Luna Red — Restaurant in San Luis Obispo

I struggled between giving this review 1 or 2 stars. I really like the food here, every time it has been good. Coworkers and I were going to lunch here every other Tuesday (or just about) for months and months, until 4-5 months ago when we had an uncomfortable situation with the server...

We ended up having a group of 7 people, and we mistakenly forgot to ask the server to split the checks at the beginning. When the check came, one of us gathered all of our cards and wrote on the receipt how much to charge to which card. We thought that this might be helpful to the waitress, seeing as we made the mistake of not splitting it and it had already taken a while to get the check in the first place, since we didn't want her to go back and split it. When the waitress came back to us and we explained what we did, thinking we made it easier, the waitress became visibly flustered, mumbled something about "checks like this making her want to cry" and she walked off. We were all dumbfounded; if she would have just told us that it would be easier for her to go back to the register to split it, we would have been fine with that. OR, if she would have even said "next time it would be easier to split beforehand" we would have understood. But it made us uncomfortable and we haven't wanted to go back since. Until yesterday...

We decided to go back and give it another shot. And I must say, I feel incredibly disrespected. We spent 15 minutes waiting outside to be seated. We got stuck in a corner and spent another 20 waiting for someone to take our order.

When the waiter got to our table for our order, we asked him how long it would be for the food to get out and he replied "ten to fifteen minutes". We had to continually ask for water during this wait-time, and the staff was in no way friendly with us. It was almost 40 minutes before we saw our food, and by the time it was ready to come out we had to ask them to bring the food in to-go boxes. Meanwhile other tables (that arrived after us) had already got their food and finished eating, paid, and left. We have never had issues before with getting in and out of Luna Red on in the time allotted for our lunch break, but this time was horrific.

When our food finally came out in the to-go boxes (one at a time and very slowly), they brought the check, and the waiter said he "knew we were in a hurry". He never came back for it. Or anything, for that matter.

We were running 30 minutes past our lunch hour by this time, when one of my friends decided to find someone to take care of the check (which we paid with one card to avoid any more issues). She asked if any of our check could be discounted because of our awful experience, and the guy told her that he didn't know how to do that and he didn't know where the manager was. .................... okay so go find her? What's the problem?

Two of us left while the rest of the group waited for the last person to get her food. I got back to work (having to use 45 minutes of my own vacation time to make up for this horrid experience) and received a text that they forgot the last woman's order, and they were waiting for it to be made. They got to work another 20 minutes later.

The reason I gave a second star is because the manager seemed remorseful for the debacle and gave us a refund on our check, but it doesn't make up for us having to use vacation time and ruining all of our lunches. If there was a way to reimburse me for that, I would have asked for it in a heartbeat.

While I was trying to secretly eat my tacos at work I tried to enjoy the last time I had their food, which I've always enjoyed so much, confused and wondering why they were so rude to us.

This was one of the worst dining experiences I've ever had an am so disappointed. I do NOT recommend this restaurant if you are under any time constraint or if you have any ounce of impatience in your body. Or if you don't like being ill-treated by...

First of all, the “feel” or ambience of the place is warm and inviting. All the staff that took care of us were on their toes, helpful, and friendly. Taylor was our waitress and gave us great honest recommendations and was very attentive. But, let’s hear it for the chef(s), owner, manager, and all that stepped out of the box to offer incredibly unique dishes with a change of tastes/ingredients to make something ordinary to wonderfully outrageous. I kick myself for not taking photos and being too busy chowing down. We started with the Brussels sprouts: Are you kidding me?!!!!!!! My mom would have done anything to get me to eat one of these noxious smelling vegetables. If only she could have seen me devour and lap up the plate of Brussels sprouts. She would have thought an alien had entered my body. May I have the recipe please…pretty please? Next came the Market Salad, I think that’s what my partner ordered, which Taylor had recommended. It was again unique and good, but I was still consuming the Brussels sprouts and nobody had better get in the way. Seriously, it was good. The finale was the main course (we were too full for dessert + why ruin a sated belly to really really over indulge?): The Osso Bucco. It was spicy, tender meat that fell off the bone, and again, a hint of sweetness. Was I tasting a hint of curry? Cumin? I am not a big rice eater unless it is in my sushi, but I easily could have consumed a bowl of this rice. Kudos to the chefs and spectacular menu. I hope we have time to return before we head for home and I think the paella is next on my list to see how the chefs can make a delicious dish more unique. Oh yes, one final note goes to whomever made my Cadillac margarita,...

Luna Red is one of the restaurants that has earned my respect.

It is a restaurant that contributes to society and the community.

During the pandemic, it unified other businesses to overcome difficult situations.

After the Hawaii wildfires, it launched a donation campaign.

It helped LA wildfire victims through a fundraiser.

When the city wanted to increase the parking fees, this restaurant secured the best deals for residents in SLO.

I recommend the paella dish. Friends who have been to Spain all praised it highly.

We highly recommend Taco Tuesday. We especially like the fish tacos. Each taco has a large piece of fresh fish and fresh-grown vegetables. They are very tasty.

There a weekly special deals that are also very good.

If you are craving a good chocolate dessert then we endorse the chocolate mousse.

It is a beautifully presented cake with rich and deep-flavored chocolate. The bottom has a moist and tender crumb texture that gives it an elegant texture.

Overall, Luna Red is an outstanding restaurant with great quality food. The server team is very attentive and knowledgeable.

Last, I want to give a special thanks to this amazing restaurant that helped the community with your kindness and generosity without hesitation. This is a wonderful and valuable asset to the community and the...