Summer Seafood and Sips at Little Dom’s

There’s nothing better than seafood by the sea. Little Dom’s Seafood in Carpinteria has some tasty offerings for the summer, which I checked out last week. The Linden Avenue food scene is Carp is hopping right now, and the friendly neighborhood-bar sit-down service at Little Dom’s is a great companion to the beautiful, buzzy new Linden Square walk-up windows on the next block. 

We started our evening with the Spaghetti Western (a smoky variation on the Oaxaca Old-Fashioned) and a White Spritz, which paired really well the albacore pastrami from the Seafood Bar. I was expecting it to be more like a crudo, but was surprised to find it was a sandwich app, served with chive butter and a little arugula on house-made Italian stecca bread. Our tasty grilled artichoke appetizer also had a clever presentation: It was halved and served with the insides up to provide a “bowl” for the red wine vinaigrette dipping sauce. 

The fish and chips — my barometer dish for any seafood joint — was fresh halibut, really well-seasoned with a nice Peroni beer-battered crust and almost pillowy soft fish inside (the fish varies based on that day’s catch), and the dill pollen fried potatoes were an excellent and surprising touch that echoed the main. Like the fish, the potatoes were crispy and well-seasoned on the outside with plenty of garlic and lemon, and soft and delicious and rich and buttery inside. 

A nice contrast, we also tried the fish piccata, made with a white fish that was light and lemony and served with fresh asparagus that was just the right amount of soft. 

In addition to the full dinner menu, which also includes plenty of pastas and meats and a full pizza menu for the non-fish lovers, there’s also a Tuesday Night Supper with a three-course menu for just $25, and cioppino every Sunday until it’s sold out. 

Housed in the building that once held the long beloved Sly’s from the late chef-owner James Sly, who died in 2019 a year after closing the restaurant, the high-quality food, and friendly, unpretentious vibe at Little Dom’s is right in keeping with the both the old and the evolving Carpinteria neighborhood food scene, and as the new kid on the block (c. 2021) is starting to feel a bit like the old guard. 

Little Dom’s Seafood, 686 Linden Ave., Carpinteria; ldseafood.com