Last January, Texas Tacos opened on the shores of Lake Pardall, at 910 Embarcadero del Norte, and unfortunately the eatery has set sail for calmer seas. Lake Pardall is a popular recreational facility in the heart of Isla Vista, California, known for swimming, boating, and fishing, during the rainy season. However, neighboring businesses like Campus Cuts, Dublins, and Precious Slut Tattoo & Body Piercing, would prefer that it remain in its natural state, a parking lot, year round so their customers can use it. But their pleas to landlord U.C. Santa Barbara for more than a decade, to fill in the hole with asphalt, have fallen on deaf ears. UCSB should consider fixing it soon because if endangered species like the Snowy Plover start nesting there, its parking lot days could be gone forever.

Seasonal Lake Pardall in Isla Vista. Photo by The Restaurant Guy