My sister and I felt like being adventurous (ala the Backyardigans) by exploring California and all it has to offer. First stop: Santa Barbara! I can’t believe in all the 7 years we have lived in LA, we never once ventured out to see the rest of California. I’m honestly kind of ashamed. But HEY, it’s never too late to start becoming Dora the Explorer!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The drive to Santa B was beautiful and I definitely listened to Bo Burhnam’s Inside soundtrack the entire way home. Hands up for our buddy Socko!

Santa Barbara is the CUTEST place ever. The vibes are immaculate.  The vibrations of the town are so much calmer and more peaceful than LA. It’s an entire city (is it a city or a county?) located near the beach. There are palm trees everywhere, the people are so friendly, the cafes are trendy, the architecture is beautiful  and the vibes are chill. It was such a nice escape from the chaotic evil of LA (you know I’m right about LA).

SO, in regards to vegan food, Santa Barbara is pretty vegan friendly! We were only there for a couple of hours so we didn’t get to explore that much of the vegan scene, but we didn’t have a hard time finding things to eat. In fact, it was pretty easy. Although I will say, Santa Barbara is very seafood heavy so you probably won’t find anything vegan at the main tourist spots. 

•  CAJÉ

CAJÉ is a super cool coffee shop that has the most INTERESTING and Instagram worthy coffee/matcha drinks. Their menu is super cool and their coffee drinks LOOK like cocktails. It’s wild. They do have regular matchas and stuff but they are mostly known for their cocktail-looking coffee drinks. I saw that they had a matcha drink named “Bella Rose” which was TOO good to be true considering my name is Bella Rose and I only drink matcha. It was love at first sight. The matcha had elderberry syrup, grenadine, beetroot powder, rose petals, and oat milk. It was the coolest thing ever and it tasted amazing!! If you like sugary matchas, you will LOVE this.

My sister got a regular hot matcha latte without the vanilla syrup that it usually came with and verbatim said it tasted like “sink ass” so maybe just go for their speciality drinks or get the matcha with the vanilla syrup. We also the got avocado toast on focaccia, which a vegan barista assured us was vegan. It came with delicious cherry tomatoes and balsamic glaze. So yummy! They also had vegan cookies at the counter. If you’re looking for a unique coffee shop in Santa B, this is it!

• Handlebar 

Since my sister didn’t love her matcha from CAJÉ, we decided to check out this cafe that was a 14 minute walk away. And let me tell you, this place was POPPIN. Clearly, one of the hottest cafes in Santa B. The line was OUT the door. Not to mention, we saw the cutest dogs in line!! I’m pretty sure they serve an avocado toast that is vegan, but we were pretty stuffed, so my sister just got a matcha latte with almond milk which she really loved. They also had two vegan cookies, and we got the cowboy cookie which was yummy! If you are looking for a trendy coffee shop, go here! Idk why we don’t have a pic of the matcha, but she swears it was delish!

• Satellite 

Guys, I shit you not, this is one of the best vegan places I have ever been to. It’s located on State Street (I think?) and is this adorable vegan restaurant/wine bar. They have a great outdoor seating area and the staff was so nice and helpful in regards to what to order. We ordered their famous “yoga pants” salad, their focaccia bread, the bean salad, the mushroom cups, and a lemon olive oil cake for dessert. 

The Yoga Pants salad was AMAZING. I don’t even like salad, and I gobbled the entire thing up. It’s OUTSTANDING. Truly one of the best salads I’ve ever had. If you come here, you have to order it. It’s famous for a reason!! The focaccia bread was to-die-for. It legit tasted like warm garlic bread and the balsamic olive oil dip had toasted garlic cloves in it and WOW. Flavor explosion in your mouth. 10/10 for both of those. My sister really loved the bean salad a lot!! The mushroom cups were probably the “worst” thing we got. We didn’t love it. It was kinda of “raw vegan” food and had a slightly weird taste. The lemon olive oil cake was 10/10, so bomb and delicious, light but flavorful, the perfect sweet treat to the end of a great meal. If you come to Santa Barbara and only have time to check out one place, COME HERE.

• Menchaca Chocolate + Coffee

We passed this chocolate stand on our walk to the Wharf and found out it was ALL vegan! Even the milk chocolate was made with oat milk!! The chocolate does have a bit of spice to it, but it was really delicious and unique. We got to try samples of the tortilla chips covered in chocolate and they were really good!! My sister got chocolate covered pretzels and loved them! So, if you find yourself walking towards the Wharf, keep your eyes peeled for a vegan chocolate stand!

• Lokum 

Lokum, also on State Street, is a really cool Turkish shop that sells Turkish coffee and Turkish delights (Ala Narnia… which they proudly reference!) The man working at the shop was super nice and told us all about the vegan options! If you don’t eat honey, make sure to specify that. We got a few different flavors/varieties of Turkish delights and they were all super yummy! If you’re interested in seeing what Edmund’s cravings in Narnia were all about, come here!

• Oliver’s 

We didn’t get a chance to check out Olivers because the reservations were ENTIRELY booked up (that’s how popular it is), but if you can get a rez, check this place out for dinner because apparently it’s one of the best vegan spots in Santa Barbara!

That’s it! Definitely check out Santa Barbara! It was so much fun! We ate, walked on the beach, took photos at the Chromatic Gates, looked in shops, and even went kayaking with Boba (my sister’s dog!!) They  gave her her own life vest!!!!! So cute!!!!