Clark’s Oyster Bar Comes to Coast Village Road

Restaurateur Larry McGuire Expands from Austin, Aspen, and Elsewhere to Montecito

Fresh shucked oysters are a house specialty | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

Sunny, stylish, and sophisticated sufficiently describes the upscale yet relaxed scene of Coast Village Road, and those same adjectives apply to the recently arrived Montecito outpost of Clark’s Oyster Bar. That’s no accident, as the Clark’s formula — developed in Austin in 2012, popularized in Aspen in 2018, and expanded to Houston in 2023, with Menlo Park and Malibu on the way — is to adapt each location and menu to its immediate surroundings.

Clark’s Cioppino | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

“The Clark’s concept is cool because we can take it and mold it to wherever we are,” explains Larry McGuire, the managing partner and cofounder of MML Hospitality, which owns more than two dozen restaurants nationwide. “In Aspen, we serve trout. In Houston, it’s mostly Gulf Coast.”

At this newest Clark’s on Coast Village, which opened at the end of 2024, the menu features California specialties like rockfish, sablefish, sea bass, corvina, and, of course, Santa Barbara uni. That’s in addition to the core offerings here and elsewhere, which revolve around the brand’s raw bar selections (eight different oysters!), simply prepared catch-of-the-day options (that’s what McGuire was eating), and a bevy of signature classics, like the Crab Louie, lobster roll, cioppino, or much-beloved burger.

“These are ultimately neighborhood restaurants,” said McGuire. “We’ve already got a ton of regulars. There’s a good happy hour. It can be fancy, but it could also not be.”

That friendly vibe is enhanced by the bright design, which was spearheaded by Santa Barbara legend Jeff Shelton. His famously whimsical style is a bit more subdued at Clark’s, which leans into soft blue, stark white, and vibrant yellow hues that recall the Greek isles. The energy inside — from the front row stools at the bar and umbrella-shaded patio seats to the cozy booths that afford glimpses of the bustling kitchen — fuels that this-must-be-the-place buzz you catch when walking in.

During my first visit, with two restaurateurs and a winemaker, we took over a corner near the bar, ordered cocktails (pink peppercorn paloma for me), and then ran through much of the menu: a piquant caper-enhanced crudo of three different fish; that Crab Louie, with an addictively creamy dressing and generous hunks of claw; crisped-up sea bass atop a sofrito-spiked mound of grits; and then, somehow, a happy hour burger slaked in sauce gribiche and Gruyère, served with excellently thin hand-cut fries.

Oak Grilled Spanish Octopus | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

When I returned a month later to meet with McGuire, I went back to that crudo, tried the nicely spicy rockfish ceviche, and then braved the lobster roll, which was loaded with massive slabs of flesh. But I was most fascinated by the wood-grilled shrimp toast, where the meat is stuffed so deep into the slice of bread that they become one. Topped with pea tendrils, shaved celery, and, the key ingredient, a harissa aioli, I found this quite satisfying and deliciously unique. (McGuire later told me that it was inspired by Chinese restaurant shrimp toasts, then detailed a rather complex cooking process.) During that meal, beverage director Matt Ahern — who makes his own Wonderland Ranch wine — paired each course: rosé from Bandol for the raw fish dishes; Champagne for the lobster roll; and a delicately sweet German riesling for the shrimp toast.

How this Austin-born, University of Texas dropout became a king of American seafood goes back to his childhood, when McGuire had to cook for his older brothers because his mom went back to college. That led to working in kitchens as a teenager on the city’s trendy South Congress Avenue, and then McGuire ditched college his senior year to open a high-end smoked meats joint in Austin called Lambert’s Downtown Barbecue. Then came a seafood joint called Perla’s in 2009, the French-Vietnamese bakery-diner Elizabeth Street Café in 2011, and the next year, the first Clark’s.

“It was in an old gas station, and it was just the most popular one,” said McGuire of the brand’s instant success. “It’s all-American, it’s become one of our favorites, and, I would say, the most portable concept.”

Some interior details of Clark’s Oyster Bar on Coast Village Road | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
Pan Roasted Black Angus Hamburger with Sauce Gribiche & Gruyere | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
A peek inside Clark’s Oyster Bar in Montecito | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
The lobster roll at Clark’s Oyster Bar | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
The fireplace inside Clark’s Oyster Bar in Montecito | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
Cocktails at Clark’s Oyster Bar | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
A peek inside Clark’s Oyster Bar in Montecito | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
Clark’s Crudo Plate with wasabi & lemon vinaigrette, capers, red onion, and chive | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
Jeff Shelton’s signature tile designs adorn the exterior of Clark’s Oyster Bar on Coast Village Road | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom
Bluefin Tuna Carpaccio with olives, capers, garlic aioli, jalapeño, and sunflower sprouts | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

The Aspen opening in 2012 — which took over a cherished watering hole and restaurant, Little Annie’s — became so popular that many assumed it was the flagship. McGuire and his team were eyeing Montecito for years, hoping to find an existing, ideally historic building that could be recast into a Clark’s, which is their modus operandi.

Larry McGuire at his new Clark’s Oyster Bar on Coast Village Road | Photo: Ingrid Bostrom

“We felt like there was demand for new stuff,” said McGuire of what attracted him to Coast Village as compared to downtown Santa Barbara. He eventually met the landlords of the building that for 25 years was home to Cava, the Mexican café run by the Carlitos family that closed in 2021.

“When the building became available, we came to look at it,” said McGuire, who befriended the owners and hosted them at Clark’s in Austin and Aspen. “It was the perfect size, charming, everything we look for.” He also liked the Montecito–Aspen ties, in that many of each town’s wealthier residents jet-set between the two.

He expects to open the Clark’s in Menlo Park — which is replacing Ann’s Coffee Shop, a 2021 pandemic victim after 75 years in business — this spring. The Malibu location, which is slated for the new Cross Creek Ranch development, is a bit more up in the air with the recent fires.

There will certainly be more. Even with 25 establishments under the MML Hospitality belt — including Hotel St. Vincent in New Orleans and their first Austin real estate development — McGuire, who’s only 42 years old, continues to step on the gas.

“This is our 25th restaurant, and we’ve never closed anything; we’ve never sold anything,” said McGuire when I asked about his grander plans. “So that’s been our playbook so far: just open, hold, and operate. We like opening new stuff. We love operating.”

Coming from the kitchen himself, he’s acutely aware of what matters most, when it comes to keeping quality high and staff happy at so many restaurants. “We’re only as good as our last service. We’re only as good as the line cooks. That’s the backbone of these restaurants,” said McGuire. “It’s not, ultimately, the concept. It’s the execution day to day.”

Clark’s Oyster Bar, 1212 Coast Village Rd.; (805) 974-0655; clarksoysterbar.com