Novo Restaurant & Lounge

Category:	Eclectic Restaurant
Address:	726 Higuera St, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401, USA
Phone:	+1 805-543-3986
Site:	novorestaurant.com
Rating:	4.4
Working:	11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–9PM 11AM–10PM 11AM–10PM 10AM–9PM

Location

Photos 100

Reviews 7

Genevieve Andrews

The wait time was huge and the food was not all that great. We were seated about 7:30, we did not see our server for at least 15 minutes when he came he took our drink order and then disappeared for a good 20 minutes. When he brought our drinks he dropped them and left to take the order at a table that had been seated after us. He then came back to take our food order, he was a little rude when it came to some special requests due to food allergies, he left to put or order in and did not come back to check on us for a good 30 minutes. When he came back one of the people sitting with us asked about how much longer until the food came out, he gave us some excuse about how the Chevre took a long time to roast. My friend then asked if we could get some bread with balsamic and oil while we waited. He brought bread for all the tables and dropped off ours last. Finally about an hour after we ordered our food it finally came out. Unfortunately for the wait the food was not very good. One of my friends ordered the special Halibut and it was over cooked and dry. I ordered the petite filet it was cold and buried under a massive pile of blue cheese, the vegetables were incredibly salty and the mashed potatoes were grainey and flavorless. No one pleased with their meal. Once we were done eating it took another 15 minutes before the waiter came back to offer us dessert we declined and asked for our check. We had a party of 4 and asked to split the check 3 ways, he brought the bill unsplit, when we asked to have it split he took it back and split it into 2. At this point we just payed and sorted the rest out among us. when he took our cards to run them it was another 15 minutes to get them back. We did not leave the restaurant until 10:00. We will not go here again it is way over hyped.

Sally Elbassir

Saturday night of a holiday weekend, and I scoped out the top-rated places on yelp. Somehow I got lucky and my friend and i had a short wait AND ended up with a table on the back patio. Score! I absolutely LOVED the ambiance. It was a warm summer night, the lights were on, and the DJ music was the perfect relaxing touch. My friend and I love to share everything, so we ordered a few things: Samosas - Perfect. Crispy on the outside, delicious seasoning on the inside, and just enough spice to be hot but not overkill. Well-complemented with the yogurt mint sauce. Short ribs - Also really well-seasoned. Not too sweet and very tender - the meat fell right off the bone. Chow novo with chicken - I was REALLY disappointed in this dish. They split into two bowls for us which was nice, but the overall noodles and chicken were very bland. Good texture and well-cooked, but somehow they missed it on the seasoning part. Vanilla creme brûlée - Came with berries on top, and way better than the OG creme brulee. Not overly sweet or heavy. I believe it was on special that night! Overall decent prices, good fusion food and great ambiance.

Nancy Smith

Went to Novos for lunch on a Wednesday. We were seated creekside, even though it was very windy. Leaves and acorns kept blowing onto our table. Service was very slow. After we had received our drinks one of their umbrellas blew over hitting the lady at the table next to us in the back and then landing on our table spilling my hot tea and our other drinks. Someone came and picked up the umbrella and asked if we were okay. We sat there for a while with the spilled drinks all over our table and then the manager motioned to one of the waiters to clean it up. The mess was cleaned up and eventually our food came. No one asked the lady who got hit in the back how she was. Our food was great. When it came time for our bill there was no compensation for what had happened. We asked to see the manager and explained what had happened and he said he hadnt known. We mentioned the lady that was hit in the back, he never asked her if she was okay or filed a report etc. He acted like we were a bother and finally compensated for part of our bill. We were appalled to be treated that way.

Jason Matthews

Absolutely loved our meals and the outdoor seating by the river with all the lights. The bar room up front is nice too with great artwork. Perfect date place. The appetizers and entrees were delicious with a great selection of California cuisine--my 14 oz New York Strip thick and tasty. Really did not like the flat bottom iron chairs. I should have asked if they had cushions because my butt was aching by the end of the meal--same as one of my kids. Shame since it is such a nice place but not comfortable seating. Also was a little surprised it took about 15 minutes to get an ice bucket for the champagne we brought even though it was seen by the hostess, the water boy and our waiter well before anyone thought we could use some ice. The staff was very pleasant though. Prices in line with quality food. Didnt see any real bargains in food or the extensive wine/beer/drink options.

Cassandra Dickinson

I searched for kid friendly restaurants in SLO, Novo was at the top of the list, so we decided to give it a shot. However, after eating here I would disagree since the food was unappealing to 3 of my 4 kids. $10 for a kids meal is also way overpriced considering what actually comes on the plate and a drink is not included. My expectations for food was set pretty high for being the #1 rated restaurant in SLO, when our food finally arrived the quality was lacking as well as the taste. Only positive experience we were left with was we had dinner in a beautiful location and another server was incredibly kind to bring my son some extra fruit since he wouldnt eat the pasta or chicken. Dont think we will ever be back again to see if this was a fluke or not, either way though this is not a restaurant I would consider "kid friendly!"

Amber Bailey

We loved going to Novo always had a great time. Last time was horible! The food was OK but VERY greasy!! Over priced, if you pay $80 for lunch it should be great! The service was TERIBLE!!! When we were finished with our food I had to wave down the sever (because she was sitting 2 tables over EATING!) when she finally came to our table she said that when we were done she would bring us a box.( UMMM thats why I just ASKED for one!) Then she goes back over to her table to EAT AGAIN! So I got up asked another sever for a box he was very nice and gave me one. When she was done with her food, she came over to our table and very snappy asked I would like to know who gave you this BOX!! I have been a server/bartender for over 15 years the only good thing about this place is the soup. The menu NEVER changes.

Benjamin Kirk

The food and atmophere at this place is on point. The avacado- shrimp spring rolls were super tasty. The salmon bisque was excellent (another review said this tasted like liquid salmon. This is true... Thats why its called a salmon bisque. It does have nice big chunks of salmon in it too... Very good). For the entree, I had the catch of the day. It was bacon wrapped scalops and prawns on a scewer with black and white mixed rice (i forgot what they called it). Everything on the scewer was very tasty. The rice was a little bland. I added some olive oil and pepper and it tasted much better. My wife had the scallops over some kind of paste (forgot what they called it) that was really good. Overall the food was excellent. We had a table by the creek which was also nice. I plan to go back.