Splash Café – Pismo Beach

Absolutely the best Bread Bowls I’ve ever had! The toast the bread with butter… It’s to die for!

Wonderful as usual except hubby and I both had a bowl of chowder and 1 was thick and 1 was runny. Calamari was great as was the loaf of bread. Busy place but always a place to sit.

As busy as they were during the Pismo Car Show, they were prompt and courteous with service and food. It certainly appears that management planned ahead and had adequate stuff for the associated massive car show rush.
The food was outstanding and hearty portions satisfied the entire family.

Splash Café is a must for anyone vacationing in Pismo. Don’t let the line freak you out, because while it is long, it moves pretty quick! And you can have fun taking pictures with the paintings along the wall outside as you wait. :)
I have been going to Pismo every summer with my family for as I can remember and it’s always worth it!
Recently, my best friend and his fiancé got out of 4 years in the Navy and were just in a bad motorcycle accident that left them in critical shape. They have both been making miraculous recoveries and are staying strong. We were concerned about seating because the restaurant is a little tight inside, and my friend was in a wheelchair.
We spoke with the assistant manager, Matthew, who was so polite and caring and told us he would help accommodate us without a problem! He then helped us get a table right then and had a waitress take our order since my friend’s wheelchair would not fit to the front. He came over an checked on us multiple times to ensure we were doing well and even to just talk with us. It was a true blessing! It was also my friend’s fiancé’s first time ever in Pismo and she loved the clam chowder! (Because it truly is the best in the world!!).
Our waiter was Ryan, and it was his second day of working there and he was so great! Very sweet and accommodating as well!
I just wanted to make sure these amazing people were recognized because they truly played a HUGE role in our day. We were celebrating my friend and his fiancé’s first trip out of Bakersfield since their accident in March. These employees made them feel so comfortable and it was a wonderful day. Thank you, Matt and Ryan! You both deserve way more than 5 stars!

The clam chowder is good but American good. It’s very creamy and a bit salty but plenty of potatoes and clams there. It is served in a bread bowl but the bread is not that good. They grille the bread top but it does not change the fact that it is just flat tasting bread. I would add some black peppers for that extra flavor.
I was very disappointed in the scallop and fries. It is salty once again and very tiny with very tasteless fries.
I think it is good for the summer tourist to try it once at least but would not recommend it beyond that.

Everything is worth it! The line was short. Only had to wait a few minutes. We love coming here. Customer service is GREAT! Food is always perfect. Can’t ask for more!

Really good, but not as life changing as expected. Having just been through Monterey, it was honestly a tough comparison!
Had to wait for almost an hour. Our bread bowl came with the most DELICIOUS butter toasted top, however it was really hard to tell if it was even sourdough or just French bread! (In my book, sourdough is a crucial component here, however they didn’t specify on the menu either, so I knocked a point off for this.)
What really redeemed this was the FRIED CLAMS and chips. Oh my god they are good. Imagine teeny tiny little chicken tenders with a slight smack of clam. Next time I’ll order these, a cup of chowder, and a side of the grilled bread and forego the bowl.

This is a tiny restaurant with limited space drawing a huge crowd. Therefore, expect long lines, challenges finding a seat, and feeling squished up at times. As a self-​proclaimed diehard clam chowder fan, Splash Café was my pit stop on my way to Monterey.
If you get the clam chowder, you have to do the seafood topping. I found the chowder to be too salty for my liking and not as flavorful as other ones I’ve tried. However, the seafood topping was a great redeeming factor that led me to devouring the chowder. Also, that slice of toasted and buttered up bread that comes with it. OH MAN, when you dunk it into the chowder, that thing is divine.
My boyfriend got the fish and chips, which were okay. The batter was not that flavorful and could have used more spices and seasonings.
We luckily did not have to wait in a long line when we got here. (Although, the line quickly grew longer and people were standing around us waiting for seats while we were eating!) If we did wait in a long line, I’d be irritated since it wasn’t the best clam chowder that I’ve tried. However, it’s been on my list for a while so I’m glad we made a stop. It’s also in beautiful Pismo Beach so no regrets in stopping by!

Order online and pick up. Dont be a nub and stand in line for hours. 15 – 20 min if ya place the order online.
You’ll get this piece of heavenly chowder in no time.
To re emphasize: ORDER ONLINE

Cute little place in pismo beach
What I ordered: sourdough bread bowl with clam chowder with cheese and shrimp and crab toppingsThe awesome thing is you can choose from shrimp and crab, bacon, cheese, and green onion. It was delicious and creamy. Also they get the inside of the bread bowl and put butter and make it to into crispy goodness
Calamari and chips: the calamari was on the salty side but still ok. Curly fries were as you would get anywhere
The line gets long but goes by fast. It doesn’t seem like there are many tables but it seems like people manage to get a table and not wait long.
If you pass by pismo beach, def check this place out

Easily one of the better clam chowder’s I’ve ever had. Is it the best? Not sure, but it was good enough for me to wait a little more than an hour to order and eat. The line wraps around the place, you eventually enter and order, then find your seat. You can’t save a seat until after you order.
As busy as it is, everything is pretty efficient which is why the line didn’t bother me. Food comes out quick and by the time you enter there’s a table open because people are done eating by then. Definitely get cheese in your clam chowder, that was the one regret I had. Calamari and Chips was ok… and the ok is more emphasis on the chips. The calamari was great, but the chips (which are curly fries) tasted a bit underdone.

I had to try it as other reviews and locals have said, that its the best Clam Chowder ever in life! Ok, I put too much butter on that one. On my way back home I decided on a pit stop to PB. I will have to say it was very tasty, too thick and way buttery for my taste. It was not gross by any means but way to overwhelming for me.
The bread bowl was good but the chowder SF style needs (must have, always, ever) sourdough bread in its life. It’s like cereal and milk, peanut butter and jelly… etc. You get it.
Maybe I am biased since I am a SF native and love my chowder on my end of the woods. I will say that if I would of showed up and the line was 30 people deep (as it was during the weekend, I went on a Tuesday afternoon) I would of got back on the road headed back to 101 NORTH.

«It’s The best clam chowder in California,» so I heard from all my buddies. But really, «how does it compare with pier 39’s clam chowder?» I always say.
Well ladies and gentleman, there’s no comparison here. Splash café’s clam chowder absolutely blows all others out of the water.
For only $ 7.75, you will get a little bowl of heaven. First off, you know you’re getting good chowder when you stick your spoon in there and it stays vertically still in the middle. The thickness of the chowder simply foreshadows the creaminess of the flavor. The little chunks of seafood that comes with each bite is cut into perfect sizes, just enough for you to enjoy the chewiness without being an overpowering fishiness factor. To top it all off, the bread they scoop out is grilled with a crisp and left on the side for you dip in the chowder. Heavenly indeed I’d say.
Try all the other things on the menu as well. Because my side order of fried shrimp and chips was not disappointing at all. Love the prices, the staff, and just the entire old school hole in the wall ambiance.

This is a very popular spot to eat in Pismo.
Its proximity to the beach makes it even better. We ate our hearts out and then took a nice stroll to the beach and watched the sunset. I was a bit discouraged by the line outside but it went fairly fast. There’s a huge wall with options to order. Next time I want to get the fried clams.
We got a shrimp basket, calamari basket, and clam chowder bowl. Way too much food. Especially the curly fries. You can easily share one basket. All the food was great. Its so crowded inside and difficult to find a clean seat is my only real complaint.

Best Chowder ever.
I I came to the Splash Café years ago for my first time and have been thinking about the Chowder the whole time. Finally back and it’s even better than I remembered. I ordered the Clam Chowder in the Bread Bowl with added crab and it was so killer! I love how they toast the bread that they pull out. My Daughter ordered the burger and I had a bite of it and it was bomb.

This 5 stars is for their famous clam chowder. I am
from San Francisco and their clam
chowder is better than Boudin’s and Sam’s in Half Moon Bay! We got the famous clam
chowder in a bread bowl and it was delicious!
The seafood and chips was just ok. The 2 types of seafood we picked was oysters and calamari. I liked the fries better.

San Francisco Fishermans Wharf clam chowder? WHATS THAT? This is what Splash has on the chowder in San Francisco’s Fishermans Wharf. Little shack on the corner building never fails to have customers in line wrapped around the corner to the alley with everyone waiting for this deliciously rich, creamy, full of clams, and the perfect amount of salted clam chowder to eat. I have been here twice and both times the clam chowder has yet to fail my expectations. The workers are working hard in the back kitchen whipping up that good ol’ clam chowder.
There are 3 sizes i believe, but I always order the pint sized for $ 5 and a side loaf of bread. I choose this because i feel that the bread bowl soaks up all my chowder and i am not able to enjoy the dipping of the bread in to my chowder at the same time. The side loaf of bread is cut up in to 4 – 5 slices, buttered and toasted. I also always order the box of frozen clam chowder for $ 18 with 4 packages in it to take home since Splash is so far away. Worth it!!!
I have not tried anything else there besides the chowder, so i am sorry about not being much help with the rest of the menu.
Customer service, There are a lot of workers for sure. Yes it may be very busy and non stop busy, but i feel that the cashiers should be a lot more friendly and smile while taking orders because I find them to be very expressionless as if they don’t want to be there. The cooks seem happier.
There isn’t much seating due to the spot being a little small, but who needs a seat in the restaurant when one can just take a couple minutes to walk to the beach and sit on the sand eating the clam chowder while enjoying the ocean view! That’s just exactly what we did.

Stopped in unexpectedly. Checked out the reviews and saw it had pretty great reviews so decided to grab some chowder. The other stuff looked really good but wasn’t that hungry so opted for the bowl of clam chowder and a slice of toasted sourdough. It was the perfect amount. Satisfied my hunger and was deliciously creamy and the bread was toasted to perfection.
I would have liked to try to the grilled fish tacos — definitely will be a next time.
Great food and good prices. Can’t beat it.

Pretty solid all around. Good, fast service. Chowder in a bread bowl wasn’t the best I’ve had, but the buttery toasted bread really gave it character. Lots of meat n potatoes in the chowder as well. Not as creamy as what you’d get in New England, but certainly tasty.
My buddy got the salmon tacos and thoroughly enjoyed them.
Worth a trip in, but doesn’t compare to what you’d get in Boston if you’re just going for chowder.

Was on vacation. Walked along the beach. Thought it was going to be hard to find a food place. This place a walking distance from the beach!!!
Line was long, place very crowded. Seating seemed difficult, but was easy. Was thinking about going somewhere else. SO GLAD WE DIDN’T!!! Food was amazing, service exceptional. The assistant manager Matthew made us feel very welcome. My fiancé messed up my order and Matthew came to the rescue. WHAT AN AMAZING EXPERIENCE!!!
I am sending all my friends and family to this restaurant on their getaways. WE WILL BE BACK!!!
Clam Chowder and Ahi sandwich so delicious!

This place alone makes me want to move to Pismo Beach lol and I’m convinced we would be here everyday if that were the case! Oh my gosh… Best clam chowder hands down. We shared a cup (big mistake, should’ve gotten two, or five lol) and got the extra toppings. Ummm it was to die for, I truly have no words. We devoured it while sitting on the beach. Perfect location, great service (I don’t know how the staff does it considering it was extremely packed and everyone was giving AMAZING customer service!) and even more so amazing chowder. Hope to be back some day!

Before moving up here for school, the first restaurant I tried was the always amazing Splash Café. I remember waiting a good 45 minutes with my family, who used to eat at the location when they were younger, the first time I ate there. The typical line wraps around the corner of the restaurant, but there must be a reason for that, huh?
As a self-​described clam chowder connoisseur, their chowder is one of the best I have ever had, and boy have I tried many chowders. If chowder isn’t your fortè, they also have yummy burgers as well.
If you have never been to Pismo Beach before, this is a must have treat from the beautiful California Central Coast.

The clam chowder in a sourdough bowl is the best I’ve ever had. If you’ve never had it, you have to have some.
During the summer, you have to time your visit to avoid the line that wraps around the building and down the side street. Some people don’t mind standing in the line (it’s that good) but if it’s not for you visit during the hours before lunch and in the late afternoon.
The café isn’t that small but it seems that way during the dining hours.
The staff is always friendly and the service is really fast even on the busiest days.

Clam chowder with a shrimp and crab mixture on it! Mind blown! The best clam chowder I’ve ever had. First bite i said OMG. I think i ended up saying OMG after every bite. Lol The shrimp and crab mixture on top is a must get. It’s fresh and cold. Makes a nice complement to the creamy rich clam chowder. Everything is cut uniformly which I find important. Clams are melt in your mouth tender. Typically I end up avoiding them in other clam chowders. The top of the bowl is cut off and the insides are toasted. Superb bread bowl.
Also got the shrimp and fish and chips. Curly fries were good. Fatty shrimp and fish pieces. The cocktail sauce was awesome. I like mine with a little more kick so I enjoyed the horseradish in it.
Bought a quart to go with the crab and shrimp mixture on the side… yeah… gluttonous.

Hands down best seafood around. Clam chowder is out of this world. First come first serve for seating, but if you can’t find a spot, the beach is steps away to enjoy the yummy treasures of the sea.
Friendly staff, clean.

I love clam chowder and this place does it better than some of the restaurants/​stands in SF.
Got the Clam Chowder in Sourdough Bread Bowl with crab/​shrimp mix topping and a side of curly fries. Can’t go wrong there. I like that the top of the bread bowl was toasted. I wish it was buttered up tho.
Place is kind of tiny, but the location is prime, and you can just eat on the boardwalk. beware of the birds!
Ambiance: as beach-​surf-​city vibe as it gets.
The good: fresh, delicious
The bad: limited seating,
Tip: get the extra toppings of crab/​shrimp or whatever. SO GOOD!

C’mon what am i going to say that about a millions people haven’t already said… the chow-​da is the best!
been coming here for about 20 plus years and the consistent quality of this chowder is what keeps us coming.
The fried clams are also very good with just the right amount of batter leaving the clam moist and lost of clam flavor. just a little lemon and some hot sauce… oh yeah!
yes, you might have a wait for a seat on the weekends but heck you have a great view just a block down on the pier!
we’ve taken the soup to go and sat at the picnic table on the pier and it adds to the Pismo vibe… just be careful for the sea gulls LOL the love the sourdough!

Apparently the clam chowder here is the best in the west coast SOOO do I agree? YES! So flavorful and not salty at all. It’s filled with a generous amount of clams inside a perfectly toasted sour dough bread bowl. We came on a Saturday morning around 10 AM and there was no wait. We also ordered the fish&chips and the salmon tacos but honestly you can do without both and only order the clam chowder. I don’t know which dish it was but one of em’ was way too salty and I was parched for water after (I think it might’ve been the salmon tacos). They’ll take your order and call your name once the food is ready and bring it to your table. There’s a ton of stores around to take a look at to help digest your food.
Come early to prevent waiting in line!

When people reminisce on things from their childhood, most people remember cooking from their mom or dad, maybe even their grandma. Me? Oh no, Splash Café definitely brings back my child hood when I would go to the beach with various family members. And now my kids love this place almost as much as I do and I also introduced my wife to Splash just after we were married.
Now with several people I know there is a debate between Splash and a few places in Pismo for whose Clam Chowder reigns supreme, but for me it is without a doubt that Splash Café is just lovely deliciousness!
The Clam Chowder breadbowl is amazingly good but when you add the seafood toppings, good lord it gets even better. Now what is the seafood toppings? Shredded crab and shrimp! You can also add bacon from what I’ve seen others do, but seafood topping is the way to go and my stomach thanks me for it. Lets not forget that they do offer other items on the menu such as fried shrimp, calamari, etc which I’ve tried and they taste super fresh and not oily.
Every single time we visit it is a must for me and my family to order their steamed clams, these go off quick between my wife, my oldest and I because we love them that much.
When you arrive you will most likely see the line coming out of the café and wrap around the building, but don’t let that intimidate you, the line moves fairly quick. The bad part of this place is the seating, they have counters with barstools towards the front and in the back are about 6 tables that seat 4 each and a few more counters with stools. The challenge is to send one of your party back here from the get go and have a stand-​off with people eating. When someone leaves you have to grab the table quick, because people don’t play here.
Anytime we are near Pismo Beach, Splash Café is on our radar, whether to dine in or take on the go because they also do freeze pack if you need. Sure they sell some in Bakersfield but eating it when its fresh is simply the best way to go.

Stopped by to pick up some of their popular fresh (not cooked with high temperatures under pressure) frozen clam chowder to go. It’s available in frozen pint-​sized plastic bags, 4 pints to a box.
Taste opinions on clam chowder are very much subjectively held by each person (in the taste of the beholder) and subject to opinion. Here’s what I thought about Splash’s clam chowder: the veges are not overly cooked; the chowder is creamy, thick, with a good clammy flavor. It’s a conventional clam chowder with no surprises and thicker than most.
Contrast this to a more gourmet clam chowder that’s gaining in popularity, which might have just enough cream for consistency’s sake and herbal seasoning. This is not what you get at Splash Café.
Enjoy!

I have heard of this place for years but have never gone. Finally decided to try it out. I had friends from out of the country visit and I wanted to take them to the coast and have lunch. They all love clam chowder this was the perfect time to try it out.
The weather was sprinkling on and off and we showed up around 1:30pm on a Saturday. I was expecting long lines but we were able to walk right in… Typically, there is a line going around the building. A line did form right after we showed up.
We ordered clam chowder in a bread bowl plus additional toppings which is a trademark for this place. We topped it with crab. (I definitely recommend it). In addition, we also ordered fish tacos, salmon burger, calamari and a side of fries for everyone to try and share.
People have hyped this place up to me so much I thought I was going to be disappointed… To the contrary, it lives up to the hype in my opinion. The chowder was excellent, the fish tacos were great and so were calamari. The Salmon burger was very decent.
I highly recommend this place! Get there early and do anticipate long lines. The place is small but have several tables in the back area to sit if you have time to or have the patience to wait. The price point is excellent also!
It was a great first experience for us!

Splash Café is THE spot to stop by at Pismo Beach. With two other locations, Splash Café is clearly doing something right. Their signature item is their clam chowder bowls, though they serve a variety of seafood including steamed clams, fish and chips and more.
The lines were already out the door of the small store front, but orders are taken quickly. Most people inside are either waiting for their order or eating in the maximized quarters that has bar seating, tables, and every other nook and cranny fit with seats. The back area is expanded but the crowds till overflow the available seating. A nice touch is that they bring your order to you if you dine in. Our selection:
Quart of Chowder with Mixed Seafood Toppings and Clam Toppings — $ 12.95. An excellent option if sharing with a group of people. The mixed seafood included crab meat and shrimp while the clam toppings were just extra on top of the goodness. The chowder is served hot, extremely creamy and rich and has a decent amount of potatoes and clams. Overall, a great chowder.
Grilled Sourdough Loaf — $ 2.50. Their sourdough is excellent and while many opt for the bread bowl, a loaf on the side is a nice way to dip and enjoy the chowder.
Calamari and Chips — $ 6.95. A small plate of deep fried calamari and french fries is served. It wasn’t anything special and I think a better option would have been the fish and chips or maybe scallop and chips. The calamari were extremely tiny strips and mostly fried batter.
Steamers (Clams) — Large (1 lb) — $ 9.95. A solid price for a plate of steamed clams with tomato and broth. It was finished quickly and is great to dip the included sourdough.
Overall, we had a great stop at Splash Café. It’s a touristy spot right on the downtown near the Pier but it’s worth the wait and is clearly the favorite spot of everyone.
Splash Café accepts credit cards including American Express.

One word: BUTTER.
My dad lured our family into this place after seeing its 4-​star Unilocal review. People raving left and right for their clam chowder. We had to try it.
When you walk in, there are signs, also left and right, claiming several titles for best clam chowder, #1 chowder, what have you. How could anyone go wrong?
Clam chowder comes out in a toasty bread bowl, the center scooped out and toasted nicely with a touch of butter. The soup itself though — wow. I felt like I was eating chowder-​flavored butter ranch dressing. The thickest, heaviest, buttery-​est soup I’ve ever had. It might as well have been dressing. Not to mention the butter taste was so overwhelming, I forgot that I was having a seafood chowder.
A quarter into the bowl and I was over it. I felt very sick to my stomach from having eaten what felt like over my daily % value of saturated fats. I didn’t want to waste the soup (a $ 7.50 one at that), but the more I ate the more I felt like the butter was just coating my entire GI tract. It was too much. Ended up dunking it into the trash :(
The only silver lining to this story — the grilled ahi sandwich was really good. Like an in-​and-​out burger with an ahi filet. Amazing.
By the end of the meal, I was really satisfied with the sandwich (which nobody raves about) and really disappointed with their chowder. I suppose it evens out to a 3-​star review. Even then, the sandwich wasn’t something I would explicitly go out of my way for.
If you want something safe and decently healthy, get the grilled ahi sandwich. Otherwise I do think it would be a sufficiently responsible PSA to alert fellow Unilocalers that the chowder is quite possibly the buttery-​est chowder around.

Although we were already full from lunch in Santa Barbara, we still had to give their clam chowder a try and I’m glad we did.
We shared a bowl of piping hot chowder that was full of clams and not a lot of potatoes, just the way is suppose to be. I added the crackers which made it a bit too salty, so I would leave that out next time. The chowder was creamy, rich, and flavorful. Still not the best I’ve had (Seattle’s Pike Place Chowder), but it was pretty darn good.
We came on a Friday afternoon and it was busy, but now crowded busy. They have plenty of tables to dine in. You order at the counter first.
Located right on the corner by the Pismo Beach boardwalk. Parking on the street.

Went here again for lunch the other weekend and had a better experience. Let me preface by saying this is my boyfriend’s favorite clam chowder out there, though he does admit to having tried few alternatives in his lifetime (805 local).
This time I ordered the quart for us to share as well as a grilled sourdough loaf. This provides more chowder and more of the buttered part of the bread for less than the cost of two breadbowls. It was difficult to finish between the two of us, but satisfying. I’d order this way again.
I have had a lot of clam chowder over the years and cannot say the one here is on my top favorites list. The chowder at lunchtime did have more potatoes and pieces of clams than during my last visit. Personally, I just like chowder that is less salty with whole or halves of clams and bigger chunks of potato.
I still like visiting the café and will again. I appreciate that the business owner contacted me to address the questions I raised in my last review. We can rest assured now that the recipe of the chowder at Splash is indeed the same, original recipe.

Ok this place here folks is the place to go when you want clam chowder or when you are in Pismo PEIROD and if you’ve never be here then you are missing out! Ok ok it’s nothing out of this world it’s just a must try place when in Pismo. «When in Rome we do like they blah blah blah» you get it!
Anyway I use to come here all the time when I lived in Cali and at my last visit about a month ago when I came and visit it was still as awesome and busy as I remembered it.
Small cramped space does not keep the people away and in fact they crank out so much chowder and go through so many customers that it will make your head spin.
Ok so it’s nothing super fancy schmancy
and the food it not incredibly high end but it’s good, it’s a classic and they have great service. In my tip I had suggested that the extra topping of shrimp and crab meat was worth it… I take it back. I think my eyes were talking rather then my mouth, stomach or taste buds. They were plopped on top COLD and imitation which I was so not happy about at all, in fact I think I just scooped it all out. The chowder itself was tasty with lots of flavor not too runny and not too thick. The buttered and toasted sourdough bread bowl was yum and their other food choice were ok. Fried calamari and chicken strip was good but again I think everything was frozen even the fries.
All in all even though the place is not your by the beach fresh catch seafood joint it is a fun little place to grab some comfort deep fried seafood, chowder and keep this place open to continue everyone’s traditions. The prices can be better especially for the quality of the food but hey I’ll still come back just to keep the memories alive!

Splash Café surprised me. We found it on Unilocal,and my immediate reaction was «Stay away! This sounds like a tourist trap!» And yes, there were a lot of tourists there, but the food and the prices were excellent, the service was very good, and overall it was a good little beach restaurant! I would recommend it.
We ordered the clam chowder bowl (you have to), chili cheese fries, and the fried scallops with fries for two people. This was entirely too much food for two people! I assumed, based on their prices, that the chili cheese fries ($ 4) would be a side order, but they were HUGE! Basically meal sized chili cheese fries. There was no way we were going to finish all of them. Oh, and I didn’t mention this, but their cheese fries are all CURLY FRIES. Bonus! I have never spent so little for lunch at a beach tourist area… I thought this place was definitely a great value.
PRO TIP: Get crab and shrimp added to the top of your clam chowder! It is totally worth it.
The décor is old school beachy. I like that on the walls they have pictures of all the old crews that used to work here 20+ years ago. They seem to operate like a family, and I really appreciated that.
They’re not doing anything new/​different with their food, but if you’re looking for fried seafood, curly fries, etc. then Splash Café is a great place to stop.

This classic beach town hangout is just what you would expect with all the typical menu items. The counter service moved quickly and the food came out in a reasonable amount of time.
The clam chowder scared me at first since it looked as thick as paste but it turned out to be quite tasty. The fish taco was good but the shrimp basket was average — nothing special. And the fries were limp.

Splash Café is certainly a destination if one is in the five cities area. The clam chowder is the stuff of legends and other than maybe the calamari — the bread bowl with clam chowder is what you need to get here!
The bread bowl itself is quite good. The lid is toasted and buttered. Dip it in the chowder… amazing. The bread is local, from San Luis Obispo. Better if you go earlier in the day of course.