Shalimar

San Luis Obispo, United States

3.8

Closed now

20 reviews

Accepts Credit Cards
Free Wi-Fi

Contacts

QR code, vCard

Telephone:
+1 805-781-0766
Website:
www.shalimarslo.com
Address:
2115 Broad St, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93401
Nearby public transportation stops & stations:
0.2 mi4
0.4 miSan Luis Obispo
0.4 mi3
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Bussiness info

Takes Reservations
No
Delivery
Yes
Take-out
Yes
Accepts Credit Cards
Yes
Accepts Apple Pay
Yes
Good For
Lunch, Dinner
Parking
Private Lot
Bike Parking
Yes
Wheelchair Accessible
Yes
Good for Kids
Yes
Good for Groups
Yes
Attire
Casual
Ambience
Casual
Noise Level
Average
Alcohol
Beer & Wine Only
Outdoor Seating
No
Wi-Fi
Free
Has TV
Yes
Dogs Allowed
No
Waiter Service
Yes
Caters
Yes

Today

Today 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Closed now
Local time (San Luis Obispo) 22:02 Wednesday, 25 June 2025

Business hours

Monday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Tuesday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Wednesday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Thursday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Friday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Saturday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm
Sunday 11:30 am – 3:00 pm
5:00 pm – 10:00 pm

Description

Specialties

Vegetarian, Vegan, Chicken Tikka Masala, Tandoori items, Naans and Garlic Naans, Mango Lassi and much more…

History

Established in 2008.

Local Family own

Meet the Business Owner

Aasim S.

Business Owner

Came to USA in1994 since then working at fast food restaurant business from cook to cashier then Manager to owning a family restaurant since 2008, Proudly living and serving San Luis Obispo community for over 20 Years.

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20 reviews of Shalimar

No registration required
Place rating: 4
Paso Robles, CA
There is no doubt that the Shalimar’s décor is greatly lacking (and could use a good scrubbing), but if you can see past the pink walls and wobbly tables, the food is AMAZING. We ordered tika masala, saag panner, dahl, rice and nann. All excellent! Good portion size. Nice service. Would be perfect for take –out if you live in the neighborhood.
Place rating: 1
San Luis Obispo, CA
Unbelievably bad. Mango lassi’s from a bottle. Frozen vegetables in an oily sauce = Korma. minimal chicken, mostly potato in the vindaloo. «extremely spicy» = barely more than mild. Waitress wouldn’t let us try the lentil soup «because it is made fresh to order,» yet it came out 30 seconds after we ordered it… Have eaten Indian food all over the world and this, by far, is the worst Indian food I have ever had anywhere, period. Avoid like the plague.
Place rating: 5
San Jose, CA
Lunch buffet is great, you get to pick various colors of mush to go with your rice.
Also they have a nice mango smoothie thing that is definitely worth ordering.
Place rating: 4
Grover Beach, CA
Had the lunch buffet. The food was good and not dry like a place I tried before. The place was clean. If there was just a little more to choose from, it would have been great.
Place rating: 5
San Luis Obispo, CA
«Best tasting water in town!»
Their buffet is pretty awesome, and always willing to accommodate a huge
group last minute.
Place rating: 5
Los Osos, CA
Love love love Shalimar!!!
We often go here for Sunday lunch after church and the deal on Sunday is $ 10.99 Buffett with free champagne or mango lassie!
The Buffett includes about 8 dishes with the classic: chicken tikka masala, tandoori chicken, Chana masala (chickpea dish), palak paneer, fried puffy/​crispy yum poof things (not sure what they are really called but it’s good), some eggplant dish, some spicy potato dish and some other dish that changes. They give you free naan at your table and also have a house salad, chutney, yogurt and rice pudding for dessert.
The staff is a family I think and all very attentive and nice. This is my go to place for Indian food in SLO.
Place rating: 4
Moreno Valley, CA
The food was good and the service was very friendly and accommodating. I prefer going to Indian Restaurants during their buffet hours because you get more bang for your buck so to speak. My friend and I went there for dinner and ordered their chicken tikka masala and some palak paneer with garlic naan. Everything was delicious but the chicken dish didn’t have as much chicken as it should have. Other than that, it was yummy!
Place rating: 3
Los Alamos, CA
VEGAN EATERS HERE. Spotted Shalimar on Unilocal when we were in SLO yesterday, Indian food is often good for plant based eaters and Shalimar was no exception but, there are a few caveats. One, just offering vegan food isn’t actually enough if it’s (mostly) not marked and you have to ask more than one person about ingredients, in this case three different workers. We had the lunch buffet, btw as it is a considerably better buy than a la carte. There was a more than ample array, not complicated, mostly fresh and, mostly tasty. The sauces were ok but the only chutney on offer was a truly grim, dark, menacing mess that was mercifully shoved at the back. Love my chutney, alas not theirs. Probably the biggest disappointment was the bread, about as soft/​pillowy/​tender and warm as a pita from Trader Joes. Am I the only one who goes to Indian restaurants with the expectation that when all else fails there is NAAN??? We wondered if they even had a tandoori oven? So disappointing. Service was generally nice, almost sweet, although at a buffet where they posted a sign asking for you «to take a fresh plate if returning to buffet» they never really got around to picking up the last one. A maybe for returning as SLO has many great options.
Place rating: 2
Emeryville, CA
Very bland Indian food. It probably suits people who don’t prefer spicy food. All in all, 2⁄5
Place rating: 1
San Jose, CA
I ordered veg manchurian and mushroom mutter with garlic nan .
Veg manchurian was total disaster, it wasn’t veg
Manchurian it was veg pakodas wrapped in manurian sauce
Gravy of mushroom mutter was very thin. Nit worth it !!! Garlic nan was ok !!
Place rating: 5
Myrtle Beach, SC
Shalimar delivered lunch for our company today, and they are always incredibly courteous, quick, and the food is DELICIOUS! I highly recommend Shalimar, and they have my vote for the best Indian Food in SLO!
–Big Ken
Place rating: 5
Cupertino, CA
Staying in Pismo — looking for Indian food, this may be one of your options…
Nice, comfy place with very friendly service and ambience — Good Lunch buffet w/​veg options — did like all of what I tried
Place rating: 4
San Luis Obispo, CA
We went here at closing hours.
Staff is still very friendly even though we ordered last minute.
The food was just ok, nothing very impressive or anything.
On the plus side, there’s many vegan/​vegetarian selections.
Place rating: 4
Atascadero, CA
Shalimar staff was superb. We were a group of 7 converging from 4 locations. We were first to arrive and it was about 10 minutes till the others were due to arrive. The hostess insisted on seating us immediately and got our water and set the table up for seven and brought us some naan to munch on while we waited for the others. The restaurant was also hosting the local rotary (about 50) in a back room. and everything was so smooth and unhurried. The same buffet was used by the restaurant and the big party as well. It seem to be always stocked and ready. The salad and fruit part was quite simple, green salad fixings, cantaloupe watermelon and a mango custard. (which my honey loved to the tune of refills)
The main buffet had about 10 different dishes and I enjoyed all I tried. Oddly the ones I did not try, my wife raved about. How interesting. I decided not to go into a food coma, so I only had one plate from the main foods and on plate of fruit. I was happy and full and we all went off the the movies at the local indie film palace.
Place rating: 2
Union City, CA
Not sure if I’m spoiled to have grown up in Fremont where there is an abundance of tasty and cheap Indian food, but I was not impressed with Shalimar.
Yes, their restaurant is clean, polite and efficient service, thoughtful arrangement and presentation of dishes, but food was nothing i’d drool over. I ended up spending over $ 50 between me and my boyfriend which baffles me since I have never spent so much on Indian food in my 10+ years of dining out. I understand there it is a shortage of these restaurants in SLO, but I will hold out on eating Indian food here again and wait until I go back home to the Bay where the food is just as good for half the price (at most).
Place rating: 3
San Marcos, CA
I wasn’t a fan, but my dining companion was! He LOVED the food here. I’ve enjoyed Indian cuisine more at other restaurants that I’ve been to.
I did really appreciate the service (attentive, helpful, courteous), and the ambiance makes it great for dates or just having a nice meal out on the town.
Also, lots of vegetarian and vegan options! Yay!
Place rating: 5
San Luis Obispo, CA
So I’ve been back a number of times since my first review, and I have not tired of the smiling owners, the friendly quick service, the good food and the speed at which it comes out.
The Monday dinner buffet is $ 10 and offers a chance to try some more fancier options, more lamb and fish choices, and the vegetable korma… wow!
It gets packed dinner time on Monday’s so come early.
They do offer to-​go on the buffet too which is a nice touch, I’ve seen some people do that, and it seems like a good deal.
I think they do cater to a more American pallet, which is not bad, just something to note.
The naan is really good and always fresh.
This is clearly a family business that is doing well, they recently hired some more wait staff to make sure people are getting drinks refilled, plates cleared and quick service at all times. Great job!
Do check this place out.
Place rating: 4
San Luis Obispo, CA
Shalimar is the bomb. Yes. Yum. They made delicious authentic Indian food. And they make it really mild (they know I can’t hang with the spice). Food comes out of the kitchen impossibly fast, we were sitting for maybe 7 minutes and they had our meal out. Beer was delivered bottled straight from India with a frozen stein glass maybe 10 seconds after we ordered it.
The interior is kind of hodgepodge, everything is clean but seems dated. They do accept chip credit cards, which is a nice touch. And for all you loyal Unilocal!Check Iners (proper title?), you get 10% off your order if you check in!
My favorite dish is the Chicken Tikka Masala and rice, make sure you get naan. I really like the garlic naan, $ 2.50 for a basket of delicious hot bread. They also have a BOMB lunch buffet, $ 9.99 for endless everything.
Place rating: 4
San Luis Obispo, CA
Came here once for the Monday night buffet. All the food I had was great! It wasn’t a small selection, but not large either. They have the typical tandoori chicken, saag paneer, chicken tikka masala, vegetable korma, vegetable samosas all for a good price.
The service was fairly attentive, though it’s usually pretty busy on Monday nights. They brought out drinks and naan pretty quickly but waving them down for refills wasn’t easy when they were so busy. If you aren’t looking for a deal, then Monday night probably isn’t the night for you.
Place rating: 5
Napa, CA
Shalimar’s food is outstanding — tasty and fresh — while the owner’s and staff are friendly and attentive. My family and I love Indian food and consider the food here to be among the very best we have had from San Francisco to Sacramento and everywhere in between.
Eating here has become something of a family tradition for us and our Cal Poly kids. We have been here many times for the lunch buffet and we have also ordered ala carte. As is to be expected the ala carte dishes are tastier and fresher than the buffet food, but the buffet is still very, very good. Actually, their buffet quality and selection is among the very best. Because we like Shalimar so much we have never tried the other local Indian restaurant, Taj Palace, and so cannot give a relative comparison.
If you are ordering from the menu as opposed to the buffet make sure you try the chole batura here, it is amazing! And the Sunday brunch comes with your choice of champagne or a lassi. They have Unilocal deals too, so make sure you check in.