Hitching Post - Casmalia

The Hitching Post is one of my favorite restaurants in all of California. It begins with a beautiful drive through farmlands and cattle ranches. Driving in to Casmalia is like going back in time and The Hitching Post is the lifeblood of this classic western town. The restaurant is in an old tavern and has been serving delicious steaks the Santa Maria style for 65 years. Every meal is complete in every way. You choose your meat and then it?s a veggie tray, shrimp cocktail, salad, baked potato or fries, garlic toast, drink, and dessert! But it is the red oak grilled meat (I got an 8 oz. filet) that steals the show. Don?t miss the opportunity to creat some memories here.

The best steaks in the central coast. Old school mesquite grilled to perfection. Each meal comes with a relish plate shrimp cocktail salad a dessert and coffee. Best in the West!

Popular place with great steaks. Be sure to make reservations. They can be very busy in this destination spot. Watching the bbq master is great. Service may not be as warm as the fire at the grill but they do their best to keep up. Wonderful back yard area you have to see. Someday they need to open this up for seating to overcome the crowded interior.

First time here. Had a blast. Sat at the bar for dinner. The bartenders were a lot of fun. And social. Had amazing dinner. I had the ribeye medium rare. My lady partner had the filet well done, but not to well. Great experience here. Lots of space indoors and outdoors. Very cozy outside for after dinner drinks? great time. Definitely will be back. People sitting at the bar were very social and friendly?

Place is in the middle of nowhere, but it was HOPPING! We should've got reservations, but the wait was not awful and it gave us a chance to look at the lovely back patio and look pond. Got a Summer Mule as a drink and it was amazing. Absolut peach, strawberry puree, lime, and ginger beer. We were told this place had outstanding tri-tip, but learned upon arriving that they didn't do that. Once again, that's on us for not checking ahead of time. The table had fresh veggies and pickles on it when we were seated, plus a bowl of sour cream, a bowl of butter, a jar of salsa, and a basket of crackers. The first course was shrimp cocktail, and they piled in a generous helping of popcorn-size shrimp in another bowl with cocktail sauce. Not very presentable, but delicious nonetheless! The salad was edible, but nothing mind-blowing. Medium rare t-bone? Perfection! Medium well top sirloin? Despite my opinion being that medium well is overdone, it was 10/10. Garlic bread? Oooooh yeah, baby! Toasted on one side and soft on the other, it had everyone clamoring for more. But the ribs... oof. If I were rating on flavor alone, they get another 10/10. Unfortunately they were dry as Death Valley and tougher than shoe leather. I still ate half of them because they were a great spoon substitute for the BBQ sauce, but world's best barbecue? Sorry guys, your steaks are world class, but your barbecue needs to go back to the drawing board.