Dining in Cambria: Las Cambritas

Unexpectedly delicious Mexican food in downtown Cambria

We were staying in San Simeon for the night, and my daughter Camila had a hankering for Mexican food. As it happened, there was a Mexican restaurant right next to our hotel, but it got terrible reviews, so we decided to drive the few miles to Cambria. I’m so glad we did, Las Cambritas had the best Mexican food I’d had in a long time.

The restaurant itself is pretty cute. It has several dining rooms, lots of bright colors and great service. The only minus is that sound carries very easily throughout the space. It wasn’t particularly crowded, but a conversation between a cook and a waitress by the kitchen door was perfectly audible at our table quite a distance away.

Dinner started well, with crispy, tasty tortilla chips and a very fresh though very spicy salsa. Despite the spice, I ate too much of them.

I ordered the quesobirria tacos ($18) from the specials’ menu. They were excellent. The birria was very flavorful and nicely tempered by the cheese. The fried tortillas were crispy and while they were very full, making the tacos a bit unwieldy, particularly while hot, they were just delicious – both alone and dipped in the accompanying broth. The portion was generous and I was able to have the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

Camila ordered the carne asada plate ($23) and she was also quite happy. The meat itself was delicious, it had a subtle marinade and strong charbroiled flavors, without any offending liquid smoke aftertaste. We both enjoyed it. The guacamole was scant, but fresh and tasty, and the rice and refried beans were good. Camila, of course, couldn’t finish the plate either. Her grand plans for flan for dessert were quickly thwarted.

Service was very quick and friendly, and in all we had a great experience. I’ll definitely hit Las Cambritas again next time I’m in Cambria.

Las Cambritas
2336 Main St
Cambria, CA 
(805) 927-0175
Daily 11:30 AM - 9 PM

Pies and Simple Fair in Very Cute Surroundings

Linn’s Easy As Pie Café is one of what are now half a dozen Linn family ventures which originated from their “pick your own berry outfit” back in the ’70’s. They have a farm store at the actual farm and a full fledged pricy restaurant, a gourmet food store, a boutiques & books store and this café in Cambria. We decided to stop at the Café for a quick bite and, of course, a slice of their famous olallieberry pie.

Linn’s Café is very small and very cute. Inside it has a counter where you order, a small gift shop – very cute stuff – and a quaint dining room. There is a small patio outside, with trees, plants and decorations. A nice, informal place for lunch.

Their menu is rather limited, however. They had a few soups, salads and sandwiches, as well as a daily special. In addition, they have their pies – which you can get whole or by the slice – as well other baked goods.

My daughter got the Caesar Salad. She thought it was average good, though she disliked that it came with tomatoes – she’s not a fan.

I got a slice of the olallieberry pie with ice cream. Olallieberries are a hybrid of blackberries, raspberries and dew berries, and he pie mostly reminded me of the boysenberry pie at Knott’s Berry Farm. As boysenberries are also a similar hybrid, this should not be surprising. The pie, warmed up, was quite good – not as overwhelmingly sweet as some berry pies can be. The vanilla ice cream was also very tasty and helped cut down the sweetness even further. We took a whole pie home with us, and my husband liked it quite a bit.

This simple lunch plus 2 sodas came out to about $27 before the tip – so not what you’d call cheap, but the Central Coast is expensive. Still, it was so cute, I’d stop by again.

Linn's Easy As Pie Café
4251 Bridge St
Cambria, CA 
(805) 924-3050
Daily 11 AM - 5:30 PM

Tag: Central Coast