Drink of the Week – Page 9

Tee-Off’s Sidecar

October 22, 2010June 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Back when State Street petered out at De La Vina and all this uptown was wilderness (or something pretty close), the Tee-Off was the clubhouse for the golf course up the hill. Or rather, because the course didn’t have a place to drink after the 18th hole, the original owners of the Tee-Off saw an opportunity. And hats off too them — the watering hole has made it into the 21st century with no sign of stopping. It still offers a traditional steak to diners sitting in its traditional red booths, and we must insist on the traditional fried chicken — so good it gets its separate neon sign outside the entrance.

Here’s a tip that even some regulars might not know, as relayed to us by longtime manager Todd Elliot: the oldest part of the Tee-Off is the giant golf tees opposite the front door, but which are so covered in ivy, most people just see them as railings. Next time you walk in — possibly for a cocktail — look for them.

The Mecca’s Sex On The Beach

October 15, 2010June 30, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

The Mecca is once again fabulous. The easily missed entrance on Milpas hides a whole lot of history — and some mystery — behind its boxy little neighborhood bar appearance. Bathed in blue light and ringing with a guitarist playing Ranchero ballads, The Mecca was bumpin’ low-key style on a Thursday night. A bar full of regulars were chatting away while bartender SunRize Szekely whipped up drinks and manager Rafael Fernandez ran back and forth from bar to floor.

The Mecca goes back to the 1930s, making it one of the oldest bars in Santa Barbara. For a brief while in the late 2000s, it tried to be a different kind of bar, the up-market Legends Lounge, and then Chocolat, but a neighborhood needs a neighborhood bar, so when Fernandez and his brother bought it back a few years ago, the old name returned. According to Fernandez, people are going to call it The Mecca (or The Fabulous Mecca) no matter what an owner tries to do, so why fight it?

Arch Rock Fish’s El Presidio

October 8, 2010July 1, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Having survived Mel’s last week, we decided to check out another “neighborhood joint,” one with that very phrase blazoned across its sign. Arch Rock Fish (say that 10 times fast) spent a lot of the summer promising to open, and it just made it. Located in the former space of Melting Pot, this is a local endeavor, with menus designed by Scott Leibfried and, most importantly, drinks designed by Mike Anderson, the mixologist behind Marquee.

The theme here is local favorites, and the menu drops locations, some well known and others rare, including the Arch Rock of the title, part of Santa Cruz Island. The menu has its fair share of “place” names.

Maverick Saloon’s Bloody Mary

September 10, 2010June 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Over the years, happy bar patrons have affixed signed dollar bills to the ceiling of the Maverick Saloon with thumbtacks. And that’s not all: Look around and you’ll see hats, bras, panties and other unmentionables. Now that’s our kind of bar.

This Santa Ynez landmark has been slinging beers, whiskey and cocktails since 1963, and no doubt a trip over the hill was long overdue for the Drink of the Week crew.

Root 246’s Laughing Buddha

September 3, 2010June 22, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

One can’t talk about Root 246 without mentioning celebrity chef Bradley Ogden. He’s the artist behind all the food and drinks here, this little bit of Los Angeles on Alisal Road in Solvang, looking totally out of place (in a good way) between the strudel shop and the sharp knives shop and the usual windmillscape of this Dutch enclave up north. Ogden’s restaurant features one of the largest open kitchens we’ve seen in the county, and those who love to glimpse behind the scenes can even reserve a table in the corner of said kitchen and watch plates go from stove to dining room.

Somewhere in the middle of our second cocktail, there’s the man himself, behind the bar, shaking our hands and asking about our drinks, letting us know the attention that goes into the food also goes into the cocktail menu. We were just thinking that ourselves, as the menu at Root 246 contains an enticing blend of herbs (and spices!), fruits and special liquors. Our two bartenders, Andre Boler and Nick Collins, have been here for about the length of the entire run of Root, which opened in April of 2009. They’re quick to whip up some cocktails for us.

Trattoria’s Grand Smash

August 20, 2010June 16, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Bartender Milo Wolf has an interesting résumé. He drives and pilots the Land Shark around Santa Barbara, he hosts trivia nights and, for over a decade, he has poured drinks at 30 E. Victoria Street. That address, of course, used to be Pascual’s, which was the kind of watering hole where the shutters would come up in the morning and customers were ready for a drink. It has been home to Trattoria Vittoria for three good years now, and Milo is still there, albeit one night a week. Good thing we came in to try some cocktails when we did.

The Italian restaurant has some new cocktails on the menu and, of course, some favorites; the guys we wound up next to were drinking gin straight over ice. But we like a mix with our -ology, so we got ambitious.

Break Time’s Blood on the Water

August 13, 2010June 17, 2015 tedmills 1 Comment

We predict that, in the not-too-distant future, Shark Week will be some sort of unofficial holiday. People get very excited about this week, at least in lip service, and there’s so many televisions in bars now, it begs the question: Why not have a week when we can raise our glasses in toast while footage of great whites spool behind us?

That was the impression we got, anyway, when we left Break Time, the hidden bar on Encina Road in Goleta. They were just coming off shark week, and we couldn’t help but notice the amount of plastic sharks hanging about. When we first visited Break Time a few years ago, the bar was about to be transferred to the daughter of the Michel family, Liz, after years in the family. Liz Michel still runs the place, along with husband Carl, and they’ve been making a fair go of it.

Roundin’ Third’s Mind Eraser

August 6, 2010June 17, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Remember those signs on the way out into the desert: “Last Chance for Gas”?

Well, Roundin’ Third Sports Bar, tucked behind a 7-Eleven, is the proverbial “Last Chance for Booze” until Buellton.

Let us switch that around, though, and suggest all you Santa Barbarans got it wrong. For all the blue-collar workers in Gaviota, for all the locals in Ellwood, for all the retirees in Winchester Canyon? REPRESENT! This sports bar in a strip mall is actually your first chance for booze. And here you may stay.

Lacey’s Mind Eraser

July 30, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Remember those signs on the way out into the desert: “Last Chance for Gas”?

Well, Roundin’ Third Sports Bar, tucked behind a 7-Eleven, is the proverbial “Last Chance for Booze” until Buellton.

Let us switch that around, though, and suggest all you Santa Barbarans got it wrong. For all the blue-collar workers in Gaviota, for all the locals in Ellwood, for all the retirees in Winchester Canyon… REPRESENT! This sports bar in a strip mall is actually your first chance for booze. And here you may stay.

California Pizza Kitchen’s Cherry Lime Sparkler

July 23, 2010June 9, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Some journos spend months landing an exclusive interview with a Hollywood star. We spent six weeks working to bring you this exclusive review of California Pizza Kitchen’s cocktails. Our request went from server to manager to general manager to corporate office to public relations to marketing to… well, who knows? Way up we went in the halls of corporate pizza power and back down again to get the OK. At last it was on. CPK, we’re coming for your cocktails, so unlock that liquor cabinet.

First of all, has it really been 19 years since CPK hung its shingle at the former corner of De la Guerra? General Manager Kevin Secky has been here nine of those years, making sure the gears are greased and the dough is spinning. The full bar has only been open for three years, where it served beer and wine only once. But now there’s a page full of mojitos and margaritas and another page of assorted specialty drinks. Secky put the human face on the machine and welcomed us to it.