Cocktail – Page 2

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 Leave a 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.

Carlito’s Pomegranate Margarita

June 25, 2010May 27, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Stunning to think that Carlito’s has been in Santa Barbara 32 years, serving up Mexican food across from the Arlington. That patio always stays packed when the sun is out, and that’s most of the time in our ‘burb. The chips and salsa keep coming, and oh my, that salsa! Or rather, those salsas, the chunky tomato version is so thick that the chips have a hard time standing under the weight. The black bean and corn salsa is oh so crunchy. What really could go with this lovely salt’n’corn combo?

Why, cocktails of course. Silly to ask, really. This is the Drink of the Week column, and Carlito’s was off our radar for a while only because it doesn’t have a physical bar to sidle up to. Instead, we sidled up to the menu, and found that there’s about 20 choices for the cocktail fan. So let the party begin, and come find us on the patio.

Ca’Dario’s Ruby Red Martini

June 18, 2010May 27, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Ca’Dario, in our humble opinion, has never really lost the buzz that it earned all those years ago, when it first started offering Italian food on the corner of Victoria and Anacapa. And that’s not just our opinion, that’s the general vibe at an early-week lunch, which is just overflowing with people. Ca’Dario, although going on 13 years, never opened the bar section (four seats) until late 2008.

Manager Danny Chisholm is the man making our cocktails today, and he says most people sit at the bar when waiting for a table. But here’s where they discover what we did: the bar affords a great view of the magical Ca’Dario kitchen and the plate-assembling area. We got pretty hungry watching pastas, salads and meat dishes pass by with their finishing touches. Nothing to do but have some cocktails.

Moby Dick’s Pineapple Cosmo

June 11, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Looking back from Moby Dick restaurant toward the blue skies and green mountains of Santa Barbara, we had to once again remind ourselves that we live in the place so many tourists wish they did. And we also have a job that others wish they had. But you know, it’s not all fun and games…in fact…

…well, I can’t come with anything right now. Will get back to you later on that. It was a gorgeous day.

So anyway, Moby Dick takes up prime real estate at the end of Stearns Wharf and offers many a ocean view table — inside and outside — and a tiny little bar set up for making cocktails. And make cocktails they do. Bartender Joseph Silva has been making drinks here for going on 18 months, having worked up from server. With no bar space to sit at, we took up residence at a table and watched kayaks, paddleboarders, sailboats and seagulls pass by.

Chili’s Grill and Bar’s Freshest Margarita

June 4, 2010June 3, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Is it possible to have a neighborhood bar in a big box mall? Hollister Brewing Co. is having a go at it, and next to them, Chili’s looks dinky by comparison, walled in on the other side by Pastavino and Holdren’s. A 10-seat bar, sports inevitably on the TV, windows that look out over the parking lot…and regulars.

Yes, Chili’s is corporate, but manager Israel Fuentes has been here five years (10 total in the Chili’s chain) and bartender Jen Bradshaw has been here three and a half. And during this economic downturn he hasn’t had to lay anybody off.

Tre Lune’s Negroni

May 21, 2010May 26, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

Tre Lune on Coast Village Road offers Italian food, Italian wine, Italian(ish) photos on the walls…but would it serve Italian cocktails? We drove over at early dinner time last week to check out this very small bar in a very busy restaurant. Behind the bar we ran into several people we knew already. One was a former neighbor of mine. Another was Gabriel, who we had just met a few weeks ago at Las Aves. Another was Steven Goularte, who we swear has made us a cocktail before, but where, oh, where?

Patrick Rathbun and Goularte tag-teamed the bar for our sampling of cocktails, and we enjoyed watching them dance around each other while making various drinks and dodging the other servers coming in for orders.

Las Aves Café’s Raspberry Martini

May 7, 2010May 27, 2015 tedmills Leave a comment

When Las Aves used to be known as A Capella, we tagged the bar and restaurant as a perfectly clandestine location for an affair, a nefarious business meeting or a place to hatch plots. And we meant that in the best possible way — to paraphrase “Cheers,” sometimes you want to go where nobody knows your name. But Las Aves, which has taken over the space and remains a part of the Best Western near Cottage Hospital, is having none of that. Remodeled into something bright and airy, with no division between bar and restaurant, you will be noticed, even by people next door at the pool. However, you get to watch them too, so, hey, it ain’t all bad.

Owner Ivan Arroyo, who last worked at CafÉ Del Sol, bought the place only recently and has spent the last month getting ready for the soft opening earlier in April. They just opened and waited to see who would come in, he says. Then we turned up, begging for cocktails.