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The Nugget Restaurant opened its downtown Santa Barbara location this week, hoping to attract a local crowd hungry for comfort food in a casual setting.
The location at 21 W. Victoria St. — the third Nugget on the South Coast — began serving customers Monday after being closed for more than a month to transition from the former Arlington Tavern, which operated in the shadow of its namesake theater for three years.
Nugget manager Jemal James told Noozhawk that the menu and atmosphere pretty much mirror what customers see at the other two Nugget restaurants in Summerland and Goleta.
James said the new restaurant hopes to appeal to those who live and work in the neighborhood, offering a happy hour from 3 to 6 p.m. with no midday closures.
“We’re a casual comfort food restaurant that’s family friendly,” he said. “As we grow and get confidence in ourselves, the clients grow as well.”
The layout is basically the same as the prior restaurant except for some new equipment and limiting the number of public entrances to one instead of two. James said some of the Arlington Tavern staff have stayed on, which could better smooth the transition.
Union Bank Closing in Los Olivos
Union Bank is closing several branches, including its Los Olivos location at 2445 Alamo Pintado Ave, Suite 101.
Twenty branches across California will close in coming months — Los Olivos is the only Santa Barbara County bank on the chopping block — as Union Bank responds to changing customer preferences and market conditions by consolidating, according to Tanya Peebles-Hill, vice president of corporate communications.
She said the immediate focus is to smooth the employee and customer transition, which includes directing those clients to the nearby Solvang branch.
Los Agaves Opens Fourth Restaurant
The fourth Los Agaves Restaurant location has opened in the Shoppes at Westlake Village at 30750 Russell Ranch Road.
Family owned and operated, owner Carlos Luna opened his first location on Milpas Street on Santa Barbara’s Eastside in 2008. Since then, the Mexican restaurant has opened two other locations on upper De la Vina Street in Santa Barbara and in Goleta.
The Gallery Montecito Opens
The Gallery Montecito fine art gallery will host its grand opening Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m.
The opening exhibit at 1277 Coast Village Road will highlight work of modern artist Gary Craig, a prominent Pacific Northwest painter and sculptor, who creates thought-provoking abstract and surreal images on paper and also in sculptures in wood.
The minimalist gallery will host future exhibits for a variety of emerging and established artists as the enterprise of three friends: art collector Marjorie Layden, actress Linda Evans and artist Gary Craig.
The Gallery’s opening reception will be held on the neighboring patio of Lucky’s Restaurant.
SurfMedia Hires Hannah Rael
SurfMedia Communications has hired Hannah Rael as a new account executive.
Rael brings to SurfMedia a background in nonprofit marketing and communications as well as journalism.
Prior to joining SurfMedia Communications, Rael worked in media relations and communications for Direct Relief, including management of digital marketing content and social media engagement. Rael has also served as a freelance reporter for the Santa Barbara News-Press.
— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.