Work has me heading to Santa Barbara right now from Costa Mesa. Any must sees along the way? Thanks, Joe
Hollister Brewing, just south of Santa Barbara in Goleta, is definitely worth a stop for lunch and beers. Good range of well-made styles for a suburban strip mall brewpub, and many of the hoppier offerings rival the IPAs out of San Diego.
If you're on the 101, Ladyface in Agoura is pretty cool and literally 100 feet from the freeway. Chesebro DIPA is excellent, and their other beers are generally pretty good. They usually have a cool beer or two on special. Surf Brewery in Ventura makes some good beers (South Swell DIPA is awesome), but I haven't been to their tap room so I can't speak to their hours or the interior.
I don't know why but I always forget about them. I like a lot of their beers, and I've been meaning to visit for a while.
jp7161, which spot did you hit, how was it? I (based on my one experience) really enjoyed my visit to Hollister.
