••• Carp Kitchen & Grocery, from Deb Goldman of Savory Thyme Catering, has opened in the former Crushcakes space on Carpinteria Avenue. It’s a “specialty food grocery store with prepared food counter, serving lunch and dinner for take out or delivery.” I picked up a few sandwiches and salads for lunch the other day, and they were all good, with the New Yorker and Californian Philly as standouts. I need to go back to investigate everything in the refrigerated cases….
••• The Independent has more on the plans for the new Goleta Beach restaurant, to be a branch of Huntington Beach’s SeaLegs mini-chain: we can expect “a focus on California coastal cuisine that’s elevated but not overly expensive, with regionally respectful beer, wine, and spirit selections. They’ll enhance the location’s varied settings—the two bars, the main dining area, the primary patio, and the small rooms that could be rented for small events—and turn the small stand outside into an ice cream shack also serving scaled-down menu options, possibly with to-go cocktails.”
••• The El Pollo Loco at State Street and Calle Laureles is now Pueblo Pollo, but the menu and experience remain the same. —Restaurant Guy
••• “Crazy Jim’s Tacos Y Más, which was operating at 505 State Street in the former Ana’s Tacos location since August 2020, appears to have closed.” —Restaurant Guy
••• The Independent profiled Riviera Bar.
••• I made it back to Costa at the Mar Monte Hotel, this time for drinks at the bar, which I can definitely recommend, especially if you get one of the balcony tables.
••• Someone has leased the former Outback Steakhouse building in Goleta: “Vince Coronado, director of marketing at Radius Commercial Real Estate, said he heard that ‘a new concept restaurant apparently like a Finney’s” would be going into the shop.” —Noozhawk
••• Timbers Roadhouse and a sister establishment, Whiskey Joe’s, have opened in Goleta. The former is a steakhouse; the latter is more of a bar and grill. Both menus are below (click to enlarge). —Restaurant Guy
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Hi, do you have opening hours for Carp Kitchen in Carpinteria?
I don’t have Instagram, their website is not up yet and I will be in that area early November. Thanks
11 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, according to an Instagram post last week. But hours can always change, so you might email them first at [email protected].
I remember the glory days of Winchester Canyon (now Timbers Roadhouse). They had great live music, lots of plants (fern bar vibe) and a great bar scene.