Bar Bites at Thomas Hill Organics

Our most recent food adventure took us to what’s locally known as “THO” which is short for Thomas Hill Organics. This restaurant is the product of a local farming family that wanted to bring fresh food from farm to table in a unique atmosphere in the downtown Paso Robles district.

So, this wasn’t our first time visiting THO, we’ve been in a handful of times; each of which the food was incredible, the service amazing, and the overall vibe, great! But, we’ve got a confession to make…we haven’t gone back for probably a year or more as a result of our last experience. There’s no need to get into specifics, but it involved sitting at the bar and overhearing two different sets of people that worked there discussing customers, other staff members, complaining about kitchen functions, etc. This is a BIG no-no in customer service, and it was disappointing to say the least.

Now don’t misunderstand, we know that every establishment has their good days and their not so great days. Our point in sharing the story is simple; as a customer service establishment, you never know how your level of service is affecting your clientele. It’s all in the details; maybe customers don’t sit at the bar very often (it was really shallow and not the most comfy bar to sit at) so they didn’t think about not talking shit in front of us, or maybe the management never paid attention or…who knows? But the result was that they missed out on our patronage for a chunk of time. Bummer for us and for them.

The outcome of all of this is that we went back…even after a year, to give it another try. Maybe it was time, maybe the disappointment had worn off, or maybe we just knew it would be okay this time around. It was awesome; back to the great service, incredible food, and wonderful atmosphere! Yay!!! We walked away feeling like we’d had a great time and can’t wait to go back! Good job, THO, and thank you for a great meal.

Now, down to the details; we were in for lunch…it was a cold winter day in Paso Robles, the iPhone said 30 degrees at 11am (brrrrr for us) so we bundled up and headed in. We chose to brave the elements and sit outside on their enclosed courtyard patio. The waiter was kind enough to bring us our own personal heater which was awesome!

We started with the Pork Belly Tacos with Pomegranate and Cilantro Salsa…

These tacos were incredibly tasty…with a rich ancho chile sauce, there was a tiny bit of spice, some sweetness from the salsa, and just an overall exciting group of flavors. The perfect way to start our lunch.

After the tacos, we moved on to the Roasted Turkey Sandwich smothered in Celery and Apple Salad with Currants, Cashews, and Cranberry Relish. This sandwich was like glorious Thanksgiving nestled inside of a pillowy, fresh, roll. Incredible!

This was the perfect lunch for us; light, incredibly tasty, in a cool spot. The flavor combinations were fresh and original and everything just popped! You can definitely taste each ingredient and the farm to table feeling comes through in the brightness of the dish. Again, thank you to Thomas Hill Organics for a great experience! We’ll see you soon!

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