••• The Win-Dow, the L.A. burger import at the corner of Chapala and Ortega, has had a crowd outside ever since it opened—and with only one cashier, it may be designed that way. (Nothing implies quality quite like a line.) Some first impressions: 1) The place is cheap, which has to be a factor in its success. We live in a weird world when the meat-free burger, made with Impossible patty, costs twice as much as one with beef. 2) Having been warned that the basic burger is on the small side, I ordered a double cheeseburger. It was just at the edge of too salty, and because the only texture comes from the pickles, it was pretty smushy; personally, I would prefer a toasted bun and/or crisp lettuce. (But no tomato is way better than a crappy tomato.) 3) The fries are great when they’re hot, but you might want to spend 60 cents on some sauce for when they cool down. 4) Shakes come with whipped cream unless you proactively request otherwise. 5) While there’s more seating than you might expect, most of it is in the sun, so bring a hat.
••• Rock 12 Distillery, between Solvang and Lompoc, is offering U-pick organic apricots (Blenheim, Katy, Tomcot, Harcot, Moorpark). “Fruit is $4 per pound and there is a max of 6 pounds per customer.” Let your kids play farmworkers for a day! It’s a taste of what life will be like when there’s no one left to do it.
••• Marisella at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara is now taking reservations for June 26 onward. UPDATE 6/23: The menu came in—it’s not 100% final, so don’t get your heart set on a dish.
••• The Breakwater Restaurant, closed since winter, is shooting to reopen next month with a new name, Gracie, and concept: “It will be a casual, all-day concept but with an elevated brunch, happy hour, dinner and cocktail experience,” says co-owner Dudley Michael. “It will be the waterfront restaurant and cocktail bar Santa Barbara deserves.”
••• Soul Bites has closed. —Restaurant Guy
••• The Sando Truck is moving to a permanent location in Goleta, near the laundromat in the Target shopping center (260 Storke Road). Its last day in the Funk Zone is July 20.
••• Odissea’s is delivering a small menu of Brazilian specialties to Ventura and Santa Barbara counties.
••• Pete recently asked for an update on the two Lily’s Donuts & Pops outposts in the works—one on State Street (Haley/Cota) and the other in the Santa Barbara Public Market. “We’re still waiting on permits,” said co-founder Omar Khashen. “I do think we’re very close on both locations though. And we’re doing occasional pop-ups in the Public Market over the next few weeks to give people a chance to try our donuts.” So keep an eye on Instagram.
••• The Captain Fatty’s beer garden at Paseo Nuevo is said to be closing July 1.
••• Mylestone BBQ has moved to behind the Wildcat Lounge, where it’s serving brunch on Sundays. J. sent a report: “I got some spareribs, brisket, tri-tip, and burnt pork ends. I really liked everything. Not overdone with the cooking or the rub, and not slathered with sauce. Just smoked meat, which Charles [Myles] does right there on site. I think he has sides but I just asked for meat. Anyway, I am always looking for BBQ and rarely find anything I like (except in Texas).”
••• Draughtsmen Aleworks in Goleta is now home to a Thai-Asian food truck called Zapp, from chef Nui Pannak, and Buck Thananaken, chef and founder of Wabi Sabi. “The menu includes street-food-style bites like the Piggy Belly Crunch, BBQ Train Chicken Skewers, and Crunch Rolls, along with satisfying mains such as the Drunken Heat Udon Noodles, Pad Kra Pao, and Classic Pad Thai topped with your choice of pork belly, shrimp, chicken, or tofu. For a sweet ending, don’t miss the Sticky Rice with Mango or Roti with Banana dressed in Nutella, coconut, and crushed pistachios.”
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Agree with your review of Win-Dow. Too salty and the texture is just smush. The former Shalhoob burger in the Public Market was the same way. No lettuce or tomato and ultra soft damp and doughy bread. I guess the style is just not for me. Would be happy to pay extra for some lettuce. But major props to them for offering an actual veggie burger than isn’t miles away from the real thing (like Dang Burger and Third Window). The kale salad was very good but also too salty and oddly came with raisins not mentioned on the menu. Still grateful for an affordable place to get a decent kale salad but maybe dial down the salt a notch. I say this as someone who truly loves salt. There are a couple other offenders around town where the food is so salty I’m not sure how people are eating it. Revolver’s pizza is at the top of my list. I am someone known to drink pickle juice, salt everything, and put fish sauce on anything I can, so if I can’t handle the salt levels I don’t know how most people are tolerating it.
Check out Little Bird Kitchen in the Public Market. Burger is as close to perfect as it gets!
Never understood how grown-up people decide to wait 30 min or more in a line to get a burger… settled between the ocean and the mountains people prefer standing in a line… on a street… for a burger…
Nestled between the mountains and the ocean, I can think of far worse places to stand in the beautiful sunshine and wait for a burger…..
We had Charles cater my 40th and everyone wanted his contact info. His burnt ends are some of the best BBQ I’ve had.
Did the U-pick apricots thing at Rock 12 Distillery near Lompoc last year, and I highly recommend! Started with a cocktail in the tasting room, then headed to the orchard clutching the expanding cord/net bag they included in the per-pound price. Such a deal! (I turned all my pickings into pies and preserves.)
“Let your kids play farmworkers for a day! It’s a taste of what life will be like when there’s no one left to do it.”
Can’t decide if you are a moron or drunk for posting this- are you really saying you can’t pick yourself a basket of apricots from a distillery u-pick? Kids now need to pretend to be a “illegal immigrant” to enjoy a natural grown treat- or to actually help out in the garden alongside their parents/family/neighborhood? Or are you suggesting a farm tour where we watch the hired illegals pick while we chug? UNBELIEVABLY CRINGEY BRO.
Thanks for the ammo! 🤣
Agree! That was a ridiculous comment.
I am not Mexican nor a farm worker and I’m still insured by that comment. Wow… just wow.
Roy
If you dislike the posts so much you would be doing everyone a huge favor by finding another site to comment on.
Rich you sound upset. Take a chill pill and relax it’s just a comment. You can also switch over to the other food related site if you don’t like people’s comments.
R.
Wow you need to take a breather
I think Christine could use a very very stiff drink on this fine Sunday in SB. Perhaps a refreshing triple Rock 12 Distillery Apricot Brandy on the rocks (made with those delicious estate grown apricots) would hit the spot.
Can you imagine dealing with her in real life? Maybe its the Botox leaking or perhaps Ivermectin and raw milk? Not sure. But I do know that reading her posts sure makes me miss the days when shame and embarrassment were an actual thing in American society. These days people broadcast their ignorance loudly and with a strange sense of pride. But their words are not here to teach us. They’re here to remind us that we need to constantly work to be better humans. So, in the words of my great Granny Sue, “bless her heart”.
Up your butt with a rubber duck as my Uncle sam would say! : – )
The site is owned and run by someone who leans liberal (as I do) and I’m not sure what the exclamation point person gets out of all this. I don’t go to sites that are rightwing and I certainly don’t start arguing online with a bunch of strangers. I just leave the site. It was a joke and also pointing what is happening to an important population in this state and a very scary time for lots of hardworking people in this state. Maybe no comments are coming or edited like the NYT does.
Hope they start by editing out nail biters who think telling others “you can’t comment” is a good idea
I cringe every time I see a comment from Christine with an exclamation point (eye roll).
Let’s not EdHat our Siteline people…
Ohhhh the feigned hurt, the drama…..
Siteline’s post was spot on and speaks to changing times, not the current immigration status so popular in today’s news circus.
No one likes victimhood, live a little.
Christine is obviously not paying attention to what is happening except for what she is fed on Fox (notice I didn’t say News). Like it or not the agricultural economy in America is dependent on hard working immigrants who do the work that haters like Christine aren’t willing to do. In most cases these honest humans have been here for years looking for a better life for themselves and their children and busting their butts every day so Christine can eat healthy, cheap and plentiful produce. Let’s see what she thinks when that is no longer available.
I’m looking forward to the new Gracie restaurant opening. I was one of the fans of the changes made to the Breakwater menu by Dudley. Best eggs CA/Benedict I’ve ever had.
And speaking of Harbor dining my favorite cheeseburger for a long time was the Brophy Burger. That changed when the Burger Bus appeared. . . at first I couldn’t believe I was paying $7.50 for a burger, just the burger. But it was so good, that jalapeno jelly! The Habit, under the original ownership was awesome but that has now slip slided away. I was at Brophy’s a few months ago and ordered the cheeseburger. Happy to report it was great. It’s back to being my favorite.
Where is the Burger Bus?
They left town years ago.
I did a Google search and there is an excellent article from Noozhawk by Josh Molina. Sorry Mayor Rowse, but Randy and others pretty much pushed out all food trucks during those years, about ten years ago. Really sad because the Burger Bus had an amazing product. Never once did I get one that wasn’t delicious.
I forgot about the burger bus. I was a devoted follower back then. The best !
I love Siteline and very much enjoy Erik’s reviews. But I beg to differ with him regarding the Win-Dow. I think the cheeseburgers are great—excellent sauce and very fresh buns (the latter being a frequent shortcoming of The Habit’s burgers). The staff are terrific there and there’s a reason that people line up to order. It has a great California vibe and I’m glad they made Santa Barbara their first foray out of the LA area.
I love the third window avocado jalapeño smashburger and it’s a fun scene to bring kids and/or grandkids.
Regarding The Sando Truck moving to 260 Storke Road (laundromat nearby Target)- does this mean they’re moving into the spot that Yetz Bagels was going to take? Or am I confused by the address/exact loction? Maybe The Sando Truck will go at the old “Beach Baby” or whatever was to the left of Rusty’s.
Next to the laundromat- which you mentioned in your post- goes Left to Right: Dune Coffee, the Italian place, a spot under construction that USED to be part of the laundromat, then the laundromat.
The Sando Truck will be in the parking lot.
😂
Erik – im pretty shocked you went to the Win-Dow & your review IS exactly what i’d expect from you! I’m guessing your fries got cold because you got your food To-go??
Where else have you tried a smash burger in town? And what smash burger has lettuce??
I dont like to wait in any line but i did for 25min & my 2 cents – The Win Dow has a pretty good “smash burger” for $7.50!
I tried Zapp yesterday afternoon for lunch. We got the Pad Thai with chicken and the Crying Tiger Tacos with beef. The Pad Thai was really good. Saucy but not over the top. It was on the sweeter side so we added some of the chili powder that they have. The meat in the tacos were a bit rubbery but they were tasty and had a kick. Paired well with the Cereal Killer draft from Draughtsmen.
Grace Austin is also one of the owners of Gracie’s which is where the name of the restaurant comes from. I can’t wait for it to open. I love all their other restaurants as well!
“Let your kids play farmworkers for a day! It’s a taste of what life will be like when there’s no one left to do it.”
Bravo for the satire and truth-telling, and thank you to the people who work hard to make sure we have food in our grocery stores, farmer’s markets, and restaurants. It is hard, honest, underappreciated work that makes up a big portion of our county’s economy.
Agreed!
So it is beneath you to pick your own produce? Note to self- some real winners here