As a young man in the Santa Maria Valley, Clarence Minetti was always working up an appetite. After pitching hay in nearby fields in the early 1930s, he would retire to the restaurant at the Palace Hotel in Guadalupe, where he would enjoy a meal of rib steak and spaghetti for 65 cents.

One day, while courting his future wife Rosalie, he rode over to her house on horseback and tied his horse to the fence. Alas, the family pig spooked the horse, and the horse fled with the fence in tow. Clarence spent days rebuilding the fenceagain working up an appetite that was fed by Rosalies mother, whose ranch cooking was renowned in the valley.

These and other experiences helped shape Clarence and Rosalies appreciation for the regions distinctive ranch-style cuisine, and ultimately inspired them to acquire the old Palace Hotel building in 1958 and restore the original restaurant, which endures today as the Far Western Tavern.

The story of the Far Western Tavern actually begins in 1912, when the Carenini and Forni families opened the Palace Hotel in downtown Guadalupe in rural Santa Maria Valley. The hotel was later sold to Elvesia and Angelo Ferrari, who ran the restaurant when Clarence ate there as a young man.

The restaurant later went out of business, but Clarences fondness for it continued during its dormancy. In 1958, he caught wind of a rumorthat the Ferraris were thinking of selling the hotel. I came in one morning and said, I heard you want to sell? Clarence recalls. Angelo said they did, and he gave me their price. I said, Let me go ask my wife. So I did, and thats how it all started.

Clarence and Rosalie partnered with Rosalies cousin Richard Maretti in acquiring the building and restoring the restaurant, which they named the Far Western Tavern. The restaurant wasand still isfurnished with original fixtures from the 1912 construction of the Palace Hotel. The spectacular mahogany Brunswick back bar was rumored to have arrived on a ship that sailed around Drakes Passage.

The Minettis put their own cattlemans touch on the dcor with cowhide curtains and a hand-painted branding mural by renowned western artist Ernie Morris. From that point forward, each customer would be treated to a true far western experience. During Guadalupes heyday, the restaurant would serve 500 dinners on a Saturday night, many of them consumed by local cowboys.

The popular menu was patterned, in the words of Clarence, on how we as a family like to eat. This included liberal doses of ranch-style food with a Swiss-Italian twist and an emphasis on Santa Maria Style Barbecue, a regional style of barbecue cultivated in the Santa Maria Valley. The centerpiece of the menu was Clarences signature Bulls Eye Steak.

In time, the Far Western Tavern became synonymous with the excellence of Santa Maria Style Barbecue, which gained increasing acclaim as more and more visitors passed through the valley. The restaurant has been featured in the Los Angeles Times, Gourmet, BBQ with Bobby Flay, Sunset and National Geographic Today.

In 1996, Richard Maretti retired, and Clarence and Rosalies childrendaughters Marie and Susan and son Tykejoined them in ownership of the restaurant. This second generation of Minetti ownership ensures that the Far Western Tavern tradition will continue for years to come.

When asked about the key to the Far Western Taverns enduring success, Clarence replies, To last in this business, you have to like people and you have to serve great food. Its that simple.