Custom House

Right on the water at Avila Beach. The restaurant is located in a cute little «Main St.» type area right next to the water. If you sit in the outdoor area you get a wonderful view of the ocean. A beautiful sunset view perfect for a romantic date.
The food and price are average/​above average.
It’s pretty much what you would expect from this type of beachfront restaurant.
Steam clams — good
Ahi tostaditas — bleh
Onion rings — stale
Swordfish steak cooked in an oak pit — good
This is definitely a place where you go for the location not the food (although the food isn’t bad)

We were greated by Joe the GM and I must say he made our evening. Seated immediatley and since our waiter was tied up with a large group Joe took over our table (YES a manager took over for his staff). Dinner was great and when I asked Joe if the clam chowder was good he replied «award winning» and I have to agree. Having had chowder in 100 restaurants I have to admit it was «pretty damn good», but honestly it was the service and quality of food that will bring us back. Thanks Joe for a GREAT evening!

Wow! Worst experience last night at 7:30 ish. Went in to have a glass of wine and appetizer at the bar and was treated rudely by the bartender. Only 3 others at the bar so we sat down. The bar was dirty and when the bartender finally came over he asked if we were eating and we said yes but the bar was dirty. He seemed annoyed but left and got a towel and wiped if off and then left the menus and walked off. Never asked if we wanted anything to drink. My husband and I looked at each other and got up and left. Went to Ocean Grill and felt welcome and had a great time at the bar.
We are locals and have been to Custom House several times before, but never again. Too many places to go to that appreciate your business.

If you are ever traveling down by Avila beach and want some delicious breakfast this is the place to go! We had to wait about an hour for a table but in the mean time grab a mimosa or Bloody Mary and enjoy the beach view! I had a clam chowder bread bowl with crab on top and it was a total of $ 11 and it is huge! Not to mention DELICIOUS Seriously the best clam chowder I have ever had so don’t pass it up!

The ambience is outstanding. Breakfast is the best meal of the day here. One of my favorites is the Applewood Smoked Bacon and Eggs. Cooked to perfection. Prices are reasonable at about 11.oo. this place has a full ocean view with indoor and outdoor seating
In the ealy 19^th century this was a port of entry as the US Cudtoms House.

This place has the best wedge salad and clam chowder ever! Nice ambience too. Good service good eats!

I take it back! I totally recant my last review and give this place 5 stars! Our experience today was unbelievable all the way around! Our waiter Leo was awesome, recommended an amazing chicken sandwich in a ciabatta roll using chicken fingers instead of a grilled breast. It was not only great, but the best my wife and I have ever had. Again, the garlic fries are undeniably amazing.
Last time we were here it experience wasn’t as great, though it was good. The owner replied to my review asking us to give it another chance because they seemed to have an off day. Well man, you were right. From the service, to the patio with ocean view, to the amazing food, you have won my wife and I over. This is now our new go-​to on the central coast.

Fairly good food for the price. Service could have been a little better. But you can’t beat the view! We love Avila so we will be back again!

This is mine and my fiancé date place! This was our first date so we love coming back! Tonight though we were seated and told who our waitress would be, it was a name I hadn’t heard in awhile but didn’t think anything of it. She came to greet us and her face changed I realized I knew here from high school and she told us she was too busy and could not be our waitress! Another waitress approached she was ok but no one nice for the rest of the night! I’m in my late twenties and to have high school problems follow is not just immature but ridiculous! I will never be back! I used to come for all my anniversaries and my birthdays for many years! Too bad to be judged at a dinner and be treated badly!

My paloma cocktail was good. The sashimi appetizer was great. The service was so — so. The server disappeared for what seemed long periods of time. It was 3:30 when I got there so they may have been short staffed, but she never came back to see if my food was good or if I wanted anything (yes, please, some water).
However, I would definitely come back; the menu looked lovely.

My server was rude. He didn’t make eye contact with my girlfriend and I, he didn’t offer us bread and we asked, he told us he forgot. My girlfriend found a hair in her food. The food wasn’t even that good. Unsatisfactory

Amazing! The crab eggs Benedict was to die for and my spoiled pooch loved the chicken and rice. Perfect meal, perfect location, good price.

This restaurant has the appearance of a «tourist trap» style venue, and so I was quite pleased when the food offerings turned out to be very high quality. I visited this place once in 2008 and recalled it offering decent fare. A recent return brought even greater rewards! It’s fair to say this restaurant would fit right in at a «tonier» destination such as any town on my native Cape Cod, Massachusetts.
I chose a clam chowder for an appetizer, because this dish is very important to me as a New England native. This place’s version could fit right in at an actual New England location, which I can’t say for every out of New England spot that I try the chowder of. This one had a slight spicy tinge and, crucially, did not overdo the potatoes or any other supporting vegetables.
My main course was a fish sandwich, and my ears perked up when the waiter asked if I wanted it to be grilled or steamed, as I’d never heard that distinction to be made before with a fish sandwich, which tends to be traditionally overfried. The sandwich arrived and was EXTREMELY tasty in its grilled form, complete with garlic fries accompaniment and a tastefully buttered bread. I took my time with the whole meal and felt the rewards for several hours afterwards!

It’s December and pretty cold we are traveling with my dog who didn’t want to stay in the hotel alone this was our perfect solution to getting out for dinner and staying warm. The patio heaters worked so well we had to take our layers out it was a pleasant surprise they even have a doggie menu which made my pup very happy! We will be visiting this place again while we are in town.

My family stopped in here for lunch last weekend. The food was decent and the prices were reasonable. There wasn’t anything that particularly stood out.
Side note: I found it a little odd that the restaurant didn’t serve water until you asked for it due to environmental concerns. This was inconvenient and I’ve never really considered drinking water a huge waste. If anything, drinking water should be encouraged. Furthermore, the bizarre water conservation rods in the bathroom didn’t seem to work very well. After lots of pressing, I was able to get one sink faucet to issue a little water and wash my hands.
They have a great location and I’ll probably be back. Sometimes average on the beach is all you can ask for.

While I wouldn’t say this place has 5 star worthy food, there are a few reasons I think they deserve 5 stars.
1. With only 3.5 stars, it wasn’t on my radar during my last trip to Avila. We ended up going because Manny at Avila Wine and Roasting Co. recommended it to us. We ended up eating there twice on our trip and I would go back next time i’m in Avila. Given all that, I feel like their general rating needs to go up so this doesn’t happen to another Unilocaler like me.
2. The food was good. It wasn’t gourmet, Michellin stuff, but it was good, beach view food. You kind of know you’re getting a certain quality of food when you’re on the ocean, and this place definitely superseded that expectation. On day one we had the Sunshine sandwich (I believe that’s what it was called). It was turkey with bacon on a croissant with the standard lettuce and tomato and SO MUCH avocado. I got it with the best garlic fries i’ve had in a long time. My man got the chicken fried steak and eggs, which I of course tried. It was great and the hash browns were cooked perfectly. The fish and chips and ahi tuna appetizer the next day were also delicious, served with cole slaw made my favorite way. For beach eating, i’d call this place at least a 4 star.
3. The cocktail list was diverse and unique. I wanted to try every drink on the list. I love going somewhere that makes drinks that’re more exciting than what i’d make at home. We tried the spicy breakfast margarita, which was sweeter than it was spicy. Maybe I made up the spicy part. Either way, it tasted great. The bloody mary was spicy, just like i like them. We also tried the palermo and the bourbon cocktail, both of which were great.
Long story short, if you’re in Avila beach looking for a place to eat, this is a great bet. There’s indoor seating as well as patio seating, some of which is totally covered with shade and the rest of which is in the sun for worshipers like myself. And, as others said, the service was top notch. Only thing bad I can say is that it was awfully sunny out there for waiters and waitresses to not have sunglasses. Not sure if that’s a policy but if it is, as a satisfied customer i’d say it wouldn’t both me if staff was allowed to wear them!

It’s good food with a great view of the beach. Our Server Blanca was awesome. We ordered our drinks and fried calamari appetizer quickly and we were pleasantly surprised Blanca spoke Spanish! Yay! My parents were able to order their own meals and thank her for her wonderful service as well.
I ordered the swordfish with extra vegetables. The vegetables were cooked just right. They were crisp and well seasoned. The swordfish was tender and I enjoyed the caper sauce. The kids shared a New York strip steak with garlic mashed potatoes. They really ate that steak up but left the mashed potatoes. The taters were too flavorful and seasoned for them. I thought it was really good but next time I will see if they can have fries instead :-)
By the way the outdoor fire pit and the above patio heating is super nice and enjoyable. Hmmm… makes for a perfect evening.

Indoor or outdoor seating, this is our preferred breakfast place when we visit Avila Beach. If weather is good, you definitely want to dine outdoors.
I had the traditional breakfast, apple smoke bacon with eggs. Bacon was cooked perfectly, crispy, slightly burnt. Four large slices.
My daughter had the crab Benedict, two poached eggs topped with house made crab cakes on English muffins smothered in their special Custom House hollandaise sauce (includes your choice of breakfast sides). I got a taste and it was delicious.
My wife had the Machaca, three eggs scrambled with marinated beef barbecue and sweet red onions, sliced peppers, corn chips, and salsa. Topped with queso fresco and scallions. Served with refried beans and hash browns. This was a lot of food and she took half of it home. (I ate the leftovers and it was quite good even the next day).
If i had to do it all over again, I would order the crab Benedict with a side of bacon.

I want to love this place, it being on the patio overlooking the beach… but I just can’t. At least not yet. First time here and 4 of us were able to grab a table on the patio, which is known to get packed fast. I ordered the blood mary from their menu despite the waitress telling us how much better the margarita was. The bloody mary was okay… it wasn’t bad, but it was a little on the thick side. It got my super full before my meal even came out.
Speaking of meal. I ordered the All Meat Scramble from their Omelettes OR Scrambles… note the key word «OR.» So I made sure to point out to our waitress that I wanted it a Scramble, NOT omelette because I was allergic to Eggs, Dairy, and some seafood. She said ok which I assumed she understood. When it came out, it was obvious it was scrambled in egg. I unfortunately had to send it back and the manager had to come out to double check my order. By the time it came out a 2^nd time, we were already short on time because we had to be at Hearst Castle by 11am and it was already a little past 10am. I gobbled down half of the plate and ended up just leaving the rest.
IF i had more time next time, it would’ve been a good meal. Portions here are HUGE. Service is okay… never saw our waitress again after she dropped off the plate the first time. The manager ended up discounting us 40% for the mistake on my dish, which was much appreciated! Next time we’re in town, I’d probably give this place a 2^nd chance.

I first went to The Old Custom House in the early 90’s when I went to Cal Poly. The porter house was the same size and was for $ 25. Now it’s for $ 40…inflation I guess.
Tonight, 6÷11÷15, we were greeted by a hostess. She smiled and welcomed us but because it was busy, we can immediately tell she was a little flustered. She walked us to our table, out the menus down and walked away without saying a word.
We ordered the calamari for our appetizer. Though the calamari meat was good, I had to scrape the batter off because it was soggy and dripping with oil. I ordered the loin chops. I got two pieces on top of mash potato and steamed vegetables. One of the chops was a little tough though it was seasoned well. The other (the smaller) was absolutely wonderful and cooked to perfection. It was tender, juicy and very well seasoned. My wife ordered the Asian chicken salad which she really liked.
The service was good and our server was proficient and provided us with better than average service.
Side note: In he past 20 years we have been vacationing at the Pismo area and The Old Custom House has been a usual place to visit. We have seen the quality of food and service decline as the (the building) expanded. I’m sad to say this will be our last time we will visit this place. Their food and service has progressively declined.