Santa Barbara’s New Neighborhood Grill Serves Up American Comfort Food and Casual Vibes in the Turnpike Center

The Neighborhood Grill has been buzzing and busy living up to its name since its June opening in Noleta’s Turnpike Shopping Center. It’s become a regular lunch, happy hour, and dinner spot for locals who come for the casual family-friendly vibe, straightforward-yet-satisfying comfort food classics, and wallet-friendly prices. Some stay to sip a cocktail or beer and watch the game on one of nine TVs sprinkled between the dining room, bar, and outdoor patios. This is a place that can be enjoyed in a lot of different ways.

“I knew from living in the neighborhood and having a daughter across the street at San Marcos what this area needed,” says general manager and operating partner Ted Ellis, “and I got to have fun designing something that caters to the locals.” Ellis teamed up in the venture with businessman and owner Leo Bunnin, who took over the space after former occupant La Cantina closed. 

The gregarious Bunnin, a third-generation auto dealer in Ventura County, is also a passionate foodie and restaurant investor. “One important goal with The Neighborhood Grill was to reach out to our neighbors and community,” says Bunnin. A case in point is the special lunch menu geared toward San Marcos students, who can order by call or text from a menu that includes $3.95 tacos and $9.95 smashburgers. 

Ellis is a hospitality veteran whose 15 years of experience in Santa Barbara spans leadership roles at eateries from the Bacara, The Lark, Lucky Penny, and Les Marchands Restaurant & Wine Shop (now closed) to Opal and Oku. His most recent gig was as co-owner with his wife, Greer, of the well-loved but too-short-lived We Want the Funk in, yes, the Funk Zone. Before making the move to Santa Barbara, he spent 16 years in San Francisco as sommelier and manager at some of that city’s finest establishments.

Coming in on the ground floor of The Neighborhood Grill allowed Ellis to put his stamp on the decor and design in playful ways. The airy dining room’s indoor-outdoor layout, with a 20-seat, square-shaped bar, a sprinkling of rattan pendant lights, and retractable doors that open to two roomy patios give it a bit of a breezy Cheers-meets–Hawaii Five-0 vibe. A vintage-postcard-style mural is by Santa Barbara artist Michael Matheson, who also painted the nod-to-the-’70s mural for We Want the Funk. Another wall is adorned with Tom Petty song lyrics “Oh, my my / Oh, hell yes” rendered in neon, bringing home the message that this is a place to relax and have fun. 

“I want this to be not just a restaurant but to be that neighborhood hub,” says Elllis. “I went to school in London for a year in college and really loved that pub culture. I love seeing people here saying hi to their neighbors and finding it to be a place where they want to hang out.”

And hang out they do. On one outdoor patio, groups of cheers-ing friends sip wine and nosh on loungey patio couches around fire pits while tables fill with families, date-night couples, and groups (one is a meeting of Friday Night Lights youth flag football officials), and kids play in an adjacent fenced-in play area. As I write this, I can’t imagine finding patio heaters a plus, but in the winter months, they’ll be fired up and welcome. 

On Thursdays at 6 p.m., local musicians perform on the patio, adding to the energy and getting bonus points for high-quality music that strikes the right decibel level to allow for conversation. Additional acts will be sprinkled into the schedule on weekends.

Inside and out, diners come back for their favorites on the wide-ranging menu of appetizers, salads, main courses (available after 4 p.m.), burgers, sandwiches, and tacos, along with an $8.95 kiddos roster. Standout starters include the bright, fresh ceviche from the catch of the day and craveable cut-off-the-cob “ribs” of street corn with honey-lime aioli, crema, cotija cheese, and a touch of tajin. Mains of tender chicken piccata and memorable bourbon-glazed pork chops are rounded out with a 10-ounce flatiron steak with cilantro chimichurri, fire-grilled salmon, and shrimp linguini. 

You can’t go wrong with any of the tacos, but the tri-tip with charred corn-lime salsa is especially tasty. Ellis points out that the meat is sliced super thin to bring out the flavor. It’s the kind of attention to detail that shows a kitchen that cares, even if it’s not fancy. 

It all pairs well with sips that include local draft beer, a concise wine list that shows off Ellis’s somm chops, and signature cocktails like the Neighborhood Negroni that subs amaro for sweet vermouth. 

As a sweet capper, Ellis encourages the warm chocolate chip cookie or double chocolate brownie fired up in a mini cast-iron skillet and topped with vanilla ice cream. Welcome to the neighborhood.

The Neighborhood Grill, 199 South Turnpike Road, (805) 869-2831. Kitchen open Sunday-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-8 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Bar open until one hour after kitchen closes. See theneighborhoodgrillsb.com.