When owner closed the first Rib Line, a SLO County couple stepped in — and business took off

How does a Cal Poly economics grad and sportsman who thrives on competition and pressure wind up at the helm of a small, successful empire of quirky San Luis Obispo County restaurants?

If you’re congenial chef and caterer Brian Appiano of Rib Line in San Luis Obispo and Grover Beach, you do it by leaping on unlikely opportunities, pivoting fast and hard in the face of challenges, thriving on the pressure of cascading deadlines and competitions and taking risks along the way.

It also helped that he had some family history of cooking.

“I learned to love cooking with my grandmother, watching her make shrimp po’ boys, gumbo and homemade ice cream,” he told The Tribune.

However, none of those items are on the menus of the four active restaurants co-owned by Brian Appiano and wife, Krystal.

Today, the husband-and-wife team operate something of a restaurant empire, owning and running Rib Lines in both San Luis Obispo and Grover Beach, the ocean-side Sunsets at Pismo on the Pismo Beach Pier, and The Switch, their San Luis Obispo beer and wine bar plus.

How they got there was a string of surprises, luck, good timing, setbacks and hard work, trying to keep up with demand without growing too fast, Brian said. They’ve also weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, with the staffing shortages and cost increases that came out of it.

Brian, 47, acts as the business spokesman, while Krystal, 38, works more behind the scenes.

“I’m the face of Rib Line,” he said. “She’s the brains.”

Appianos buy longtime restaurant after ex-owner announces surprise closure

The saga of the Appianos’ flagship restaurant began before they were even involved.

In 1975, 18-year-old Larry Kowalski and a friend launched the Assembly Line barbecue joint in San Luis Obispo’s South Street area.

When Kowalski left to open Mo’s BBQ in 1995, Brian said, Ted Gill bought Assembly Line. He sold it later to Tony Gordon, who eventually moved it to the Bear Valley Center shopping center at 12308 Los Osos Valley Road.

That restaurant became Rib Line.

A California East Bay native, Brian meanwhile had moved to San Luis Obispo in 1995 as an 18-year-old Cal Poly computer science freshman and loved it so much he said he never wanted to leave.

“That’s why I’m still here,” he said, noting he did a brief stint at Cuesta College before ultimately finishing his economics degree at Cal Poly in 2003.

He and Krystal — an East Coast transplant who moved to Morro Bay in high school — met while they were both working at a telemarketing firm where she was, at 17, overseeing 40 employees as the general and closing manager. They married in 2008.

In 2010, Brian had been working for about 18 months as Gordon’s lead, do-it-all cook at the at that point well-established barbecue joint.

Times were tough, though, and Gordon was beginning to burn out, Brian said. The Appianos even invested in the restaurant, and Brian became a managing partner, working for minimum wage to help Gordon over the financial slump.

Even so, it was a jolt when Brian when got some life-changing news while out on a routine run for supplies.

He was “at Costco, buying tri-tip and I called Tony to ask how much I should buy,” the still blindsided Brian recalled. “He said, ‘None, because we’re closing.”

In hindsight, Brian said he now realizes that Gordon “was over it by then.”

“He literally closed out of the blue,” Brian said. “I was pretty shocked. I knew things weren’t going well, but I was definitely surprised. Still, I saw it as a potential opportunity for my family. I thought we could make some changes and make it better.”

Rather than give up their investment in Rib Line, Brian and Krystal bought it instead and dove into the restaurant business full speed ahead.

“From closure through the negotiating process to our reopening was a couple of months,” he said.

The chain expands quickly after Travel Channel TV show airs

It didn’t take long for the Appianos to start expanding.

In early 2011, the Travel Channel’s “Man v. Food” show came to Rib Line to film an episode of one of Brian’s timed “Brahma Bull sandwich” challenges.

In that eating-endurance test, a challenger must consume a 2-foot-long, 5 pound tri-tip sandwich within 90 minutes. Beat the record time, and you win $1,000.

(Rib Line still hosts the challenges. As of March 4, the record for eating one of the mondo sandos was an astonishing 3 minutes, 16 seconds, held by women’s national speed-eating champ Molly Schuyler.)

What happened next was pure Appiano.

“We knew business was just going to blow up after the show ran,” Brian said. “So, we started looking for another location before the episode even aired.”

In August of 2011, they learned there would be a vacancy at a good Grover Beach location at 228 W. Grand Ave., close to Highway 1 and the entrance to the Oceano Dunes and the Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach.

The Appianos contacted the landlord before he even knew his tenant had closed the restaurant earlier that day.

Flash forward a few years later, and in 2022, the business moved across the street into a larger corner spot previously occupied by 3 Fat Guys. In early 2023, they expanded the business even further into the adjoining Mongo’s Saloon space after that longtime bar closed up shop.

Rib Line by the Beach, now located at 359 W Grand Ave., is the couple’s biggest restaurant, with 150 seats, table service and even a small arcade.

At the Beach also has a big bar for beer, wine and wine-based “beach chiller” slushes, Brian said, and even hosts occasional concerts, line dancing, live bands, karaoke nights and other fun times for the whole family.

Couple has hits and misses as Rib Line expands in SLO County

In 2015, the Appianos also opened Rib Line on Broad Street, meant to be a more upscale barbecue experience with beer and wine. It’s closed now.

Then in 2020, the undaunted couple grabbed a rare opportunity offered by the city of Pismo Beach.

They leased a 30-foot converted Airstream food trailer located right on the Pismo Beach Pier. By November 2020, their Sunsets at Pismo opened there, with its tight-fit kitchen and outdoor order kiosk and seating areas overlooking the scenic view.

Although the Appianos say they love all their eateries, they admit to having a soft spot for that restaurant since it was a giant leap of faith during tough pandemic times.

“The view, how can you beat the view?” Krystal said, sweeping her arm to indicate the picturesque pier, shoreline, sky and ocean.

Not content to sit tight, that same year, the couple tried opening their fourth business in their former Broad Street spot — a beer and wine bar and eatery to act as a fun pop-up location for guest chefs. They called it The Switch SLO.

While its initial iteration did not go well, once they moved the business next door to the Los Osos Valley Road Rib Line and changed the concept, The Switch took off.

The Switch became an upscale version of its sister restaurant, with a beer-and-wine license and wide interior archway that opens into Rib Line.

The Appianos’ next venture, the take-out Rib Line Express in the same Bear Valley Center off Los Osos Valley Road, also didn’t work out, and has since closed.

What’s on the menu at Ribline, other Appiano restaurants?

The Appianos’ restaurants are linked by a casual vibe and some specialty menu items, but each place has its own distinct personality.

It’s a bit like a jigsaw puzzle of eatery offerings.

The Rib Lines’ specialties consist of championship chili and all things barbecue, including tri-tip and award-winning baby back ribs. Their menus also have Brian Appiano’s house-made, four-cheese mac and cheese with potential add-ons.

Rib Line at the Beach offers those plus breakfast and the chef’s eccentric Beach Balls — hand-rolled sweet potato spheres with bacon, jalapenos and cheddar cheese, injected with ranch dressing, dipped in a Firestone DBA batter, fried and accented with a red-wine glaze.

The Switch SLO offers a related, but slightly more upscale, menu that includes breakfast all day. A particularly popular dish is its Fries in the Woods, an Appiano twist on the Canadian fry dish poutine. Envision shoestring fries topped with sauteed crimini mushrooms, caramelized onions, fontina cheese, avocado and sunset sauce.

Meanwhile Sunsets at Pismo has a more beachy vibe, with diverse offerings ranging from seafood and fish to hot dogs, scrambles, tacos and deep-fried macaroni and cheese balls with avocado crema. Similar to The Switch’s poutine-style appetizer, Sunset Fries at Sunsets at Pismo includes onions, bacon and sunset sauce, but optional toppings include avocado, jalapenos, bacon, shrimp and filet mignon.

Fun fact: Three of the restaurants use filet mignon in various ways, from sandwiches to tacos, simply because Brian loves that cut of beef, he said.

One constant in all the restaurants is his World Food Championship Chili, a traditional, no-bean Texas dish with tri-tip prepared two ways, oak roasted and braised, then combined in house-made base.

The preparation won him the People’s Choice Chili award in 2013 at the World Food Championships in Las Vegas. It’s one of his 23 wins across 28 competitions spanning from San Luis Obispo to Florida, competing in chili, bacon, mac and cheese and oyster categories.

Customers should be aware, one of Brian’s passions is changing his menus and adding new items.

What’s up next for SLO County restaurant-owning couple?

It’s not always been an easy road for the Appianos, including the closures of three of their ventures, including Rib Line on Broad, the first location for The Switch and Rib Line Express.

The other four are going full steam ahead, however, despite higher wages, rising ingredient costs and rents and difficulties in finding good, skilled staffers, they said.

“We’re streamlining, trying to make things more efficient,” Brian said, noting that sometimes it’s cheaper for him to buy a pricey ingredient at Costco than through a restaurant supplier.

He’s also expanding their catering services, which he’s already taken statewide. Brian thrives on cooking for and serving at those special occasions, including big award ceremonies.

“I just love doing weddings,” he said. (He’s even been known to brush away sentimental tears during the vows.)

Throughout their saga, the Appianos have persevered, constantly adjusting their business plans and pivoting to meet the demands of the times and their family life.

The couple have three children: Aubrey, born in 2010, Austin in 2012 and Autumn in 2015, all born in the middle of the family’s restaurant expansion period.

For now, they say, they’re content with the very full life they have — four restaurants, many catering jobs, three active and athletic children, each other and a dog.

But never say never, Brian told The Tribune with a grin. If another restaurant opportunity looked particularly tempting — who knows?