The Dutch Garden Does Dinner, Too

For being so old, the Dutch Garden is often the newest thing that a curious diner or drinker can find in Santa Barbara. 

That happened to me, twice actually: first, when I visited around the time of my UCSB graduation in the late 1990s, quite surprised to find something like the beer gardens I’d visited while backpacking through Europe; and then again, around a decade later, when a friend introduced me to Klokke Roeland, the sneaky strong Belgian ale that flows exclusively at the Dutch.

I’ve since returned the favor to numerous residents and visitors, and they’re unanimous in their excitement that such a storied place exists, serving classic German plates such as schnitzel and sausage alongside house favorites such as pastrami with grilled onions and the Strammer Max, a grilled ham and Swiss served open-face with two eggs. The beer list of real European beers also never fails to enthuse.

Since opening in 1945 — “Dutch” being more acceptable than “German” at the end of World War II — the Garden has only seen a handful of ownership changes. But there have been three in just the past six years. The first was the end of tenure for longtime proprietor Ken Luetjen, who took over in 1985 and ran it until 2020. (We gave him a Foodie Award back in 2017.) 

The second was when Matt English and Charlie Fredericks vowed to keep the Dutch alive upon Luetjen’s 2020 retirement. Their relaunch took two years, but when it finally reopened in November 2022, the consensus was congratulatory. The patio was expanded, the facilities were spruced up, but the staff and menu — even the menus themselves — stayed proudly consistent, albeit with some attention to fresher, locally sourced ingredients. 

When the English–Fredericks arrangement soured more than a year ago, the third and current formula emerged. Through a friend of a friend, English enlisted the partnership and guidance of restaurant guru Kelly Brown, founder of The Natural Café. 

“He is an absolute animal in food service,” said English. “Few have achieved what he has. I have the vision and vibes. Kelly is dollars and cents. He keeps the ship sailing straight.”

With his kids slowly taking the Natural Café reins, Brown was nearing retirement when this opportunity arose. “I’ve never bought an operating restaurant before,” he said. “Every restaurant I ever opened was my concept, my menu, my buildout, my idea. This was challenging for me. But I don’t want to change anything except the systems.”

And one of the top things they want you to know is that the Dutch Garden — long considered more of a sunny-day lunch experience — serves a mighty fine dinner. 

I was reminded of that on a recent evening while dining on the patio with Brown and our wives, as English popped in and out of the kitchen. I went for the Klokke as the big, crunchy yet soft pretzel emerged, as did crudites with whipped farmer’s cheese. My wife gave the French rosé a try, reminding me that their wine list is another hidden gem, specifically for Austro-German bottles as well as the Santa Barbara interpretations of riesling, and grüner veltliner crafted by Graham Tatomer.

For our mains, Kelly opted for a big, house-made bratwurst, served with charred cream cabbage. His wife went for the pastrami sandwich, the lunchtime hit that her husband pushed to have available at dinner. “Sometimes people want a Reuben at dinner,” he told me of his moves to democratize the dinner menu. “It’s not about us. It’s about the guest.”

I went for the traditional jägerschnitzel — a dish I first tried there, probably 15 years ago — its crunchy veal core slaked in a rich, mushroomy “hunter” sauce that went equally well with the potato dumplings. My wife, who doesn’t eat meat, still got her schnitzel fix, courtesy of celery root, then heaped on the specially sourced sauerkraut. We also shared samples of the red cabbage with lingonberry, but were too full to try the gurkensalat (celery and fennel in cracked seed vinaigrette and Icelandic yogurt) and käsepätzle, a German-style mac ’n’ cheese. 

“I’m leaning in,” said Brown of maintaining all of these authentic dishes while tightening the margins. “I know what the strength of the business is.”

Beyond the food, the Dutch Garden’s staff is a comforting presence. “We’ve got a very dedicated team. There are four hardcore servers who have been there a long time,” said Brown, as familiar faces served our table. “At the end of the day, they’re the point of contact. So much of the experience is that person in front of you doing the work. It’s called the service industry for a reason.”

Despite being the de facto face of the modern Dutch Garden, English bristles at such attention. “It’s about the Dutch Garden,” he said. “I’m just a steward of it.” 

English worked in kitchens long ago before exploring the legalized cannabis business for more than a decade. But he never stopped coming to the restaurant, where he’s been dining since childhood, and he became quite close to Luetjen. 

“I showed up one day to give Ken support and buy a growler, and he told me he was closing,” said English, who put the wheels in motion, enlisting his former chef-mentor Charlie Fredericks, who’s taught culinary at SBCC for years. “Ken shook my hand and blessed me with this place, right at the beginning of COVID,” said English.

He felt a duty to ensure the Dutch Garden continued, even though it took two years of permitting and renovations to open. “It’s the oldest continually operating restaurant in Santa Barbara,” claimed English. “It’s just layered and layered over time, multiple generations of owners building upon something and carrying it forward. You can’t just throw out something that has that much character.”

For the most part, Fredericks didn’t mess with the menu, merely improving sourcing and adding specials and seasonal changes, such as chanterelles in the cold months and tomato dishes when it’s warm. Though Fredericks left the restaurant around the time that Brown invested — that deal closed, to Brown’s amusement, on April 1, 2025 — English and his team are maintaining a similar culinary strategy, with some streamlining by Brown. 

They’re also adding more events to utilize the patio, both open-to-the-public affairs such as Oktoberfest, January’s movie-night collab with Revolver Pizza, and the upcoming Sunday whole-pig roast on March 29 (with music by Velvet Binx) as well as hosting private events for others. They’re giving happy hour more attention too. 

“We’re here for everybody,” said English. “Whether you have a refined palate and want some adventurous food, or you want a kids’ grilled cheese and are looking for a simple, humble, enjoyable place to be. We try to create an environment where people want to stay and hang out.”

That’s what continues to make the Dutch Garden one of Santa Barbara’s oldest secrets, hiding in plain sight. “It’s cool to be part of something that’s bigger than you,” said English. “It was here before us and it will be here after us — if we do our job right.” 

The Dutch Garden, 4203 State St.; (805) 453-4556; dutchgardenrestaurant.com