Lower State

At Third Window Brewing, you’ll want to grab a few flights with friends and try as much as you can; they make their beer on site with wheat and barley grown just down the road. Gather in the taproom, which is spacious and convivial, or in the courtyard, which has great views of the hills. The food here is straightforward, and really good—smashburgers smothered in cheese and onions, French fries, sourdough pizza, and white oak–smoked barbecue on Sundays. They’re dog-friendly, too.

When Broad Street Oyster Co. debuted in a Malibu strip mall in 2019, we had a feeling the word-of-mouth phenomenon would become a common-knowledge spot. They have several locations now—this one’s on Santa Barbara’s State Street—each doing lobster rolls, seafood towers, and tuna tartare on tortilla chips just as excellently as the last. They lean into retro surfer kitsch and it feels just right.

"Our friends, who have kids with similar ages to ours, took us to this fantastic rock climbing place for an afternoon of fun. That's Moses on the wall..." - GP

This old school (i.e., it was established in '37) Italian joint is a huge hit: You get to dig into Spaghetti Alle Vongole, grilled salmon, and a pages-long wine list on the lovely patio out back, while they can spend any downtime playing Bocce on one of the two adjacent courts.

The name is actually kind of misleading, because The Funk Zone isn't all that funky—it's an area of Santa Barbara that plays host to tasting rooms for some of the the valley's best vineyards, galleries, plus a handful of the city's greatest restaurants.

This popular wine and beer tasting room makes short work of tasting way too many varietals from the Santa Ynez valley—and the best part, is they only source from award-wining wineries, meaning there are no doozies in the flights. Located in The Funk Zone, it's a fun place to go before a dinner reservation—or for a longer, lazier Saturday (they open at 11). They offer beer flights, too.

This full-fledged wellness center offers everything from yoga to acupuncture to cupping and visceral massage. There are more traditional spa offerings, too, including oxygen facials, organic spray tan, and a solid menu of massages. There's also an on-site vegetarian cafe.

Juice Ranch checks all the boxes when it comes to doing juice right. It's bottled in glass, cold-pressed, and organic, making it the go-to in Santa Barbara for great greens juices and delicious nut milk based drinks.

Wise people say that everything tastes better in either bowl or smoothie form, which is the abiding philosophy here: Specializing in hot porridge, acai bowls, and every manner of smoothie, this is one of those cheerful joints that entirely revolves around starting days right. They're onto something too, since it's booming: There are now six outposts across California, including a second outpost in Santa Barbara.

Tucked inside the beloved Santa Barbara Fish Market, this indoor-outdoor—it’s mostly outdoor, actually—restaurant is named after the overnight train that’s serviced this part of California for the first half of the last century (which also explains the vintage train booths). As evidenced by the generous portions of comfort food staples like deviled eggs, roasted chicken, and cheese fritters (all locally sourced, all delicious), the menu is designed to encourage sharing. The herbed popcorn—which magically appears at your table the second you sit down—is well worth the sodium bomb.