The co-founder and co-owner of San Luis Obispo County’s iconic F. McLintocks Saloon and Dining House chain has died, the restaurant announced Monday.

According to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page, Bruce Breault “reached the end of his earthly journey Saturday, Nov. 28, 2020, peacefully at home.”

Breault was 79 years old. He opened the first F. McLintocks with steakhouse co-founder Tunny Ortali in 1973.

That year, the pair purchased Matties, a 100-year-old farmhouse restaurant on Highway 101 in Shell Beach. According to a timeline of the restaurant’s history, published on the 20th anniversary of its opening, friends of the pair worked “for beer and barbecues” to renovate the building and install its signature ranch-era decor.

Through the years, the restaurant established itself as an icon of the local food scene.

Read More →