Fresno restaurant connections pop up on the Central Coast — if you know where to look

Key Takeaways
Key Takeaways
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.

Read our AI Policy.

• The Mayor’s Place exterior was built 27 years ago by Fresno’s Monster City Studios founder
• House of JuJu, born in Clovis, operates a location in Morro Bay.
• Blast & Brew and Me-n-Ed’s have locations all over coastal towns.

On a recent weekend getaway to the Central Coast, we dined at a funky little breakfast restaurant straight out of Alice in Wonderland.

A friend took us to The Mayor’s Place in downtown Nipomo in San Luis Obispo County for its beautiful patio with seating under a shady arbor.

After devouring some of the best sourdough toast of my life, (tip: check out Brian’s Artisan Bread Co. from Atascadero) I was posting photos of The Mayor’s Place on Instagram and discovered that the unusual exterior of the restaurant had a Fresno connection.

It was built by the founder of Monster City Studios, James Powell, 27 years ago. That company was located in Fresno from 2011 to 2024. It builds attractions for theme parks, zoos, and more.

You may remember the pirate ship, treehouse and other rambling structures you could see outside its factory from Highway 180 west of town. The company has since moved to Santa Clarita, but Powell still lives here.

At The Fresno Bee, we usually write about restaurants in Fresno and Clovis (keep scrolling to see what we worked on this week), but Fresno restaurants have other connections with the Central Coast.

But back to Fresno and Clovis. Here’s all the other restaurants we’ve been checking out lately.

• House of JuJu, born in Clovis, has a location in Morro Bay.
• Quesadilla Gorilla, which started in Visalia, has a restaurant in San Luis Obispo.
• The Woodstone Marketplace with a cafe and shop in Avila Beach is owned by Seth Vann, who is from Fresno and made a name for himself selling macarons here and opening the Mochilicious Society food truck.
• Remember Oggi, the Italian restaurant in the Tower District? The owner caused a stir when he declared he’d never open another restaurant in Fresno again. He opened Louie the Lip’s Weenie World in Pismo Beach, but it has since closed.
• Firestone Grill in San Luis Obispo and Main Street Grill in Cambria are owned by different members of the same family who own the popular Dog House Grill in Fresno.
• And Fresno-based Blast & Brew and Me-n-Ed’s have locations all over Pismo, Santa Maria, Atascadero, Arroyo Grando and other coastal towns.

This story was originally published November 4, 2026 at 2:05 PM.