The spot on Higuera Street where Mother’s Tavern once stood now looks very different. A sophisticated lounge has replaced sticky dance floors, the walls are lined with books and eclectic antiques, animals à la natural history museums are sprawled throughout—one could even define this place as Feral.
Located at 725 Higuera St., the newly opened Feral Kitchen and Lounge is transporting visitors into a space that Creative Director Hallie Elizabeth called “otherworldly.”
Purchased by North County Restaurant Group in May, which also owns Atascadero’s Barley and Boar, Cielo Ristorante and Rooftop Bar in Atascadero, and Jack’s Bar and Grill in Paso Robles, among other restaurants, Elizabeth said they decided to take the SLO business in a different and needed direction.
“When we first took it over, we were going to keep it as Mother’s Tavern, and then as things progressed, it was just very evident that that wasn’t the direction we wanted to go in, and it needed some love,” she said.
In the development phase, before the name Feral came around, Elizabeth said the new restaurant was to be named Bishop’s after Bishop Peak and would feature plants and animals native to the area. However, after she created a merch design featuring a raccoon that said, “Be feral at Bishop’s,” the term just stuck.
“And then Feral sort of grew from that little raccoon,” she said.
As creative director, Elizabeth said she designed the building from top to bottom, and when looking at the walls, it’s easy to endlessly roam and ponder their contents—gold frames feature florals and bats, authentic 1800s Germany books, the original Mother’s Tavern moose head, and even a racoon eating out of a Cracker Jack box.
“We wanted comfy couches and cool art and just like eclectic things people could really sit down and have a conversation about,” Elizabeth said. “And everything is all sourced locally around San Luis, like, up and down the coast. We did a lot of miles trying to find different things and packing up my car and driving it back down here. And so, everything is hand-sourced locally.”
These walls have stories to tell.
A scavenger hunt featured on Feral’s menu asks visitors to find niche decor like deer footprints hidden in murals, a red world atlas cover, and a yellow mushroom with a glassy hue.
“I really love our scavenger hunt. It’s just something different. It’s like you get to be a kid again, coming in as an adult to go around and find some stuff,” Elizabeth said.
Elizabeth said the space’s feral nature transfers to the menu too.
While it features classic bar comfort foods like macaroni and cheese, chicken wings, and fries, customers can get wild by ordering steak tartare or add bone marrow.
“We do have this option to make it ‘feral,’ and you can add bone marrow to … anything on the menu. So, if you just wanted to come in here and get fries and throw some bone marrow with it, you can do that too,” Elizabeth said. “It is kind of like a fun, eclectic menu. I feel like it matches the space. … There’s a little something for everyone, and that is what we’re aiming for.”
Feral’s order of Wildcraft Mac features shell pasta in a four-cheese sauce sprinkled with house-made tenderloin jerky, breadcrumbs, and crispy fried sage with an option to “make it feral” by adding pulled duck or short rib.
“Just some things to get people to open up their palate, maybe a little bit if they haven’t tried something like that,” Elizabeth said.
North County Restaurant Group Chief of Operations Michael Romero said the cocktail menu holds true to the adventurous concept as well, featuring local, fresh products.
“The inspiration started with making sure we’re making our own syrups in-house, making it really craft cocktail-like, and then doing different ones,” he said. “So there’s honeydew syrup—like, we’re literally cutting up the honeydew and letting everything be infused. It’s all a little time consuming, but it’s worth it with the product.”
Honeydew syrup is featured in Feral’s Pandemonia—a refreshing light green cocktail with gin, sake, Lillet Blanc, Yuzuri yuzu liqueur, basil, honeydew syrup, and lemon, topped with a vibrant orange and red blossom.
“I’d like to think it feels grounded and comforting here. Like an eclectic jeuje,” he said with a laugh.
For something a bit more savory, there’s The Pig’s Fedora with bacon-infused bourbon, fiery fig jam demerara, and smoked rosemary.
“We get bacon fat—we will cook the bacon, and then we will infuse the bourbon with bacon fat and leave it for 24 hours. The fat rises, but then the bourbon absorbs the flavor from that,” he said.
The drinks menu also features dessert drinks like the Will Feral, topped with popcorn, or various local beers and nonalcoholic options.
“We have a cool little cocktail list. The goal at some point is to have a cocktail book, and really have a lot of cocktails that people can come and choose from,” Creative Director Elizabeth said. “But the idea and the goal are to expand so people can really come and have fun sitting in the lounge and sipping a variety of cocktails.” Δ
Staff Writer Libbey Hanson is still working on the Feral scavenger hunt. Send clues to lhanson@newtimesslo.com.
This article appears in Oct 31 – Nov 10, 2024.