Hitching Post - Casmalia, CA

Posted By Michael Stern on March 8, 2008 9:04 AM

In 1952 Frank Ostini bought an old hotel in the town of Casmalia, which had been a lively cattle center back in the pre-statehood days of the California ranchos. Mr. Ostini called his place The Hitching Post, and made steak his specialty. He had no menu, and customers had no choice: everybody ate the particular cut of meat Mr. Ostini happened to be making that night – a T-bone, a sirloin, or a filet, served with a full complement of side dishes. Frank’s son Bill, now the Hitching Post’s proprietor, notes that back in 1950s, Casmalia was something of a little boom town: "Fourteen hundred people," he recalls. "We had oil, cattle, a train depot, a harbor just West, and a busy main street." Now the oil business is gone, as is the train; and Vandenberg Air Force Base looms over the shore. "I am the show in town now," Bill notes, scanning a near empty main street. But every night, there is scarcely room to park around his restaurant, which is thronged with people who come for miles to enjoy what many consider the best steaks on earth.

The Hitching Post's top sirloin is pungent with age, oozing juice, an easy chew; but the filet mignon is even better. Its delicate fibres seem to glow with the insinuated flavor of burning wood, and with the piquant smack of a wine vinegar and oil marinade that is applied as the meat cooks. "The trick is in how the steaks are handled," Bill Ostini said. "You've got to know how to cook which steak which way – some are made to be cooked rare, some well-done; it depends on the marbling, and how much age they have. It takes two to three years to train a cook to do it the right way."

The good steaks are served as part of a full dinner, which is the classic Santa Maria repertoire of relish tray with sweet peppers and chile peppers, celery ribs, carrot sticks, and olives, plus shrimp cocktail made with a teensy-weensy shrimp, a green head lettuce, garlic toast, and potatoes, either baked or French fried.

Ambience is delicious, too: a big roadhouse with linoleum floors and red tablecloths, a TV always playing above the bar. The mirror behind the bar is plastered with decals from NASA, Voyager, and the Army Corps of Engineers. In the dining room, which affords a view of the kitchen, there are mounted deer heads and old black and white family photos of young Bill and his brother on hunting and fishing trips with their dad when they were young. The hallway that leads to the restrooms is lined with cattle hides. It all adds up to a California cattle-country dining experience unlike any other.

Note: the Hitching Post recently has fired up a mail order business, giving far-flung fans access to its steaks as well as ready-to-heat-and-eat steak dinners. The offerings can be found at: www.bbq2you.com.

Overall Rating

filet mignon

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Posted By Twinwillow on April 4, 2011 10:32 PM

I know this restaurant and its owner, Frank Ostini, very well. I've had the good fortune to travel to Tuscany with Frank and his lovely family.

The food and wines served at The Hitching Post are extraordinary. The steaks and chops, cooked over an open fire BBQ, have a flavor and tenderness that's incomparable.

The staff all provide knowledgeable, attentive, and welcoming service. The Hitching Post is one of my favorite restaurants in the USA. Go once and you'll never forget it.

Overall Rating

filet mignon

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Posted By Rueben Olivas on April 3, 2011 1:09 AM

I was raised in the Santa Maria area. My parents are from Casmalia, CA, home of the original Hitching Post. I know this restaurant well. It is my all-time favorite.

They have the best rib eye and T-bone steaks I have ever eaten and their BBQ'd artichokes are incredibly delicious. The only way that I can describe the food is that it is pure Nirvana. There really is no way to truly describe the taste. You just have to put some in your mouth and experience it for yourself. Once you do, you will never forget it.

I live on Guam now, but the Hawaiians have a saying when food is truly amazing: "It's going to broke your mouth." That is the best way to describe the food at the Hitching Post I, in Casmalia.

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