After more than eight years of exciting Santa Barbara diners with contemporary Indian cuisine and a deep catalogue of natural wines, Bibi Ji quietly closed its doors last week. The restaurant’s owners, Alejandro and Charlotte Medina, are in negotiations to transfer their lease on the 1200 block of State Street — where they moved in 2024 after renovating an old McDonald’s — to an altogether different eatery.
“It’s been a good nine years, but the last 18 months is something I’ve never seen before,” said Alejandro of the slow business. “We never thought we’d be doing less in sales in the Arts District than on the 700 block of State Street, but that’s the reality of it.”
There was no shortage of energy when Medina, along with Australian chef Jesse Singh and superstar sommelier Raj Parr, opened Bibi Ji on the 700 block of State Street in early 2018. (Both of the Indian men departed in the ensuing years, leaving Medina, who is proudly Bolivian, to promote a culinary culture that really was not his own.)
But as that location’s business slowed, the landlord kept raising rent, so the Medinas decided to move five blocks up. They spent plenty of their own and investors’ money to convert the former McDonald’s into an invitingly bright and pink-hued space, finally opening in the summer of 2024.
But the diners never again showed up in substantial ways. Meanwhile, the economy became tumultuous, with tariffs and unpredictable American trade policy continuing to confound would-be customers near and far.
“We expanded and went all-in at a time when it got rocky,” said Alejandro. “There’s just not enough to make it all work and make it click.”
Bibi Ji’s natural wine selection was once a big draw for the restaurant. | Credit: Ingrid Bostrom
Downtown’s own issues aren’t helping. “The lack of local traffic downtown is insurmountable,” said Charlotte. “Santa Barbara runs on tourism, but that can’t sustain all these businesses. There’s no workforce downtown. There are no residents downtown. That makes it very hard to survive any economic hiccups.”
The recent rise of new restaurants coming to Montecito is also taking a toll. The folks with dispensable incomes who live there are no longer coming downtown, and the people who live in Santa Barbara are increasingly going to Coast Village Road and the Upper Village, at least for their fancier dinners.
“People just don’t spend as much downtown — they go to Montecito,” said Charlotte. “There is a different value perception between the two.”
Bibi Ji also endured the precipitous drop in alcohol sales that restaurants are reporting everywhere. “We used to open 30 to 40 bottles a night on our back patio,” said Alejandro of the 700 block’s heyday. “I haven’t seen a quarter of that. That’s happening around the country, but especially here in California.”
The couple hope to have transferred their lease by October 1, and may throw a private party to say goodbye. But they decided to close down last week after a month of struggling to make it work. “I was cooking for the last three weeks,” said Alejandro. “It was grind-time mode.”
Explained Charlotte, “We want people’s last experience to be a good one, and it didn’t seem right to keep powering on when it wasn’t up to our standards.”
Alejandro now plans to shift his focus to Juice Box, the Denver wine distribution company he launched in 2021. “I had to put it on complete hold last summer,” he said. “It’s a solid business with great traction. I’m gonna fire that back up.”
They’re staying in Santa Barbara, where Alejandro grew up, as Charlotte still works as a production manager for Santa Barbara Magazine. They look forward to spending more time together, now that the restaurant won’t take up their entire lives.
“It’s family time for Charlotte and I,” said Alejandro. ““It’s been a great run and we’re ready for the next chapter.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.