Where to Sit and Sip in Santa Barbara
A walking tour of a few of my favorite places
Santa Barbara is a magical place. It has perhaps the most consistently perfect weather of any place on the planet, together with one of the best local food and drink scenes in California. It’s permeated by a relaxed and infectious New Orleans-level easiness that just makes you want to sit in the shade, sip local craft beer or wine, and chill out.
Fortunately, Santa Barbara is full of venues to accommodate this chilling. Most of them have outdoor patios and relaxed bar-style service that encourage sitting and sipping for hours on end, and all of the ones I’m about to recommend are within easy walking distance of each other, near the trendy and central “Funk Zone” district. Get your best walking shoes on, because I’m going to take you on a tour of my favorites.
Dart Coffee Co.
Every morning in Santa Barbara should start with a delicious cup of well-made coffee. Dart Coffee Co. (121 E Yanonali St, Santa Barbara) reliably fits the bill, with coffee made from beans roasted onsite and a rotating offering of creative seasonal lattes if you’re looking for something different. They also have a delightfully comfortable space, perfect for sitting and chilling while watching the world go by outside the open-air windows.
Lucky Penny
Just around the corner from Dart is the imminently recommendable pizza stand Lucky Penny (127 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara). They makes fresh and crispy pizza napoletana including seasonally tuned specialties like the Farmers Market Pizza — onion jam, French butter pears, prosciutto, and arugula. It’s also situated right next to an adorable open-air garden, which is a pleasant and peaceful place to spend an hour or two of quality time with pizza and a beer.
Taquería Rincón Alteño
You shouldn’t leave Santa Barbara without getting some tacos, and while many people might point you to the famously Julia Child-recommended La Super-Rica Taqueria (622 N Milpas St, Santa Barbara), I come bearing an alternative proposal. I highly suggest you walk just a few blocks away from the Funk Zone to Taquería Rincón Alteño (115 E Haley St, Santa Barbara) to get some of the best tacos you’ll find anywhere, including México.
At Rincón Alteño, the tacos are all delicious, but make sure you try the al pastor, and make sure to bring cash (it’s cash-only). You can enjoy your tacos on a pleasantly sunny back patio with views of a neighboring park complex that’s maintained and very actively used by the Santa Barbara Trapeze Co., so you’re likely to get an acrobatics show together with your meal.
Third Window Brewing
Hands-down one of the best places to hang out in Santa Barbara is Third Window Brewing (406 E Haley St #3, Santa Barbara). In fact, Third Window is where I’m typing this article as I sip their namesake Third Window Dubbel — a rich but surprisingly easy-drinking abbey-style ale. They also make great hazy and west coast-style IPAs and some fantastic stouts.
Third Window has a massive, lovely patio space with ample sun and shade in equal parts. They also have a mouth-watering array of food options, including smash burgers, pizza, sourdough pretzels (weekends only), and a Saturday morning barbecue (11 AM until sold out). You will never want to leave.
Night Lizard Brewing Company
If you do manage to leave Third Window, I recommend taking a short walk to Night Lizard Brewing Company (607 State St, Santa Barbara). While Night Lizard is located directly on the bustling State St, it still feels like an oasis of calm comfort. It’s a great place to post up for a few hours, with a variety of indoor and outdoor seating, huge board game library, and very friendly and helpful staff. They also host live music here on weekends; when we were there the klezmer band Kalinka was playing to an occasionally line-dancing crowd of joyous fans.
Night Lizard has a reliable range of core tap offerings, together with an always-changing list of experimental brews. Most recently I tried the S’mores Stout, brewed with graham crackers, vanilla, and cocoa, and served with a freshly toasted marshmallow — a really fun and tasty creation. They also offer a Girl Scout Cookie pairing flight, which includes a taster pour of four different beers together with a matching cookie.
Test Pilot
As the day winds down, you find yourself in the mood for a slower-sipping craft cocktail. This is when Test Pilot (211 Helena Ave, Santa Barbara) may fit the bill. While it’s certainly designed to be a tiki bar, I think it’s better to consider Test Pilot as a solid craft cocktail bar with a tropical drink-focused menu. This is because it doesn’t quite nail the tiki bar experience — mainly due to its lack of theme-appropriate music and sometimes club-leaning crowd on busy nights.
However, when you think of Test Pilot as just a cocktail bar it manages to be a solid one, with snappy service, well-made drinks, and a pleasantly decorated indoor space and outdoor patio. If you find yourself there during the day, I’d recommend a refreshing Ube Piña Colada or Thai Iced Tiki. If you find yourself there late at night, the Rum Hot Toddy is a great way to stay warm.
Hotel Californian
Finally, an honorable mention goes to the venerable Hotel Californian (36 State St, Santa Barbara). It’s supremely well-located, right in the heart of the Funk Zone area, and its rooms and common spaces provide supplementary spots to chill for a bit. If you can get a room with a balcony, I recommend taking in the evening ambience of Santa Barbara from your room with a bottle of wine sourced from the Santa Barbara Wine Collective (131 Anacapa St, Santa Barbara) just around the block.
Regardless of where you choose to sit and sip in Santa Barbara, you can’t go too wrong, as it seems like around every corner there’s another relaxed and charming spot to spend an afternoon. These have been a few of my favorites, but if you go walking around the Funk Zone or State St. area, I’m sure you’ll find your own as well.