Cielo Cantina

I visited Cielo Cantina for a birthday dinner and the food was amazing! I had the seared Ahi Tuna fish tacos and a «Perfect Margarita» which was yummy :) I would recommend Cielo to people who like a social atmosphere and great gourmet Mexican food!

Cielo’s Has Closed Its Doors.

Oh, Cielo/Native/Mission…such a bad-​luck spot! I really want to love this place, they have a great dance floor, play a better variety of dance music than dance-​spots in SLO, and really capture the vibe of an LA club with their lighting and layout very well. And their patio is just awesome, complete with firepits, a bar, and ample seating. So what’s wrong with this spot?
Well…no one is EVER here, especially lately. It’s seriously a ghost-​town in half the time I walk by on a weekend evening; which wouldn’t be so bad except it’s totally their own fault. It certainly doesn’t help that they are ALWAYS charging a ridiculous cover, typically far above the other trendy spots in DT SLO. Just cause you got the LA club vibe, doesn’t meant you have to have LA club prices.
There is really a lot to like here, its just unfortunate that they don’t seem to be adhering to the classic supply-​demand model that we all learned in high school economics. I wasn’t a business major, so I don’t want to step out of my element, but I’m also going to be taking my friends from out of town somewhere that just doesn’t seem to care whether they have a packed house or not. That being said, if you are with a good-​sized group and you guys just want to have a dance-​floor to yourself, this is the spot for you!

Pros:
— Pretty good tortilla chips when they’re warm
— Taco tuesday tacos and beer are good value
— Ambiance
Cons:
— Ridiculously slow service
— Unorganized staff
— Cold chips
— Margaritas barely had any alcohol in them
— Pricey limited menu
— Food was bland and totally mediocre
I’ve been to this place about 4 – 5 times now and haven’t ever been impressed. I LOVE me some Mexican food, and if you’re in SLO I would definitely pass on this place to fulfill your south of the border fix.
As I mentioned above, the most frustrating thing about this place is the slowww service. It was a Friday evening, but it was raining and not that busy. We literally had to flag our waiter down every single time we wanted something.
I went with a group of 6, and we decided to order margaritas, which ended up being basically straight up juice. Two pitchers ended up costing $ 50 bucks, and the only buzz we had after was a sugar buzz.
I like how they have flour and corn tortilla chips, and their salsa is pretty tasty. My girlfriend and I split a large bowl of soup and a BBQ chopped salad. The soup was filled with tortilla chips and topped with sour cream. Not da bidness. The salad looked like something i could whip up myself, and lacked fresh ingredients and packed with way too many tortilla strips. (see pics)
Once I just went here while I was bar hopping and ordered a beer. They said all they had on tap at the moment was PBR, so I was like whatever sure. THE BEER WAS WARM AS PI$$.
The whole place just seems really unorganized.
If you want good Mexican food in SLO for less cash try Chino’s or Pepe Delgado’s. The ambiance won’t be quite as swanky but you’ll at least enjoy your experience.

Ambiance is great. Staff is friendly, music is hip, building is cool, the Mojitos are good.
But what is a restaurant there for? Oh yea — Food. Well their food is pretty bad. The salsa is bad — tastes like somebody just poured it out of the jar of Pace. But the worst is the Chile Relleno which tasted sweet. Sweet. How do you make it sweet? Pour sugar on it? I don’t know what theme they were going for but I don’t think it’s working. What was wrong with Mexican food as is — can’t you have a fancy place that still serves Mexican food for what it is?

I went here last night for a friend’s birthday party.
2 stars go to ambiance and that’s it!
The food was not bad; it was just okay. I think Chipotle would have done the job for a third of the cost. Or even the taco place at Avila Beach for half the cost.
As for the service, it was terrible. Reservations were made at 8pm for 15. We were accommodated initially with drinks but then it took forever to order our entrees. My side of the table finished two baskets of chips before placing orders. And after we finished our meal, trance music started blaring, furniture started moving, and we were being rushed out of the place at 10pm. I believe someone from my group was being sarcastic and even asked, «Do you want us to leave?» And this lady replied, «Yes, actually, if you’re not going to stay, we need you to leave.» Granted they gave us free cover if we wanted to stay, but I thought that was a bit offhand. If they could not handle a large group at 8, then they should not have accepted the reservation.

I can sum up my feeling about this place with one statement: I really miss Native Lounge — the previous restaurant that was in this space. SLO does not need another boring faux Mexican restaurant. I miss the lounge atmosphere, the dancing, the menu (especially the ahi, chicken, or steak appetizer you cooked on a hot stone at your table), and I miss the fun events Native used to have. The only thing that I didn’t like about Native was the sometimes poor customer service — unfortunately that’s the only thing that has been carried over to Cielo. Very disappointing. Gave it two or three tries, but I’m done.

And the curse continues…
Why is it that no one can run a successful restaurant in this place? In the past 30 years there have been 10 restaurants in this location and they’ve all bombed. Either they have good food and poor management, or bad food with good management, or bad food AND bad management.
Sadly, Cielo continues this tradition. We went on a summer Saturday night and the weather and the location were perfect. The food and the service, not so much. The chairs outside were beat up and uncomfortable. The waitress was efficient, but she never smiled or had any personality at all. The food was mediocre – enchiladas and fajitas we’ve had better other places, and ceviche that we were a little worried about. They have a huge drink menu, but the ones we ordered were terrible. C said it was the worst margarita he’s ever had (and he’s had a lot!)
I guess we’ll wait a few years and try again.

Yay! I’m a fan of Cielo.
Stopped by here after a couple hours of wine tasting. Let’s mix the wine with tequila! The pink-​hued Prickly Pear margarita was good. Chile verde enchiladas and shrimp tacos were bueno. Loved the flour tortilla chips!
Lovely patio overlooking the Mission San Luis Obispo.
Service was fast and friendly. Go check it out.

I was very wary of coming to Cielo, I hated Native! That’s right I never liked Native and was only forced to come when my friends had table service. Anyway the décor is similar, I like how they changed things around a little.
I’ve now eaten here twice and both times LOVED the food! The chips and salsa are the best thing about this place!
I sat at the bar for the first time eating here. My only problem was the barstool smooshing down so much that I couldn’t reach the bar (I’m not short either) so I had to sit on my foot to get to my food. But whatever, my choice for sitting at the bar instead of a table. The bartender and manager were both very attentive. We got seated right away and a ice COLD beer handed to us! My friend and I ended up splitting the seared ahi salad which was plenty for 2 people! My friend’s husband ended up getting the $ 2 tacos and said they were really good.
The following time I came the service was a little slower but there looked like there were only 2 people working. My boyfriend had the enchiladas, he said they were really good but I’m so spoiled that I dare not try enchiladas from others! So instead, I had the fajitas which are hard to mess up and turned out to be extremely good. It was enough food for dinner, lunch and dinner the following night! So for the price it is well worth it! I had the mission margarita that night and almost went for two but ended up being so stuffed that I couldn’t.
If you guys haven’t tried this place in awhile (or yet)…TRY IT AGAIN! I’m sure you won’t be disappointed.

Went here again on a Sunday night and again awesome. The service was fast and courteous. They made sure our drinks and chips and salsa were full, plus they turned on the heaters for us. I noticed there was some misunderstanding that happened with another customer and they not only moved the customers and fixed the error, but gave them free dessert (the amazing sizzling cookie dessert).
The food was excellent. I got the shrimp diablo with no cheese or sour cream and my dad the steak wrap (which was a special that day and may be added to menu soon). The shrimp diablo was great, spicy, tasty and the tomato in the diablo was amazing, really great. The flavors combined perfectly, it was cooked excellently. Then mixing in with both the rice and black beans, both of which were already good on there own, in a corn tortilla making a taco was simply amazing. They give you option of either flour or corn tortillas for the plate too. The cornbread again was good, and the chips and salsa perfect. I cant say enough about the chips, they are my favorite and the salsa is tied for my favorite as well. The sizzling cookie dessert was just perfect again, presentation was awesome and the dessert’s taste matched it perfectly. What is better then a warm cookie with vanilla ice cream, whip cream and chocolate?
Overall a great experience. A little bit pricey, but with coupons which they willingly except, that is negated. Awesome place to go, go try it and forget the negative reviews on here.

Unilocal is making me give at least 1 star, but I would say 0 Stars. I got horribly sick from this place. Food poisoning is the WORST.
I ate here with 3 other people. While the ambiance is nice, the service sucks. The waiters were slow. The food took a long time. I ordered a salad with chicken. The next day, I was vomiting, felt horrible, and going diarrhea. I was weak, achy, couldn’t get out of bed, except to run to the toilet. This went on for 3 days.
When I called to complain, they were resistant to refunding my money. The manager had to call the owner to ask permission. He then called back and said he would. 5 days later, they havn’t compensated. I deserve a lot more than compensation, it took away 3 days of my life!
I was on vacation, it ruined my vacation. While the other 3 in my group didn’t get sick, I did. I would not recommend this place to anyone.

The atmosphere was inviting and modern. Lots of seating room both inside and out. The service was decent, although it seemed attentive out of fear rather than confidence. The outside bartender, Mark, was very generous and made some kick-​ass shots, post dinner so I definitely have to give recognition to that.
The reason I chose 2 stars instead of 3 was because the food was definitely over priced. Most dishes were $ 10+ and the best item all night was the chips and salsa. Maybe I ordered the wrong dish, but I thought it was relatively expensive for food that tasted no better than Chevy’s.

Good margaritas! The passionfruit margarita was quite tasty :) The Happy Hour deals are a bargain!
The service was very poor though — even though there were only a few tables when we were there, the service was very slow and we had to remind the server several times for refills or for our food.
I will go back to give it another try — maybe I’ll just stick to getting drinks.

+Great location for an afternoon lunch outdoors.
+Decent service
–Mediocre food
My family stopped by here on a Sunday afternoon for a quick lunch. We got a nice table outdoors with an umbrella to protect us from the sun. The location could not have been better. Our server was very nice and attentive. I can’t remember her name, but she came to check in on us regularly.
The food was truly blah. The salsa tasted like it came from a jar, like Pace Picante that is so ubiquitous at Costco. I had the crab Louie, which was uninspiring and made me wonder if it was indeed real crab. We also ordered a burrito, which failed to inspire our taste buds. The ceviche was decent, but seemed to lack variety on the fish. It seemed to be mostly shrimp parts.
Looking to get drunk fast? Order one of their mixed drinks. I ordered a Cadillac Margarita and had to send it back for a re-​make. I suspect the bar tender got a little too generous on the tequila. The re-​make was still strong, but drinkable. While we are on the topic of margaritas, I noticed that with the exception of their $ 55 margarita, all of them were made with blanco/​silver tequila. Yuck, particularly if you like your drink on the rocks.
I might be willing to try this place out again after they’ve had time to improve on their food. I suggest a new executive chef for Cielo.

Who doesn’t love a great drag queen? Apparently these guys!
Last night while siting on the patio we watched the door man give a drag queen a hard time. After about 20 minutes we walked over to find out what the deal was. Long-​story-​short the doorman claimed she didn’t look like her id, which the drag queen told us was finaly the first reason she had received for not being let in. At that point the drag queen asked if she needed to take off her wig? It was totally demoralizing. And once 3 of us questioned what was obviously homophobic discrimination he let her in.
The point is beware.

I was really looking forward to this place being good. It’s got to be one of the best locations in town but no one has been able to get it just right.
I went with a couple of girlfriends on a Friday evening to try it out. When we ordered the ceviche and heard back they were out (it was 6pm on a Friday?) we decided to just get one app and some beers and go somewhere else for dinner. We settled on the calamari after one friend stated that you can’t mess up fried calamari…
…well you can mess it up apparently. The calamari itself was chewy, cold, and undercooked, while the breading was greasy and bland and refused to stick to the squid. It had no flavor, save the overwhelming taste of smoke – which I can see the potential in utilizing to give normal calamari a southwest twist – but this did not reach that potential.
The most anyone ate of it was three pieces because they were starving, and we left to go try out the new management at Luna Red down the street (by the way, it ended up being one of the best dining experiences I’ve had in SLO!)
I will give Cielo another chance, probably during their Happy Hour, M-​F 4 – 6 and all day Thursday, half off appetizers and $ 2 off margaritas. I’ll change my rating if they change my mind.
Also, the service was friendly, genuine, and quick but could use some tweaking (i.e. bring side plates when you bring an app), but otherwise great!

Visiting SLO from New York City, saw this place and really thought the location on the river and the patio were too nice to pass by. I ordered the seared ahi tacos, my girlfriend ordered the roasted squash enchiladas. Both entrees were excellent… the seared ahi was fresh and perfectly prepared; the butternut squash was nicely seasoned.
Guacamole was tasty with fresh cilantro and a hint of lime. The chips and salsa were excellent — I think the chips were made in-​house as far as I could tell.
Only thing I would say was the black beans needed a bit more time to soften up. but other than that– for the price– the food and service were deserving of five stars.

I only had margaritas and chips and salsa. They have a large margarita menu… I loved the «essence margarita» but not the «perfect margarita».
Other than that the staff was friendly and attentive. Curious to try the food. Hope they can succeed.

Compared to Native this place is going to rock I hope. I liked Native for boozing, but this space is so cool it really needs to be a great restaurant too.
I went to the soft opening of Cielo last night and both ate and drank. Food was great, and the different margaritas were bomb too. I hope these guys can continue this good momentum and really make a great business here in downtown SLO.