Dang!

The burgers better be good if “dang” is in the name.

Gil Craddock and Emery Hickenbotham have opened Dang Burger at 5080 Carpinteria Ave. in Carpinteria with the goal of creating “yummy, nostalgic food.”

The name is as it sounds. Craddock often would pepper his speech with the word “dang,” as a joke, and a friend suggested that he call the restaurant Dang Burger.

“It was the name we liked the most and hated the least,” Craddock told Noozhawk.

There’s nothing to hate, however, about Craddock and Hickenbotham’s rise from pop-up restaurant to storefront, with a rapidly growing following.

“We’re here making cheeseburgers, and we’re just trying to be your local burger shop,” Craddock said.

They always cooked burgers for friends, then the COVID-19 pandemic hit. They were in-between jobs, so they decided to pursue the cooking as a career. They bought a grill and starting doing pop-ups at breweries in Carpinteria.

“Every pop-up we did we just got more and more people coming to our burger spot,” Craddock said.

He’s the co-owner and chef. He worked in Ojai at Rory’s Place and at Little Dom’s Seafood in Carpinteria. He loves making seafood, but burgers have a place in his heart.

“I just love cheeseburgers, nostalgic food; it’s my passion in the culinary world and re-creating things I liked to eat as a kid,” Craddock said.

He set out to make a burger that people wanted to eat, that reminded them of being at a baseball game.

The menu is simple — burgers and fries. There is a black bean veggie patty, as well as salads and sweets, including chocolate chip cookies and sodas. The burger meat is grass- and carrot-fed Santa Carota beef from the Pettit ranch east of Bakersfield.

Craddock grew up in Carpinteria, and Hickenbotham in Santa Barbara. They are sharing a space with Sunburst Wine Bar; it’s where they set up their original pop-up.

“They do the drinks, we do the food,” Craddock said.

They opened about two weeks ago.

Although they both grew up locally, Hickenbotham and Craddock met each other in the Bay Area. They played in a band together called Macko, a “punk hard-core” band.

“We moved back to the area during COVID and we really wanted to bring more good food to the area,” Hickenbotham said.

“The burgers are great. They have only gotten better since we got into a permanent location.”

Sales, Bed Taxes Under Budget

Sales tax revenue in Santa Barbara is 6.6% below budget expectations for the quarter ending Sept. 30.

“This result reflects softening economic activity amid a persistently high-inflation environment,” the City of Santa Barbara said in a statement.

For fiscal year 2024, the city’s sales tax revenue budget is $30.6 million. The city’s year ends June 30.

Hotel bed taxes are also lower than projections by about 5.4% for the city’s fiscal year, which began July 1.

So far this year, the city has collected $13.3 million in transient occupancy taxes. Of that, $12.4 million came from hotels and $890,000 from short-term rentals, according to the city.

More Hotel Data from Visit Santa Barbara

According to Visit Santa Barbara, South Coast hotel occupancy declined 3% — dipping to 70% — in October, compared with the same month the prior year.

“Our hospitality industry is experiencing a shift and softening in the pricing of leisure stays, with discounted overnight bookings playing a role in attracting visitors, even in favorable fall weather conditions,” Kathy Janega-Dykes, president/CEO of Visit Santa Barbara, said in a statement.

The average rate for a South Coast hotel room in October was $339 a night, down 5% from the same month the year prior, according to Visit Santa Barbara.

The data includes hotels in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Summerland and the unincorporated Santa Barbara County area between Gaviota and Summerland.

Local Attorney Recognized

Aaron Arndt received a certificate of recognition for his “dedication to the mission and commitment to those in the United States affected by thalidomide who still await justice,” according to a news release.

Founded in 2018, US Thalidomide Survivors represents about 100 disabled Americans born between 1957 and 1964 whose mothers likely took the drug Thalidomide during pregnancy.

Thalidomide was marketed as a sedative and morning sickness treatment for pregnant women, but resulted in “a range of disabilities in babies born to these mothers,” according to a news release from Jennifer Goddard Combs.

Arndt is a partner at the Santa Barbara-based law firm Foley Bezek Behle & Curtis.

The news release states that Arndt’s mother was impacted by thalidomide after her mother took the drug during pregnancy,

Arndt serves on the board of directors of the nonprofit organization.