Splash Café, located in Pismo Beach, California, is a renowned seafood restaurant known for its clam chowder. Established in 1989, it has become a local institution and a popular destination for both tourists and residents. The clam chowder at Splash Café is a must-try, often hailed as some of the best on the Central Coast. The restaurant offers a casual and friendly atmosphere, making it a great spot to enjoy seafood dishes, sandwiches, and, of course, their famous clam chowder in a bread bowl. Same great taste for year but the price is getting a bit high.
We are tourists and have heard about Splash Cafe and their famous clam chowder. Hot damn it was good!! The bread bowl was toasty and the chowder itself is so creamy! I got cheese, green onions and their unique carrot hot sauce for fixings. We came back to have a bowl two times during our short vacation. Must have!! Can't wait to come back next year for vacation to eat another bowl! ☺️
The clam chowder bowl is simply awesome. Order at the counter and the friendly staff prepares your food quickly and brings it out to you if you're dinning-in the cafe, otherwise they hand it over to you to take away.
While the service is really fast (they've been doing this for years) it can get VERY busy. This is particularly true in the summer and weekends. You'll get your food quickly once you order it but sometimes you'll have to wait in a very long line to get to the counter. The best time to visit is between obvious meal times and when it rains.
The restaurant sitting is first come first serve. It's polite not to sit at (save) a table until you've ordered your food because seating can be limited by the number of visitors. And, it's best not to loiter too long after finishing your meal for the same reasons.
Parking is always going to be challenging.
GREAT spot, the prices are hard to beat for the California coast. We had the clam chowder bowl (obviously) and it was delicious. Also got the lobster roll (13$ which is very cheap) but wasn't as good. The lobster was kind of shredded. Curly fries were good ! Take it to eat at the beach 😎
This place was highly recommended for their Clam Chowder on Trip advisor and Youtube guides, but we were quite disappointed when we went. Maybe it was because we went at the end of the day - they close quite early and the chowder was nothing special, the fries were cold and the fish a bit over-cooked. The service was friendly and although we had to wait a while for our order they were working hard as it was busy. I don't know if our order had been waiting a while before they called us, but we were right by the pick up point and hadn't seen it. The food was expensive, but so is everywhere now so not more expensive than anywhere else. It certainly seemed more busy than other restaurants on the street, so maybe we were just unlucky.
Absolutely the world’s best clam chowder to me!! Especially with the crab meat and golden-brown-toasted bread, very soft inside. The onion rings are huge and tasty, too.
The clam chowder is thick, unctuous, delicious, and perfect. Get it with seafood topping and a side of grilled sourdough- so good. Get it to go and walk down 25 ft. towards the beach where there are picnic tables on pier/boardwalk.
Clam chowder is amazing. Also had a fish taco that was good! An informal place but good food and service
Overall food was good. Lobster roll was sort of lacking but wasn't bad. Clam cowder was super creamy and delicious. Fish and chip and their slo boy were great.
Fun Restaurant with Beach Vibes! I was kicking myself for not getting extra toppings in my Clam Chowder (but I also wasn't asked). It tasted pretty good though especially with the Sourdough Bread Bowl. I would go back again!
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