One solution to e-bike usage at a young age is the parents... As everyone has, I have seen e-bikers blowing through stop signs on the Modoc pathway many times!
Rincon Bodega at that location? Sure fire failure.
I had lunch at the Elwood last week: little gem caesar with added shrimp at $28 was crazy - esp considering the shrimp "add on" consisted of TWO tiny shrimp. They need more umbrellas for outdoor seating -- we were in the sun and had to move inside, which felt like a cafeteria. And we waited about 15 minutes for someone to take our check to pay! All around, not a great experience, sadly. Convenient to the airport with nice ocean views - and a great walk after lunch on the pier, but not much else to recommend.
Tiny bright yellow Fiat (Fix it again, Tony) with a plate that reads CHEWTOY.
Yes, you’re so right… Children on motorcycles with no license…
Most of them without helmets…
I lived in sb long ago, constantly visited and then moved back in 2010 and Montecito has always had big estates and wealthy people and high end restaurants. Whether you bought a few acres for 850k in the 1960’s or a few acres for 12 million in 2026 it’s always been upscale. I hope the restaurant can survive, it’s a tough business. We go to Lucky’s 3 or 4 times a year (usually celebrating birthday or special occasion) and sitting on the patio (or in the bar) and watching the diners is my favorite part of it all. And trust me more than half are in jeans and casual clothes.
Watched kids leaving the middle school speeding down APS, one guy was standing on his e-bike seat at a very high speed. 13/14 years old driving motorized bikes in traffic, that can go 20-30 mph, seems like a very bad idea.
There have been so many press releases about the closing that it reminded me of a furniture store going out of business for years as a marketing ploy… “finally” is a completely accurate word.
And? She tried really hard to stay open. I think finally was a poor choice of words.
Where are all the ‘entrance fees’ for the Bellosguardo going? You can’t get near the place for under $100 per person and now they’re going to cash in on non-profit status and avoid paying taxes? Would love to invest in that business… i mean non-profit 🤣
While I really like Little Mountain, every time I walk in, I miss the old PLF Bistro.
$100 "museum" tours is a joke. For comparison, it's about $35 to visit the Louvre.
We had to send a dish back because it was too salty.
I miss the yellow Miata with the license plate LESBIAN. Total legend.
Not to go on a tangent, but this whole NYT thing gives me a bit of a pit in my stomach. I've been to Little Mountain and I can see the craft and care that went into it. Congratulations to them, sincerely. I know critics review restaurants, not towns. But for a lot of readers, that review is now the picture of Montecito, and it's built around the one place that looks the least like the village most of us know.
Lucky's always had its glamour, but it used to wear it lightly. You'd find someone worth millions next to someone who'd just come off a job site, and nobody cared which was which. That was the magic. Now the valet line looks like a car show and the dress code feels like a red carpet. Nobody set out to change that, but it changed.
This isn't about Little Mountain's owners, who by all accounts care about this place. It's about what comes next. A Times rave puts a town on the radar of people looking for their next prestige address. I just hope whoever opens here next, and there will be more after this review, thinks about what they can give Montecito, not just what a Montecito address does for their brand. Aspen and Jackson Hole didn't lose their soul overnight. It happened one "exciting new opening" at a time, until the locals walked into their old hangouts and no longer recognized them.
I'll keep going out and supporting what's here. Maybe I'm wrong about all this. But we still have a lot of that old character left, and it's worth protecting.
And as an avid reader of this series I notice QYKSAND got a new truck since last time.
Always got a kick out of WEHINDU
Pascucci announced its closing in November 2025.
"Finally closed" seems a little harsh for Pascucci, a well loved restaurant that will be missed. Everything I ever ordered was delicious. I am sorry to see it go.
Every visit to Little Mountain ends the same way: somewhere on the drive home, one of us asks, why is everything so salty? And not just the entrées. The desserts, too, arrive with a distinctly salty handshake. I'm no chef, but I've always understood that salt is meant to coax flavor out of good ingredients, not stand in for them. The artful kitchens do that work with careful sourcing, herbs, and a light hand, rather than reaching for the salt cellar. So, honest question: are we the only ones who've noticed, or is everyone else just too polite to say it?
Bellosguardo Foundation is a disgrace and a scam
Wait, do many museums charge $100 for admission and sell artworks? I've been to some of the most renowned museums in the world, but never had to pay anywhere near $100 to get in, and never saw any of the paintings or sculptures for sale.
I’m so glad they are considering and hopefully 🤞 moving the track expansion away from Padaro Lane. Loosing those trees would be devastating.
I don't like the fee; I wish the restaurant would just make the prices higher—if the clientele anywhere can handle it, it's there. But whatever, it's the owners' choice. So I just factor that 5% in and move on with my life.
Agreed. How an establishment that charges $50 entrees and $8 for bread has to tack on 5 percent for their staff? Siteline seems to have a blind spot for this.
