Luna Red

Went for drinks and small plates with a few friends. Loved the food, but some of the cocktails left more to be desired. We will definitely be back for the food and to give the drinks another shot! Service was pretty good as well.

The Chips n Dip has fresh tuna and was AMAZING!!! The other dishes were ok.. . We did come in the afternoon which seems to have a different menu? As a highlight there is bottomless mimosas!

Excellent Bacon Bloody Mary with chorizo stuffed dates on top! It was my appetizer. Chef Sean did an amazing job on the brunch menu.

This is a gem on the central coast! Situated next to the creek, across from the Mission SLO, it is an idyllic setting to enjoy a leisurely lunch on a typical gorgeous day in SLO.
We had the albacore ceviche, chorizo & manchego eggs Benedict, and the bacon wrapped dates stuffed with cheese (manchego or blue cheese). Everything was excellent!

Awesome food, great cocktails, beautiful space, and great service. My compliments to the Chef!

The night was perfect, reservations i had to add another person and they did it with out a problem, service was outstanding, and the food was excellent and very reasonable. I would highly recommend this place.

Had a nice meal here with a friend last fall. Hard to get in so make reservations ahead. We couldn’nt get in this past fall when we were in town. Nice outdoor seating area.

We went here the night before Valentine’s. We didn’t make a reservation so we waited for about 30 to 40 minutes. The nice thing is, they are able to text you when your table is ready and there are plenty bars near by. The boyf and I shared a meal. We ordered the bread and dip (forgetting all the actual names here) which was delicious and we ordered the seafood Paella. The Paella wasn’t bad but the clams came out a bit dry and they were so small (perhaps it’s not in season). They also had a live band playing so that made it more enjoyable. I would definitely come back to try out more dishes.

This review is for the bar only — we did not have dinner here.
After being totally blown off by the bar staff in another local bar, we came here. The lead bartender provided excellent service, was totally knowledgeable and innovative, creating his own infusions and ingredients for the mixed drinks. Even though we came on one of their busiest nights of the year, he made time to chat and explain all his ‘secrets’. He made my wife a custom drink of his own design on-​the-​spot, and it was fantastic. Giving this experience five stars, my only other 5 stars is The Parlor in Traverse City Michigan — check them out as well if you are into handmade mixed drinks.

We had an excellent dinner for four. The overall favorite at the table was the Brussel Sprouts. Our server was friendly and attentive. We will be visiting Red Luna again.

Great service. Great food. Had tacos: cochinito pibil, short ribs, & rockfish!
They have great margaritas!

I was introduced to Luna Red by my supplier’s wife.
Place is nice. very nicely decorated, dark, red but modern and appealing.
Very clean and well maintained, Luna Red offers outdoor seating with fireplace and a bar.
Inside, you few tables and get a bar as well.
This place is trendy, fancy, crowd is nice.
I was there on a Thursday, when they are having whole day happy hours. You can order nice cocktail for 5 $ and several tapas plates for 5 $ (check-​in with Unilocal and get 5 $ off). Make sure you try the green tomatoes beignet with its avocado shutney. Tasty, mouth watering… perfect to go with a drink.
The food. There are lots of options in the menu (vegetarian, GF…). They serve fusion american/​spanish/​mexican food. I took the 3 course for 30 $ with optional fine flight for 15 $.
Everything was great. I had stuffed pepper (with goat cheese): fine even though not that delicate and I felt there was something a biit too sour for my taste (vinegar?) in the stuffing. But tasty, well presented. To be eaten with small toasts.
The grilled veggie salad was nice.
Best was the shrimps and grits. They cook the shrimp in chorizo sauce served over home made mashed potatoes. Excellent. I had a bash with this dish. 5 stars!
Staff is nice and competent.
Highly recommended. Will go back during my next trip to SLO!

Delicious fusion cuisine in the perfect atmosphere for date night or an outing with friends! If I lived in SLO, this might definitely become my new favorite restaurant!
I first discovered Luna Red several years ago, when I was visiting SLO for a good friend’s wedding. My group of friends who had attended the wedding were looking for someplace fun with good hangover brunch, and I stumbled across Luna Red on Unilocal.We were impressed by their excellent service for our large party, food allergy-​friendly menu, and bottomless sangria. Yum!
Flash forward a few years to this weekend, and we’re all back in SLO for another friend’s wedding. I remembered how much fun we had at this place, so I searched Unilocal to find it again for our group dinner. Good thing I did! It was an awesome night!
On Saturday night, they didn’t have any reservations available for our party of 7, so we just showed up. They have a beautiful outdoor patio, but it was a bit cold so we asked to sit inside. We were given a 20 minute wait for indoor seating, but they had a huge table in the bar area available immediately, so we took that. Service was quick and friendly, even though we were in the bar area. Our waitress even split up our group check at the end of dinner, to avoid confusion with everyone’s different orders and credit cards.
The menu clearly lists what items are gluten-​free and dairy-​free, which is a huge plus for myself and anyone with food allergies. A lot of their plates are tapas style, and are meant to be shared amongst the table. They have a huge selection of delicious seafood dishes, alongside meat and vegetarian entrees.
My boyfriend and I ordered the De La Mar Paella, which came in a huge skillet to share with 3 – 4 people. We shared it with one other friend, and the serving size was perfect for all three! The paella was Spanish-​Indian fusion, with aromatic saffron and curry spices filling the fish and rice. The spices were just right, not too overpowering and not too spicy. It was absolute heaven!!!
To drink, the ladies at the table ordered a pitcher of the Fizzy Lifting Drink, served in mason jars. The pitcher only served 4 drinks, which was perfect because there were only 4 of us. I’m not the biggest fan of sweet drinks, and this one tasted more like juice than a mixed drink. I did, however, like that it was served with muddled fruit in the pitcher — always a nice touch! I wasn’t a fan of this drink, but from our past visit I really enjoyed their sangria.
A bit later in the evening, they had live music to add to the party atmosphere here. It was a nice touch, but it was a bit too loud to have conversation. If we hadn’t been seated in the bar area, this might not have been too much of an issue, though.
Overall, I love coming here and will definitely be back the next time I’m in SLO! Good food, good friends, and an excellent evening!

We had such a weird experience here. In general it seems like service in SLO is legit slow and no I did not mean to make a pun or want to, it just is a fact. Everyone was extremely pleasant, just way way slow. Second, this is apparently a Spanish tapas place? I think? Maybe it just considers itself a small plates place but let’s walk through some dishes we ordered…
First, the stuffed piquillo peppers with crostini. We ordered two, one of them came with a full slice of crostini, the other came with a burnt little crispy bit of crostini. From the kitchen to the server to us, no one seemed to notice we were a little jipped? Ok that’s fine. But then we ordered the ceviche which was 100% not even close to a ceviche. It was more like a rice-​less spicy tuna roll with avocado and tortilla chips. Don’t even get me started on serving tortilla chips with this dish. So strange.
Everything tasted just fine but I think they’re a little confused as to what they are. Also that «ceviche» took like 25 minutes to come out… it’s not even cooked… hmmmm.

I went to Luna Red with my wife and some friends for dinner on Friday night. We had reservations for 15 and our table was ready when we got there. The interior of the restaurant was very visually appealing.
The food and drinks were superb. I had the dry-​fried beef curry. It was delicious and the portion size was large, I barely finished it. I ordered a couple of drinks too which were also very good.
The wait staff was very professional and friendly. Our waitress checked on us regularly to check if we needed anything. There was also live music and that made the place fun.

Mmm, mmm, mmm! Luna Red is great every time. This is a great place to get to gather with a group of friends. I will say, if you want to hear each other, sit outside.
I shared all about my favorite small plates on my blog:

A good place for Thursday All Night HAPPY HOUR! $ 5 sangria was my choice, and some $ 5 bites.
We have been coming here for twice and we really like their potato (happy hour), and their flatbread. We tried both their squash and tomato flat bread. All very tasty. Don;t recommend the $ 5 hummus, no taste at all.
I think this place has some good food in SLO.

Come on Tuesday for THE BEST FUCKING NACHOS EVER.
This place is fancy– like the slick kind of fancy… dark, cool, modern, textured, slick.
Normally they play more Jose Gonzales’ kinda music, but on the day we went they were playing some music that seemed like a death montage in a movie. I actually made a video of me crying to the soundtrack. (I’ll see if I can post it)
A fancy place like this has a fancy menu with fancy dishes and fancy drinks with fancy herbs all with prices that don’t really tickle my fancy. But it was Taco Tuesday and I got the BYO (Build Your Own) Nachos with all those fancy ingredients: salsa criolla, absolutely delicious cumin black beans, queso fresco, cabbage slaw, plus I added tender skirt steak and braised pork. So good. Other options to add: red raw onion, avocado, blue cheese, goat cheese, lamb sausage, chorizo. A big helping of choice, fresh, tasty ingredients, it’s one of the best ways to spend $ 10.
Great service, and great location: halfway between Mission San Luis Obispo and Bubblegum Alley. One has pews, the other P.U.s

A fun place to get tapas and cocktails on the Central Coast.
HH & FOOD
All day Happy Hour on Thursday. Who needs Farmers?! Deals are unreal. $ 5 drinks – including their amazing Sangria along with $ 5 appetizers – which includes fish tacos, lamb burger sliders, bar trail mix, etc.
As a restaurant with expensive food, I’d skip Luna Red. The idea of their dishes are a whole lot better than the actual taste of them. First, their tapas are priced similarly to dishes of double the size; and second, it always seems like there’s something off – whether it’s too much pepper in the lamb burgers, awkward vegetable to meat ratio in the tacos, or unnatural ways of spicing meats up.
AMBIANCE
I applaud Luna Red for creating such an intimate, yet casual environment perfect for group gatherings while at the same time providing an ideal date night spot. You can tell they put a lot of attention into perfecting the atmosphere of the restaurant.
TIP: If you don’t mind waiting an extra 10 minutes or so, they have one of the best outdoors dining areas and plenty of space heaters to keep you warm. There’s also a bar outside as well as inside.

Restaurante aconchegante e romântico. Servem pratos bem pequenos e surpreendentes em qualidade, aromas e visual. Recomendo tapas de cordeiro, siri e a carta de vinhos é mais variada do que outros restaurantes em que estive na cidade. O preço é surpreendente também tho. Cada pratinho com três almôndegas está na faixa de 10 $, então seja cuidadoso ao escolher este restaurante, é beeem gourmet.

Broad and eclectic menu with something for everyone, and a cool out-​of-​the-​way feel. The patio was a wonderful setting to dinner (perfect temps and weather also helped). A good setting for a slow-​paced dinner with friends.
I had the arepas for an appetizer, which were very crispy throughout, airy and deep fried — unlike any arepa I’ve had before. The salsa topping was rustic and fresh with great flavor to pair with the fried arepa.
Dinner entrée was braised pork ravioli. 4 enormous ravioli with soft and juicy pork inside. The ravioli were sitting on top of a loose cheesy polenta «sauce», while bacon, leeks and snap peas on top rounded out the dish perfectly.
The hibiscus mixed drink was also refreshing and balanced.