January 15, 2022
Food Stuff
Frequency Wine Company Has Upgraded to a Great New Space
More food news: Has Embermill closed?; Lilac Patisserie is expanding in a big way; soul food is coming to Lower State; Your Choice's off-menu pop-up is today; Costa Kitchen & Bar has closed for a month; the city is making two dozen State Street restaurants shrink their parklets to allow emergency vehicles to pass; the rebranded Jimboz Lounge reopened; Taqueria Santa Barbara is now serving breakfast. 3
January 10, 2022
A High-Concept Brewery Is Opening in the Funk Zone
More food news: Broad Street Oyster Company's debut got pushed back a few days; a barbecue restaurant is opening in Old Town Goleta; the interesting dinner menu for the Dutchess in Ojai; a new beer-and-wine bar in Los Alamos; praise for the soups at Erewhon and the frozen lasagna at Vons. 1
January 5, 2022
Broad Street Oyster Company Is Taking Over the Cubaneo Space
More food news: Mangione's Italian Ice is finally getting ready to open; Montecito Wine Bistro's return has been pushed back; Handlebar's Canon Perdido annex has opened; Old Town Coffee's tipping policy; Choppa Poke's downtown outpost closed; the Hotel Californian's Foley Food & Wine Society will coexist next to Blackbird; Petit Valentien's long vacation. 7
January 2, 2022
December 22, 2021
More Details About the Restaurant and Bar Opening on Coast Village Road
More food news: What to expect from Belching Dragon Tavern on State Street; another wine-tasting room is opening in the Funk Zone; Dune's second Goleta café has debuted; Lefty's Coffee Co. has opened in Los Olivos; a profile of Ojai's Messermeister knife company; root beer float–flavored milk. 1
December 19, 2021
December 14, 2021
December 11, 2021
Erewhon Has Santa Barbara in Its Sights
More food news: The name of the restaurant and bar coming to Coast Village Road; BevMo is morphing into a supermarket; L.A. tamale specialist popping up at Handlebar; terrific Japanese food at Full Moon Izakaya; changes to the bar at Timbers Roadhouse; big plans for the 12,000-square-foot Root 246 space in Solvang; Pinyon Ojai is open. 6
December 7, 2021
December 2, 2021
First Impressions of Reunion Kitchen + Drink
More food news: Checking on Sushi Bar Montecito now that the chef has moved on; XO Burger looks like it's going to be a permanent addition to the Funk Zone; Jimboz Lounge is getting renamed; new outposts of Finney's Crafthouse and On the Alley are in the works; taqueria rumored for upper State Street; opening forecasts for Dune's second Goleta café and Rory's Place in Ojai. 8
















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