In an era of chain restaurants and trendy eateries, The Far Western Tavern offers an authentic alternative, a dining experience that spans decades and generations while keeping pace with contemporary tastes.

As always, the Far Western Tavern remains popular with local cowboys and farmers, but now also appeals to the Santa Maria Valleys growing influx of tourists, wine enthusiasts and urban transplants. At the Far Western dinner table, all find common ground in the distinctive and robust regional fare for which the restaurant is renowned.

Family ties, local roots and fresh ideas continue to abound at the Far Western Tavern as a new generation joins original owners Clarence and Rosalie Minetti at the restaurants helm. Daughters Susan and Marie, and son Tyke, as well as their spouses, all have a hand in the restaurant’s ownership and direction. Manager Barbara Abernathy, who has worked at the Far Western Tavern since 1974, is the daughter of Mary Jean Minetti Ruiz, Clarence’s sister who acted as the restaurant’s first manager in the late 1950s and 1960s.

While the Far Western Tavern is still known for Clarence’s famous Bulls Eye Steak and other expressions of the region’s celebrated Santa Maria Style Barbecue, the menu also offers a diversity of dishes beyond beef, such as herb-glazed rack of lamb, fire-roasted seasonal vegetables, home-style ravioli, & shrimp scampi.

Wine is another facet of the Far Western Tavern experience that has grown with the times. When Clarence and Rosalie opened the restaurant in 1958, the local wine industry was still a decade removed from it’s origins in the late 1960s.

Today, Santa Maria Valley and Santa Barbara County, which were celebrated in the hit wine-centric movie Sideways, are famous around the world for producing some of California’s finest Pinot Noirs, Syrahs and Chardonnays. The Far Western Tavern’s wine list today reflects the dynamism of the Central Coast wine country, with a diversity of varietals and styles to match any dish. There are even Far Western Tavern brand bottlings from select local vineyards, such as a Zinfandel from Dusi Vineyards in Paso Robles.

In a testament to the Far Western Taverns enduring appeal, acclaimed chef Bobby Flay asked the Minetti family to demonstrate the art of Santa Maria Style Barbecue for a segment on his hit Food Network Television show BBQ with Bobby Flay. The segment, which included several Far Western Tavern recipes, first aired in late 2004.

Ultimately, the Far Western Tavern offers genuinely authentic California cuisine, in which regional and family traditions remain the foundation of a timeless dining experience.