City Guide: What to Do in Santa Barbara

City Guide: What to Do in Santa Barbara

Greetings from The American Riviera.
by Julia Mayer | February 29, 2024

Santa Barbara is our hometown, and when we opened Dune, it was with the goal to make SB a better place. My grandfather moved out from Chicago to attend Brooks School for Photography in the 1950s, which is located across the street from our roastery!

While Santa Barbara is definitely a tourist destination, (being an hour from Los Angeles), there is so much more to her than just tourist excursioning. Santa Barbara is a geographic diamond: the city itself is locked by mountains and the ocean, so everywhere you turn you can see one or the other. We have so much hiking, biking, surfing, skateboarding, and just ambling to offer you. We feel super-lucky to roast coffee here — I swear it makes our coffee taste just a bit more joyful and rad.

In the past 10 years, we have also seen a ton of small businesses open, and it has made us a thriving culinary spot! Many of us opened around the same time, and we have persevered through the challenges together, and are rooting for each other. What is nicer than eating food prepared by a customer and friend?

Our roastery is right across the street from one of California’s biggest and oldest farmers' markets: making it a destination in it’s own right. We grow the most delicious avocados here. I hope you will come enjoy some avocado toast and a tasty coffee, and cruise around SB with us!

 

 

Municipal Winemakers

22 Anacapa Street
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open Thursday to Sunday 12:00 pm

Muni Wine is a real gemstone in our town: half a block from the beach with tons of patio seating for wine-sipping hangs.

Municipal Winemakers' menu is full of fun and approachable wines — honestly they feel like our best friend business! We really approach our business with a similar mission. Muni usually will have some food trucks parked out front on the weekend, so it really has it all.

Their space is super-fun, featuring old timey arcade games, a fireplace, and movie theater seating. And their wines! From Pinots grown in the Santa Ynez Valley, to a whole host of natural wines, bubbles, and a rosé called Debra, it’s just unpretentious deliciousness all day.

 

Revolver Pizza

1429 San Andres Street
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open Monday 5:00 pm
Open Wednesday to Sunday 12:00 pm

Located on Santa Barbara’s Westside, Revolver is everything I want in a pizza spot: records playing in the lobby, an uncomplicated menu of the best pizza you have ever had, paired with rotating local wines.

It is unfussy and excellent: like exactly what you want out of pizza! The dough is crispy and perfect and pairs excellently with late SB afternoons sipping a Topo Chico. I always run into my favorite Santa Barbara people here, which in a small town like SB, is the ultimate compliment for a restaurant!

 

Lighthouse Skateshop

16 B Helena Avenue
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open daily 11:00 am

I love this place! If you want to get a feel for a city, find their local skateshop. Lighthouse makes our town’s skate culture thrive: they are so rad and so friendly, and super-encouraging if perhaps skateboarding isn’t your first love language!

Lighthouse is right across the street from Santa Barbara’s skatepark and waterfront, which has miles of pathways along the ocean: perfect for a little skate date. This tiny little shop stuck in next to SB’s Surfing Museum carries all the new and greatest skate companies, along with their own merchandise designed by local designers like DJ JAVIER (who has done a bunch of design work for Dune, too).

 

Mission Historic Park (The Rose Garden)

Laguna Street and East Los Olivos Street
Santa Barbara, California 93103
Open daily

This park is located right across the street from one of the city's oldest and most beautiful buildings, the Santa Barbara Mission. On any given day, this place is a common meeting ground for anyone in the city looking to relax or meet up for a picnic. Go here for good times, sun rays, and to make memories.

— Felix Felix, Director of Retail Operations, Dune Coffee Roasters

 

Satellite

1117 State Street
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open daily 12:00 pm

Drew Cuddy, Chef Emma West, and the team at Satellite — who happen to be our neighbors from our State Street location — specialize in thoughtfully produced and delicious wines (read: natural), along with vegetarian and vegan fare sourced from the Santa Barbara Farmers' Market.

For lovers of fresh wines and fresh food, Satellite is the place (grab a French press or cold brew of our coffee after a sunny day with a cold bottle).

 

Backyard Bowls

331 Motor Way
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open daily 8:00 am

Additional locations

Started in Santa Barbara around the same time as our original location, Backyard Bowls is a staple for a Santa Barbara day. Grabbing an acai bowl after a warm morning at the beach? Perfect.

 

Corazon Cocina

38 West Victoria Street, Unit 122
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open daily 11:00 am

There are so many fantastic restaurants in Santa Barbara, it makes it tough to narrow it down — but sometimes you have to follow your heart.

Chef Ramon's cooking is some of our favorites, and Corazon is a must-visit whenever we have friends visiting in town (did someone say ceviche?).

 

Bree'osh

1150 Coast Village Road
Montecito, California 93108
Open daily 7:00 am

Nelly and Pierre Henry are the owners of Bree'osh, specializing in French pastries, artisanal sourdough bread, and pairing a custom Bree'osh Blend that we roast with all of their delectable fares.

Dune also serves Bree'osh pastries in our cafés, so we stand by how good we think their offerings are.

 

Cajun Kitchen

901 Chapala Street
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open daily 7:00 am

Another Santa Barbara classic, Cajun Kitchen is a neighborhood diner that serves hearty, uncomplicated breakfast fare that invites you to sit and stay a while (while the Gatorboy Blend coffee flows unendingly).

 

J.J's Diner

413 State Street
Santa Barbara, California 93101
Open daily 8:00 am

J.J.'s Diner, owned by Juan Jimenez of the Cajun Kitchen family, is located within walking distance from our Anacapa location and makes it even harder to resist sitting down for a proper breakfast after getting an espresso on a Saturday morning.

— Kay Cheon, Wholesale and Education, Dune Coffee Roasters

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