are there any cool or up-and-coming buries to hit up while in the area? Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm obviously familiar with Firestone Walker but not really anything else in the area
Only three you need to be concerned about ... All three are in SLO = Libertine, Central Coast & Barrel House.
Agree with @AlexM and if you just wanted to stay in downtown for the night, a lot of the bars should have a nice selection on tap.