When friends traveling toSanta Barbara ask me for restaurant recommendations,Dom’s Taverna always tops my list. Then come the texts from the table, detailing every bite in real time. One friend simply said: “I’m in love with this place.”
Chef Dom Crisp’s
Basque-leaning restaurant opened in mid-2025 yet feels like it’s been there for years — a neighborhood gathering spot, cheery and constantly bustling. Adjacent to State Street’s north end, where cars are restricted, Dom’s draws locals and visitors alike with its vibes and its food.
Operating in Santa Barbara has its privileges: Local farmers and fishermen provide some of the best produce and seafood on the West Coast. Crisp hails from Wren, Oregon, near the coast, where his family owns a 150-acre vineyard and farm on the western edge of the Willamette Valley. This is the chef you want preparing your grilled Pacific prawns and chilled Santa Barbara crab claws. El Niño weather patterns, already underway, will impact wildlife and especially seafood; Crisp’s lifelong expertise, long career in Los Angeles restaurants, relationships with local fishermen, and understanding of howelevated ocean temperatures and increasingly frequent storms affect fish are key here. Operating with genuine environmental awareness requires adjusting to what’s available on the fly. Crisp and his team adapt deliciously.
What to order
- Though yellowfin tuna crudo is ubiquitous on California menus, it gets a real star turn here. Local fishermen make clear which part of the Channel Islands, directly off the Southern California coast, they caught the fish from, and Crisp’s team uses as much of it as possible. Right now, they dry-age tuna and confit the scraps in Spanish olive oil with aromatics, then whip them with eggs and capers to make a tuna aioli. The team compresses the dry-aged tuna loin in a tortilla press and serves it atop aioli; deep, multi-dimensional flavor comes through in every bite.
- Sous chef Andrew Holmes introduced his cornbread, which develops a firm crust around a tender interior. Slathered in Asturian chestnut butter or Cantabrian anchovy butter, it’s something to order for the table, as an appetizer or alongside other dishes; some even make a dessert of it with a scoop of ice cream.
- In fall 2026, the team added a juicy merguez lamb smash burger. Order the smoked fish dip and fries alongside for a satisfying savory-salty combination.
- I love seeing Crisp’s creativity with produce grown in and around the Santa Ynez Mountains, which cradle Santa Barbara. His Brussels sprouts and delicata squash salad, doused in a cherry, pomegranate, and molasses gastrique, spends some time in the restaurant’s Josper charcoal oven to build caramelization.
- Dom’s even added a $29 bar-only “girl dinner” with a frozen martini, three raw oysters with fixings, one steak pintxo skewer, and fries.
- The hearty, refreshing Louie salad is the ideal balance to the steak frites, currently featuring charred, rich Australian wagyu. Crisp rotates the cut depending on what’s available from his independent purveyor.
- The seafood-heavy cioppino pasta alone makes the two-hour drive from Los Angeles to Santa Barbara worthwhile. A delectable kombu marinara swimming with shellfish, rockfish, shrimp, and calamari clings to the egg-free fettuccine. A slice of toasted bread helps you get every drop of that sauce.
- Those who just want a light meal at the bar can opt for a cocktail with bite-sized Basque pintxos. Try the clams made with salty, flavorful Chistorra sausage, garlic, shallots, and scallions.
To drink
At Dom’s, drinks are almost always a collaboration between the kitchen and bar lead Ben Carey. Take the recently introduced banana daiquiri, which starts with bananas vacuum-marinated in a reduction made of maple, cherry, vinegar, and tamari to counteract the sweetness, then cooked in the Josper oven for rich caramelization. Carey clarifies the cooked banana with milk, removes the solids, and mixes the concentrated banana essence with rum for a slightly sweet cocktail garnished with a local curry leaf. Dom’s business partner, Raj Nallapothola, often offers a sip of his Laie vermouth after the meal.
The vibe
Sitting inside Dom’s, watch pedestrians peek in the window as they pass by. They’re checking out the bright, coastal-themed interior with its open kitchen, an inviting room that suits the historic town; the long, revamped marble bar; the imported tiles from Valencia, Spain; and the white oak brought in from Crisp’s family’s vineyard. Even in the newly restored second-story dining room and soon-to-be speakeasy, come as you are, true beach-town style (though shirts and shoes are, of course, required).
Insider tip
Crisp and his team are always experimenting, adding, and removing from the menu. Ask what’s new or special for the day, and best believe that something out of this world will land on your table.
The takeaway
Dining as a group is the best way to sample Dom’s menu. The hot and cold starters, or pintxos, can easily fill a table or be snacked on at the bar. Many of the dishes, including a whole fish and a bone-in steak, are cooked over a wood fire and honor Crisp’s years at the now-closed Saso in Pasadena. Another reason Dom’s stands out in Santa Barbara? It stays open until 11 p.m. most nights.
