Mo's Smokehouse BBQ
1005 Monterey St.
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
www.mosbbq.com/
Mo's Smokehouse BBQ has been a fixture in SLO since 1994. If you're an old-timer, you remember the original location on Higuera Street. Mo's moved to its current, larger location in 2007 at the corner of Monterey and Osos streets. At the end of 2016, Mo's closed for what was supposed to be a quick remodel, but as tends to happen with these things, the remodel took much longer than expected and the restaurant did not reopen until February 2018. The remodeled space features an open ceiling with massive exposed wooden beams and columns, exposed brick accent walls, dark wooden floors with light oak tables and metal chairs, a live-edge wooden bar table overlooking Monterey St., locked metal cabinets stocked with split firewood and logo merchandise, and artwork and big-screen TVs on the walls.
The first barbecue sandwich on the menu is pulled pork--fitting for a place with a pig in its logo--and that's what I ordered. I had them hold the coleslaw that normally tops the sammie and paid to upgrade the included side of beans, coleslaw or potato salad to seasoned french fries. A thinned sauce of some sort was mixed into the pulled pork to keep it moist. Meat was piled high on the soft roll and a small amount of sauce was drizzled over the top. I ate half of the sandwich and then picked at the meat in the remaining half without eating the roll. Four sauces are on-tap; I tried the original/mild and the Sweet Carolina's, both were good but I liked the Sweet Carolina's a bit more. The fries were delicious, too.
There's no brisket on the menu at Mo's. Remember, you're on the Central California coast where tri-tip is the King of Beef. You will find tri-tip, pulled chicken, and hot link sammies on the menu, plus ribs basted with three different sauced, barbecued chicken, wings, and chicken tacos. There are, of course, a variety of burgers and chicken sandwiches, plus several salads, some of which include barbecue meats. Fries come three ways--seasoned, garlic, or sweet potato--and onion rings and homemade potato chips are also available. The usual BBQ sides are there: coleslaw, potato salad, beans, corn muffin, plus the less often seen fried green tomatoes. There may have been a couple of pies and other desserts on the menu, but I wasn't in the market for those and my memory is fuzzy...I don't see any listed on the website. By my count, there were seven bottled beers and 15 on-tap beers available, including some local craft brews, plus a variety of wines.
Mo's also has a thriving sauce business. It can be purchased at the restaurant and at some of the better supermarkets in Northern California.
I visited Mo's on a Sunday morning right at 11am opening, so I pretty much had the place to myself, but it appears to be a happening place that gets crowded during the evenings. Parking in downtown SLO is tight, so you'll have to circle the block a few times in order to find a space.
Here are some photos from my visit...enjoy!
Continued...
1005 Monterey St.
San Luis Obispo, CA 93401
www.mosbbq.com/
Mo's Smokehouse BBQ has been a fixture in SLO since 1994. If you're an old-timer, you remember the original location on Higuera Street. Mo's moved to its current, larger location in 2007 at the corner of Monterey and Osos streets. At the end of 2016, Mo's closed for what was supposed to be a quick remodel, but as tends to happen with these things, the remodel took much longer than expected and the restaurant did not reopen until February 2018. The remodeled space features an open ceiling with massive exposed wooden beams and columns, exposed brick accent walls, dark wooden floors with light oak tables and metal chairs, a live-edge wooden bar table overlooking Monterey St., locked metal cabinets stocked with split firewood and logo merchandise, and artwork and big-screen TVs on the walls.
The first barbecue sandwich on the menu is pulled pork--fitting for a place with a pig in its logo--and that's what I ordered. I had them hold the coleslaw that normally tops the sammie and paid to upgrade the included side of beans, coleslaw or potato salad to seasoned french fries. A thinned sauce of some sort was mixed into the pulled pork to keep it moist. Meat was piled high on the soft roll and a small amount of sauce was drizzled over the top. I ate half of the sandwich and then picked at the meat in the remaining half without eating the roll. Four sauces are on-tap; I tried the original/mild and the Sweet Carolina's, both were good but I liked the Sweet Carolina's a bit more. The fries were delicious, too.
There's no brisket on the menu at Mo's. Remember, you're on the Central California coast where tri-tip is the King of Beef. You will find tri-tip, pulled chicken, and hot link sammies on the menu, plus ribs basted with three different sauced, barbecued chicken, wings, and chicken tacos. There are, of course, a variety of burgers and chicken sandwiches, plus several salads, some of which include barbecue meats. Fries come three ways--seasoned, garlic, or sweet potato--and onion rings and homemade potato chips are also available. The usual BBQ sides are there: coleslaw, potato salad, beans, corn muffin, plus the less often seen fried green tomatoes. There may have been a couple of pies and other desserts on the menu, but I wasn't in the market for those and my memory is fuzzy...I don't see any listed on the website. By my count, there were seven bottled beers and 15 on-tap beers available, including some local craft brews, plus a variety of wines.
Mo's also has a thriving sauce business. It can be purchased at the restaurant and at some of the better supermarkets in Northern California.
I visited Mo's on a Sunday morning right at 11am opening, so I pretty much had the place to myself, but it appears to be a happening place that gets crowded during the evenings. Parking in downtown SLO is tight, so you'll have to circle the block a few times in order to find a space.
Here are some photos from my visit...enjoy!
Continued...
