[quote author="C Delroy Spuckler" date=1244672920][quote author="no_vaseline" date=1244670233]Have you ever been to Jocko's in Nipomo (just north of Santa Maria)?</blockquote>
Nope. Honestly, I have a rough time eating red meat any more. The red meat in California tastes funny to me, even at some of the nicer restaurants. I prefer a very simple slab of meat with very little seasoning (god forbid a cream sauce!) I hate to say it, one of the few places I've found out here where the meat tastes decent is Wood Ranch over near Coto (although Gorat's would put them to shame). I typically have some steaks flown in <a href="http://www.stoysich.com">from the midwest</a> and just do my own, following the K.I.S.S. principal.
If I'm in the Midwest, I don't order sushi. If I'm in California, I don't order a steak. And ya, if I want creole food or fried chicken, I go to <a href="http://www.haroldandbellesrestaurant.com/">Harold and Belle's</a>... not South Orange County
Eat what the locals do.
Delroy</blockquote>
Jockos looks like it's straight out of 1950, exactly like the steakhouse you describe in Omaha. If you think Wood Ranch is good, you haven't seen anything 'till you've seen Jockos.
All of thier steaks come from a feeder in Kansas City and are trucked in special for them. I used to buy meat from them before I found a butcher (Tony at Pomona Food Locker) who would order me a hind quarter, dry age it 21 days, and custom butcher it to our (me and the Mrs.) specs. He gets his from Miller, they come out of the midwest.
<a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/jockos-steak-house-nipomo">http://www.yelp.com/biz/jockos-steak-house-nipomo</a>
<blockquote>Pulling up to Jocko's feels like arriving at Bingo Night at the Eagles Hall. It's beige cinder block building and requisite gravel parking lot give it immediate street cred as a long-time fixture in central coast food culture; it's been there for decades, and has the decor and clientele to prove it.
Jocko's has been doing the same thing for generations--grilling meat, Santa Maria style, over red oak and serving it with house-made salsa, toasted/buttered french bread, pinqinto beans (pink beans) and a vinegary salad. It is not trendy, and it has refused to change with the times--not an ounce of balsamic anywhere-- and it reminds you of restaurant food in the '60s & '70s; that is comforting to me.
The steak is very good, not the best I've had, but unique in that it stays true to local tradition, and has a great wood/smokey flavor. The sides are mediocre, but good (again) in a comfort-food sort of way.
</blockquote>
Don't go for lunch and expect the dinner menu. What can I say, I'm trying to channel my inner trailer park.
On edit, the comments on Yelp! are spot on. This isn't Morton's or Ruth Chris. The wait is insane. They are that busy. If decor and ambiance are important to you (and I'm assuming you aren't trying to seek out a 1950's roadhouse) you probablly aren't going to like it. In that case, skip Jockos, drive an hour further up 101 to Paso Robles, and eat at my near favorite Bistro Laurent.