State Street fixture Satellite announced that its last day will be September 13. The news is a blow to Santa Barbara’s vegetarian scene; the restaurant wasn’t totally vegan, but close. Here’s the statement that owner Drew Cuddy posted on Reddit (thanks to H. for pointing out).
After 10 years, the decision didn’t come easily, and it didn’t come quickly. We’ve been month-to-month on our lease for the last year or so, and unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find an agreement that works for both us and our landlords at Kiva. No shade toward Kiva whatsoever. We love them and they’re in incredible hands with new leadership. Our location has been a great launching point but it’s always been a funny space (a special thank you to everyone who ignored, or embraced us being an easement into a coworking space!)
Whether you stopped by once and loved it or were a regular fixture, thank you for making Satellite so special and loving it alongside me and my team. I hope to see you over the next month as we celebrate the space and everything that makes it so great. We’ll have lots of programming, including all our weekly hits like Friday Magic with our beloved Gene Urban and at least one last blast from the Brett & Co. Band on Thursday, September 10. It will be a party.
What’s next?
Satellite will regroup at our awesome event space, The Factory, at 616 E. Haley Street. Our wine webshop, wine club, wine tastings, and music events will continue to evolve there and they’ll become even better. We’re already set for an awesome music, food, and drink collaboration with Frick & Frack Productions on Tuesday, September 15! The Factory is a place for experimentation and growth so we’re hyped for what’s to come there.
After 10 years, I have a lot to say about the state of downtown Santa Barbara, and I want to have a lot of conversations about it. In summary: A strong downtown needs people who live in it, and we do not have enough of that here in Santa Barbara.
We only survived on State because you came and made Satellite amazing. The answer isn’t just a downtown renovation or cars versus no cars (but hell yeah, no cars!). What makes a strong downtown is people: people who live right there and fill our central business district. The city must commit to building homes above, behind, and within all the empty spaces that plague downtown Santa Barbara. Did you know there are only 517 residential units on State up to the 1700 block? Yep. It’s time to build.
I’d love to reopen a permanent space downtown one day, when the right space and economic climate coalesce. We want to be part of a brilliant, renewed downtown Santa Barbara when the city is ready to take the next step.
Satellite at 1117 State Street is closing, but Satellite will never die. Please come visit us as much as you can before September 13th. Join our wine club, and come to all our rad Factory events (champagne tasting at the Factory this Tuesday 4-7!). The whole team is staying on until the end, and we would love to see every single one of you an unreasonable number of times.
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Was consistently a place I recommended to visitors; definitely a blow to state street. I appreciate the color Drew shared on reddit!