Atascadero town

San Luis Obispo, CA Print   Leave a comment

Description

Atascadero is often sunny and bright when the coast is socked in with fog. It's a great place to come if you are tired of the gloom! The downtown area is the best part of town and has a hundred year old City Hall with a large park called the Sunken Gardens in front of it. There is a fountain in the park, a white sculpture, plenty of tall trees, and soft grass. Around City Hall are more sculptures and fountains. Walk inside City Hall to admire the beautiful rotunda ceiling. On the front of City Hall it says, "Turn your face to the sun and you cannot see the shadows."
In the downtown area there are some cute cafes on one block of Entrada Ave where it meets El Camino Real. Bramble Pie Co (closed Mondays) has mint green chairs and little plants in white pots, plus big windows with a colorful view of the street and the hillside with tall trees beyond. Their brisket and potato empanadas and fruit pies/cobblers are very delicious, as is their Dragonwell tea and matcha lattes. They also play really good music! Everyone is friendly in Atascadero so you can have a chat with people you meet.
Other spots to try are: Dark Nektar Coffee, LOL Yogurt, Colony Deli, Cielo Italian, Ancient Owl Beer Garden, which has a cute outdoor area, and Bru Coffeehouse, which has outdoor seating. Back Porch Bakery does not have a back porch! It has a dark interior that is not very appealing, but it's French bakery items are decent. The Pottery looks like a cute place to make clay items. Whiskey & June is a bar with a jukebox and pool table. Hush-Harbor Artisan Bakery has been around for a long time, and is in a shopping plaza nearby. Malibu Brew is on the other side of the Sunken Gardens and has big windows. SloDoCo is a fun donut shop a little further down. A two minute drive further down El Camino Real is Thai Elephant, a good restaurant.
Traffic Way, parallel to Entrada Ave, has a few cute stores too such as Traffic Record Store. 
Atascadero is extremely hot in summer so plan to visit on cooler days.
For a lovely park with plenty of shade, lush lawns, a path around the lake, and a large playground, check out Atascadero Lake Park. It is six minutes drive away.
A lovely forest walk to take is Jim Green Trail, a 1.6 mile loop hike. It is a six minute drive away.

Photo Gallery

Shady park with fountain in front of City Hall.

Directions

Atascadero City Hall and the park in front of it is located at 6500 Palma Ave, Atascadero, CA 93422.
Bramble Pie Co, 5945 Entrada Ave, Atascadero, CA 93422.
Bru Coffeehouse, 5760 El Camino Real, Atascadero, CA 93422.
Hush-Harbor Artisan Bakery, 5735 El Camino Real L, Atascadero, CA 93422.
Whiskey & June, 5950 El Camino Real, Atascadero, CA 93422.

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Overall Visitor Rating: Unrated.