September 21, 2025
Food Stuff
Two Music Venues, a Restaurant, and a Market/Deli Are Planned for Lower State Street
More food news: Sando Truck's Goleta situation isn't working out; Mother Dough Bagels profile; Siam Street Food has opened; update on the expansion of the Renaud’s on upper State Street; The Eddy now sells wine; Wylde Works's replacement didn't make it; the Saint Barbara Greek Orthodox Church's annual GreekGrabGo is coming up; new pizza-ish takeout in Ojai. 5
September 7, 2025
Mesa Burger Is Down to One Location
More food news: Discount for locals at Marisella in the Ritz-Carlton Bacara; Charlie Palmer is taking over three Paso Robles restaurants/bars; Third Window has started making root beer; the Los Olivos Wine Festival and Santa Barbara Vintners Festival; Little King's breakfast sandwich; Masala Spice's corkage for beer. 15
August 31, 2025
The Name of Barbareño’s Sister Restaurant
More food news: Dart Coffee Co. is a welcome addition to Carpinteria; more on the rooftop bar at Linden Square; Sweetgreen really is opening in Goleta; Intermezzo has cut back service; expanded hours at Gracie on the harbor; Upper Village restaurant repositioning; Ventura's Room Service Coffee soft-opens this week. 11
August 24, 2025
August 20, 2025
First Look Inside Gracie, the New Restaurant at the Harbor
More food news: A new hotel bar downtown; could Sweetgreen be coming to Goleta?; triangular burgers at Revolver; food changes at M. Special's State Street taproom; Corazón Comedor closed for upgrades; Ghirardelli got slapped with a stop-work order; Rudy's in Carpinteria recovering from a kitchen fire; dumpling pop-up and Secret Bao's dim sum brunch. 9
August 17, 2025
Two New Cafés Debut This Week
More food news: A chance to taste the cooking of the folks behind The Palms; El Roblar's daytime restaurant now welcomes non-guests; Santa Barbara Hives profile; Happy Canyon Vineyard appears to be leaving El Paseo; recipes from Na Na Thai and Priedite Barbecue; restaurant advice between here and Death Valley. 12
August 13, 2025
Sama Sama Kitchen to Share Its Space With a Tasting Room
More food news: The chicken parm sandwich at Tina's; weekend breakfast at The Win-Dow; the Santa Barbara Greek Festival is this weekend; Ospi's short dining window; Ventura's Limon y Sal has closed after 10 years; the Museum of Natural History’s annual Mission Creek Beer Festival. 4
August 6, 2025
Updates on Five Forthcoming Restaurants
When Dom's Taverna, Aegean, Little King Coffee, Little Mountain, and Manifattura are hoping to open. More food news: Revolver's special sandwich; Rozzi Pizza is now serving lunch five days a week; new meal-delivery service; Lovin' Spoonful frozen-yogurt shop remains closed; Cookie Plug found a new home; more on Jeannine's plans for upper State Street; profiles of Rock 12 Distillery and Riviera Mushrooms; recommendations for a quiet birthday lunch. 19
July 30, 2025
July 23, 2025
Lucky Penny Is Expanding to the Santa Ynez Valley
More food news: Luna Cafe is open in the former Judge for Yourself Cafe; Wylde Works has become Union; national politics has come to Old Town Coffee; the World of Pinot Noir is changing its business model; Kyle's Kitchen is opening near Target; Thai restaurant to take the Crudo space in Solvang; Hotel El Roblar's main restaurant has opened; first impressions of Pinyon's new Ventura outpost. 14
















Recent Comments
Renaming the post office and spending $500 k to do it. Is another great example tax payers money being wasted. — Dan Kolodziejski
Hallelujah! The return of that Southbound on-ramp is long overdue — Tammy
You've done a great thing for the hapless men of Santa Barbara with this series. Stopping by half of these stores. — Andy
The post office renaming will cost roughly $500,000 paid for by the USPS internal funds from stamps and fees. — Derek
Thank you, Erik, for reminding your readers to support local businesses; it is one of the critical ways to help our communities thrive. (I laughed… — Pat
I agree about the skimpy wine pour. However, we loved the shared entrees (chicken and salmon) with their special rice. Yes there were leftovers but… — ElizabethW
That 5% would go to all employees proportionate to their hours I would presume compared to tips where more skilled staff take a higher percentage,… — Don
Geo , you know absolutely nothing about the restaurant business. — Roy
What if, and bear with me here because this is complicated, restaurants just paid their staff normally and charged prices that reflected those expenses, i.e.… — Rich
Little Mountain just isn’t organized. Everyone is very nice and the atmosphere stylish, but there is something wrong with it. The food is weird, portions… — Joan