Full Belly Files | Montecito Money Makes Pub Crawl Possible
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[Click to enlarge]: From left: Bar Lou at night; Enjoying fries and branzino almondine at Bar Lou
My first experience on Coast Village Road goes back to a Valentine’s Day in college, when my girlfriend and I waited more than two hours to be seated at Palazzio. It was the late 1990s, during that uber-indulgent Italian restaurant’s pre–State Street heyday, and we were young and, in retrospect, certainly a bit dumb to willingly wait so long.

But we were perfectly content doing so, placated with free garlic knots and back rubs — yea, someone was giving chair massages to the assembled crowd — and happy to be stationed on this tony street, excited to try this spot everyone was talking about. Montecito was certainly wealthy then, both in restaurants and bank accounts, though those measures have each exponentially exploded in recent years.
Formerly more of a home to older money, generational families, and quiet titans of industries, today Montecito is awash in newer and flashier money, from celebrities and tech moguls to that same breed of titans, some of whom aren’t so quiet anymore. They’re coming from Los Angeles and Silicon Valley and even New York City, many spurred by the pandemic’s penchant for shifting mindsets when it comes to life priorities and remote working. (The next wave, that being victims of the tragic L.A. fires, is fully underway, by the way; this is totally unverified, but I heard secondhand of a realtor who sold 18 mansions in one recent week to such refugees.)
Meanwhile, no doubt tied to the influx of richer neighbors, their bigger city tastes, and the subsequent buzz around all things Montecito, the restaurant scene on Coast Village Road is bustling like never before.
With Lucky’s Steakhouse and Bettina Pizzeria holding down the opposite edges of the roughly mile-long commercial corridor for years now, there’s been a series of recent openings — namely Bar Lou, Clark’s Oyster Bar, and Lion’s Tale — that’s adding even more dining and drinking depth to the scene.


[Click to enlarge]: From left: Ceviche at Clark’s; A spread at Clark’s Oyster Bar
That basic plan is really all we accomplished. Being fortysomethings, our ambition outweighed our stamina, so the notions of hitting up the Honor Bar, Local, Lucky’s, or Clark’s gave way to cabbing home before we turned into pumpkins. (I’m a little embarrassed to report that it was before 9 p.m. but, hey, we started at 4 p.m.!)
Clark’s — where I’ve been twice now, but during the daytime; feature article forthcoming — was far too crowded to attempt a stop anyway. That does bring up a logistical wrinkle to the “Coast Village Crawl” (let’s just call it that now). Whether you’re hitting Bettina for ‘za and spritzers, Alma Fonda Fina for pulpo and pineapple margarita, or Sakana for sushi and sake — or all three!!! — these places tend to be busy, particularly on weekend nights when most might brave such a crawl. Reservations may be required — stagger two or three out, like 2 hours apart? — or just a lot of patience and willingness to stand around. A smaller group seems most strategic as well.

Our gang of four waited briefly at Bar Lou, sipping on a bottle of ugni blanc/vermentino from the Jurançon in the bar before reaching our table. Then we ran through a range of their smaller bites, from grilled trumpet mushrooms and beets to fried cheese and zucchini blossoms, over a fresh cinsault from Languedoc. (It was my third time there, previously to report my feature about this new spot for the Little Dom’s Seafood crew; my Bar Lou feature article just came out online here, and will be in print soon.
Rather than head right to the next restaurant, we popped into The Bottle Shop to look around. None of us realized how large of a store that is, nor did we know that they have $10,000 bottles of booze for sale, until the cashier showed us. We didn’t wanna carry it around, so it’s still there if you’re interested.
We did wind up as planned at Lion’s Tale, sipping on some (rather early) night caps. It was also my third time there, though one was during closed hours to report this cover story from last year. As we sipped and caroused, we also looked at a bottle of Whitcraft Winery’s “The Low Yield Theory” pinot noir, whose label recalls A Tribe Called Quest’s The Low End Theory, one of the more impactful albums of my youth. And then we were off in an Uber, not even three real stops under our collective belt.
Of course, there’s no right way to do the Coast Village Crawl. In fact, if you start early on the east side of the corridor, you could hit Folded Hills tasting room first, and then move onto, say, a fried chicken sandwich at Honor Bar before cocktails at Local. Or maybe a nice dinner at Tre Lune followed by martinis at Lucky’s bar, keeping it all in the Montesano family. And, so long as you stretch the definition of the Crawl, there’s more to come, with a series of restaurants opening down at The Post by the bird refuge.
I plan on giving it a try again when I find another free night. If you do the same, let me know how it goes. We can compare notes.


[Click to enlarge]: From left: Lion’s Tale lion ice cube; Martini at Lion’s Tale
From Our Table
Here are some stories you may have missed:
- Keith Hamm took the train north to check out Pismo Beach, and reports on what to do and where to stay and dine.
- This is a story from last fall, but while we’re on the topic of S.L.O. County, here is Josef Woodard’s piece on the Libretto Jazz Club in Paso Robles.
- I wrote a story for Wine Enthusiast last week about how the L.A. fires affected the wine industry down there, and how they’re responding. A big chunk of the story is the saga of vintner Tim Perr, who named Santa Barbara County’s Pali Wine Co. after Pacific Palisades. His house barely survived.
- Wine Enthusiast also published a story I did pitting traditionally made sparkling wine against pét nats. That one includes insights from Central Coast wine brands Ashkahn, Outward, and Laetitia.
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