Must-see entertainment in Central Coast

Over the years, this stage for local bands has seen big-time national acts perform, from Queens of the Stone Age to Snoop Dogg. Expect loads of punk…

Recline your seat, put your feet up on the dash and munch on bottomless bags of popcorn at this classic Americana drive-in. Sticking around for the second…

This small-scale movie house showing foreign and indie flicks just happens to be the USA’s first solar-powered cinema. Seats are a bargain $5 on Mondays…

Downtown Monterey cinema screens indie dramas, cutting-edge documentaries and offbeat Hollywood films. Drop by its Cafe Lumiere for locally roasted coffee…

Epitomizing Pismo Beach’s retro vibe, this old-fashioned bowling alley is just a short walk uphill from the pier. Blacklight ‘cosmic' and karaoke bowling…

Hosting jazz luminaries since 1975, this nonprofit theater is for serious jazz cats snapping their fingers for famous-name performers in an electrically…

In a way-out industrial wasteland, this joint puts on live sounds almost every night: jazz, blues, reggae, roots, salsa and acoustic world-music jams.

On the CalPoly campus, SLO’s biggest cultural venue presents an internationally spiced variety of concerts, theater, dance recitals, stand-up comedy and…

At this 1910 venue, community-theater musicals, dramas and comedies as well as film screenings take place under the stars by flickering fire pits.

Waterfront dive showcases live local blues, jazz and rock bands nightly after 8:30pm or 9pm. Skip the food, though.