Three Exciting New Restaurants Are Opening in the Santa Ynez Valley This Summer

The Santa Ynez Valley’s chill vibe, sprawling wineries, majestic views, and superlative dining scene remain as popular as ever with Angelenos looking to get away for the weekend. Three new restaurants are debuting in Santa Barbara County’s wine country this summer, adding to an already stacked slate of options in the region, including Michelin-starred Bell’s in Los Alamos, Bob’s Well Bread in Ballard, and the legendary Hitching Post II in Buellton.

First up, the folks behind S.Y. Kitchen and Nella Kitchen & Bar are opening a casual counter-service restaurant and market called Stica at 3563 Numancia Street in Santa Ynez. Chef Luca Crestanelli, owner-partner of Toscana Restaurant Group, is serving pinse, a kind of Roman-style pizza, along with grab-and-go salads and sandwiches, for an easy meal option while bopping around different wineries.

Next, chef Cullen Campbell will open Crudo across from Solvang’s iconic Alisal Road windmill in July. The two-story restaurant will serve raw fish preparations with an Italian bent using regionally sourced ingredients, along with a tight selection of handmade pastas and large-format proteins. Chef Jill Davie of Full of Life Flatbread will assemble the restaurant’s dessert menu. Sometime in 2025, Campbell will open a sister restaurant upstairs specializing in sushi and izakaya-style small plates. Campbell was previously the executive chef at the Tavern at Zaca Creek and most recently cooked at Full of Life Flatbread in Los Alamos. The chef was formerly based in Phoenix, Arizona, where he owned and operated Okra Cookhouse & Cocktails and Café Crudo.

Finally, chef Budi Kazali, the former chef and owner of the Ballard Inn, is reviving his restaurant the Gathering Table, which closed in 2022, in the Succulent Café space at 1557 Mission Drive in Solvang. The Gathering Table 2.0 will take cues from its first iteration inside the Inn, serving a shareable menu with Asian and French influences, featuring seasonal, locally sourced produce, seafood, and meats.

The trio of summer openings is arriving in time for the heavy tourist season and is a sign that development is speeding up in the region as California residents and travelers continue to grow wise to the myriad charms that can be found just two hours northwest of Downtown Los Angeles.