I used to go a few times a year with my last O&G job.
We always ate at the hungry hunter it seems.. solid meat menu, and get a salad, they bring all the stuff to the table and you pick and choose what you want on it.
For lunch I was always out towards shafter and ate at the only mexican place around, don't even remember the name.
We had dinner and drinks at goose loonies once, pretty good stuff. Always stayed at Marriott, so I'd often just eat/drink at the concierge lounge or lobby restaurant.
If you can make it out to the coast by sundown, there are several places in Morro bay (about 2 hours) to eat and watch sunset. Or if you're a beer person, stop in Paso Robles at Firestone Walker (1.5 hours)