Chele’s Food & Spirits

Worst experience ever! We were sat quickly but it took our server 10 min to even greet us. Ordered the salmon which was so bland and disgusting, not even drenching it in lemon and salt helped. Everything tasted frozen, the fries, veggies, the fish for fish and chips. Ordered a Bloody Mary, it was disgusting. The server forgot to bring me my clam chowder so she brought me a dinner salad drenched in ranch with dried cranberries and burnt bacon. I don’t eat pork. I’d give this place 0 stars if possible. Eat anywhere in pismo but this place. Save the money and time

Breakfast – California Benedict was good, but absolutely drowning in Hollandsise. So was hubbys Seafood Benedict. Very good hash browns. Daughter’s pancakes were outstanding. Service was slow, drink refills lacking. Waitress repeatedly forgot which orders went to what tables.

Park behind Cheles for free parking.

The warmed up cobbler w/​ice cream was great. The front desk hostess was not there but after awhile a waitress told us to sit anywhere.

My daughters clam chowder had sand in it, my burger was under cooked, my son’s pulled pork sandwich made him sick to his stomach and my youngest child was brought the «free ice cream» that came with his meal before he was even half way done with his lunch causing a temper tantrum and a lot of embarrassment for me. Over all it was a bad experience for us.

I’ll admit it. I wasn’t going to come here. We were staying in Arroyo Grande and wanted seafood. Unilocal showed it was all about Splash Café. So off we went. Found a great parking spot and then saw the line outside Splash. No dice. Wife, teen daughter and I were hungry now. So we went to Chele’s.
As we were seated, I looked at Unilocal.Uh oh. Not good news for Chele’s. I decided not to share all the bad reviews with the family.
Did I mention we were hungry now? So of course we ordered an appetizer. Daughter picked the spinach artichoke dip. Excellent choice! Came in a warm sourdough bread bowl that had a little bit of a flaky crust. All good. Daughter thought it was almost too spicy but not for us. The waitress Selena ended up telling us that it was the kitchen manager’s grandma’s recipe and she liked it because it was spicy.
Wife ordered some seafood platter that had a few different things and also got the clam chowder. She enjoyed it all, only thinking the popcorn shrimp was just OK. But she liked the fish and the clam strips a lot. I had the fish and chips, medium sized order. Plenty of food, as I also had the clam chowder. Excellent fish. Daughter had the coconut shrimp. She loved it and thankfully got full and had two left, meaning both parents scored with one.
While I can’t wait to try Splash the next time we’re around, Chele’s is worth a stop. Maybe they’ve changed a lot from the past reviews. Glad we didn’t leave after reading the reviews. If our experience can be replicated, you should have a good one.

Warming; Terrible food, took forever to get our food, awful clam chowder, could not find one clam, nasty bathrooms. Would never go back.

Didn’t like this. Water is nasty.

As far as Pismo joints go, this place is average. I am a HUGE fan of Splash Café, but my in-​laws overruled me and we came here. They have a wide variety on there menu and the service was very good. The clam chowder was excellent and so was their fish and chips. The décor though was some what corny and kitschy with lots of touristy beach paraphernalia, but it was overall a decent place. Coolest part was on the children’s menu if the kids finish their whole plate, they get free ice cream. So yeah, if Splash is too busy or you want to try something new, this place is decent.

Oh God! Stay away from the Bloody Marys… & everything else!

This has been my husband and my favorite restaurant in Pismo Beach for years. It has just the right food for the right atmosphere. It’s not fancy, just good food. I like that because sometimes you just want something good to eat near the beach without over thinking it. This past weekend, 5 of us ate here: 2 adults and 3 kids. We spent about $ 55.00. I had the clam chowder and coconut shrimp. My kids all had chicken strips. My husband had fish and chips. We started with, what I think is their best item, the mozzarella sticks. The are actually the best cheese sticks I’ve ever had. They aren’t breaded like you would buy in a frozen food section, they are battered. Yeah, probably not the healthiest way to cook them, but who cares? They are so good. We ate them up fast.
We always eat on their patio as it has a great view of the beach and ocean. With that being said, it can be windy/​cool. It has a great beachy atmosphere. It is located across a biker bar, however, that can be a turn off. It’s located on a busy one way street, so it’s best to park and walk. One time we were driving through and stopped in to eat breakfast. I had a crab omellette that was absolutely delish. The service has been only ok, this past weekend it wasn’t anything memorable. We will continue eating here and bringing family and friends here because it’s worth it. Even for a light meal, you have to order the mozzarella sticks.

My original destination was Brad’s but the line was too long and I was starving. I walked across the street to Chele’s and there was no line and it was half full. That should have raised a red flag but I wasn’t thinking clearly. The patio view is very pretty but that does not make up for the terrible food. I ordered a cup of clam chowder soup and fish and chips. The soup tasted like it came out of a can. I think Campbell’s Chunky soup tastes better! The fish had no flavor and I had to dip it several times in the tartar sauce. The chips looked and tasted like the Ore ida ones I buy in the frozen section. I am so disappointed I spent $ 28 on an awful dinner but I learned a lesson that next time I will go to Brad’s…some good things are worth the wait.

Horrible!!! Great view but chowder too thick and canned taste. Fish had no flavor. Service was terrible. Had to get up and ask for water and plate. Plate came dirty and we got the same plate after a 30 second wash. Table was sticky.
Should have asked for money back! Will be going back to Brad’s for Chowder, Fish and Chips. No view but good food!

I’ve lived on the Central Coast for years and for some reason never went to Chele’s. I was very excited to stop a few weekends ago. I wasn’t blown away, but I wasn’t disappointed. I think the location of Chele’s lends itself more to the tourist industry than specializing on «high» quality food. In other words it has the feel of a high volume restaurant with fairly staple menu.
With that said the food was good, the service was very nice, and being able to see the ocean while eating is always a nice added bonus. When I clicked on three stars it said «A-​OK» and I think this what this place was. Not bad, not mind boggling, just a good place to get a good meal. Good Portions!

Stopped in at Chele’s for an early dinner with the kids. The space is very family friendly which is nice. but the food? Not so nice. I ordered the grilled salmon which was ok — however the mashed potatoes were instant and the veggies were previously frozen.
Go if you want fried foods… stay away if you want fresh/​healthy.

When my family goes to Pismo Beach, there are just some traditions that can’t be done away with… and breakfast at Chele’s is one of them!
I love this restaurant!
We have breakfast here at least once during our stay, and we always sit out on the enclosed patio near the window where we can see the famous Pismo Beach pier. Here we can people watch and check out the latest homes for sale in the region. (I so want to retire to this area!)
I always have the Belgian Waffles (I am totally predictable!) and the hubs has whatever he likes, usually one of the egg platters. Both are wonderful.
This is the restaurant where I learned to love grapefruit juice!
We’re planning another trip to Pismo Beach this year and I can’t wait to have breakfast here again. So worth it!

I usually state in my reviews that we’re very picky about who cooks our food and who serves it to us, definitely not disappointed here!!!
We travel up and down the coast quite often with Pismo Beach being among our favorites. Several months ago we stopped at Chele’s and immediately felt at home. Since it was a tad crowded, we sat at the bar for faster service and drinks were immediate. Menu’s were offered and selections were explained by the very knowledgeable bartender.
We ordered the Bay Shrimp Cocktail and Clam Chowder as starters, both were great. Since every place near the ocean touts their «Award Winning» Clam Chowder, we’re always a bit leery but in this case, it MUST HAVE won 1^st place!
I later had the Fish & Chips, Monica had the Cesar salad ’cause she wanted to eat «Lite.» HA! Nothing lite about it! Wonderfully large enough for the both of us and she stole some Fish & Chips from me. Sometimes fish can be woefully greasy but not in this case. Cooked and seasoned to perfection!
Chele’s has become a favorite haunt for us and we’ve been back many times. Service and menu items are top notch, prices are well within reason and the décor was obviously beach oriented, souvenirs are sold up front and kinda cute, not the crappy type sold at gift shops. It does get crowded with tourists so we recommend bar seating. Very relaxed and conversation with the staff is welcomed!
A good recommendation here!

There’s bad and then there’s Chele’s. This place is HORRIBLE!!! mashed potatoes are instant, straight from the box. All the veggies are frozen, apparently been that way for a year or so. I tried calamarie took one bite, gagged. My wife, wanting something safe, tried the salmon. After all, how can you screwup salmon? How about it being served way undercooked, cold and mushy. Had the consistency and about as much taste as cold oatmeal. The bland overcooked frozen veggies along with the cardboard tasting instant mashed potatoes really topped off her meal. The only good thing about the place was the waitress.
If you want a decent meal in Pismo do NOT go to Chele’s. Any other choice will be better. This has to be the worst place on earth! I have given Chele’s one star because it was the lowest rating on Unilocal.It deserves none and a major warning «danger…eating here can be deadly»

Just dropped in for dessert, which was very good. I had the cherry cobbler, which came with a little bowl of soft-​serve. Hubby had the warm brownie sundae. I also had hot chocolate (it got cold quickly at the beach!)…
Our server was very sweet; the desserts both came out nice and warm and delicious.

Meh, its not the worst place I’ve been to, but its definitely not the best.
So my fiancé’s fam and I went to Downtown Pismo and we wanted somewhere we could eat dinner without waiting for too long [we had 11 people in our party] and thankfully, we only had to wait like 45 minutes.
First of all, when we wait to sit, I would expect they would try to actually sit us in one table… not two tables that are only kinda near each other. What’s the point then, right? The food was very stereotypical «seafood» but the clam chowder was pretty wack. I don’t think I saw a single clam in there.
Anyway, overall the place is decent. The prices were alright. But all in all, I probably won’t go back.