Hi Erik,
Thank you so much for your restaurant roundup! I love reading it so much. It must take hours and hours of research to get the all the details correct, plus getting the photos etc. It is really amazing and fun to read about the food concepts and building plans put out by everyone. It is also very interesting how restaurants in SB often play musical chairs with locations. But, the point of this comment is to let you know that your report is outstanding and appreciated. What if an instructor gave an assignment, "Go and find out all the new restaurants coming to town. Get the names, background and details of the new businesses including projected opening dates. Include photos. Write it up in a relatable conversational style. Due next week." Great job, Erik. A+
I've been in SB since 1957 so I've seen many, many restaurants come & go, that being said, the only one in this lot that doesn't sound like the same old thing over again is Skyline...just my opinion.
Thank you for the great restaurant round up- complete with photos of the locations!
Very similar experience there. I realized that's the risk of a newly opened establishment, but the restaurant staff kept mentioning the 'wonderful landscaping' and while yes, I see many new plant starts, it will be some time before the grounds are lush or private. You are very aware of HVACs, construction and the highway — and have to be okay with people wandering freely about past your cottage or dining table. This is not the hotel for secret love affairs or a celebrity hiding out. This felt like a place to have a wedding or big party and that was about it. God help you, if you're not a guest when that happens — as there will be no way to avoid it. Overall, I found the whole property a little disconnected. I found the pool very modern, the paths and rooms to feel a little AirBnB like and the restaurant to be the highlight, but also infinitely confusing to walk around and find the host at first. The outdoor dining area is nice, but way too exposed to the rest of the property. It needs hedges or established bushes. And the indoor is charming at night, but a bit... smokey. I dunno, we left confused by the property and our mini-staycation felt like we should have maybe chose somewhere else for the price. We also were never contacted about things to do and honestly felt a bit ignored after check-in as well. We also spied a guest with three Newfoundland dogs in her room. Much like the gentlewoman with a chicken in purse, we had so many questions that remained unanswered about what those three dogs did to the room. Sadly some of the grass paint, might have been due to this guest.
I am now in my 50's and I was one of those kids that was stopped, so probably 45 years ago! We would sell cascarones during Fiesta for our candy or soda money. Even back then they would not allow us to walk around De La Guerra Plaza to sell, as we did not have a permit (we were in elementary school). We were just a local family, having fun, painting our own eggs and selling them for 10 cents!! My siblings and I were actually approached by police officers and told to stop! Other then saving egg shells for us, our parents had nothing to do with this. We were excited to make $20.00. Amazing what happens today.
Get rid of the pyramid? That's the only interesting element to the building.
Love your restaurant roundups!
Architect Jeff Shelton has been hired to redo the buildings in his trademark style.
As a former restaurateur (not here), I find all of these doings to be interesting -- but what does it mean for a place to be "Jeff Sheltonized"? Out of all of these things in the works, that's the one that stands out to my mind --
Sadly we had the same experience at Mattie’s.. I really wanted to like it but we won’t be staying there again… I realize in the early stages of hotels there are “kinks” but it was kink after kink after kink. We could have stayed at SYR at that price and it would have been perfection. Best of luck Mattie’s!!
yet...
My daughter is good friends with the owners of teddys and brass bird coffee and they told my daughter that they had to go back to the city to modify their kitchen ( at the former Mackenzie Market ) after being almost to the finish line because they are planning on doing a combination of both of their very popular concepts in the same location.
I live a block away and I just can’t wait to see the final finished product as I am a regular at both teddys and brass bird coffee and have been patiently waiting for years for a quality establishment to open up at this location.
Dr. Dan
Good luck to the Runyon group out of LA. Both of these locations are off of the beaten path of SB/Montecito, even by a block or two. The RG better have some killer dining concepts.
SAY THAT LOUDER FOR THE FOLKS WHO STILL LOOK CONFUSED
"Carbon copy of the Funk Zone Shalhoob's" in Magnolia Shopping Center means no Beef Ribs. Bummer!
Turnpike road is not in SB City limits. The shopping center at Turnpike and Hollister is in the County of SB.
Turnpike Center is in unincorporated territory. If one needs to give it a name beyond Santa Barbara County, Noleta is actually more appropriate than Goleta or Santa Barbara, as both are factually incorrect.
Noleta? It is Goleta. I don't get it. We don't use Southa Barbara. Turnpike is considered in the city of SB. Please stop, this isn't LA
I salute you.
Yeah another vote for Corazon Montecito/Cito. Why the constant rebranding? Confusing for new and returning diners. Also please have some favorites from Corazon-we ate at Corazon at the public market last night and it would be great to have an alternative when you want something less lively.
The SB city council is a bunch of hippocrates. They can enforce policy on local restaurants however not on pirate food vendors from LA making no effort to become legalized, how is this possible? They’ve also not created city policy around SB 972, to enforce these vendors. By letting this slip, it’s running rampant and is out of control. Set a policy and fine then into oblivion.
The SB police are bunch of wusses because they won’t take action. They’ve specifically been told to do nothing by police management since new state laws decriminalized these food pirates so that it’s not even a misdemeanor to operate illegally.
The SB county has no power and is worthless. They can write citations all day long yet they do nothing to prevent or deter these people from continuing to operate.
The fire department is the only operation in town with the ability to shut them down based on an ordinance that you can’t operate a propane fire on a public sidewalk.
SB 972 is the state wide ordinance that was passed that is allowing all of this. It was a consortium of illegal street vendors out of LA that worked together to get law passed to decriminalize street vending. It’s ridiculous.
Based on the law, anyone can be a street vendor anywhere selling anything and not get penalized. You could literally open a mobile ice cream shop in front of every McConnells in town selling McConnells ice cream for less and out them all out of business. You could sell hamburgers in front of ever hamburger habit, pay no rent, have no permits, get fined, not pay the fines and there’s nothing anyone can do. The whole system is broken.
There was a hot dog vendor selling absolutely disgusting $8 street hot dogs on the doorstep of The Cruisery the other night. They’re brazen and don’t care. This needs to be restricted, properly enforced and stopped.
It is a double standard to every business in town. The city can’t be on the fence on this one. They either need to enforce all businesses to have the proper permits or they need to allow any business to operate without permits, you can’t do both.
32 more chefs and restauranteurs willing to put their life savings into their hobbies, all for our dining pleasure. Of the 32 listed here, maybe 8 will survive past a year. If you like new dining experiences, is there a better place to live than SB? We have a never ending supply of people who seem more than happy to take a" big" fortune and turn it into a "small" fortune in their attempt to crack open the local scene...
Mixed feelings about Calle Alamo. Some pretty finishes but an unfriendly price for a family neighborhood. I know from experience that the alley behind it has trucks running through all day, and drunks peeing in your bougainvillea weekend nights. Heating and cooling are unknown? That house definitely needs AC.
Thanks. It drives me crazy that the browser autocorrects names.
Exactly. Everyone should be following the same rules. I remember the police stopping a group of very young children from selling eggs at fiesta. While allowing huge amounts of eggs to be sold through out the town by venders making tax free money while collecting all the free services they can. Free medical food kids lunches cheap rent. Yes I know this for a fact because I know some of the families that sell eggs clean homes and garden, all under the table and we allow them to continue by hiring them. We are a hard working family of immigrants also but we work legally so it’s hard to see those who abuse out system
