Budget Friendly, Italian Style

With the way food prices have crept up these days, I’m always on high alert for a bargain deal, which is exactly what I found at Santa Barbara Pizza House. Not only do they have a nice selection of $15 lunch specials — all served with a side of their excellent Caesar salad — they also have a good-sized free parking lot in the back of the building (they’re located on the 500 block of State Street, and the lot is on the one-block-long Fig Avenue, between Haley and Cota streets). 

I met with owner Erin Khodabandehlou recently to chat about being a restauranteur in Santa Barbara and try out some of her lunch specials. A graduate of the SBCC Culinary Program, the former manager of the previous restaurant in the location (Patxi’s Pizza), and mother of two increasingly independent kids, Khodabandehlou decided the time was ripe for her to become an entrepreneur when the space became available and do the business the way she always wanted to. 

“As my kids were like teenagers, they were all grown up. I’m like, what is my passion? I love doing it. And then this opportunity came, the location was available,” and she was all in, said Khodabandehlou.

Born and raised in Santa Barbara (once a Don …), her deep Santa Barbara roots are all over the menu, with both deep dish Chicago pizzas and Neapolitan thin crust options boasting names like “The Cliff Drive” (mozzarella, ham, bacon, pineapple, and red onions), “The Hollister Avenue” (mozzarella, BBQ chicken, onions, jalapenos, pineapple, and spicy BBQ sauce), “The Cabrillo Blvd.” (classic margherita), and “The APS” (mozzarella, chicken, spinach, mushroom, and roasted garlic).

The large open space — Khodabandehlou said the capacity is 160, and she’s already had some weddings there — has a lot of outdoor seating on this busy block of State Street, and a unique bar feature that allows guests to sit inside at the bar and simultaneously watch sports on TV and the parade of downtown revelers.

Since deep dish pizza is one of their specialties, I tried the lunch special version (choose up to three toppings) and had a tasty mini pie with salami, sausage, and olives — it had a nice tang to the house made tomato sauce and good gooeyness to the mozzarella. The side Caesar, which comes with all the lunches, was excellent and made a good counterpoint to the heavy pizza. The thinner crust Neapolitan pizza is available as a lunch special too. 

They also have a number of good-looking salads on the regular menu, including the Caesar ($9), an Italian salad, a Mediterranean salad, and more — with the same general price point. 

But I was still dipping into the lunch specials. As Khodabandehlou and I chatted about the good old days growing up in town, she shared “The Refugio Beach” Italian-style sandwich, served on a handmade focaccia that was light and pillowy but still managed to be a good, solid sub.

“The Rincon,” a Panuozzo (a sandwich baked into pizza dough) filled with the excellent “Nonna’s meatballs,” had a nice, hearty sauce that was a little sweet and not too heavy. This mouthwatering sandwich brought my taste buds back to Italy. Khodabandehlou said that the “Nonna’s Homemade Meatballs,” also served as an appetizer in the marinara sauce, was one of the most popular items on the menu. I can definitely see why. When my husband and I returned for takeout about a week later, they were top on my list to order. 

Additional lunch sandwich specials include “The Gaviota Beach” (pesto and chicken Milanese topped with burrata and vodka sauce), “The Leadbetter Beach” (mortadella, spicy capocollo, and burrata), “The Shoreline Beach” (chicken Caesar salad sandwich), and the vegetarian “The Butterfly Beach” (eggplant dip, roasted red pepper, zucchini, yellow squash, and burrata with balsamic). 

Stuffed, with loads of leftovers to take back to the office, when I complimented her on the food, Khodabandehlou smiled. “All the food is of the highest quality possible. I’m not cutting corners with food,” she said with a fierce grin. “Because like I said, I love the food. I went to culinary school for that very reason.”

Santa Barbara Pizza House, 515 State Street, (805) 637-7721, sbpizzahouse.com.