••• Gone on hiatus: Mesa Verde, The Daisy, The Project. May they be back in action soon.
••• Restaurants are having to constantly change the way they do business—overnight, and then again the next day, and then again. They’re trying all sorts of things to stay afloat: Café Ana is selling provisions (almond milk, labneh, etc.), and Barbareño says it soon will, too; everyone is happy to sell a bottle of wine, often at a discount (40% off at Ca’ Dario); and many places—Bell’s in Los Alamos, Six Test Kitchen in Paso—are offering packaged dinners. Keeping up with who’s open for takeout and/or delivery is tough. The Restaurant Guy has added a Pickup/Delivery tab to his database, which is great, but the constant maintenance will be a Herculean—and likely Sisyphean—effort. Your best bet is to call any establishment you’re curious about, and follow on Instagram the ones you frequent regularly.
••• A timely reminder from Barbareño: “If you are doing online ordering during this time, please know that ordering via phone or on our website will keep 100% of your money going directly to our business and staff. Ordering via platforms like UberEats, GrubHub, Postmates, Doordash, etc. will siphon 25%-30% of a restaurant’s revenue to those services.” It may be a tiny bit harder for you, but it makes a world of difference for the restaurant. (That’s Barbareño’s tasty burger—and even tastier animal-style potatoes—pictured above.)
••• The Santa Barbara Public Market recently went on hiatus, but now the vendors are back offering takeout/delivery via Santa Barbara’s own Restaurant Connection. “you can order from the tenants at the Public Market from 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. by downloading the Restaurant Connection app. Order from as many tenants of the Public Market and include a bottle of wine or beer from Wine + Beer and only pay a single delivery fee. You can order via the app or online via the Restaurant Connection website by clicking on this link, and you can choose delivery or pick up. If you choose pickup, your food will be waiting for you at the Victoria Street entrance of the Santa Barbara Public Market.”
••• C’est Cheese is now doing curb-side pickup: “Just call in a pre-order ahead of time and we’ll get everything together and walk it out to your car when you arrive. We have two parking spots reserved in the lot next door. We are also working to get online ordering and local delivery up and running by Monday, March 23, with delivery service starting Wednesday, March 25.”
••• Whole Foods is following the lead of Gelson’s, opening to 65+ customers at 7 a.m. and to everyone else at 8 a.m. It’s business as usual at Lazy Acres, Vons, and Ralphs.
••• From Bell’s: “Thank you for your support during this very confusing, stressful and scary time. Everything that we are trying to do is for our staff to ensure their employment. This is not about profit or breaking even. This is about survival in a time where nothing is clear.” Boldface mine.
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