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Isla Vista soon will be home to yet another place to buy chicken wings on the South Coast.
Wingstop is set to open in Isla Vista at 888 Embarcadero Del Norte. An employee at the La Cumbre Plaza store in Santa Barbara told Noozhawk that the restaurant is set to open the last week of October.
There’s a bit of a wings craze going on along the South Coast, with the Isla Vista shop being the latest perch for the popular finger food. Last February, Wingstop opened in La Cumbre Plaza, the first on the South Coast.
Shortly after that, Wingman Rodeo opened on Hollister Avenue, the second of the locally owned shop, following its popular restaurant on Santa Barbara’s Eastside.
The new Isla Vista store is nestled between Starbucks and The Habit, in the hub of Isla Vista’s commercial district, a spot likely to be popular among students and families who live in the unincorporated area.
Wingstop is one of the nation’s fastest-growing restaurants. The publicly traded stock has risen 500% in the past five years. About 1,500 Wingstop locations exist throughout the nation, and the company is reportedly shooting for 2,000.
New Restaurants in Goleta
Timbers Roadhouse and Whiskey Joe’s are now open in western Goleta.
The longtime restaurant Timbers reopened under new ownership after a 15-year hiatus.
The primary Timbers restaurant will be open from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday and is mostly a steakhouse, according to co-owner Kim Stabile.
Whiskey Joe’s is the name of the bar and more casual restaurant area, and is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily.
It’s the latest venture for the owners, Kim and Gino Stabile, who previously owned Woody’s BBQ in the Magnolia Shopping Center.
“We are pleased to bring back the Timbers to once again become part of the community that it once was,” Kim Stabile said. “The Timbers is open and ready to serve all as the Timbers Roadhouse. Come join us for good times, amazing food and mouth-watering cocktails. Timbers is back and ready to resume the Timbers tradition as a center for our community.”
Life at the Outback
Speaking of steakhouses, Goleta’s Outback Steakhouse closed in 2017, leaving parts of Goleta wondering where they would find their Bloomin’ Onion. The large space has been vacant since.
New grub might be on the way. The space at 5690 Calle Real has been leased.
Although an announcement has not been made about what is going inside, Vince Coronado, director of marketing at Radius Commercial Real Estate, said he heard that “a new concept restaurant apparently like a Finney’s” would be going into the shop.
Something is better than nothing.
Santa Barbara Bed Taxes Rising
Santa Barbara’s hotel bed taxes continue to rise from the same period a year prior.
The city took in $2.8 million for September — nearly $1 million more than the same month in 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing.
It’s even higher than in 2019, by about 20%, but that’s because room rates have increased, according to Jennifer Tomaszewski, finance and treasury manager for the city.
“The local travel industry is now seeing increases in demand for rooms relative to recent months that is likely to continue throughout the fall as the state has lifted travel advisories and as access to vaccinations has become more widely available,” according to a City of Santa Barbara news release.
The city has collected $9.9 million through September, the third month in the city’s fiscal year.
— Noozhawk staff writer Joshua Molina can be reached at jmolina@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.