Sally Loo’s Wholesome Cafe

perfect macchiato, delicious waffle, delightful acai bowl… i only wish we were in town another day to try more of the menu. Great food & nice people, ideally located near downtown, but away from the fray — right next to a great walking/​biking trail by the train.

Really fresh and yummy ingredients. Overall a solid breakfast café — exactly what you expect from a SLO café — very cute, independently owned, and locally farmed produce. Healing of a Nation smoothie was the highlight for me. 4 Stars because it is a bit overpriced in my opinion.

Very cute place, a little hippy dippy but I liked my lox bagel. Great tomatoes and apparently they’re a big deal? Overhear the waitress say they had run out and the table was devastated. Glad I got to try them!

Service was super super sloooowww. If you are hungry don’t expect to eat anytime soon after you order. Ordering was fine and coffee was great but it took them more than 35 minutes to get our food. We ordered their breakfast burrito, acai bowl, and a latte. Come on… 35 minutes to put a burrito and acai bowl together.
Plus right after we got our food, the table besides us that sat 10 minutes later than us also got their food at the same time.
The food portions are modest but the prices are not.
Definitely better for coffee than for food here.

Four stars for atmosphere (weird art on walls), two stars for the quality of espresso. The former is cute, warm, earthy, spacious for studying and chatting. The latter is oily and weak, with a sour aftertaste. I highly recommend changing roasting companies.
One final note: I asked for about 2 inches of steamed milk to be added to my drink (triple Americano), mostly in order to tone down the sour taste. I was charged $ 1 and the milk was barely warmed.
Not the place to go if you’re looking for fine, rich espresso with depth.

Coffee was horrible! I hope it was a one time thing. But the croissant with egg and nitrate free bacon was really good!

Amazing spot in SLO for breakfast! Everything was so fresh and delicious. The only negative was the wait time but the food was well worth the wait. My husband had the breakfast sandwich and said it was the best he has ever had. I had poached eggs fruit and avocado. They were the best eggs I think I’ve ever had! The acai bowl looks amazing too. We also had the house coffee with almond milk and the coffee was great. If we are ever in town again we will be back.

This is mostly what I expect from a café in San Luis Obispo. Delicious wholesome food in a warm, casual atmosphere. Servers are nice and friendly. Big downside is the orders do take longer to come. Waited about 15 minutes for two sandwiches (café was about half full at the time) and then ordered a Acai Bowl, which took another 25 mins to come. The sandwiches were SOOOO yummy but the Acai Bowl was a fail. Im used to a more yogurt-​like texture from my Acai bowls but this one was more a smoothie or icy given how liquidy it was…
Bottom line: The sandwiches are delish. Stay away from the Acai Bowl. But most importantly come here ONLY if you have extra time to wait, otherwise, you’d be frustrated.

This is easily five stars for the bacon Rosemary egg sandwich. This is a breakfast work of art that melts in your mouth. Go. Go now.

Sally Loo’s is always a good choice for a fresh, healthy, and super delicious breakfast or lunch. The location is small but cute, right next to the train station.
Favorites:
Acai bowl– topped with tons for fresh fruit and granola, it’s the perfect snack for any time of day.
Waffles– I love their waffles, whether topped with sliced strawberries or with bananas and Nutella, the late portions will definitely fill you up.
The only downside to this place is that it is kind of pricey, especially for college students. Save for a once in a while treat!

As a college student, this place was off bounds. It was an Instagram hot spot and we laughed whenever we saw those pictures of latte art and acai bowls. It was also $$$. Oh, and when did we ever have 2 hours to get breakfast? Never.
Now as a working professional … I can actually afford Sally Loo’s and find the hipster and odd location pretty charming.
Came in on a Wednesday morning and was surprised to find every table full. We ordered two stuffed croissants, one breakfast sandwich, one soy mocha, one latte, and one cappuccino. The guests I brought were blown away by the concept of a stuffed croissant. They’d never seen it before, how, what, why?
The breakfast sandwich was delicious — each individual item from the ciabatta roll to the avocado were 100%.
The server was kind enough to bring us a hot sauce, which was also delicious and we will be buying some of our own.

Unfortunately I will not be coming back. On our 3^rd trip here; after an agonizing 45 min wait for our order, in my egg sandwich was a hair melted into the cheese…
After I spoke up and brought it to the attention of the waitress she did not act quick to correct the matter. She instructed that it would still be another 30 min to replace my already tardy sandwich and did not swiftly compensate me on my ruined sandwich.
While they are polite and make delicious food, customer service apparently isn’t their main priority… While we were dining there were also several other people complaining about the wait and while SLWC apologized for their errors they did not go above and beyond for their customers either by compensating graciously or offering to correct their mistakes…

A cute little café with great drinks and breakfast munchies. You order at the counter and grab a seat (with cute table setting in hand). There are a good amount of seats, but it can get pretty cramped, especially in the corner.
Definitely a great option to grab a quick breakfast if you’re in the area.

I love this café!
My friend brought me here this weekend for breakfast and it was amazing. I ordered The San Louse. It’s a bagel topped with hummus, local organic cream cheese, local organic tomatoes, evermore, fruits, and sunflower seeds. It was so yummy and filling. The café was really cute too. They have paintings from local artists displayed on the walls and according to my friend, they swap them out every so often! If I lived in SLO I would definitely be here all the time.
Oh and they have wifi!

Let me tell ya, when I go back to a place TWICE in one weekend trip it means something… Sally Loo’s is one of the small town staples. Great food. Friendly people. Service on point. Homey feel. Love it! I could eat breakfast here everyday if I lived in SLO!
Round 1:
Acai bowl — it was good! Obviously the most popular thing to order here, every table had it! I’m not a fan of acai bowls. Something to do with the fact it’s a smoothie with granola on top. You do know Jamba Juice had this first (sad to say). Anyway, it was good, but because I’m not a fan of acai bowls in general, I wouldn’t order it again.
«Sunday Staple» — smoked salmon bagel platter. MMMmmMmmMM! Had all the fixings I needed to make myself a smoked salmon sandwich! Over did on the cream cheese, but it’s always better to have more than not enough.
Round 2:
Gluten free strawberry earl grey scone — changed my perspective on «gluten-​free» pastries. My goodness, this scone was heavenly! You can really taste the earl grey, which is REALLY hard to infuse into pastries. Props! I would make the detour off the 101 just to come here for this scone! Highly recommend you order it if they have it!
Parfait — since I don’t like the acai bowl, I opted for the parfait. Fresh berries and their famous, most delicious granola. It has to be the corn flakes! It’s so good. I was so full, but I kept eating the parfait. HUGE PORTION, beware! Don’t let your eyes get bigger than your stomach.
4 barrel coffee — the down fall of cafes and bakeries is not having good coffee. I get so annoyed when I find a café/​bakery that has great food and pastries, but coffee is horrible. THIS IS NOT THE CASE AT SALLY LOO’S. Coffee is perfecto. All you need is that house blend ;)
Will come back every single time I’m in SLO, without a doubt.

Best croissant sandwich I have ever eaten – so bomb that I don’t even mind that fact that it always collapses halfway into eating it, but my godddd, does it always fall apart!
Acai bowls are tasty, but they are really pricey for the amount of fruit, granola, and overall serving size. Actually – scratch that – everything at Sally Loo’s is pretty expensive in retrospect.
Also, don’t come here on a weekend if you are an impatient person. All aspects of their service will test your inner stoicism. From waiting in line to get your order in at the cashier (averages about 10 minutes), from waiting to find your own seat (if you are lucky to even find a seat!), all the way to finally sitting and waiting 20 plus minutes for your food. Do block off and dedicate at least an hour of your time if you plan on coming to Sally’s.
Thankfully, the café itself is very cozy and quaint, worker bees are friendly, and they have the best croissant sandwich I have ever eaten! nomnom.

This was pretty much the only place I would take my friends and family coming from out of town. Sally Loo’s is a very quaint and cute café to go to for brunch. If course during brunch the lines get really long so try to go during an off time. I usually order the acai bowl that comes either in the goblet or a bowl. It probably depends on how busy the place is! But I love how fresh the bowl is with their parts and fruits! I like how they vary the fruits instead of it just being raspberries and blueberries.
Seating can also be a worrisome thing since some people are students studying and using the tables as their desks. So be mindful and understand that it isn’t a big place, but that’s what makes Sally Loo’s the cute café it is!

Such a warm and welcoming café! They serve Four Barrel coffee from SF. There are lots of tables with electrical outlets near the walls. It’s all blonde wood, lots of sunlight, very cozy. There are a few tables outside too if you want to sit in the sun.
I came after lunch for a place to hang out while I waited for the bike kitchen to open and it was pretty empty. I don’t normally drink coffee so took a while to order, having a long discussion at the counter about what I like, don’t like and what they recommend. I swear it took 5 – 10 minutes and they took it all in stride.
I ended up getting an iced mocha — almost $ 5 — pricey but I figured that’s the cost of hanging out there for a few hours.
If you’re looking for a mellow place with some character to hang out for a few hours, you should definitely come here instead of Starbucks or Peets. Feels like a place where the locals go — embedded within the neighborhood instead of downtown.

SLO is such a cute town! I am so glad Unilocal exists because I wouldn’t have found this wonderful place if it weren’t for it!
I looked at the menu and the Egg Sandwich caught my eye right away, and it was such a perfect decision! The ciabatta was so delicious because it had a great texture, the tomato and avocado were incredibly and obviously fresh, the Pepper Jack cheese added a fantastic flavor to the sandwich, and to top it all off the egg was cooked to perfection. I savored every bite and will continue to dream about it until I get to go back to SLO! The lattes are also delicious and SOY MILK DOES NOT COST EXTRA MONEY!
I would highly recommend coming here and ordering the egg sandwich! I promise you will not regret it! Everything gets a ¹⁰⁄₁₀.

I came to San Louis Obispo for the weekend and we weren’t sure where to go to eat for brunch. Well, when in San Louis Obispo, ask the locals! We were at the Farmers Market and asked a lady in passing where a good lunch spot was, and she recommended Sally Loo’s.
I gave up processed sugar for Lent, but this restaurant really helped in easing myself into it. It made natural/​organic foods taste good! I saw so many pictures of their Acai bowl that I couldn’t resist not ordering it. I did let the person who took our order at the register, whether the bowl used processed sugar. It does not, but the granola does! So I ate around the granola. This was the best Acai bowl I’ve ever had so far.
As for the other foods, their sandwiches are also really good! Be careful that if you go around 11am, the sandwich specials that they post on the wall may be sold out for the day already :(