Eats

By now you’re probably familiar with all the restaurants and wine bars Los Alamos has to offer on Bell Street. But now it’s time to look on the other side of the highway. On the east side of Highway 101, at the top of a short steep drive, sits Norman, the restaurant housed in the […]

Old Town Orcutt is changing. It’s sometimes hard to pin down exactly what the boutique area is changing into, but the signs of transformation somehow always linger around every corner. Sometimes it’s a new sign on a building; sometimes it’s a revamped menu or name change. In whatever form it takes, it tells the same […]

There is something unique that sets Jen and Grant Sanregret’s business apart from the others in Los Olivos.  It’s not just their physical location—a giant, bright yellow lemon parked neatly in a small space at the end of Grand Avenue, surrounded by a welcoming array of wooden lawn chairs. It’s not even their unique product, […]

I am so eager to try more of the Doggy Door hot dogs that I’ve fallen in love with that I arrive 30 minutes early for my interview with owner Andrew Scherer. This is simultaneously a fault of my ongoing eagerness and my growling stomach. You would not believe how little food a food writer […]

It’s not necessary to know the exact location of The Bread Shop in Solvang. The smell alone will practically lead you right to their front door. Inside the unassuming shop on Atterdag, just off the busy intersections of the main thruway, a glass barrier teases onlookers with promises of fresh baked treats. A healthy stack […]

Tucked in the corner of the Nielsen’s shopping center in Solvang, it might be easy to miss Leonardo’s Ristorante and Pizzeria. It’s separated from the busy tourist-heavy streets of downtown Solvang and the shopping and dining districts of Los Olivos and Santa Ynez. But once inside, it’s clear the venue is playing on the same […]

Ever since my doctor side-eyed me and then lectured me for 20 minutes after I confessed how much fried food I consume on a weekly basis, I’ve been on a quest to stay focused on eating healthier, especially when it comes to eating out. As one can imagine, having a weekly food column dedicated to […]

The sign outside Ha Ha Sushi in Orcutt is almost too good to believe. I actually had to convince my coworkers that it wasn’t just a one-time special deal or that we had show up at 3 a.m. and chant ancient Sumerian texts backwards under the light of a full moon in order to qualify […]

I have discovered one of the Great Truths of the known universe: Judging a pie baking contest is tough work. I say this now as an expert in all things pie-eating related. I was recently asked to be a judge in Idler’s Home’s 34th annual Mom and Apple Pie Contest. (We weren’t judging moms, just […]

It’s hard to grab a word with Greg and Daisy Ryan. That’s not just because their new restaurant, Bell’s, in Los Alamos, is so busy (customers were piled into every table and booth during my visit). It’s because the couple is inundated with well-wishers, many of them family friends who’ve come to support one of […]

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes (turn and face the strange). It seems appropriate to hum a few bars of David Bowie’s iconic song “Changes” if you’ve made a recent trip to Rooney’s Irish Pub in Orcutt. Nothing from the outside would tip you off that something is different, but once you’re seated and presented with a menu, it becomes […]

I will admit I grossly underestimated the food at North China Restaurant. When I was first asked my thoughts on the Santa Maria staple, I scowled and realized that for some tragic reason, I had managed to overlook them in my quest to eat my way through every restaurant in the Central Coast. Now, I […]