly long review, so I will start from the start! We had our eye on this restaurant since we arrive 3 days ago. Because it was a bit pricey and I really really wanted to watch the sunset on our last day here during dinner, we booked another restaurant close to the beach and where we had a guaranteed patio table.

Talking to the owner of a great winebar we went to, he highly recommended the Oyster Loft, said the food was of higher quality and that they also had a great view of the sunset. We hesitated a bit, I called the Oyster Loft an hour before our arrival time and asked if we could book a table for 2 outside with a sunset view. She said she would try to accomodate our request. So I cancelled the other place.

At 7h30 pm we arrived at the Oyster Loft and when I noticed the hostess walking towards the inside area, I said I had made a request for a table outside. She said straight away that all the tables outside were already booked. So this was my first disappointment! While I know I only booked the table an hour before and it would be difficult to accomodate this request, I felt like the hostess on the phone was not fully transparent. She could have let me know that there were no tables outside, as I believe she already knew at that point... See, maybe, we would still come even without the table outside! I just needed a bit more honesty there.

The high point at the night was the manager. No doubt he is the manager! He was suuuper kind to us and very professional, he was very understanding and happy to take our critic, and did everything to try and find a table for us outside. He was being so determined to revert the situation that I felt a bit bad for myself and thought I should have not made a big deal of it. Anyways, it goes on....

Now we had kind of mixed feelings about our waiter. At first I thought I was being paranoid, but then as the evening progressed, even my boyfriend noticed he was nice and talkative to the other tables and barely spoke to us. He looked annoyed serving us, maybe because of our initial fuss. He was absolutely professional and polite to us! But I lacked that warmth I saw from the other waiters and felt we were being inconvenient or something. But wait...

At the end I was feeling bad about myself because it was such a nice place, the manager was so nice, food was amazing (we had oysters, raw fish and halibut, can't decide what was better), and I didn't mean to make a fuss or anything, only thought it was important to bring this detail to the manager's attention. I couldn't help being more and more sad and refused to order dessert (this NEVER happens lol).

That's when our waiter stopped, opened a big smile and said he would bring us a special dessert. We were a bit puzzled but well... best dessert I have eaten in a while! Flambed bananas, apples, on a sweet crust with brown sugar ice cream.

Dinner was like a rollercoaster of emotions! But in the end it was all well. We finally sat outside watching the sea and the falling night. Amazing food, great place, and a manager that I'm sure is responsible for keeping such high standards at this restaurant. We will definitely come back next time hope it goes more smoothly! Well...

We had a lovely dinner on Sunday evening during Memorial Day weekend. Tip: Make a reservation in advance! Maybe it was because it was a holiday weekend, but they were booked fairly early.

We sat indoors but had a nice view of the beach. If you can, try to grab a seat closest to the pier. They roll up the curtains around sunset so the view is amazing.

We started off with some fresh oysters (beau soleil, grassy bar, kumiai) and charbroiled oysters. We relied on our server’s expertise to recommend some oyster types for us, and he didn’t disappoint! They came with 3 sauces and the cocktail sauce was one of the most flavorful I’ve ever had. The horseradish was a bit too strong for us, while the mignonette was tasty.

The entrees were both amazing. The scallops were cooked nicely and decently sized. The chiles were not that noticeable flavor-wise but the corn and au gratin potatoes gave the entire dish some nice texture.

The pork chop was excellently prepared — it was a thick portion that was tender and juicy on the inside while having a nice crisp char on the outside. The sides also really helped elevate the dish: the bread pudding reminded me of high quality Thanksgiving stuffing, and the creamed spinach and sourdough crisp that sit under the pork chop benefitted from the juices of the meat. The creamed spinach was also not super creamy, which I appreciated. I’m not usually a fan of pork chop but this is one of the best prepared and creative versions I’ve had.

We finished with a chocolate berry dessert cocktail that was packed with flavor. The table next to us was also intrigued and asked us about it. I would recommend if you like chocolate, berries, and sweetness.

Overall a really great restaurant with beautiful views and delicious food. Our server Shane was also great — attentive, friendly, and knowledgeable. He also comped us a couple of oysters to taste because he wasn’t sure how we’d like them — we really appreciated that! Can’t recommend this restaurant enough if you’re looking for a romantic night out at...

July 16th 2022 Michael was our waiter. Just AWESOME if not the best one of the best waiters we have ever had anywhere. We got half dozen charbroiled oysters and beet salad...they were both VERY tasty. We were undecided between the Sable fish and the pork chop. We asked Michael's option. His face actually lite up discussing the pork chop ....so sign us up. Wife was concerned since a double cut pork chop it not being cooked throughout. We were assured the chef could cook to order. After pork chops arrived Sarah the manager came to actually see if the pork chops were cooked to our desire (what communication between waiterand manager. ..amazing) I am colored blind so wife said slightly pink but Sarah assured us even though slightly pink it was safe or she could get it cooked longer if we wanted her to. We choose to try it as it was brought to us......WOWOWOWOW!!!!! Utterly AMAZING flavor, tender. Was THE best meal at a restaurant in ALONG time. I mean embarrassed to say I left tongue prints on my plate .....literally licked clean. I did get the smokey ole fashion after seeing and smelling it being poured around the room.....very nice true ole fashion. Then we got the peanut butter chocolate tower for dessert.....pretty awesome chaser.

April 2022 Finally was able to get to this restaurant. Was well worth the wait. We both got the sea bass special. Just out right YUM!!!!. We also got the peanut butter chocolate tower.....VERY tasty. Service was great. The atmosphere and view of the beach and sunset were just amazing.

March 2nd, 2024 The night couldn't have been better. Great restaurant....great manager Sarah and great wait service from Michael followed by a delicious yummy meal. We got the beet salad followed by the roasted sea bass with mussels. TOTALLY DELICIOUS!!!!! the mussels were huge and sweet the fish roasted perfectly WOW!! We then didn't the bread pudding for desert. Great...