I drive 80 miles to get there cause they are great
Very cool local shop. Friendly and helpful, they let me pick through their supplies to find what I needed to repair my guitar.
Great place! Awesome crew and nice owners. Very knowledgeable and good selection.
Helpful and Knowledgeable. They don’t try to sell me on anything extra other than what I need or ask for specifically.
Like.
Great
Dan Ernst Owner of grand central music is a Scum Bag with a Capital S.
Bought a roland jx10 from him in feb 2013 said he had it professionally cleaned cause one of the keys did not respond.( shoulda took that as a sighn right there that this would go south.)
Got the roland a week later patch buttons did not work cardtridge port was busted cause he shipped the cardtridge inside of the synth and the internal battery was dead.
Talk to him about going to repair man he got upset and said his repair man pro clean it and made sure it was in running order.
Took it to repair man costed 166.00 he begrudglingly said fine send him receipt.
So rapair man did two weeks go by no response.
The owner is a bs’er and a finagler.
Do not support.
Do not trust.
Eventually we will cross paths Dan.
Thats not a threat.
Thats a promise.
I ordered the bass a year ago in this shop! But so far, they can not send me a bass and do not return the money! What are the problems? I do not know! And nothing intelligible do not meet!
3. Lightning Joe’s Guitar Heaven
Address: 100 E Branch St, Arroyo Grande, CA 93420 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Lightning Joes is one of the best shops you’ll ever do business with. Its one of the last really great family shops in the United States, all while operating at pro-level. I found the guitar that I had dreamed about here and Joseph went over and above when we had some issues to overcome. They will go the extra mile. *Highly* Recommended.
Great place to be at people really friendly and very good company
Biggest guitar selection in US
some of the staff is uppity but they have the best selection of gear on the central coast. No competition.
Amazing place, decent selection of guitars and gear. Seem happy to let you try different things out and staff seem knowledgeable.
Awesome store huge selection
USE EXTREME CAUTION WHEN PURCHASING A GUITAR OR ANYTHING FROM GUTIAR HEAVEN!!!!! a “JOHN LENNON REVOLUTION CASINO #338 OF 1965 WAS SOLD TO ME IN THE AMOUNT OF $2,459.40 PLUS TAX.
THEY TOLD ME IT WAS COMPLETELY ORGINAL AND I HAVE E-MAIL CORRESPONDENCE TO PROVE THIS!
COME TO FIND OUT AFTER SEEING OTHERS FOR SALE, THE CASE THEY INCLUDED WITH MINE WAS NOT THE ORIGINAL CASE FOR THE GUITAR! IT DID NOT HAVE JOHN LENNONS ART WORK ON THE CASE!
I FEEL SO CHEATED AND ROBBED!! CONFRONTING THEM ABOUT IT THEY SAID “SORRY WE CAN’T HELP YOU”!!
I WOULD SUGGEST THAT YOU USE CAUTION WHEN BUYING SOMETHING THAT IS SUPPOSED TO BE “IN ORIGINAL USED CONDITION”. ACTUALLY I WOULD ATTEMPT TO FIND THE PRODUCT ELSEWHERE AND FROM A ****REPUTABLE DEALER****!!!!!
I went in to look at guitars with my son, I saw the store online and really was looking forward to seeing some cool guitars. The woman approached me right away and was super rude, saying we couldn’t try any guitars unless we were going to buy something. Then we went to look at acoustic guitars and the guy was just following us, he didn’t even care to help us out or ask if we had any questions. I was looking to purchase a nice Martin, but not from there not ever. Super rude!!!! I have a lot of friends who were looking to check this place out as well. I will let them know about my experience too. They would have gotten some great business but they missed out. I would have given their store 0 stars but had to give them one.
I have lived here all my life, and I went into this story for the very first time just the other day, because my son plays guitar now, and we needed a new string. The women that works there was very rude to my daughter, she stayed with me the entire time, and she knows the rules (don’t look with your hands, look with your eyes) my daughter is very well behaved, she is homeschooled and suffers from a rare illness that has caused her to grow up allot faster. This women obviously had it out for my daughter as soon as we walked in. She followed behind us the entire time, and if my daughter even looked like she was about to touch something she would jump right in, and either push her hand away, or tell her to not try to touch it…. finally right before we left my daughter was looking at a little table with guitar strings attatched, she strummed one string one time! And the lady grabbed her hand shoved it away, and said don’t touch, you don’t know what your doing!! Ok? Ok? Ok? Say ok! My daughter said no thank you and turned away. The lady said no thank you? Really?….the only reason I did t leave sooner was because they had my sons guitar, but I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER go in their again, that lost my business and anyone else I know that plays instruments!
4. Ernie Ball Inc
Address: 4117 Earthwood Ln, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 , Avila Beach , California , United States
These people are the real deal. Kind, professional, talented, and dedicated. My kids have had lessons here for a few years and I can’t recommend them enough. Excellent instructors and competent, friendly staff. RAWK!
Great teachers. My son has drums with wyatt in their paso studio, and all our experiences have been nothing but exceptional with all their teachers as well as management. We’ve also hado our daughter’s in piano and voice. Great operation.
I had an emergency with my kids and had to cancel lessons. They refunded my order without being asked and were very helpful.
Five star customer service! Thanks
7. PierFront Wine & Brew
Address: 480 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
One of my favorite places to stop at whenever I’m in Avila. Enjoyed a watermelon wine slushy while my husband enjoyed a beer. Such a relaxing place to sip on drink!
Very cozy place with a great view at Avila Beach. They serve appetizers too.
Fantastic view from comfortable indoor seating.
Menu includes wine, Beer, food and charcuterie boards.
Just spent a couple of hours enjoying appetizers and mimosas/ wine slushies.
Delish! Staff was great and service spot on. Highly recommend this place to just sit, drink, eat and have a relaxing time!
Good customer service
Great wine and great view. A little loud and noisy, but I’m sure this depends on the time of day you go. Overall excellent.
Came to this place to have a few drinks as we had family visiting from out of town and wanted to show them the area. They wouldn’t serve us a drink unless we order a meal so we did. We wanted to get a 2nd drink and they said you had to order another meal again. Are you f$&%n serious?? There was a group of us who had just eaten at a different restaurant and all we wanted was a couple drinks because it was really hot. The food is not that great and the drinks are expensive. Ok restaurant bad service
This is not even related to service of this place but of the staff and how they are as people . There was an elderly man that fell over and was not responding literally just outside this place . We did place a call 911 emergency but he needed help on the spot me alone with my kids could not get to the lifeguard . So I kindly gone in to ask if they had the number or could be call one of the life guard post . The guy working behind counter was like “ there are plenty of lifeguards around here” as in he won’t be helping so I walk away him and few other male customers we’re laughing at me . I was so sad and upset to see how people can be really mean in this world and not care for others.
Drinks expensive. Service is slow. Staff unresponsive after trying to retrieve something I had left there. Still cannot get anyone to return my phone calls, after three weeks of trying. I even paid for a mailing label to have them send it back to me. Very frustrating. Poor customer service.
8. Triplett Harps
Address: 220 Suburban Rd, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Just bought a Triplett 30 wire strung harp built in 1999. I’ve called numerous times for help with strings/eyelets and wire harp questions. The harp is in great shape after 20+ years and their service has been consistently friendly. Highly recommend!
The best hand crafted harps on the planet.
This is by far one of the best instrument builders an wood working shops on the west coast. I took my woodshop class here on a field trip.
9. Mr. Rick’s
Address: 404 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Fun spot for a drink and to kill sometime. Plus the view is gorgeous .
This is our go to anytime we are in Avila! Good food, great drinks and service is always friendly. The most amazing view while eating.
Good and nice place
Great little bar in Avila that’s Oceanfront, great place friends and enjoy some drinks
Nice place, very exciting n they make very good drinks.
Cool
First off, due to Covid we tried to order food online through Custom House with no avail. We went into the restaurant, only to be sent next door to Mr Ricks, advising us it was the same restaurant.
There were four people in line, in front of us at Mr Ricks. Thirty minutes later we were able to place our order.
I advised that the order was “TO GO” before I placed the order for a California Burger with clam chowder soup & a California Burger with onion rings. I paid for our meals & asked where do we pick up our order. The young lady said “oh, this is to go”, and advise the manager walking by to tell the kitchen that order #17 was to go.
I was given a table number and told to sit at any table on the patio to wait for our take out order. About 20 minutes later the water brought our order not packed for take out. We advised him that this was a take out order. He the took the food back to be put in take out containers. When he brought the bag of food to us, I specifically asked if the soup was in the bag. He said yes. We took our food and proceeded to walk two blocks back to our vehicle, only to realize that there was no clam chowder in the bag. Yes, there were crackers and a spoon for the soup, but no soup. We were unable to walk back to the restaurant due to physical disabilities/limitations.
It was very disappointing to pay $2 extra to substitute the fries for soup and get neither. And to pay $2 extra to substitute onion rings for fries & only get 3 onion rings.
Although the California Burger was good, we will not patronage this restaurant in the future.
Our Bartender was a turd and the music, during the live musicians break, was WAY too loud and WAY to inappropriate for a Mothers Day.
10. Central Coast Music
Address: 365 Morro Bay Blvd, Morro Bay, CA 93442 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Certainly a staple for the classic vibe of the community. The owner Ed is an amazing person. Definitely recommend checking out.
Great vibes! Cool new and used instruments, amps, and ephemera.
Eddie is a friendly host for your eclectic musical journey.
Eddie and his crew are the best! Friendly service and hands on shopping for everything musical. Tech Butch can tune it and fix whatever’s broke.
CCM is a Central Coast treasure. Ed has provided us local musicians and lovers an eclectic array of musical instruments and accoutrements for a long time making Morro Bay a better place for it.
I get it, it’s tourist season. I genuinely wanted to locally shop a 1/2 size guitar. I saw how busy the store was. I left my name and number. Someone said I was all set to receive a call. 2 weeks, no call.
Ryan builds the best guitars in the world. The tone is amazing and the workmanship out of this world. I own 7 Esoterik guitars and they are the best guitars money can buy. The customer service is phenomenal and Ryan bends over backwards to help in any way he can. Truly amazing! I am blown away!! Thanks for all the hard work and attention to detail. If you want a guitar that plays flawlessly and gives the best sound and percision playability then this is the only guitar you’ll ever want to own!!
Beautifully functional instrument. Perfect setup and quality. Phenomenal guitar.
12. Blue Moon Over Avila
Address: 460 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
We stopped in twice over the course of our stay in Avila Beach and both times Angie gave us a phenomenal experience. She is beyond knowledgeable and accommodating, friendly and kind. We were so tickled that she felt comfortable enough to tell us she needed a day off on our first visit and then was willing to share how wonderful her time off was when we saw her on our second visit. She deserves all the time off she can get! Thank you for a wonderful experience, not once, but twice! We’ll see you next year, Angie.
Great views. Great people. Paso wine by the glass and by the bottle. This is what Avila Beach should be!
In the Top 3 favorite restaurants I’ve ever been to globally. Period. Mainly due to the extremely reasonable price for excellent waterfront cuisine. Every thing I’ve ever ordered here has been great, but I will say I am not a fan of the way they prepare their black rice.
Had a quick drink and appie watching the beach activity
Kid-friendliness: Not really kids but the teen did ok
Wheelchair accessibility: Very assassable.. flat surfaces indoor and out
We had an awesome experience at Blue Moon over Avila. We had the Halibut and the Blackened Jumbo shrimp both of which were excellent. The service was great and I totally recommend this place. We’ll definitely be coming back.
Moises and Julie Mendoza
We have eaten here twice in the past couple of weeks. The onion soup is great. The menu is small as are the portions.
We went this evening as my friend was providing the entertainment. She was the only good thing about the place. The service was mediocre at best. We were charged 60$ for our $40 bottle of wine. The waitress had difficulty opening it. We ordered bubbly brie which came with 5 slices of baguette, 4 apricots, 4 candied pecans and a 1/4 c of brie, not bubbling. Not worth the price. My husband and I wanted to split a salad and an entree. It all came at the same time and was not split. we were charged for split plate but did the splitting ourselves. we got 1 steak knife for the 2 of us to cut our very tough steak. The salad was over dressed. The steak tough. My friends mushroom ravioli was inedible. while the manager finally corrected the tab and took off the split plate charge and corrected the price of the wine, it made for an unpleasant experience. I would love to see my friend again but maybe not here.
Too expensive for the food we had. Dinner’s choice is very limited compared to lunch.
Had reservations seated right away but from there things went down hill.
Food was good but service was
Slow and inattentive
13. Avila Beach
Address: 404 Front St, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Assessment: ★★★★½
4.8/5 based on 93 evaluations.
Business hours:
Reviews
✌️
Avila is much more quiet than most beach towns, but its also undergoing more renovation than its surrounding counterparts. A great place for people to escape to with an excellent blend of commercialized shops and restaurants and the locally owned stores.
Finally found my beach! Truly lovely. Right size, perfect quality and choice of stores.
There are also other interesting areas/smaller beaches and cliffs to explore. Breathtaking views!
Beautiful place. Always nice to walk out onto the pier. You’ll see and hear the loud sea lions. You might get lucky and see some sea otters, too.
Avilla beach is not just for tourists but a great beach to spend the day or just a couple hours. The little city of Avilla has some wonderful restaurants and businesses and the beaches are fun to play on. Additionally you can fish from the pier.
Hermoso lugar,,,
14. Mulligan’s Restaurant
Address: 6460 Ana Bay Rd, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Great customer service, atmosphere, and overall experience. 10/10, would rock again.
Amazing service, employees provide great help for any musical reason. Great selection of musical instruments and the sort!
Nice little place. Have gone in a few times for reeds and picks. Staff is really nice and helpful.
I will say that they advertise that they have music teachers who offer lessons there. And say to call for availability… don’t waste your time. I called six times (in a month) to inquire about violin lessons and left messages each time, never heard back. Finally go in, and they say they don’t offer lessons for her age, not a big deal, it just was an irritant to not have messages returned.
18. Avila Beach
Address: Pacific Ocean, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Assessment: ★★★★½
4.8/5 based on 576 evaluations.
Business hours:
Reviews
Nice clean beach and good restaurants at reasonable prices friendly servers
The sand was soft and the water was nice and cold it was kinda crowded tho :/
Weather was great. Cute town
Esta bien pero hay lugares donde se disfruta mejor sin mucha gente.
Not the best waves but good kid friendly beach
Good
No dogs allowed, packed beach, $7 parking
There are “no dogs” signs on both sides of the pier, lifeguard came to us and reminded us dogs were not allowed just as we were about to step on the sand. Beach was super packed and it was very hard to find a parking spot. We found a public parking a couple of blocks from the beach that had a $7 flat rate. It has restaurants close by, but didn’t look they were dog friendly as I didn’t see any water bowls
19. Alapay Cellars Tasting Room
Address: 415 1st St, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Very nice people and great wine selection. One of the best Pinot Noirs on the Central Coast. Try it!
We came here on a whim while on vacation, headed to the beach. The hosts were generous and created a comfortable and customizable experience. They had indoor and outdoor seating options. We don’t know much about wine and we never felt silly asking questions.
Super friendly, excellent wines!
Nice wines, they offer wine tasting.
Procured a paso Robles 2004 Bordeaux red blend Rebekah signed in an order 15 years ago hoping it pops CHRISTMAS evening. Thanx Alapay for great wines , and friendly service!!!
I put my name down for the wine tasting. 2 hours later, they still haven’t called me. I went back in to ask about where I was on the wait list and get a sense of when it would get called. Little I know they were way passed my name and NEVER called me. They offered me to be added again to the bottom of their wait list and wait again for my turn. They even admitted that they missed calling me, yet I should go back to the wait list. Mistakes happens and I’m not annoyed by that, what I didn’t like is that they wanted me to wait again and pay the price of their mistake.
The wine is fine but, the wife of the owner is very rude and disrespectful! Sorry, we won’t be coming back.
Will not return. I was with my mom who is a club member of many years and I purchased (2) bottles. The owner would not honor my mom’s club discount for the (2) bottles I purchased. Needless to say, my mom will be dropping her membership as well.
20. Avila Beach Whale Watching
Address: Port San Luis Pier, Avila Beach, CA 93424 , Avila Beach , California , United States
Today I was fortunate to book a weekend trip along with my g’sons with Captain Mark. This was my 3rd trip, and he never disappoints. He is safety conscious and knowledgeable about the wildlife that you will see. Each trip I learn things I didn’t know before. It is worth the “cost of admission “, and a life long memory. Just do it ASAP!
Amazing trip. Thank you captain Mark.
Pessoal com grande conhecimento e altamente atencioso. Tivemos uma experiência inesquecível. Barco ótimo, capitão atencioso e conhecedor do assunto e um show de baleias .
Staff with great knowledge and highly attentive. We had an unforgettable experience. Great boat, attentive and knowledgeable captain and a whale show.
Muy atentos con los visitantes; aunque no siempre hay buenos avistamientos. Recomendable. Són bastante respetuosos con las ballenas.
1 Stern Abzug, weil wir keine Wale gesehen haben. Ich weiß, da kann keiner was dafür, trotzdem ist ein wenig Enttäuschung dabei. Mark ist sehr freundlich, erzählt viel und erklärt toll.
Muy bonito lugar para pasar el rato. El agua muy limpia.
Very disappointed. He’s okay with taking money for providing absolutely nothing. I made an honest mistake. I meant to book 3/13 but somehow booked 3/3 which happened to be the next day. I didn’t look at the confirmation because I wasn’t thinking I needed to for a few days and I was really busy at the moment with something else. The morning of 3/3 (today) I received an email that they are leaving without me. I panicked. I then looked at my confirmation email and realized what I had done. I emailed back and called and left a message apologizing and hoping we could still book for 3/13 since we will be driving 4 1/2 hours to spend the weekend in the area. He did return my call and in a nutshell said I cost him 3 people that he had to turn away and he would be losing out on 2 spots if he booked me for 3/13. He said he couldn’t even offer a discount because that’s a lot of loss for him. I get it. Hes a small boat and has to make a living. But to offer nothing and to just take $170 without anything just is so wrong. I didn’t cancel or purposely no-show. I made an honest mistake. I will never use this company nor would I recommend doing business someone like this
