The West Coast is the best coast.

That’s the vibe at Isla Vista’s newest eatery, Sweet Hustle.

Rap music icons Tupac Shakur, Snoop Dogg and Nipsey Hussle color the walls at the dessert shop — all the vision of entrepreneur Annette Rodriguez.

“I grew up here. I am a Santa Barbara, longtime, multiple-generation family, so I am going to make this store how I would want it,” Rodriguez said.

She even threw in a pink low-rider and some graffiti art that states SBCC and UCSB to recognize her community. She soft-opened earlier this week and plans a grand opening on Saturday at her new spot, at 6529 Trigo Road, Suite B.

For Rodriguez, it’s a bit of a rebirth. She opened Cookie Plug in downtown Santa Barbara a couple of years ago. She was forced out of the downtown location, however, after the city declined to offer her a new lease amid a major retrofit of the theater next door.

While both sides have their perspective over what went down, Rodriguez said she’s happier to be in Isla Vista, where there’s plenty of foot traffic and overall vibrancy that State Street lacks. She’s near dorms and the Isla Vista Theater.

“One of the problems we had downtown was the crime, but here, the Isla Vista Foot Patrol is down the street,” Rodriguez said. “All the things I wish I had downtown, I saw here.”

Rodriguez also has split from the Cookie Plug franchise and is doing her own thing, with her own recipes for the store. Her cookies are still thick, with flavors such as chocolate sugar, chocolate chip, lemon cooler, cookie cranberry and others.

However, it is more than a cookie shop. She offers cake, cheesecakes, brownies, ice cream, Rice Krispies squares and even Kool-Aid, which she remembers drinking while growing up.

Like the store’s name, Rodriguez is sweet and no stranger to hustling. She’s also a nurse, graduating from the nursing program at Santa Barbara City College.

She is well-known in the community for her own work but also that of her mother, Jo Ann Caines, a longtime educator in Santa Barbara who died in 2018. Caines worked for the Santa Barbara Unified School District since 1987 and became principal of La Cumbre Junior High School in 2005.

Rodriguez, who is a baker, said she created all of the recipes at her new shop, and she feels a stronger sense of pride in what she has been able to achieve and overcome. Unlike Cookie Plug, this is her vision — on her terms.

“This store is all me, from the colors on the wall to the cookies on the counter. I created all of it,” Rodriguez said. “This store is my baby.”

This weekend, she plans a bunch of freebies and giveaways. The first 30 people who arrive on Saturday get a free item.

She plans to be open from noon to midnight.

“Come get your sweets,” she said.

Little Mountain Opens in Montecito

Chef Diego Moya leads Montecit’s Little Mountain, which “is an ongoing exploration of the Central Coast’s agricultural bounty,” according to its website

The menu offers Santa Barbara urchin, oysters, salmon, pork, chicken and ribeye.

Moya spent “more than a decade leading the kitchens at Casa Mono, Hemlock and Racines NY, before eventually becoming the Culinary Director of the Brooklyn-based Oberon Group (including such neighborhood restaurants as Rucola and June wine bar),” according to its website.

He “seeks to explore a modern perspective on Santa Barbara cuisine, while leveraging his extensive experience in developing beloved, community-driven concepts.”

The restaurant is in the Upper Village, at 516 San Ysidro Road, and is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Hotel Occupancy Down

Santa Barbara South Coast hotel occupancy has decreased during the past three months compared to the prior year, according to Visit Santa Barbara.

Hotel occupancy was 81% out of about 132,312 rooms in July. It also decreased 1% in August compared with the prior year. In September, it decreased 2%.

“The Santa Barbara South Coast ended the first quarter of July 2025 through September 2025 with hotel performance similar to the same period in 2024, reflecting steady summer travel to the region,” said Kathy Janega-Dykes, president/CEO of Visit Santa Barbara. “Hotel occupancy this summer remained relatively flat overall. As we enter the fall season, early indicators for the Santa Barbara South Coast suggest a similar trend, with occupancy comparable to the same time last year.”

The data referenced is provided by STR, an independent hospitality data analytics company. It includes hotels in Santa Barbara, Goleta, Montecito, Summerland and unincorporated Santa Barbara County (between Gaviota and Summerland).

Sandbar Temporarily Closed

According to an Instagram post, Sandbar Cocina y Tequila at 514 State St. in Santa Barbara is temporarily closed and plans to have a grand reopening in mid-March.