Artisan

I’m at a loss for words to describe just how wonderful Artisan really performs. Cuisine in a class of its own.
Be prepared to devote enough time to savor everything while knowing that your finances are slowly, pleasurably, dwindling!
I would say that this is a «must dine here» kind of restaurant. We shall return!

By far my favorite place in Paso. I always go to the bar when by myself. The bartenders are fantastic and friendly. The always remember me and what I eat and drink. Food… excellent. Drinks… excellent. Atmosphere… excellent.

this place is the best and the proprietor Shandy is the nicest. you can’t go wrong with anything on the menu you order. run don’t walk. you will love it.

Some poor recent reviews aside, I made reservations for dinner on a Friday night and am glad we went. There were open tables in the bar so we opted for one as it was more inviting than the main dining area. The table seated after us was served their wine before our waitress arrived at our table. Not exactly a great start, but I wouldn’t consider the time we waited to be excessive. She was very attentive once she began.
The selections on the menu were very interesting. Hubble opted for the hangar steak and it was served to him prepared exactly as requested which is often not the case. I greatly enjoyed the wild boar. Since veggies are not served as part of an entrée we each ordered a vegetable which was served as a large appetizer. Odd. The red wine flight was quite good. All in all we found it a good experience.

The good-​great: THAT wild boar dish-​divine!
The very good: wine by the glass-​red: symbiosis, cabernet sauvignon, starr ranch ‘10
The could be better– Venison plate– delicious, well executed, but miniscule amount of actual venison… but original plate all the same!
The surprisingly good: the pizza-​yep-​just didn’t expect such a good crust! topping was great too, but the wait of over 15 minutes was not!
The not so good: Atmosphere. Overall it’s a rather staid and cold setting. The front room, by the bar, has only few tables, and seem better (lighting, energy) but the large room where we sat needs adjustments. The terrible (supermarket cheesy) music was such a bad match. Also the staff is a bit odd; cold and alienated or like our waiter, too chummy, too quick. The whole vibe is just disjointed.
There seem a lack of management whatsoever, or at least someone who oversees things and who cares. We, as other Unilocalers, Waited way too long. By the time we ordered the pizza, one of us decided to time how long it takes; we clocked 17 minuets!!! The waiter excused it before hand as the wood oven is the reason for the expected long wait. Nope wood oven is actually faster. IMO if there was a caring leadership in this establishment, things would move a bit faster… Slow food has a reason, but should also have a rhyme.
Dessert was small and over priced; we had the apple crisp and at $ 10 we expect more.

This is a very popular place in Paso Robles and I have no idea why. They seem to think they are a cut above other restaurants. They actually charge for bread at the table which was extremely irritating.
The serve starters, pizzas, salads, sandwiches and just a few entrees, very few, so for me this place is simply a place for lunch, if someone else insists on eating here.
Menu items are eclectic; not much that interests me. They post their menu on line so you can check it out. I guess I expected to have a wonderful meal and it was just ok at best.
Finally, I will comment on the attitudes of the staff. Actually I will not comment. If you go you will identify with me here. Such a disappointment

Good food, good service. Wait staff knows the menu and details of prep.
Service was good. Price was comparable to value received. I still think corkage should be waived if you bring in a local Paso wine but when I mentioned to «wine man», it fell on deaf ears. Despite that, I would come back.

Hannah is the best server! Hands down, no questions asked! From the moment we stepped in the door and were welcomed by the awesome general manager (I don’t remember his name but he was phenomenal), then seated to be greeted by Hannah and taken care of by both of them and the sous chef. Wow just wow. You can tell they love what they do, it shows through the food and the service! Great wine list, ambiance, food, especially the churro dessert OH MY YUM!
Cheers to the Staff & the Kobayashi brothers for turning your childhood dream into a delicious reality!

Another wonderful discovery in downtown paso (I’m waiting to find a place I don’t like in this culinary Mecca!).
We stopped in for lunch on a Sunday afternoon. Our server was cheerful, friendly, and — in a characteristic I always love to see– really seemed to love working at this restaurant! I wish I could remember her name to give some extra kudos…
My very pregnant sister asked if the bartender could do something fun in a non-​alcoholic variety for her to enjoy with lunch. He whipped up a citrusy, bubbly treat that she thoroughly enjoyed. My mom and I ordered the green tea, a loose leaf with a nice earthy flavor. For round two, I did a tea blend of the green with chamomile — so yummy!
For lunch, mom had the steak tostada. It was perfectly spiced with tender cuts of meat and some vinegar for acid. With other ingredients like cranberry beans and radish, it was unique and delish.
I had the butter lettuce salad. It has a nice variety of items like hazelnuts and blue cheese and turkey. The flavors all worked together so well with a nice variety of textures.
My sister had the burrata pizza, and said the arugula and sausage on it really worked well.
Can’t wait for our next visit!

I was a little disappointed by Artisan. Came here because the food looked pretty good and they had a dog-​friendly patio. We were able to be seated right away, but the service was really, really slow. Definitely felt a bit forgotten on the patio which wasn’t great.
The food was pretty good. Really enjoyed the mushroom toast, but wasn’t a huge fan of the pizza we got. It felt like it was lacking in flavor.
All in all, it’s a solid option, but the service was a little week and the food was just alright. It’s pretty pricey too for the portions you get.

Stopped here on a roadtrip north with brother and his fiancé. Great food — we had a number of dishes from meaty to fishy to veggie to pizza and were impressed with everything. Service was a bit slow — perhaps understaffed? — from our arrival to drinks and ordering, but the food came out quite quickly. Things devolved again waiting for the check, but we only cared because we were headed for a movie.
All in all, very tasty high-​quality meal. We’d each stop by again. Thanks!

We drove in from NV and were told by a friend in Morro Bay that this was the place to eat in Paso.
They were absolutely correct. There is a reason why so many people rate this place, it is different and it is very good. You don’t get 800+ reviews by being run of the mill. Additionally I think many «foodies» eat here so you have another level of critic. Wish there was a 6-​star rating on Unilocal.I guess compared to other places this would rate with a higher average than what is shown.
Starter: toast with avacado + relish/​egg + smoked salmon. Toast was just right and not like an over done bruschetta I get at my local Italian place. Extremely tasty. This was a special and not on the menu.
Starter: fresh pasta with truffle, small bites of chix and an egg (quail — I think) over med. The pasta was very fresh/​moist and u can’t go wrong with truffles.
Salad: kale salad with chix. Being after the holidays I had to get a healthy salad and I thought I wouldn’t really like this too much but it was really good. Fresh and flavorful dressing. Not over dressed either. Nice size portion.
Small plate:
Meatballs — dang these were good. As Alec Baldwin once said, «thezzze are nizzzza meatballs!» Maybe they use Alec’s SNL family recipe. Haha. Very moist and dense without being hard. If that makes sense.
Dessert:
Cookies — these are fantastic cookies, they came warm on the plate and there were four. One of the four was gluten-​free and was a peanut butter chip cookie. I’m sure if you have gluten issues they would probably give you four of these tasty little morsel’s. My favorite was the pine nut cookie which is super light and very tasty.
The atmosphere was very pleasant, we came on Thursday night and it wasn’t too busy in the middle of January.
We look forward to coming back again and trying some of the other dishes.
Great spot!

Very nice romantic restaurant located in the main downtown area of Paso Robles. I had the sausage pizza which was fantastic. Prices are very reasonable as well and there’s a outside area to dine if you have pets.
Would recommend!

Delicious fennel pizza. Amazing!
ricotta cheesecake was good, but not mind blowing ;) still a great experience I highly recommend for lunch
Bacon tater tots were very delicious

Made reservations for dinner and so got seated right away. As an appetizer we ordered the goat cheese fondue that came with grilled buttered toast, yummy sausage and broccolini that quite frankly tasted amazing! The cheese was lighter in taste than I imagined but thought it was perfect as a true appetizer, you really don’t want anything too heavy before your entrée.
I ordered the duck cassoulet and my husband ordered the boar pork tenderloin with a fennel feta risotto. My cassoulet was a home run! The duck leg was deep fried (yum) and sat on top of carrots, white beans, lentils, pearl onions, pieces of sausage and I think pork cooked in a Demi glacé-​so so flavorful. My husband pork tenderloin was cooked to perfection, very juicy and tender.
Finished the night off with the butterscotch pudding and a you can tell homemade ginger cookie-​also recommend.
I highly appreciate the knowledgeable staff, we asked questions and they answered. No «I don’t know» «uh» or «let me check» answers.
No doubt we would be back and taste other items on menu that sounded spectacular!

After walking around downtown looking for a lunch spot, we finally walked in here to this corner joint. We were quickly seated, but it took forever for our server to take our order and grab our check.
I had a bowl of their seafood chowder, which was good, but not as hearty as I preferred. My husband ordered the Cubano sandwich. Surprisingly, it didn’t come with a side of fries so he added it as an extra, which I don’t think was $ 2 worth. When the plate came, it was a sad-​looking sandwich as it was small and flat. It was definitely not the center of attention as the plate looked bare. My first impression was that it looked like a sandwich from Denny’s.
We also ordered the Margherita pizza and the Garden Greens salad. The pizza crust was nice and light, but when the tomatoes were cut in chunks instead of slices, that was unimpressive. The salad consisted of bitter greens with some sunflower seeds and watery buttermilk dressing. It was something I could have made at home.
Overall, I was not impressed and sad to say that I don’t feel like it was worth my money.

Having read the reviews on Unilocal,we were slightly disappointed with our meal and service. We ordered a pastrami reuben sandwich, bacon tater tots and pineapple, chorizo and jalapeño pizza. First, the bacon tater tots came with practically no bacon. Our tots had one tiny speck of bacon and that was it. While, the tater tots were pretty good, I am not sure where the bacon was. Then, the pastrami sandwich and pizza was very oily. I would say, given the price, the food just wasn’t worth it. Also, the service we received wasn’t good. Our server pretty much only showed up to take our order, and deliver our check. For me, this is one of those places that you try once, but won’t be back.

The host and wait staff were appreciatively very nice, professional, and impressively attentive. Their bustling bar had a fun vibe. With the bar visible from the street, I was expecting the main dining room to be more attractive inside — rather plain, but nice atmosphere, with the dim lighting.
I thoroughly enjoyed my order of the Flatiron Steak with shallot butter, field greens, and shoestring fries ($ 29) — delicious, and attractive in presentation. If only I hadn’t been so tired from a day of wine-​tasting; I would’ve loved to try more of their appealing menu items.

Nice restaurant with good service. It’s a little pricey but the quality of the meal is well worth it. We ordered the prosciutto pizza to start and I got the boar with risotto and the lady got the rib eye special. The pizza was really good and a nice start to our meal. The boar was very good. Our waitress said it was her favorite and I definitely understood why. The sweetness of the pomegranate with the gaminess of the boar worked well together. The risotto had some cheese worked into it that was delicious. The rip eye special? Not so much. It was an attempt at a fusion of Asian flavors with an American dish and it just didn’t work well. The teriyaki they cooked the vegetables in just didn’t didn’t match well with the tri tip despite the protein being perfectly cooked. Overall it was a good experience and I will definitely come by again.

Local agradável, muito bonito. Porém achamos os valores muito altos e pratos pequenos. O sabor muito bom !!!

Came here with my family with high expectations since this place was listed on one of the brochures for Paso Robles. We got the goat cheese fondue and meatballs and gnocchi for appetizers. The goat cheese fondue did not have the pungent smell that is hard to endure and goes perfectly well with the vegetables provided. However, the bread they provided was not regular white bread. It is a salted croissant that was perfect by itself but just a little too salty with the fondue. The meatballs and gnocchi are very average. Both of them could be bigger in size and I’ve definitely had better.
For the main course we ordered the steak with fries and the lamb with quinoa. Everything was cooked perfectly, the steak and the lamb both medium rare at its finest. However, they were seasoned poorly and way too salty. I don’t know if this is how the people in this town like it or what but everyone at the table agreed with me. As much as I want to keep eating, I just had to stop because everything was so salty and it was making me uncomfortable. Also, the lamb dish was $ 38 with only one piece of lamb?! It was ridiculous it should’ve been three pieces.
Lastly, we decided to give this restaurant another shot to live up to the Unilocalers comments. We ordered the butterscotch pudding with cameral as the waitress suggested and sure enough it was delicious. The only thing I would change about the dessert is that they should’ve have more biscotti and almonds to balance the sweetness and heaviness of the pudding.
One last note, although the waitress was super nice and friendly, she needs to know the menu better. When we asked about things on the menu she seems like she doesn’t have an answer or she would have to look it up on the menu. And the way she presented the specials to us made the specials sound really unappetizing. In conclusion, this place is way overrated and over priced. They need to do something about it.