The Top 34 Places to Eat and Drink Near The Dutchess
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Rank 1. The Dutchess
Burmese
A 1920s Ojai cornerstone shifts from daytime bakery to evening Burmese kitchen, its quirky duality matched by a menu built on tea leaf salads, chickpea tofu, and curries meant for sharing. The real ambition emerges in dessert—a chocolate-caramel ganache tart that justifies the trip alone.
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Rank 2. Olivella
Californian/Italian
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Rank 3. Rory's Place
New American
Rory and Meave McAuliffe's Ojai restaurant pairs rustic warmth with a produce-driven menu that pivots from raw bar to natural wine with equal ease. A salad of avocado and beets arrives as pure color, while an herb broth with Aleppo sausage and clams reads as refined comfort.
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Rank 4. Caruso’s
Californian Italian
Chef Massimo Falsini's Italian prix-fixe pivots on Santa Barbara seafood and garden vegetables, each plate a study in restraint and richness. The oceanfront dining room, all leather and linen, frames the Pacific with the same care he lavishes on uni-crowned pasta and strawberry desserts.
- Forbes Travel Guide Forbes Five Star
- Michelin Guide 1 Star
- James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Wine and Other Beverages Program
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Rank 5. The Manor Bar
Californian
- The Pinnacle Guide 2 Pins
- Spirited Awards 2026 · Top 10 Nominee · Best U.S. Hotel Bar
- Industry Excellence Awards Best Cocktail Program
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Rank 6. The Stonehouse
Rustic New American
A stone cottage set among gardens and oaks at San Ysidro Ranch, with a fireplace and creekside views that justify arriving early. The kitchen draws heavily from the property's own herbs and produce, whether for a burger or pan-roasted striped bass, and the wine list rewards curiosity. Service knows its crowd and its place.
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Rank 8. Bettina
Wood-fired Pizza
A gleaming pizzeria in the Montecito Country Mart where two former Roberta's devotees apply slow-fermented dough, house-pulled mozzarella, and obsessive sourcing to pies that transcend the category. Wood-fired char marks everything from a simple pepperoni to seasonal creamed leeks with sausage; hand-cut pastas and brown-butter cookies suggest a kitchen that doesn't believe in half-measures.
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Rank 9. Little Mountain
Californian
Chef Diego Moya's dining room in Montecito channels Spanish Colonial restraint—whitewashed walls, brick, wood beams—to frame a globally rooted menu anchored in local catch and produce. A tile fish ceviche arrives sharp with yuzu kosho; the Mt. Lassen trout, sided with wild mushrooms and beurre blanc, confirms the kitchen's command of both delicacy and depth.
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Rank 10. AMA Sushi
Edomae Sushi
In a darkened Japanese pavilion within the Rosewood Miramar, AMA Sushi executes edomae technique with quiet precision. The omakase moves through seared scallops and pristine nigiri—New Zealand king salmon, kamasu kissed with red chili—before finishing with black sesame cheesecake. A chef working at full attention, ingredients at their most honest.
- Food & Wine 2023 · Hinode · Best Dishes Our Editors Ate This Year
- Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
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In a compact Santa Barbara counter near the Montecito Inn, two chefs work in sync, torching slices of A5 wagyu and Japanese tuna, finishing them with brown sugar, chili ponzu, fried onions—ingredients that treat omakase as a kitchen's playground rather than a tradition to revere. The mood is convivial and loose, the chefs eager to talk; later seatings reward patience with extra courses.
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- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #1 · U.S. Barista Championship · Kay Cheon
- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #15 · U.S. Brewers Cup · Ryland Mandell
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Rank 13. Silvers Omakase
Omakase Sushi
At a narrow counter where all guests sit together, Chef Lennon Silvers Lee mills his own rice and dry-ages fish sourced from both coasts, shifting the nigiri menu daily with precision. The uni rice, spiked with wasabi and crowned with crisp masago arare, arrives as a kind of punctuation before house-made sorbet closes the meal.
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- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #1 · U.S. Barista Championship · Kay Cheon
- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #15 · U.S. Brewers Cup · Ryland Mandell
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Rank 15. Loquita
Spanish
A cream-walled Spanish spot steps away from the beach where pink-stools line the bar and hand-painted tiles catch the light, with servers who steer you toward pan con tomate and paella with the ease of true believers. The olive homage and carpaccio with aged sherry vinegar suggest a kitchen that knows when to honor tradition and when to nudge it sideways.
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Rank 16. Bouchon
Wine Country French
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Rank 17. Sama Sama Kitchen
Southeast Asian Vietnamese
Downtown Santa Barbara's Sama Sama pairs Nashville barbecue sensibility with Indonesian technique to produce Southeast Asian food that tastes assured and unpretentious. Green papaya salad arrives herbaceous and properly incendiary; bao—steamed or fried—cradles unctuous chicken in bright, tangy sauce. The patio, strung with lights and arranged for sharing, feels like the real draw.
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Rank 18. Los Agaves
Mexican
A casual counter-order spot where generous California-Mexican cooking arrives in a family-filled room that fills quickly at dinner. Lime-marinated halibut ceviche tostadas, oversized burritos, and crispy al pastor tacos topped with pineapple and chipotle set the bar for straightforward, satisfying food executed without pretense.
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Rank 20. The Lark
Seasonal New American
A former fish market in the Funk Zone pulses with an edgy vitality—vintage fixtures casting amber light across tables laden with family-style portions built on central coast produce. Blistered shishitos, roasted eggplant with cilantro yogurt, and duck-fat breadcrumbs move with assured technique toward original ends. The wine list charts Santa Barbara's best with intelligence.
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Rank 21. Blackbird
Mediterranean
The dining room at Blackbird, tucked into the waterfront Hotel Californian, channels art deco glamour through arched doors that seem to invite the sea itself inside. The kitchen honors the Pacific with spaghetti of local urchin and whole branzino, finishing with unexpected gestures like fig pavlova drizzled in savory oil.
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Rank 22. Barbareño
Californian New American
Smoke drifts across a casual patio steps from downtown Santa Barbara, where the kitchen balances bold flavors with playful technique—grilled avocado charred and creamy, cornmeal blini topped with whipped cheese foam and cured egg yolk, single-origin chocolates and mead-spiked panna cotta for dessert. Small plates and local wines settle into a dining room that feels unhurried and assured.
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Rank 23. Corazon Cocina
Mexican
Inside the Santa Barbara Public Market, Ramon Velazquez grills handmade tortillas and builds tacos with the precision of his Guadalajaran lineage—octopus and white shrimp pile into one; local produce brightens a Oaxaca cheese quesadilla. The salsas arrive in trio, each one worth tasting.
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Rank 24. Yoichi's
Traditional Japanese
Chef Yoichi Kawabata, trained at Nobu Tokyo, runs this austere white-walled dining room with his wife, serving precise seven-course kaiseki menus built on pristine fish and seasonal vegetables. Grilled Wagyu glazed in sansho pepper and tender duck breast in sweet soy exemplify the kitchen's restraint and refinement.
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Rank 25. Bibi Ji
Indian
Pink signage announces an Indian kitchen where sommelier Rajat Parr and Alejandro Medina pursue inventive small plates in a vaulted room that spills onto a green patio. Crispy cauliflower and tandoor lamb chops arrive with precision and spice; the wine list trails behind the food.
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Rank 26. ONYX Restaurant
Japanese
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- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #1 · U.S. Barista Championship · Kay Cheon
- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #1 · U.S. Barista Championship · Kay Cheon
- US Coffee Championships 2025 · #15 · U.S. Brewers Cup · Ryland Mandell
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Rank 29. Nobu Malibu
Japanese
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Rank 30. The Brothers Sushi
Japanese
A spare, dark-wood counter and floral arrangements set the stage for chef Mark Okuda's refined sushi program, where halibut arrives in a martini glass with yuzu vinegar and micro shiso, and pristine nigiri—albacore, skipjack, bonito—speaks to a serious hand. The prices stay approachable even as the fish doesn't compromise.
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Rank 31. Lum Ka Naad
Thai
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Rank 32. Angel's Tijuana Tacos
Tijuana-Style
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Rank 33. Tacos 1986
Tijuana-Style
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