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2008 Restaurant Issue
Annual Restaurant Issue Published

La Super-Rica Taqueria was selected as the Santa Barbara pick on our inaugural Top 40 Cheap Eats in the U.S. list in our 2008 Restaurant Issue. Check out the rest of the newsletter for the Top 40 Restaurants in the U.S., the Top 10 Steakhouses in the U.S. and more!

THE BEST OF




Hot 10
Top 10 Food Ratings
Barbecue
Breakfast NEW!
 Outdoor
Seafood
Steakhouses
Value Restaurants




RESTAURANT NEWS

Openings

The fondue franchise Melting Pot has arrived in Santa Barbara, bringing its unique interactive dining experience to downtown. The restaurant features private dining, a full bar and a private room for large parties. Dinner nightly. The Melting Pot, 608 Anacapa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805-845-4444.
 

Best Barbecue Restaurants Near You

THRILLS AT THE GRILL
• Best Barbecue Restaurants Near You
• The Best Barbecue Products
• Top 10 Barbecue Wines
• More of America's Best Barbecue


News Bytes

Grapevine Fine Food Market Opens
Claudette Pentz and chef Victor Kerschbaumer have opened Grapevine, a fine food market at 126 E. Canon Perdido Street, formerly home to the celebrated Jimmy's Oriental Gardens. Grapevine offers top-quality items from a number of different countries, as well as an organic salad bar and daily soups. Grapevine, 126 E. Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805-899-8800.
 

Getting Lucky
Gene Montesano’s Lucky’s restaurant is something of a Montecito hangout. Now it appears the hoi polloi living outside the 93108 area code will have a Lucky’s of their own, as a second incarnation of the restaurant is planned for a Downtown location on State Street.

Firestone Walker Brewery

Firestone and Foley
Foley Wine Estates has purchased Firestone Vineyards in the Santa Ynez Valley. The celebrated Firestone family, however, retained its interest in the wildly popular Firestone Walker Brewery and The Taproom at Firestone Walker Brewery restaurant, located at the brewery, is still open for business.

Montecito Margarita
For spare-no-expense drinkers, San Ysidro Ranch in Montecito offers a $120 margarita, with two ounces of Don Julio Real tequila (normally $95 per 1.5 oz. shot) and one ounce of Grand Marnier 150th Anniversary Orange Liqueur (normally $48 per 1.5 oz. shot). They’ll even throw in a complimentary dash of lime juice. San Ysidro Ranch, 900 San Ysidro Ln., Santa Barbara, 805-565-1700.


Chef Shuffle

Chef Brandon Hughes has replaced Josh Brown at bouchon, one of Santa Barbara's most highly regarded restaurants. Hughes honed his skills at local hot tables including Epiphany and Wine Cask before working under Brown as a sous chef at bouchon. He aims to continue the restaurant's formula of "as-fresh-and-local-as-possible" wine country cuisine. bouchon, 9 W. Victoria St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805-730-1160.
 



Closings

Though Savoy Café & Deli has closed, it is not dead; local favorite Cantwell's Market will be taking over and operating a similar eatery, with gourmet salad bar, daily soups, fresh pastries and a hot food case. The new restaurant---Cantwell's Café & Deli---will not include a market, which is a prominent feature of the two other Cantwell's locations. Savoy Café & Deli, 24 W. Figueroa St., Santa Barbara, CA 93101, 805-966-2139.
 

CULINARY EVENTS
Want to learn to cook? Try new dishes? Meet a foodie friend for fun? Check out our compilation of culinary events in your area.
Santa Barbara Dining

Restaurant Awards

Our annual restaurant issue features the Best Cheap Eats and our top 40 U.S. selections, including Alinea in Chicago, Per Se in New York and more!

Thrills at the Grill

Reviews of the Week

Downtown L.A.'s hot dining scene welcomes the second branch of BottleRock, featuring small dishes and a wine shop. Chef Govind Armstrong brings his hip and seasonal cooking style to New York City with his third Table 8 restaurant, while San Francisco's Bar Tartine offers California cuisine with a dash of molecular gastronomy.