F. McLintocks Saloon & Dining House

My boyfriend and I split the porterhouse steak, medium, with the lobster mashed potatoes. Both were delicious, melt in your mouth good. If you are craving a steak, eat here. It is a little pricey but not if you split. (24oz.!!) I still couldn’t finish my half. Waitress was great, hostess friendly. Western décor, country music. Good ambiance.

The place was nice. The people that work there were very sweet. The food quality was delicious I would like to go back a second time.

This location has been here for many years and while I have read the disparaging reviews, I can only think those diners arrive with some predisposed expectation, which this restaurant may not deliver (intentionally or otherwise) and those diners pick a nit with any possible issue. It is obvious by the traffic, many people wish to dine here and the staff do their best to serve the volume of people who believe they should be seated, and served in an expeditious manner. This results in a staff that is process focused, pressed by management to perform at a high pace and at times a bit less personable than one would experience in a slower paced food provider.
All that to say that within the context of this restaurant’s local and transient clientele, they provide well prepared meals, in a reasonable time window, and at a reasonable price.
Great job to the F. McLintock’s team.

This was once THE place to go in the Pismo/​San Luis area for a wonderful dining experience. It’s been sliding towards mediocre during the last several years, though, and now it’s officially just mediocre. Definitely not worth the price for the quality of food you get.
We were a party of four. Our waitress was very distracted and barely had time for us. I think she was serving 4 tables… which shouldn’t be a problem. The menu is confusing, all over the place. Some simple organization would be helpful. Also, enough with the sauces and toppings; just bring me a steak please! Why are salads no longer included in the entrée package? Steaks weren’t flavorful, and weren’t cooked to order. Music from the bar was great, but the overall atmosphere of the place is tired. Not sure where the magic went, but it’s not there any more.
This place needs to get back to it’s menu, methods, and experience from 20 years ago. You were the dining experience everyone tried to emulate. You were the place folks were happy to wait over 2 hours for a seating. Get back to basics, please.

Went here tonight with zero expectations after reading bad reviews. (My kids really wanted to go)
What a pleasant and great evening. The food was decent. 2 girls had filets/​1 had the pork chop. Baked potatoes were huge, and the onion rings were a hit at the table. Our service was amazing! All the way around.
It’s dated and it’s not cheap. But it’s a fun outing and we will go back.

Items ordered were good, not spectacular. Workers are very nice but service was so slow.
The Tri Tipped order was suppose to be medium, but came to the table well done. But nevertheless it was good.
Atmosphere is rustic and a bit loud.

Went there with a group of friends tonight. Food was very mediocre. Wife and I had baby back ribs. They were a bit on the dry side. Side dishes were meh. Others had various dishes that were all OK, nothing special.
The service was very slow, and they didn’t have a full house. Waited for about 10 minutes for our desserts, which were nothing more than ice cream or a house special liquor combo.
More hype than quality here. For the money, there are much better places in the area.

We’ve been to McLintock’s numerous times over the past few years and it never disappoints. Maybe not the best food I’ve ever had but it’s definitely good and we always have an enjoyable time. Our daughter loves the big stuffed buffalo on display along with all the other animals throughout the restaurant. I like that they bring out a basket of onion rings with salsa before your meal. It’s a little on the pricey side but we ALWAYS leave with tons of leftovers so you definitely get a lot for your money. The service is always great… and entertaining when they do their stand on a chair blindfolded while pouring water into a cup on the head of a victim, I mean customer, trick. We will continue to come back.

The service is great and the staff is friendly, efficient, and helpful. The food is delicious. We had ribeye filet minion with beans, garlic bread, and potatoes. Everything had great flavor. We had an Edna valley Pinot which complimented the food well. There was a mix up with my plate and the staff replaced it no fuss. There was a lot of ambience with a ranch theme. Prices were a tad high but with the food so tasty, it was worth it.

Ate there Friday evening ordered a rack of ribs and a ribeye steak… To be honest, the entire meal was disappointing. The baby back ribs in my opinion were not fresh, I’m almost certain that they were at least a day old and weren’t properly cooked, there was no love applied to the process of preparing this rack or probably all the racks served that day; just seems like the grill master, didn’t care. I went back to my hotel room and I cooked them for another 15 minutes, the next day, and they were better than the day they served them.
The ribeye was $ 42; ordered it medium well done and it didn’t come that way but the quality of the meat was good I must admit that.
The skillet potatoes were dry I think they had been sitting for a while they probably cook them in bulk and then serve them up on order.
The onion rings were hard, they weren’t fresh.
Total bill was $ 100 for two people (quality of the food did not match the price point) but there was plenty of food. Again, I struggle to understand the Pismo restaurant owners, they don’t seem to be concerned with the quality of their food and many are not concerned with customer satisfaction. They seem to think that those visiting are simply tourists, but many of us live within few hours drive and have visiting their establishments for decades. Each time I come to Pismo my list of places to eat narrows.
Just a side note I’d stop eating here for about three years and this was my second time here within 12 months I think my not eating here was justified.

FOUR STARS FOR FOOD!!!
TWO FOR service, lacking. **
Sunday evening, not a full house but my RSVP wasn’t actually taken as I thought when I called in! Not happy abt that,
I love McClintock’s. So old world country feel
The Arroyo Grande one is best my opinion

Go here every few years when we are in town, good to see they are still serving quality. We split a steak (for $ 9 your second person gets all the sides). Rib Eye was good, but a bit fatty. Beans were excellent as always, potatoes were good but greasy. Bread was a little dry. Service was good (place was only about ½ full) and they still teach the water filling trick (ok, corny but expected).
Seems like they are not as crowded as they used to be, which for us is nice.

If you’re planning on Farmer’s Market food from this spot, get in line EARLY!
By the time we came back for dinner, they were out of the half-​chicken dinners and lemonade.
The Beef Ribs and Chicken Skewer were meaty and perfectly grilled. The grilled artichoke was also quite good and a decent value at $ 4.
The wait in line wasn’t too bad, maybe 15 minutes but it does seem to move fast. At least there is plenty of people watching to be done whilst you wait.

We were looking x a steak in perfect Us Style And we got it!
Meat display in a
Corner inside the souvenir shop gives the idea of what you can get it and the theme of the restaurant with bears, Buffaloes and many others recall a rustic environment of a past century!
We have tried rib eye and T-​bone steak really very good just a small note x our little boy we asked x bbq chicken in any kind possible just grilled and it was not available with no exceptions.

Yes… amazing! A little pricey, but worth it. Don’t bother with any of the steak toppers… they take away from the yumminess of the steak itself. :)

My family has been coming to McLintocks almost as long as I can remember. We are not local but come up to camp at Lopez Lake on vacation and a part of every trip is dinner at McLintocks!
The steaks are just perfect. I would put McLintocks steaks up against any of the bigger and more famous steak houses. They historically have served your main course and then sides of potatoes, beans, etc «family style» with big bowls of sides on the table. The last time we were there last week they still do that but also do a more a la carte style of ordering as well. If you order a steak medium rare, you will get it medium rare. I had the filet and completely melt in your mouth tender! They accompany the steaks with several sauces to choose from, including a Cabernet or a port wine sauce.
Their famous appetizer is deep fried turkey nuts, which are claimed to be exactly what it sounds like they are. I don’t know if this is true but can attest that they are very tasty!
Stop in to McLintocks but reservations for dinner are needed!

YUM!
Only reason I didn’t give it 5 stars is because I had difficulty getting service/​refills/​plates cleared timely.
Other than that, I enjoyed my first experience. Doubt I’ll go back any time soon, though. $ 200 for 4 people isn’t an easy tab to stomach.

This place kind of reminds me of some of the taverns in Alaska. Very rustic. They’ve got stuffed birds, bears, deer, you name it and they have it nailed to their wall. This place is a meat lovers paradise but animal lovers stay home :)
Food —
16 oz Ribeye (⁵⁄₅) — This was a big piece of meat, very tender with nice marbling. Get the brandy peppercorn sauce with it for dipping… amazing.
Baked beans (⁴⁄₅) — Good but I was way too full after eating the rib eye to pay attention to this. Nice because it had bacon in it.
Fried potatoes (²⁄₅) — these were advertised as fried but they were soggy and wayyyyyy too salty. I couldnt eat more than one of these.
Drinks —
Martini (⁴⁄₅) — Came with the shaker which pretty much equaled a whole other drink. Basically two drinks for the price of one. I deduct rating to 4 only because I asked for it extra dirty and it wasn’t at all. I guess he thought I couldn’t handle it :)

We came as a family for New Year’s Eve dinner. They were one of the very few places that was open that night (closed at 8:30pm). We had been here before and wanted to bring the kids — the atmosphere is festive and interesting. It was perfect for our large group, and with kids.
The garlic bread was tasty and paired well with my lobster tail. I savored every bit of it — it was deliciously made.

Nostalgia brought me here– everything else will keep me away.
I used to come here as a kid with my family and I remembered liking it. Wife and I were hungry and thought a big meal sounded nice. It may have been nice, but not from here.
I hadn’t been here in probably a little over 15 years and the weird thing is the restaurant hasn’t changed a bit. And it showed. The décor style doesn’t bother me, but a lot of things are really showing their age. Many décor pieces and furniture looked worn out and dated.
But here’s the main reason I give two stars and this is the most important: the food quality is NOT PROPORTIONAL TO THE PRICE. For two people to order a basic steak dinner and pay $ 90.00, I except Ruth Chris style food since I’m paying Ruth Chris prices. But that’s not what you get– you get sizzler quality food. And maybe you like sizzler, that’s fine. But would you pay 3x what your sizzler meal cost? Because that’s what you’re doing here. My wife and I both commented how much the food reminded us of sizzler. And yet we ended up paying much more than we would have at sizzler. If that’s ok with you, make your reservation. If you have a problem with that, take my advice and eat somewhere else.
This place was impressive once, but not anymore. Food quality was very disappointing, service was pretty bad– friendly, but slow and a handful of mistakes, and the price is outrageous for what you get.
Stay away– it’s just not worth it.