A new year means new businesses for downtown San Luis Obispo. Finney’s Crafthouse and Kitchen will open its fourth location on Jan. 22.
The gastropub will sell 30 craft beers — 75 percent of which are local to the Central Coast. Finney’s offers “approachable” food, according to founder Greg Finefrock, all made fresh daily in their scratch kitchen.
Finefrock said that he is most excited for students to try out the happy hour. All craft beer will be $5 from 3-6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Finney’s Crafthouse and Kitchen currently has three other locations in California: Westlake Village, Santa Barbara and Ventura. The company sought out San Luis Obispo for their fourth location because of the small town feel.
“I wanted to open up the next Finney’s in a location that I want to visit and spend time at,” Finefrock said. “We are bringing our fun concept to a fun town.”
Opening up this new location goes even deeper for founder Finefrock. His mother’s side of the family grew up in San Luis Obispo, and he has visited the area several times. His twin brother, Brad Finefrock, works on the development side of Finney’s and attended Cuesta College. He said they are eager to return to the Central Coast.
Finefrock opened 15 restaurants within the first 15 years he was out of college. All along, he said he had a dream of founding his own. Finefrock opened the first Finney’s in Westlake Village in 2016.
“It was exciting to be able to put my own nickname into my own concept,” Finefrock said.
During 2019, Downtown SLO welcomed 46 new businesses, and 32 of them were locally owned. San Luis Obispo kicked off 2020 with plans to open three new businesses downtown, one of which includes Finney’s.
“I recently visited their location in Santa Barbara and believe they have the ability to attract a variety of customers; college students, families, tourists and young professionals,” Downtown SLO Marketing and Communication Manager, Kat Thompson said.
Finney’s will host pre-opening parties this weekend, Jan. 18-20. The official opening is on Jan. 22 at 857 Monterey Street.