••• Godmothers Graze, the outdoor café at Godmothers bookstore in Summerland, is now serving a menu of sandwiches, salads, and more—a lot like what’s on offer down the street at Field + Fort, but more casual, in that you pick up the food at the counter and everything comes in disposable containers. It’s open daily 8-11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m. The eggs-and-greens bagel was quite good; the bagels are from Yetz’s.
••• Savoy Cafe & Deli decided not to reopen for dinner after all.
••• Petros is returning to its former space at State Street and Arlington Avenue, now a Cajé café, for pop-up lunch and dinner every Wednesday.
••• Thanks to the reader who spotted a beer/wine license for Oxnard’s Casa Agria Specialty Ales at Kim’s Service Department on State Street (Gutierrez/Haley); it’s taking the space in the rear, with the terrace. It won’t serve food, though; you can always get something from Broad Street Oyster Company or whoever ends up leasing the kitchen in the back.
••• Namaste Indian Bistro has opened in the former Bedda Mia space (1218 State Street). —Restaurant Guy
••• The Independent profiled The Sando Truck, now serving katsu sandwiches in the Funk Zone.
••• And the Independent also profiled Del Pueblo Café in Goleta.
••• Sweetie’s ice cream shop on the Mesa has closed; the space will be turned into a deli called Mission City Sandwich Shop.
••• The Bitar Restaurant Group—of Via Maestra 42, Via Maestra Enoteca, and Chase Restaurant—is taking over Milk & Honey on W. Anapamu. No changes are planned. —Restaurant Guy
••• My husband and I went to Barbareño for the first time in a long while, and I was delighted to see that the menu has been expanded quite a bit since. Along with the longer list of small plates, there are now four platters (said to serve two to three people), rather than entrées. Our server said that makes it easier on the kitchen, which is great, but it doesn’t work out quite as well for parties of two. We were also told that the restaurant will be introducing a 10-course tasting menu, which it subsequently did for its 10th anniversary on October 26 ($150, plus a 20% service charge and a $5 “order fee,” whatever that is). Anyway, we had a green salad with stone fruit, the black olive raviolo, and the Santa Maria BBQ, all of which were very good. The raviolo was actually the least interesting of the three dishes, but it’s the only one that photographed well.
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Hopefully Barbareño had the additional fees listed. Not listing the 20% service charge and a $5 order fee is ILLEGAL in California as of July 2024. You spent an extra $29 dollars + tip.
Once I find out that restaurants are still adding hidden fees I will never go there again. I know that vía maestra and the chase restaurant were adding fees and not letting customers know until you received your check.
No thanks!
@Erik – Fear not, Barbareno’s added fee is only for its special 10th anniversary event and it’s very clearly listed at the top of the Tock event page, which is linked in the article above.
Yes, I went to the 10th Anniversary 10 course tasting last night. All extra fees were clearly communicated, and It was worth every penny. They somehow acquired A5 wagu beef from Japan for the final course. It was AMAZING!
I thought Via Maestra was owned by a couple who had worked for the original owner. I didn’t know it changed ownership again to this Bitar Group ?
Same folks. That’s just their business name.
Thanks. Good to know.
Georges Bitar & his wife are the couple who bought it. I believe his wife used to work at Via Maestra? Georges bought it from the original owner Renato.
Yes, I read she had worked with Renato.
Wow, I was really surprised to hear about Sweetie’s closing and wonder how the Santa Barbara Restaurant Collective (Mesa/Lighthouse group) is doing. Anyone know? I wonder how a deli will distinguish itself there since we already have Lazy’s and Vons + Sams to Go and Subway. Sorry to see Sweetie’s go and wonder if McConnoll’s should have taken over the spot.
[Man, I really need to fire my self-editing editor. That’s a lot of “wonder” in them there sentences.]
Why they took their ny strip off the menu and replaced it with their tomahawk steak is beyond me. It was the best steak in town!
I am in the habit of using my charge card at a restaurant where I double the tax amount and round up to make the total bill an ‘even amount’ (ie $20, or $30.50) . That way, I let the restaurant do the math from the total to the subtotal and extract the tip amount which is ‘odd’ with dollars and cents. But my last 4 outings at restaurants, they just looked at the 18% or 20% (or more) at the bottom of their slips and added that to the subtotal, thus the amount taken from my charge card was NOT the ‘even’ amount I had filled in! It was always an ‘odd’ amount larger than what I had written as my final total to be charged. Anyone else noticed that happening?
I would think that is a bit illegal to do when I have filled in a TOTAL amount.
Sounds like a lot more trouble for everyone involved than just doing some basic arithmetic.