Hotel San Luis Obispo opened up both of its restaurants on Thanksgiving day.
KSBY spoke with locals about why they chose to dine out Thursday and got a look at what’s involved in serving these kinds of meals on a busy holiday afternoon.
Hotel San Luis Obispo’s team plans months in advance to determine which restaurants will be open on Thanksgiving day.
“We elected for a dinner to be open with a buffet style set up and then our steak house Ox & Anchor is doing more of their standard dinner menu along with a turkey special,” said Daniel Rivas, Hotel SLO General Manager of Restaurants.
Rivas said the culinary team had to order turkeys a month ago.
Hotel San Luis Obispo was expecting more than 200 people at Ox & Anchor and 350 people at Piadena with some availability for walk-ins.
Sarah Judson, a Piadena customer, said she originally made reservations thinking eating out would be an easier option with only a few people.
“Well, originally we thought we were going to have a small Thanksgiving party, so we booked this to be easy and have to cook and, you know, do dishes and all that,” said Judson. “Now we've got the whole family out here. We basically doubled the party and it's been great.”
Richard Enfield, a San Luis Obispo resident, said the menu was what appealed to his family.
“We always celebrate Thanksgiving together, the four of us, and we looked at the menu,” said Enfield. “The menu looked really good. It was easy to get to and we decided to come out and here we are.”
Some guests mentioned how dining in a restaurant makes the experience easier to enjoy with loved ones.
“We have a long history of cooking elaborate meals, so it's nice not to have to do that,” said Judson. “But that's also time with our family and I feel like Hotel SLO did a good job of the place. You know, we all get to sit around and enjoy each other's company.
“The good news here is that we don't have to clean up any dishes,” said Micahel Tiner, a Cayucos resident. "This is a terrific restaurant and a great place for us to celebrate.”
Rivas told KSBY he takes pride in being able to help others celebrate on special occasions.
“There's always a great personal pride in being able to help others celebrate and be a part of their special celebrations and as a unit kind of in hospitality in general, you build a really strong camaraderie and so kind of doing these holidays together just further fosters that,” said Rivas.
Hotel San Luis Obispo plans on opening Piadena for a Christmas buffet next month.
