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Santa Barbara has a bit more sunshine these days.
Sunshine Cafe Santa Barbara opened earlier this month at the site of the Max’s, which closed its doors in May.
The restaurant at 3514 State St. was purchased by Manuel Plascencia, who began his career in the business in 1990 as a busser at Josie’s Four Wings (now La Rumba), across the street.
It has been a lifelong dream for Plascencia to open a restaurant.
He works daily at at the restaurant greeting and serving customers, and bringing “sunshine” to the dining experience.
The restaurant faces State Street, with wide open windows that allow the sunlight to cascade into the dining room.
“Things are going great,” Plascencia told Noozhawk.
More and more customers have been coming in every day, said Plascencia, who was born in Jalisco, Mexico.
He chose the “Sunshine” name because of the natural sunlight that enters the restaurant.
The restaurant is open from 7 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and specializes in breakfast and lunch meals.
Figueroa Mountain Brewery to Offer Cans
Figueroa Mountain Brewery will soon sell some its most popular beer brands in cold, refreshing 12-ounce cans.
Hoppy Poppy cans will be the first offered to the public later this summer.
“This project has been a long time coming for us,” says co-founder and owner Jaime Dietenhofer. “We wanted to get our own canning line up and running to ensure the quality of the canned product, and now that we’ve hit this big milestone, we can’t wait to get the cans out to the public.
“We’re beyond thrilled to take these all the places we’re excited to go this summer, the beach, hiking trails, the golf course, you name it.”
In the coming weeks, 6-packs of Hoppy Poppy will be the first cans to arrive at the company’s taprooms and craft beer shops in California and Arizona, according to a news release.
Vet’s Here Expanding Into Santa Barbara
The Santa Barbara Chamber of Commerce will host a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Vet’s Here, a full-service mobile veterinary clinic that is expanding into Santa Barbara.
The ceremony will take place from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on June 27.
Vet’s Here currently serves the Santa Ynez and Conejo Valley area.
The ceremony will take place at the Paseo Nuevo Mall.
Guests will have the opportunity to bring their dogs and enter a gift basket raffle drawing. Light snacks and refreshments will be provided.
Unemployment Rate Drops Again
Santa Barbara County’s unemployment rate continues to decline, according to the state’s workforce development board.
The jobless rate dropped to 3.1 percent, from 3.7 percent a year ago.
The local rate follows a California trend. The state’s unemployment rate dropped to 3.7 percent from 4.4 percent from a year ago.
The U.S. unemployment rate is down to 3.6 percent from 4.1 percent.
The largest employment gain came in the leisure and hospitality industry, with an increase in 600 jobs throughout the county. Professional and business services jobs dropped by 200.
Buellton has the lowest unemployment rate in the county, at 1.4 percent, followed by Goleta at 2.1 percent, and Santa Barbara at 2.1 percent.
Santa Maria has the highest unemployment rate at 4.8 percent, followed by Lompoc at 4.2 percent.
— 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.
