Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone is small but mighty!
Santa Barbara’s Funk Zone isn’t very big but it is jam packed with a plethora of food and lot’s of wine.
This is our second post about the local food and wine scene in the Funk Zone. It is a small area, but there are so many places to explore, hence this spanning over several posts. By the time I am done writing this post, there may even be more places that have popped up! And I may even miss a few places, that’s how many there are!
Paradise Springs
The first bicoastal winery. Having a presence in both santa Barbara and Virginia. Their west coast operation concentrates on wines grown in the Sta. Rita Hills and Happy Canyon of Santa Barbara AVAs. Producing around1,500 cases annually. The wines they make include Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Syrah, and the Bordeaux varietals.
Cutlers – Yes, we do have a distillery!
Spirits made right here in Santa Barbara. Gin, vodka, whiskey and more. It took them a long time to get the permitting to be allowed to sell their alcohol, but now they are open and have a cocktail patio. So get your butts over to Cutler’s to try their drinks stat.
Next to Cutler’s is a host of restaurants from Santa Barbara’s beloved Acme Hospitality
Acme Hospitality has a host of local spots, mostly in the funk zone, but not limited to it…
Lucky Penny
Fancy, but not too fancy, wood fired pizza. You can get a super creative pizza to a simple tomato and cheese. There are salads and other things. Wine, beer and froze.
The Lark
I happened to have my wedding dinner at The Lark. By far one of my favorite restaurants in Santa Barbara. They are family style, seasonal, bougie-ish, but fun. Fun cocktails, great wine and beer. The staff is usually pretty great too. They call themselves a shared dining experience. Man do I love that. Check out the Lark.
Loquita
Located just around the corner from the above, on Lower State Street (next to Rare Society) is Loquita. One of our Spanish restaurants. Great food, great cocktails. If you are into Paella, order it the second you sit down. The chef is awesome. Fun fact, the original chef’s that helped open Loquita, are our very own Secret Bao friends.
Helena Bakery
Artisan bakery & Kitchen. The space was once a large home to a lot of wine at Santa Barbara Wine Collective, now the space is shared and is both Santa Barbara Wine Collective and Helena Bakery. Helena is open for baked good, breakfast and brunch. Located just next door to what was once home to Les Merchands and is now Pearl Social. Check out Helena.
Located just next door was once known as Les Merchands and has now been transformed into intimate cocktail bar, Pearl Social.
Pearl offers, fancy and fun drinks and a few snacks. During the holidays the space transforms into an adult holiday extravaganza, fancy cocktails and snacks offer at Miracle at Pearl Social.
Dart Coffee – coffee shop & adorable garden to sip your drinks in.
Mony’s Tacos – arguably one of the top taco spots in Santa Barbara. Offering a host of salsa’s, fantastic tacos, burritos and more. Conveniently located next to an adult book store and SB’s only fully nude strip club (possibly more on that in a completely unrelated post).
Inside The Waterline…
The Waterline is an adaptive reuse project in the Funk Zone. Let’s look inside…
Fox Wines (fun fact, the wine maker is also the wine maker at Fess Parker).
Local brewery, Topa Topa Brewery, Llama Dog which is a mix of beer, wine, cider, etc. and you get your food from The Nook.
We love the Nook. Upscale bar food and they just opened a wood fire pizza window. YAY.
There is so much to explore, so stay tuned for the next edition of exploring the food and wine scene in SB and the Funk Zone specifically.
While, we don’t offer public facing tours in the Funk Zone, we do offer private and corporate tours there. Book your private Funk Zone tour today!