‘Real food for real people’

Big Sky Cafe, in the heart of SLO, serves up 20 local wines, and a menu of wonderful dishes prepared with a focus on freshness and flavor. Owner Greg Holt says, “We so are so dependent upon our local farmers, ranchers, vintners and brewers to help us create our ‘Real food by Real people.”

Famous for their breakfast, lunch, and dinner, Big Sky Cafe is known to for serving up great specials featuring which feature an explosion of creativity, vegetarian cuisine combined with worldly delights. Guests will find a seasonally changing menu which keeps the locals happy and coming back for more.

The charming, laid-back atmosphere in Big Sky Cafe is casual, with rustic touches like mission tiles, indoor archways, and an open ceiling with skylights. The founder of Big Sky, Charles Myers came up with the name from a Chinese proverb, “One Big Sky covers us all equally.” The current owner Greg Holt says;, “It is so cool to have a space that welcomes all individuals we treat everyone here as their own person. I’ve been here for 22 of the 28 years it’s been open. Since it was established in the 90’s Big Sky Café has been a relaxed space where people can come together to eat good, fresh food. Charles sold Big Sky to me in 2015, and ever since we have been dedicated to continuing to be a part of this amazing community.”

Big Sky Cafe has a colorful seasonal menu found nowhere else, and specializes in flavorful dishes that explore the fun side of food. Big Sky Cafe has always sourced ingredients directly from local farmers and markets, where they hand select fresh, sustainable, and organic fruits, vegetables, meats and dairy. Big Sky Cafe opened in the early 1990s and were pioneers in the local farm-to-table movement. People want to know where the food they are eating is coming from, what impact it has on the environment, and how it’s grown. Knowing the local distributors and sharing the knowledge of where the food comes from helps customers understand traceability, and puts a big focus on food safety, freshness, and seasonality. Farm-to-fork is supporting local family farms with heirloom and organic vegetables, helping us move further away from the highly centralized food growing and distribution systems in these modern times.

Owner Greg Holt said, “We try to look at food intelligently, to emphasize flavors. We serve healthy, thoughtfully prepared ingredients. I’ve got so many farmers growing great stuff like potatoes, tomatoes, and strawberries, lots of organics. All of these opportunities for us to get the best local produce and interesting products makes our job easier to make good food for our guest.”

Big Sky Café is open for inside and patio dining. Curbside pickup, takeout and delivery by a number of popular delivery services are also available. The restaurant is currently taking catering reservations. Check out the catering menu on the website and email owner@bigskycafe.com about your upcoming catered event.

Big Sky Cafe is located at 1121 Broad St. in SLO and is open Monday-Friday 7 a.m.-8 p.m. and weekends from 8 a.m.- 8 p.m. For more information and for reservations call (805) 545-5401 or visit www.bigskycafe.com.

–By Cassandra Frey