Behind an unassuming counter window in sleepy San Roque lies the solution to a code-red problem we’ve had in Santa Barbara for some time now: A major shortage of great fried chicken.
Luckily, local culinary heroes Ryan Simorangkir and Tyler Peek have leaped to our rescue with the recent introduction of their new pop-up: Woody’s Southern Chicken.
Every other Wednesday, Sama San Roque transforms into Woody’s, and both are housed inside the Lama Dog Tap Room + Bottle Shop (collectively known as Lama Sama), located at 3435 State St.
Sama San Roque is known for creative, Asian-inspired food and snacks.
“Asian food pairs really well with beer,” Simorangkir said, “because it’s spicy and saltier. We call our menu Asian Pub Food, and it features more sandwiches and salads than our menu at Sama Sama downtown.”
The regular menu is reason enough to visit, and featuring favorites like ramen and rice dishes, along with the unique P.L.T sandwich (chashu pork belly, lettuce, tomato, pickled carrot, Thai basil aioli on a brioche bun).
But taking the prize in the Asian Pub Food category has to be the Signature Wings (with house tamarind barbecue sauce) and the addictive Oko Tots (with okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie mayo, bonito, pickled cabbage and scallions).
Try to eat just one.
Lama Sama first debuted in late 2024, and beginning in August, the entire food menu now changes on alternating Wednesdays to showcase only fried chicken, various side dishes, and specialty desserts and pantry snacks.
“We named the Wednesday fried chicken pop-up Woody’s, after my dad,” Peek told us. “And I’m from Nashville, where’s there’s a fried chicken place on every corner, so I grew up with it.”
“Fried chicken,” Simorangkir added, “is one of those longtime favorites, something everyone likes. It’s cravable.”
Sama Sama Kitchen co-owners Tyler Peek, left, and Ryan Simorangkir have turned their attention to fried chicken as they expand their restaurant empire. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk file photo 
The Let’s Go Eat team found Woody’s Southern Chicken with a side of mashed potatoes to be moist, not chewy or dry, the coating flavorful and not at all greasy. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
The budding relationship between Lama Dog Tap Room + Bottle Shop and Sama San Roque looks to be a winning combination, becoming known as Lama Sama. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
Oko Tots feature okonomiyaki sauce, kewpie mayo, bonito, pickled cabbage and scallions. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
Where the magic happens. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
The Spicy Nashville brings the heat for hot chicken fans. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
The menu at Lama Dog Tap Room + Bottle Shop. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
The signature wings. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo 
A friendly and helpful face behind the counter. Credit: Rob Raede / Noozhawk photo
He told us he personally eats fried chicken five times a week, so he knows of what he speaks.
Fried chicken has long been a staple of American comfort food, with the first printed recipe in the United States appearing in 1824.
When Team Let’s Go Eat heard about Fried Chicken Wednesday, we made sure to be first in line when it debuted on Aug. 6.
We tried both the regular Southern recipe and the spicier Nashville version, plus various sides.
What we found was chicken cooked perfectly: moist, not chewy or dry, the coating flavorful and not at all greasy.
Word apparently spread quickly because on that first day it was sold out completely.
To create their unique recipe, “We pulled from books, online, everywhere we could think of,” Peek explained, “to find inspiration for fried chicken we could be proud of.”
“Fried chicken is one of those longtime favorites, something everyone likes. It’s cravable.”
Ryan Simorangkir
“And it’s still a work in progress,” he added. “We’re constantly trying to improve on it.”
In addition to the chicken, Woody’s offers sides like coleslaw, mashed potatoes and creamed corn.
On the dessert/specialty snack menu, you might find banana pudding, Italian truffle chips or Mochi gummy candies.
For Peek and Simorangkir, Sama San Roque is their fourth project, in a portfolio that includes Little Sama Ojai, The Lion’s Tale in Montecito and their flagship Sama Sama Kitchen at 1208 State St. in downtown Santa Barbara.
Simorangkir, who was born in Santa Barbara but raised in Indonesia, “fell in love with food traveling in Spain” after high school, he told us, and shortly thereafter headed for cooking school in Pasadena.
Peek, born and raised in Nashville, moved to Palm Springs after graduating high school and got his start at the well-known King’s Highway, then also enrolled in cooking school.
After graduating from chef school, they worked together in Bali where they learned the art of Indonesian cooking.
Adding a few ideas contributed by various aunts and grandmothers, and they had the basis for their first restaurant, Sama Sama.
No good meal is complete without the proper beverage, and Lama Dog (which gives their San Roque outpost the classy name “Lama Dog Uptown”) thoughtfully offers 30 different beers on tap for you to consider, so you’re certain to find something that pairs well with your food.
Plus there are fun events, including Tuesday Trivia Nights and Adopt-a-Puppy nights co-hosted with Le Woof Rescue. I mean when the word “dog” is right there in your name, you kind of have to.
So our advice if you’ve been craving great fried chicken: Keep an eye on Sama San Roque’s Instagram page, mark your calendars, and get yourself to Sama San Roque on an upcoming Wednesday.
Not all heroes wear capes.
When You Go
Sama San Roque/Lama Dog Tap Room + Bottle Shop, at 3435 State St. in Santa Barbara, is open from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday.
