On a slower morning, Anderson Social’s team was experimenting with new recipes using vanilla syrup when they stumbled upon a speciality drink: the Velvet Americano.
The take on a typical Americano—a shot of espresso with hot water—is served in a cocktail glass over ice with vanilla syrup and topped with whipped foam.
“It’s not only elegant, but it is absolutely delicious,” Anderson Social co-owner George Garcia said.
The drink and the glass combine the two parts of Anderson Social’s business, going from what happens there during the day to how the space transforms at night.
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Anderson Social is located at 951 Monterey St. in San Luis Obispo. They are open every day from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. and at night from 5 p.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Sunday.
Garcia and his fellow business owners, wife April Garcia and Travis Avila, transformed the retail area of the historic Anderson Hotel into a European-inspired espresso bar by day and a European-style cocktail bar by night. Anderson Social opened at the end of 2025, and serves a drink menu that George said customers won’t find anywhere else.
The business takes inspiration from his and his wife’s travels in Europe, where they observed that the cafe culture is centered on coffee.
“One of the things we wanted to make sure is you can come anytime of day or night and get an espresso, get a coffee drink,” Garcia said. “You go into any European bistro, the espresso machine is always on.”
Anderson Social’s espresso drinks are made with an Italian espresso machine, the La Marzocco GB5, and the coffee is sourced from Dune Coffee Roasters in Santa Barbara, which offers a darker roast. These decisions play into the authenticity of their European-inspired cafe.
“So far, folks have come in, they notice the difference,” Garcia said.
With traveling, Garcia said, it’s important to get out of your comfort zone and experience different cultures. At Anderson Social, the staff asks the customers to do just that: Take a journey with them. Try new drinks.
“We thought, ‘What if we created some drinks that sort of demanded that people try something maybe they haven’t tried before?’ That’s why we didn’t have any classics on the menu when we opened,” said co-owner Avila, who came to the business with cocktail recipes after developing a passion during the pandemic.
The bartenders ask customers what they usually like, and if they answer, for example, a Manhattan, they recommend the Matterhorn, a riff on the classic drink using Chartreuse and Fernet to bring an alpine flavor.
Another unique drink is the Million Dollar Martini, which includes top-shelf gin and vodka, and the glass is rinsed with Scotch and garnished with caviar-stuffed olives.
“That’s just a really fun, elegant, little extravagant cocktail that’s been a winner for us,” Avila said.
The custom menus resemble mini passports, enhancing the theme of worldly travels.
“Even guests have said, ‘We feel like we are transported somewhere else, we’re not sure,’” Garcia said. “‘We’re nowhere in downtown SLO, but when we come in here, we feel like we are transported,’ and that’s exactly the feeling we wanted guests to have.”
During the day, the space fills with light, accenting the tall ceilings. Chatter fills the air as people catch up with their friends. But once the evening hours hit, the space becomes moody and dark as the sounds of live music accompany people’s conversations.
“During the day, people are kind of back and talking louder, and it’s great,” Garcia said. “But in the evening, people get more engaged with themselves.”
When acquiring a liquor license, the trio settled on an on-sale general-music venue license that allows alcohol sales alongside live performances, which Garcia thought was an opportunity.
Garcia has a background in piano playing, having played in bands throughout college and afterwards. Avila is also a musician who plays the guitar.
Genres they feature include jazz piano, cabaret vocalist, acoustic guitar, and Spanish flamenco.
‘We thought, “What if we created some drinks that sort of demanded that people try something maybe they haven’t tried before.” That’s why we didn’t have any classics on the menu when we opened. … We wanted to just say, “Hey if you trust us, let us have you try a few things.”’
—Travis Avila, Anderson Social co-owner
From his time at Cal Poly, Avila remembers GiGi’s Mediterranean Cafe, which had live music.
“Ever since then, I’d thought, ‘Man we really need a space like that again, like GiGi’s,’” Avila said,
Anderson Social itself occupies a historical space, residing in what used to be the Anderson Hotel in the 1920s, a hotel that housed many celebrities who stopped by.
“We went to the historical society and there were all these articles and things like that about when Anderson Hotel opened and it was the place to be, and so that got us thinking about creating a social hub,” Avila said.
As an architect who runs Garcia Architecture + Design, Garcia is interested in finding opportunity in buildings, reenvisioning what they could be.
“We always sort of ask the building what it wants to be,” Garcia said. “Let the space speak to you and overwhelm you in terms of what the feeling is, what it kind of was perhaps, if it was an existing building and maybe what it wants to be.”
As the owner of The Butler Hotel on Monterey Street, he was attracted to this space and thought through many ways to bring it to life, from a bookstore to a restaurant, before ultimately turning it into what it is now: part espresso bar, part cocktail bar.
“We love the European concept of getting up, going to your corner cafe,” Garcia said. “Everyone sort of has their go-to spot where they meet their BFFs and just hang out, talk about the day, talk about what happened over the weekend, over coffee or over cocktails.
“That slowdown pace is something that really not only appeals to us, but is a healthy lifestyle.” ∆
Reach intern Katy Clark at intern@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Summer Guide 2026.