LA Roadhouse Meets Chinese Takeout at Santa Barbara

ddHey Sydneysiders, what y’all waiting for? Get yourself to Sydney’s newest mish-mash of LA-inspired roadhouse, Asian takeout and Tex-Mex trailer park, going by the name of Santa Barbara.

Located smack-bang under the Coke sign, and housing more than a lifetime’s worth of kitsch, the Drink & Dine boys (a la The Norfolk, Forresters, The Carrington etc.) have done it again. Another pub meets restaurant moment of glory.

Expect neon signage, fibre optic ornaments, timber clad walls, fake flowers, US number plates, Chinese-esque pineapple lanterns – and taxidermy like never before! You name it, it’s here.

The food is USAsian Bar-B-Q and is a melting pot of Korean, Chinese, Mexican and American. Tuck into Bings (Chinese pancakes) of peking duck, kung pow chicken and Korean short rib. For the anti-carnivores there’s BBQ pran ssams, kingfish poke, salt and pepper crab and an octopus hotdog. Be gone frankfurter!

The booze is aplenty, with no shortage of internationals on the beer front: Pacifico, Corona, Tsingtao and Bintang. When it comes to cocktails, it’s hard to pass up the Singapore Slang.

Kitsch has never looked this good.