A Day in Atascadero and Templeton, LA Weekend Getaway
As a family, we take an annual weekend getaway, meeting up with my NoCal family in the middle of California! It’s a four-ish hour drive from LA, so it makes for a great long weekend and escape for the city.
The Central Coast is gorgeous, varied landscape. The area encompasses over six Counties including Santa Barbara, Ventura, Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Cruz and Santa Benito County. That’s a mouthful.
Typically, I prefer exploring towards the smaller towns centered around San Luis Obispo (or SLO as the locals call it). Being a bit city gal, I like the escape to less dense city centers including SLO, Paso Robles, Arroyo Grande, Morro Bay, Atascadero and Templeton.
I highly recommend wine tasting (and some sprinkling of distillery tastings!). I find the wineries more affordable, less pretentious, and extremely high quality compared to its well known Napa Valley and Sonoma Valley counterparts! It’s much less crowded, requires less planning, and the atmosphere is just as picaresque, pleasant as the crowded Napa Valley wineries! The Central Coast is a hidden secret. Some of winery peeps graduated from CalPoly with a Wine and Viticulture degree (has anyone ever heard of this before now?). The Central Coast is known for its agriculture (read: farming) so the quality of food, foodies, and general connection to the farm and land, is visible everywhere!
Thus, I will jump into my honest itinerary including recommendations where to go, what to do for a day trip to Templeton and Atascadero, CA! Only 15 minutes apart, so recommend jumping between the two areas for maximum exploration value.
Atascadero’s City Hall and Sunken Gardens. Image by Linh Da Tran
We wandered Downtown Atascadero, which has a stunning 1914 City Hall (Italian Renaissance four-story domed brick building!) and recently rebuilt Sunken Gardens (which is like a big city square park). They were clearly European influenced, as there are unique water fountains at each of the four City Hall Corners, and sculptures of ducks and cupid like figures. Who knew this small town was so classy!
Explore more in their Downtown Directory.
If you feel like short walk, amble over to the Lewis Avenue Bridge (built in 2007), which reminded me of an Austin, TX bridge. It links the retail portion (which consists of a movie theater and a few empty storefronts) to their historic district! We happily snapped selfies while enjoying the stroll.
To fill up with caffeine and a bit to eat, walk on over to Bru Coffeehouse (Atascadero).
Chalkboard menus highlighted their quiches and wraps(they looked mouth watering). My latte has the the perfect amount of smooth, creamy microfoam and the coffee was TASTY (and I drink coffee everywhere I go so this is a high rating). Don’t forget to admire the bird mural on the side of the coffee shop building on your way out. There’s plenty of cozy indoor seating and had two tables and one chair for outside seating.
Colony Deli and Market. Image by Linh Da Tran
To-go lunch order at Colony Deli and Market (Atascadero) is a down-to-earth, modern deli, with a generous outdoor patio! On the corner of El Camino Real and Traffic Way, it feels like the place to be - walk into its open air room, order at the register and sit on down. Food includes all day breakfast, fish and chips, salads and burgers. I ordered the tuna salad with mixed greens and a side of jalapeño coleslaw and it did the job. Service was not speedy, but the staff kept and eye on us and made sure our food came out! We ordered to-go so we could hit up the wineries and picnic.
If you have time to wander, check out the sheep’s milk, ice cream stronghold Negranti Creamery (locals ordered a sandwich ice cream/cookie and it was epically proportioned!).
However, they have three locations so don’t worry if you miss this one.
The Ancient Owl outdoor beer garden, is next door and honestly making all my patio dreams come true. This complex is made of reused, steel shipping containers so it gives it a contemporary and urban feel. :)
Perhaps the most well-known winery (as judged by their 150+ Google Reviews) is Castoro Cellers winery! Spanish-style architecture plus wine villa equals prob one of the most stunning Templeton wineries (don’t quote me!).
We did the white wine tasting ($20 at the time of writing), and enjoyed ourselves immensely. I don’t recall most of the wines but if you’re into dessert wines, they served us two moscatos and my partner, who prefers sweeter wines, was a fan.
I recommend for the pleasant atmosphere, their lovely people (Angela served us!), and their family friendly vibe. We were able to bring out small Yorkie dog as well.
Castoro Cellers winery - Spanish style courtyard. Image by Linh Da Tran
A hop-skip and a jump away - swing by Bethel Road Distillery (Templeton); literally across the street (there was a sign pointing right as soon as you exit Castoro!). My favorite modern patio of the trip. Great views, and access to several gas-fueled fire pits! This place screams sparkling, brand new-ish ! As if a hipster cabin-person married an event planner. Views overlook newly planted grapes! They make and distill right on site - so we were able to peek at their end of harvest activities!
The flight started with grappa since one of the founders has roots in Italy!
We were so impressed with their carmel colored, walnut liquor the Nucino (not offered on the tasting menu, you have to ask!) - we bought our very own bottle. Highly recommend Bethel Road Distillery for stylish alcohol, especially for those who need a break from wine and yearn for 60 to 80 proof territory.
For dinner, we went to the ever popular, slightly stately Paso Robles favorite Mexican go-to, Fish Gaucho (Atascadero). Reservations recommended for busy weekend evenings!
My quinoa and poke dish was filling and yummy with pomegranate seeds and avocados to diversify the flavors and textures. My relatives ordered the guacamole and salsa platter, and happy hour tacos (which were happy hour portion sized) yet everyone left full!
Thus ends our Day 1 in the Central Coast - exploring Downtown Atascadero and Templeton’s wine country
If you have any questions, comments, or recommendations - feel free to shoot me an email at linhdy@outlook.com. Happy Travels!
