Santa Barbara Area Food & Wine

My wife and I are planning a short, overnight trip to Santa Barbara in late January to celebrate our 10-year anniversary and Christmas presents to each other! We’re in our mid 30s and trying to brainstorm new places to visit and things to do - both on our drives and while in Santa Barbara. Our plan is to leave home in Pismo Beach on a Sunday morning and drive back Monday evening. Any suggestions of places to go and things to do are welcome and appreciated!

  1. DRIVING TO SANTA BARBARA

We want to make a couple stops along the way Sunday for lunch and wine. We take day trips to Los Olivos a few times a year, so we’re leaning toward Los Alamos or Lompoc as potential detours this time (I’d love to do both, but there doesn’t appear to be an efficient way to drive between the two). What area would you choose for the better food + wine combination? Where are your go-to places to eat in your preferred location? My wife and I are in the wine industry in Paso Robles, so any recommendations of your tasting rooms with high-quality wine is much appreciated, too!

  1. IN SANTA BARBARA

We’re staying at Hotel Californian Sunday night in Santa Barbara and we’ve made dinner reservations for Sunday at bouchon. We’ll probably have a lazy morning at the hotel on Monday, but if there are any easy, noteworthy breakfast spots within walking distance, that would be fun. We’ve done enough shopping on State Street, and we usually love wandering around the shops and tasting rooms in the Funk Zone (especially Les Marchands (RIP)), but I’d like see if there suggestions for other parts of town that would be fun for an afternoon on Monday (can be wine-related or not). Lunch suggestions with good food and fun atmosphere are also appreciated!

  1. DRIVING BACK HOME

I’m not sure what time we’ll leave the Santa Barbara area, but I imagine we’ll want to stop somewhere for dinner on the way home. I was thinking about trying Norman at the Skyview Hotel, but, in keeping with the theme of this whole post, I’m open to other suggestions!

Thanks, everyone, for your help! I’m trying to make this a special couple days for my wife, so any recommendations you have are great!

In Los Alamos Bob’s Well Bread is the place for breakfast or lunch. The baked goods are as good as any we had in France. Bell and Pico are also worth a visit. For Pizza Flatbread is excellent. In Santa Ynez SY Kitchen is excellent for Italian food. In Ballard the Ballard Inn is excellent for Asian fusion. There are lots of tasting rooms so let us know what type of wine you enjoy. Cheers.

In Los Alimos https://www.bobswellbread.com is fantastic for breakfast or lunch. In Buelton, https://industrialeats.com is an absolute must for lunch and dinner.

Did Les Marchands close???

Thanks for the recommendations! I had heard good things about Bob’s Well Bread, so we’ll make that a priority if we end up stopping in Los Alamos.

Yes, Les Marchands did close. (Les Marchands to Close - The Santa Barbara Independent) I think their wine club is still active, but the restaurant and wine shop in the Funk Zone has been replaced by Helena Avenue Bakery.

2d Industrial Eats…fantastic meal.

Goat Tree is in the same complex as your hotel, and serve some great breakfast dishes and coffee drinks. Just up the way, D’Angelos bakery also has a great breakfast (eggs rose nom nom nom) If Bouchon doesn’t work, there’s no restaurant I could recommend more highly than Toma for service and food. Monday is also chilaquiles day at La Super Rica taqueria [worship.gif] . Eats in Buellton is the bomb.

Funk Zone Patio is fun for lunch if you’re wine tasting…

If staying in SB, then Oku and Flor the Maiz depending on your mood (sushi vs. modern mexican). They are side by side. Otherwise try Honor Bar or Bettina in Montecito

The Lark, Loquita or Toma for dinner.

Toma +2

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Wine Cask gone, or no longer good? Used to frequent in the 90’s?

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Also love Toma. And pizza lunch at Olio y Limone is nice, too. Dinner there isn’t bad either! For Mexican I like Mony’s even better than Super Rica.

Bob’s Well Bread, Bell’s and Pico are all great options in Los Alamos!

Bumping this as my wife and I will be spending a few days in SB early October. Staying at Hotel Californian and have reservations one night at Bouchon. Looking for other restaurant recommendations. Have a table reserved at Zaytoon - looks like great atmosphere especially if sitting outside at a firepit table - anyone been there that can share?

Looking for perhaps one other dinner spot on the more casual end of the spectrum (Mexican, pizza, etc).

Try the out side restaurant at the SB INN on the ocean. There is a second INN at SB which is downtown.
Excellent Italian cuisine - VG pizzas.

bumping this for my upcoming post Covid visit to the area. Staying 4 nights in Los Alamos. Will hit Bob’s Wellbread frequently! already have dinner res. at Bell’s and Pico’s… thinking Industrial eats for one night but we’ll have to drive there…

open to small wineries in the area… I’m not big on tasting rooms as that is such a generic feel that I don’t get much out of it. but do enjoy going to the actual winery and seeing the space and tasting in that environment. always like to taste something I’m unfamiliar with. Stolpman, Liquid Farm, LoFi and Chanin are already on the must list, and a lunch at Tyler. maybe DLC but they’ve been tough to coordinate with.

thx

As recently as 10 days ago everyone we visited is still using Covid-era tasting policies (socially distanced outdoor tasting, interior spaces closed, no tours, etc.). I imagine as we approach the intended general CA reopening proposed for mid-June that this will start to change. You don’t note when you plan to visit but I would expect a generally altered tasting experience to linger for awhile at many places.

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Thanks, Eric. We are going end of May. I believe my dining reservations are outdoors, under state protocols. I’ll roll with it. And that has certainly been something I’m trying to look at when contacting wineries/tasting rooms. I think indoors is currently allowed at limited numbers and if, obviously, the business is comfortable operating that way.

anyone know if Scar of the Sea has a tasting room or arrangement in the area?