If you have never been to Santa Barbara, you are missing out big time! For some reason, I always pictured Santa Barbara as just another California city, a smaller version of LA, or San Diego or Sacremento. Boy, was I wrong! Santa Barbara is a coastal beach community that is surrounded by the Santa Ynez mountains. These mountains provide a beautiful and slighly rugged backdrop to the beautiful waters and sandy beaches of the Pacific Ocean. So, whether you are into surfing, sailing, scuba diving or boating OR hiking, mountain biking, off roading or horse back riding, you can do any or all of these within a short drive from Santa Barbara.
You would assume that Santa Barbara would also have great vegan food – and you would be right! Between Santa Barbara and Monticeto there are no shortages of vegan restaurants and others that cater nicely to the vegan community. We didn’t have nearly enough time to visit all the restaurants we wanted to, but we did hit some of the best for sure! There is no doubt we will be back to try the others very soon.
Savoy Cafe and Deli
Savoy Cafe and Deli is located in the heart of Santa Barbara and is locally owned and operated. Savoy offers a wide selection of vegan options including soups, sandwiches, salads, cold and warm entrees, grilled selections and desserts. There is a bakery and a nice, small wine shop as well. Savoy is open for breakfast and lunch only, so make sure you get there before 4 pm when they close. We really had a hard time deciding what to order since there were a ton of vegan options and everything looked so good! We decided on the Vegan Pasilla Fritter, the El Cap Sandwich (grilled portabella), the Tofu Rancheros and a couple cold salads. Plus, we couldn’t pass on dessert, so we got a warm chocolate and raspberry cupcake/cake which was awesome! Everything was so fresh, flavorful and just plain good! We almost went back again, but like I said, our trip was short and we had other places we wanted to try. Savoy will be on our list the next time we visit Santa Barbara for sure!
Rascals
Rascals is an all vegan Modern Mexican restaurant that is locally owned and operated. From what I know, Rascals just recently got their own space. Previously, they did what a lot of start ups do – make food where ever they can and find a way to get it to their customers. When the food is great, it is just a matter of time before good things happen and you get to open your own restaurant. Rascals food is great! We had the Baja Cauiflower Tacos, the Asada Sopes and the Al Pastor Tacos. The flavor development is wonderful – fresh, spicy and authentic. You can feel the passion in the food. The place had a cool vibe and the service was great.
Oliver’s
I have been eagerly anticipating Oliver’s and it lived up to all the hype. This is vegan dining at its finest. The restaurant itself is beautiful. The majority of the restaurant is an outdoor dining area and it is set within many live trees which form a natural and wonderful canopy. The vibe is casual upscale, but very inviting and comfortable. The menu offers a wide selection of unique dishes, flavors and options and it makes it very hard to choose. We heard that the Kung Pao Cauliflower has a Must Try. To be honest, I hesitated because there were so many different small plates and many were new, different and unique and I thought ordering the cauliflower might be too conservative. Boy was I glad we went with the Kung Pao Cauliflower. It’s a simple dish taken to a whole new flavor level – trust me, order it! We also started with the Artichoke Crab Cakes which were equally enjoyable. For our mains, we got the Braised Mushroom Ravioli, the Pear and Gorgonzola Flatbread and the Scallop Bucatini. All 3 were awesome – great flavors and different than anything we had ever experienced. I was least excited about trying the Pear and Gorgonzola Flatbread, but in the end, it might have been my favorite of the mains. For dessert, we had to try the Key Lime Pie – another thing we heard we had to try. Again, not something I would typically order, but I am so glad we did. It was frest, a bit tart with just the right about of sweetness and the crust killed it (in a good way). I can’t wait to go back and try some more of what Oliver’s has to offer.
It’s a Wrap
Like I said, there are so many vegan and vegan friendly restaurants in and around Santa Barbara. We only had time to visit a few, but the ones we did were spectacular. I know the next time we will add more to our list, but it will be hard not to go back and try more from the ones above as well. Do yourself a favor and visit Santa Barbara. Good food, good wine, great beaches, mountains and much more!
