Carriage Restaurant in San Simeon, Ca, fine food, friendly service...

The small town of San Simeon, located on California's central coast, is world-famous due to the fact that it's near the "Enchanted Hill," also known as Hearst Castle, not to mention that the weather and the spectaculor scenery is some of the most desirable on the planet. And, when you're visiting the town of San Simeon, when you get hungry, you'll want to pay a visit the Carriage Restaurant, as it is the favorite place in town where the local residents prefer to dine.

Left: The Carriage Restaurant, San Simeon's family dining stop, with it's namesake carriage parked in front. Right: Sharlene is greeted by Jackie, our very friendly greeter and hostess.

The locals eat at the Carriage Restaurant for many reasons, as the quantity of the food is impressive, the quality is excellent, and the servers are friendly and efficient. The bikers eat at the Carriage Restaurant: Yes, that includes the Harley-crowd, but the guys that pedal human-powered bicycles up and down the coast, eat there too. You know these guys like a full meal, as peddlin' is a lot of work, so when you see their bikes parked in front of a restaurant, you know it's a place to eat where you'll get a good meal at a reasonable price.

You walk into the place and you're greated by a really friendly hostess. She seats you and you immediately feel like you're at home, or part of the family. And the delicious coffee starts to pour from the bottomless coffee pot... Relax, enjoy...

Left: Jackie and Julie, behind the counter and the bar. Right: From left to right: Jackie, Manuel and Julie pose in front of the spotless kitchen. These folks are really nice people!

The food is good, the presentation is excellent, and the service is outstanding. Your servers, Jackie or Julie, will be happy to strike up a conversation with you about almost anything. By the way, Jackie is one of the most friendly persons that you'll ever meet, and is an outstanding waitress. She deserves that extra tip, as she's charming, friendly and an outstanding waitress.

We stuck up on conversation with Jackie, and she told us that she is a long-time resident of the area; she told us that she'd been a waitress for 37-something years, all of it in the San Simeon area. Wow! Way to go, girl! She, and her partner Julie, provided us with lots of pleasant conversation, coffee, and excellent food. Then, you just have to say "hi" to the friendly guy, Manuel, that will clear your table and will greet you with an award-winning smile.

Left: Jackie refils our coffee cups, mere moments before our order arrives. Jackie will provide you with very interesting conversation. Right: We're eating breakfast, but Julie keeps our coffee cups full. Carriage Restaurant offers delicious food, very friendly staff, and outstanding service, which adds up to a winning combination.

The food? Good and reasonably priced for San Simeon, one of the most beautiful places that you could visit on California's central coast.

As a humerous sidebar, I mentiond to Jackie that I planned to publish our dining experience at Carriage Restaurant on our website. She laughed and said that she wasn't all that familiar with the world wide web, but she'd discuss the matter with Carriage's in-house expert, Manuel. She refered me over to Manuel, who speaks very little English, and as I started ratteling on about the web, he gave me a blank stare and asked me, in Spanish, "Que es el internet del mundo?" Immediately, I knew that I'd been "had" and got a good laugh out of it. These folks are great!

Left: Sharlene picks at her food, but I have other priorites: Take photos! Right: My breakfast of hash brown potatoes, eggs over easy, and sourdough toast, which is my usual breakfast when I'm on the road. Sharlene's pancakes can be seen in the background. This breakfast is good!

Carriage Restaurant also highlights a menu that features Mexican food, as well as all of the "good 'ol boy" favorites that you're used to. This is one awesome place to eat! Forget all of the tourist traps and eat where the locals (and the guys that pedal their bikes, and the guys that ride their hawgs) eat.