AJ Spurs Saloon & Dining Hall

The food was great I will not lie the soup was amazing even the service was good but one thing that stood out to me the most was the terrible choices in the color of crayons first of all the guy serving us made a promise to bring extra colors then proceeded to lie to me and never brought them out. Which made the night worse than it needed to be the stupid Christmas color crayons he brought out to me were terrible and when you used them they weren’t even the right colors really pissed me off. ¹⁰⁄₁₀ on the food but −420÷69 on the shitty crayons.

It was so delicious from beginning to end.
Minimum wait time on a Saturday night
Soup was the best.
Then the ribs were tender & just right
The fried potatoes reminded me of my mother & grandmother.
Then root beer float for dessert.
Best food for the price and we got rice bread & salad too
Our wAitress Ruby was on point.
Tipped her well for her hard work.

For the price of the food here, I can go somewhere that’s less expensive with better food and a better all around experience. I went here with my girlfriends on a trip to the beach. I split the steak and calamari with one of them. It was pretty good. I didn’t really care for their soup with black beans and salsa. Their potatoes were ok. The bread was good. But, the prices were outrageous and for what? Nothing.
I have been here several times, but it’s just not impressive. Sorry, AJ Spurs. You’re just not my kind of restaurant.

We had a very good and attentive server bot beyond that this place is way overpriced. I paid $ 26 for tortellini.
I guess you are paying for the experience and the coziness of sitting amongst tons of interesting stuffed animal carcasses.
Overall just ok, but not great.

They certainly give you a lot of food.
Starting with stew, which turned out to be best part of meal. Burnt beans, standard salad.
I ordered the 14 oz ribeye. It was large, but really tough. It was cooked correctly, just a bad cut of meat. No marbling means tough and no flavor. It tasted like they basted it with liquid smoke. The potatoes side were dried out. Upon conclusion, they offer a liqueur, I chose amaretto. Bleah, some cheap syrupy imitation. $ 32.
Waitress was indifferent, actually the guy cleaning the table took my plates like it was garbage. Really gave me a bad feeling about recently eating from those plates.
The best part is that they have a banner outside «Voted best Steak house 3 years»
By whom?

Had an really awesome time back in October for a birthday dinner. We had about 15 people or so and these guys handeled us well! Service was awesome food even better. The Manger did his job well and made sure everything was going as expected! Kudos guys

The worst steak house. they bring your soup before even asking if you want a cocktail. How can they make money without serving cocktails. Servers are nor trained to make money for themselves or the restaurant.

Sorry but the food here just isn’t good. Truth be told I’m a little spoiled by Los Angeles steakhouses, so the bar is a little higher for me. Regardless, the food offerings here are average at best. This place feels like a step down from an Outback type restaurant which isn’t saying much in the first place.
The soup was cold and the meat was dry in some parts. The portions were large which appears to be their attempt at making up for the sub-​par food. They were out of Prime Rib at 7:30 when we got there. Do not expect to be served prime rib on the weekend. Our waiter told us they sell out in the first two hours every weekend night (which I believe are the only nights they offer it). Why wouldn’t they correct this? I’ll never know, because I won’t be going back.
The ONLY saving grace was the wait staff. They were extremely attentive and caring. DO NOT go here for a special occasion like an anniversary or meaningful birthday dinner — you’ll be let down.

As a local, it has been 8 years since I have eaten at AJ Spurs, and after the other night, I realized why.
The 1 star I’m giving can go to our waitress who was very friendly and very attentive AND very slow. Our meal took 3 hours from start to finish. I do not fault her at being slow, however, because she was also very pregnant. With a party of 15 to serve. On her own. Shame on them and Kudos to her because that shouldn’t have happened.
Having said that, I would happily give the restaurant zero stars because the food was just plain awful and overpriced for the quality served. Out of the 15, only one person enjoyed their meal. Two of us had the calamari which was very chewy and the breading was soggy. Those who ordered steak all complained about how overcooked they were. My husband tried the trio of meat and we laughed when it came out because the portion size was ridiculous. The chicken and steak were so overcooked it was hard for him to eat it.
At the end of our evening, my Mom actually started crying because everyone was so unhappy with their meal. She felt so guilty because she had chosen the location. It was her birthday.
There are much better options for a good steak/​meal around town. You can dress a restaurant up all you want — but if you don’t have the good food to back up all that fancy décor you won’t have returning locals.

We had the prime rib med well. Always made with perfection! My margarita was tasty with just enough salt on the rim. The fixings are always awesome. I had no doubt. Our server Elena A was sweet and kind. She made sure our water was never empty. Thank you!

A note from a knowledgeable craft-​beer drinker: The perceptions we consider when appreciating a delicious craft beer are heavily influenced by aroma, which utilizes the sense of smell. I ordered a BHBC Pale Ryder, an excellent hoppy rye ale. The fancy dishwasher behind the bar is impressive, i’m sure it saves the tenders much time, unfortunately it also creates beer mugs heavily scented of detergent. I found no enjoyment in my Pale Ryder. The delicate aromas Barrel House Brewing Company spends so much effort in creating were overbalanced by the heavy chemical scent of the glassware. This is especially frustrating when you consider the $ 7.50 price tag. An extra rinse is probably in order.
Additional note: The prices are not over-​inflated as many previous reviews suggest, these reviewers have merely failed to account for the massive quantity of food involved in each meal. A.J. has some unique ideas about what the minimum caloric content of a dinner should be. I had a 14 ounce Ribeye steak. With no warning, the ribeye automatically came with salad, soup, beans, salsa, garlic bread, fried potatoes, rice, and, of course, nearly a pound of steak. Rough guess, 3,500 calories, probably much more. No one should ever try to eat that much food in one sitting. I hate to waste so I gave it my best shot, came closer than I thought I would. But there was still a pile of starch on my plate when it was done and I was calculating proximity to the closest toilet in the event of abrupt gastral evacuation. This place must throw away massive amounts of food away.
If this is your first time here read the menu carefully and quiz your server heavily. Plan ahead and visualize how you want your doggy bag to look when all is said and done. Or save your money and go to a restaurant with reasonable portion sizes and prices that reflect.

Great food and great service so glad we decided to come here. We always make it a point to come here when ever we are visiting Pismo!
Looking for great steak this is the spot

Food was fantastic. Twin peaks were cooked perfect. I really enjoyed the food and service. A bit pricey however that was expected.
The reason for the 3 stars was how dirty the place was. This place is dated and needs to either be cleaned or re-​modeled.

This was my second time eating at AJ Spurs and my first experience was just the same, disappointing and very displeasing.
In fairness, their food is not that bad and their meat is pretty tender. Although I was sharing an entrée and was offered an «extra plate» by the waiter. We were surprised to have an extra plate full of rice and garlic bread, thinking it was complimentary. We were even more surprised when we were charged an extra $ 11.99 for a plate of carbs! We let it go and paid for our meal after learning our lesson.
The next time I returned, we were served their «bottomless» soup right after we were seated and ordered their combination meals. This time, we did not order an extra plate. We had ordered two separate combination meals and were only given one side of their spuds. When receiving the bill, we were charged another extra $ 11 for their soup that they served us without offering, which is because we did NOT order extra plates! That’s ridiculous! Charging customers for soup that was brought to our table? Our waiter then explained to us that it is written on the bottom of their menus at the end of our meal, after we received the soup, then ordered.
Overall, their food is decent but I’d rather bring my business to Texas Roadhouse which offers complimentary peanuts and appetizers without hidden fees and extra costs. Their food is very over priced and charges customers for every small detail. This will probably be the last time I will be dining here.

Celebrated a graduation at this fine establishment last night… Our party of twelve was sat at the exacts time of our pre-​scheduled reservations and shortly thereafter beef stew, black beans, and salsa arrived as an appetizer for our famished group.
As we were munching on the scrumptious grub, our server took our drink orders. We were not left wanting long and our drinks arrived quickly… And were replenished every time our parched group emptied a cup.
Since it was graduation night it was to be expected that the food would take a while (with numerous parties of 12+ people in the restaurant), yet the food was well worth the wait! My wife and I took turns sharing the Calamari dinner and «Twin Peaks» Filets. Everything was cooked perfectly to order and has amazing flavor.
I highly recommend this establishment of you have a larger party and set up reservations ahead of time… The next visit will be with just the wife to see if the steak house ambiance is great for a party of two as well!

As soon as you walk in, you’ll see tons of stuff everywhere! Tons of stuffed animals, displays, and photos.
I was really excited to try this place out, since this was my first experience. Our table started off with the veggie stew. It was quite tasty, especially with the salsa and the bean mixed in. You can easily get full off the soup, so make sure to control your intake. I ordered the blackened chicken, which is ok. I found it to be on the salty side, so I had to lay the chicken on top of my rice to soak up all the butter. My favorite part of the meal was the dessert liqueur.

BURGER REVIEW UPDATE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A huge messy greasy burger that seems made out of greasy Chuck.
Why do these local steakhouse do this kind of crap.
I went during un-​Happy Hour & sat in the bar area. The view was nice, but the young staff really could not care less, & had an attitude… like oh crap another tourist.
Anyway, back to the burger… nothing special except that it was huge… maybe 1 pound of low grade beef.
The fixings were nothing special. The blue cheese helped.
I had a weak moment, since I hated this place even years ago…
but I was in the area & I thought… well maybe they can not screw-​up my burger…
BUT YET AGAIN THEY DID!!!
It was even worse than McC’s crappy burger.

Made Our 2^nd Anniversary Dinner Very Special. We are currently about 400 Miles From Hoke and foe being out if town, I didn’t feel like I was at a tourist trap.
AJ Spurs is real and authentic. Go with your appetite ready, because AJ Spurs Delivers Huge Helpings.
I was not expecting that the staff would serenade My Husband and I for Our Anniversary, but they did and that was AWESOME.
The Employees seem to really love their job and it shows.
Hope to come back here again real soon.
P.S The Brownie Sundae is Out Of This World, OMG Amazing.

AJ Spurs is GREAT!
The 1 missing star is ONLY because the wait time is terrible on a busy night… & they’re waiting area is very small… but, what can you do?! Everyone loves AJ’s on a Friday night!
LOVE the unlimited soup, beans & salsa it’s delicious! Their food is AWESOME and their service is TERRIFIC.
Shoutout to our waitress Rebecca! She was SOOO awesome.
L O V E IT!

On a weekend vacation with my husband’s family, we decided to go to this place because of my brother-in-law’s request. He lives around the area and have been wanting to try The Gambler.
What is The Gambler you ask? It’s only a whopping 35 OZ SIRLOIN STEAK. Just 35.4x more than the usual size I eat. We were all surprised how massive it was. They got the temperature he wanted on most of the steak, but a little dry on the outer parts. You get a free shirt when you finish it. HE DID.
Going back to the start of the experience, I would first critique the parking situation. There is barely any parking in the lot. It was a decent size lot, but I think they share it with the Holiday Inn next to it. We had to make a few rounds before we got a spot. If you’re a big party, and you have a big enough car for everyone, I suggest carpooling.
The décor is very interesting on the inside and outside of the restaurant. It gives a very Western cowboy vibe, with all the display carriages, and taxidermy. There were a few antler chandeliers, and retro looking lights. The restaurant is very busy, so you need a reservation.
They start your dinner with the amazing Vaquero soup. It’s served in a pot, together with a bowl of beans and salsa. At first I was like, Salsa and beans? seems too weird of a combination, but I gave it a shot and I instantly fell in love with it. Its like a marriage of beef stew and chili. Not too spicy, but very hearty.
I had a Ribeye with mushrooms and peppers. In the plate there was bread and rice. Too much unnecessary carbs, but it tasted okay. I ordered medium rare, but it came out almost well done. I called the staff’s attention and they offered to replace it, but I was super full and just had it boxed. It may have been amazing if they have prepared it well, because the smokiness of the steak is spot on. It was full of flavor, and very tender. They upgraded my dessert and got the complimentary liquor dessert with it as well. I tried the sirloin also, and it was juicy and seasoned well. The potatoes that came with the meal was also good.
I may have not gotten the best steak on the table, I still enjoyed the experience. Customer service is very good, and I will come back for sure. If I’m in the area.