Linden Square, downtown Carpinteria’s new outdoor mall, is officially open for business. 

The shopping and restaurant center at 700 Linden Ave. is the new home for local businesses, including The Shopkeepers, Dart Coffee, Tina’s Pizza, Channel Islands Surfboards, Corazon Cocina, Macher, Olada Yoga and Pilates and Third Window Brewing. 

Rachel Greenspan and her husband, Brendan Smith, are opening Tina’s Pizza, which is the little sister of their restaurant Bettina in Montecito. 

Greenspan said they were drawn to Linden Square because of the design and to get closer to local customers.

“Seeing how beautiful the project was going to be was such a lure,” Greenspan said. “I mean, there’s so much outdoor space, and the open air element of this is pretty incredible, and it’s just another community that we can get food to.”

Tina’s will offer the same 12-inch pizzas as Bettina, with a few more options and seasonal offerings that will change every month or so. They also plan to start selling pizza by the slice in a month or two. Tina’s will have a wine shop, too.

Takeout is a big part of business at Bettina, and Greenspan said they hope to shift that over to Tina’s and focus on seating and reservations at Bettina.

Carpinteria celebrated the opening of Linden Square on Thursday. Multiple restaurants surround an open space dining and lounging area. The second level has multiple office units, more seating and a bar, for which the owners are in negotiations to find a tenant. 

Kristopher Parker, one of the owners of Third Window Brewing, said they plan to use their space as a test kitchen to try new foods inspired by the ranch his family grew up on.

“It gives us a little bit more freedom to try new things and then keep focusing on sort of utilizing things from the ranch that are a little bit underutilized, so that’s where a lot of the barbecue comes in for us,” Parker said. 

Third Window Brewing offers cheeseburgers, barbecue, pizza and tacos as well as a wide selection of beer and wine. Parker said they’re also raising their own barley and wheat to make their own flour for pretzels. 

Matt LaBrie and Terry Huggins are the first new owners of the Linden Avenue property in 128 years, taking over for the Hickey Banks Family Trust.

Terry Hickey Banks brought a painting of the original Hickey Brothers General Merchandise store that was on the site back in the late 1800s. The store was run by Banks’ great grandfather, Glen Hickey.

Banks said they spoke a lot with LaBrie and Huggins about the family history and how to honor that history in the building. 

“When I drive down the street today, it’s very hard for me,” Banks said. “My heart hurts sometimes when I look at this and say, ‘Oh, that’s no longer ours.’ Then I look at this building, and I just have to tell you, it just makes me happy, because it is fabulous. It is such a great addition to Carpinteria.”

LaBrie said they wanted the project to add something new to the community, not to compete with what was already there. They specifically chose regional tenants that are popular in other parts of the county, to bring them into Carpinteria. 

“We hope that this project gives locals a reason to come back downtown, try something new, and visit your old favorites and hang out,” LaBrie said.

Huggins said they felt that Carpinteria was missing a central gathering spot. In the heart of the project are numerous chairs, tables and couches surrounded by drinks and restaurants to make it feel like a living and dining room for the community.

Carpinteria City Councilwoman Mónica Solórzano said the opening of Linden Square, and the upcoming reopening of the Palms, marks a turning point for Carpinteria. 

“I’m hoping it definitely draws more people to downtown, both locals and people from Santa Barbara, Ventura, even further afield than that, just so that they can then walk around the rest of town, too,” Solórzano said. “We have some other really good stores and restaurants, and obviously the beach. I’m hoping it’ll be a focal point that’ll kind of encourage visitors and locals to fan out into the bigger community.”

Corazon Cocina, Tina’s Pizza, Channel Islands Surfboards and Third Window Brewing are officially ready for customers, and the rest of the businesses will be ready in the coming weeks. 

The Shopkeepers and Olada Yoga and Pilates are expected to open in two to three weeks, while Dart Coffee and Macher are expected to open in early July. 

DMHA Architecture and Interior Design were the architects for the project, and McGillivray Construction was the general contractor.