My foodie duties for the year wouldn’t be complete without summarizing activity at food & drink destinations on the South Coast: there were 48 openings of food and drink destinations while 30 locations closed.

THE PEA SOUP ANDERSEN’S EXPLOSION: The Restaurant Guy has been online for decades, with readership interest varying from story to story. The average write-up receives 3-5,000 views while really huge food news might be read 50,000 times. On January 9, 2024, I broke the news that Pea Soup Andersen’s had closed after 100 years in business which unleashed reader traffic this column has never seen before. Local media linked to it first, followed by the Associated Press, after which it went viral. As of this writing, the blockbuster from Buellton has been read 9.8 million times and counting. I had to disable comments and pingbacks for the story because so many needed to be manually approved by me that comments to all other stories in the blog were effectively blocked from the backlog. The Pea Soup Andersen’s property was purchased in 2023 and plans are to reopen the eatery in the future after extensive renovation.

FALLEN ICONS: We lost four long-time restaurants in 2024 that had each been open more than 25 years, including Pea Soup Andersen’s (100 years), Derf’s (47 years), Via Vai (30 years), and Stella Mare’s (29 years, closing December 31).

FLASH IN THE PAN: Here are restaurants that both opened and closed this year: Big Boss Burgers was open for 2 months, White Caps Beach Club in Summerland served customers for 3 months, and Wexler’s Deli in the Santa Barbara Public Market opened and closed in about 5 months.

MOST READ STORIES: Based on the analytics from The Restaurant Guy blog, here are the top-ten most read food news stories of the year:

• #1 “Pea Soup Andersen’s Closes in Buellton”
• #2 “The Palace Grill to Close in September”
• #3 “Who’s Serving Thanksgiving in 2024?”
• #4 “Arnoldi’s Cafe Closes After 87 Years”
• #5 “The Nugget is Coming to Carpinteria”
• #6 “Costco Food Court Changes”
• #7 “Trattoria Vittoria to Close”
• #8 “Oliver’s to Close”
• #9 “Goleta Finney’s Update”
• #10 “Palace Grill to Remain Open Through the Holidays.”

FYI, the Palace Grill and Arnoldi’s stories had happy endings. Both restaurants are under new ownership and will remain open!

RESTAURANT OPENINGS: Here is a list of area eateries that opened in 2024:

• December: Clark’s Oyster Bar, 1212 Coast Village Rd., Montecito (formerly Cava); Finney’s Crafthouse & Kitchen, 6980 Market Place Dr., Goleta; (formerly Hollister Brewing Co.); J’s Hot Chicken, 199 S. Turnpike Rd Ste. 104 (inside Dave’s Drip House); RH Firehouse Grill, 1486 E. Valley Rd., Montecito
• November: Bar Lou, 1198 Coast Village Rd. (formerly Oliver’s); Validation Ale, 2840 De la Vina St. Ste. D (formerly New Si Chuan Garden); Wingstop, 129 N. Fairview Ave., Goleta
• October: Cuso’s Creamery, 620 State St. (formerly Rockin’ Yogurt); Happy Cat Eats, 23 E. Cabrillo Blvd. (formerly L.T. Cinnamon); Lama Dog Tap Room, 3435 State Street (formerly La Rumba); Namaste Indian Bistro, 1218 State St. (formerly Bedda Mia); Sama Sama, 3435 State Street (formerly La Rumba); Slodoco Donuts, 290 Storke Rd. Ste A, Goleta
• September: Alma Fonda Fina, 1024 Coast Village Rd., Ste. A (formerly Little Alex’s); The Harbor Restaurant (reopened), 210 Stearns Wharf; La Cantina, 199 S. Turnpike Rd., Ste. 106; Santa Playa Mariscos, 1230 State St., Ste. C (formerly Brasil Arts Café)
• August: Arnoldi’s Café (reopened), 600 Olive St.; Big Boss Burgers, 3007 De la Vina St. (now closed); Etty’s Jewish Deli & Bakery, 524 Chapala St. (inside Jewish Federation building); Teddy Rice, 966 Embarcadero Del Mar, Isla Vista (formerly Rosarito)
• July: Pang Zi Noodle Shop, 4427 Hollister Ave. (formerly Munchiez); Poke House, 811 State St, Ste. D (in Paseo Nuevo); Seven Bar & Kitchen, 235 W. Montecito St. (moved from other location); White Caps Beach Club, 120 E. Yanonali St.
• June: Antojitos La Paloma, 6543 Pardall Rd., Isla Vista (formerly Study Hall); Bibi Ji (moved from other location). 1213 State St.; Little Bird Kitchen, 38 W. Victoria St. (inside Santa Barbara Public Market); Munchiez, 3007 De la Vina St. (now closed); Santa Barbara Courthouse Distillery and Events, 1114 State St. (formerly Pizza Mizza); Jonesy’s Fried Chicken, 282 Orange Ave., Goleta (formerly The Red Pepper); Wexler’s Deli, 38 W. Victoria St. (now closed, changing to Big T’s Deli); White Caps Beach Club, 120 Hollister St., Summerland (now closed)
• May: El Chisme Crepe’s & More, 651 Paseo Nuevo, Ste. 313; Little Alex’s, 3987 State St. (formerly Fresco Café); The Oyster Bar, 220 Stearns Wharf (inside Moby Dick)
• April: Dart Coffee, 113 Harbor Way; Ethnic Breads, 137 Aero Camino, Goleta; Nick the Greek, 508 State St. (formerly Natural Café); Oat Bakery, 1014 Coast Village Rd., Montecito; Petra Café, 14 E. Cota St. (formerly Foxtail Kitchen); Shalhoob’s, 5112 Hollister Ave, Goleta (formerly Woody’s BBQ)
• March: Indian Tandoori Kingdom, 1026 State St. (formerly Palazzio); Lighthouse Coffee, 5696 Calle Real, Goleta (formerly Outback); Starbucks, 120 State St.; Yetz’s Bagels, 901 Embarcadero Del Mar Ste. 103, Isla Vista (formerly Dank Bowl Kitchen)
• February: Best BBQ, 716 State St. (formerly Mokutan); Cookie Plug, 918 State St. (formerly Good Cup); Lilac Patisserie, 1209 Coast Village Rd., Montecito; Silvers Omakase, 224 Helena Ave. (formerly Seven Bar & Kitchen which moved to Montecito St.); Yummy Thai, 5918 Hollister Ave, Goleta (formerly Pattaya Bar & Grill)
• January: Bruxie, 12 W De la Guerra St. (formerly Pizza Rev); Oakberry, 6580 Pardall Rd., Isla Vista (formerly El Taco Amigo)

RESTAURANT CLOSINGS: Here is a list of area eateries that closed in 2024:

• December: Stella Mare’s, 50 Los Patos Way (last day is December 31)
• November: Pickles & Swiss, 811 State St. (inside Paseo Nuevo); Wexler’s Deli, 38 W Victoria St. (inside Santa Barbara Public Market, changing to Big T’s Deli)
• October: Green Table, 113 W. De la Guerra St.; Sweeties Ice Cream Shop, 1826 Cliff Drive, Ste. A (changing to Mission City Sandwich Shop)
• September: White Caps, 120 Hollister St., Summerland; Yona Redz, 532 State St. (moving to 1230 State St.)
• August: Pueblo Pollo, 6578 Trigo Road, Isla Vista; Rosarito, 966 Embarcadero Del Mar, Isla Vista (now Teddy Rice)
• July: Mesa Verde, 1919 Cliff Dr. (changing to Masala Spice); Recipes Bakery, 604 Santa Barbara St.; Pickles & Swiss, 7060 Hollister Ave., Goleta (changing to Takashi Ramen); Old Town Coffee, 1131 State St. (now Goodland Waffles)
• June: Coast & Olive, 1295 Coast Village Rd., Montecito (now Lion’s Tale); Derf’s, 2000 De la Vina St.; Pizza Mizza, 1114 State St. (now Santa Barbara Courthouse Distillery and Events)
• May: Jamba Juice, UCSB; Social Eats, 6521 Pardall Rd., Isla Vista (changing to a BBQ restaurant); Trattoria Vittoria, 30 E. Victoria St. (changing to Dom’s Taverna)
• April: Foxtail Kitchen, 14 E. Cota St. (now Petra Café); Oliver’s, 1198 Coast Village Rd., Montecito (now Bar Lou); Shalhoob’s at the Market, 38 W. Victoria St.; Via Vai, 1483 East Valley Rd., Montecito (changing to S.Y. Kitchen)
• March: Dank Bowl Kitchen, 901 Embarcadero Del Mar Ste. 103, Isla Vista (now Yetz’s Bagels)
• February: Taza Mediterranean Street Kitchen, 413 State St. (changing to Apertivo)
• January: Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf, 5745 Calle Real, Goleta; Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf at the Airport (now Santa Barbara Roasting Company); Metropulos Fine Foods Merchant, 216 East Yanonali St. (changing to Saint Bibiana); Pea Soup Andersen’s, 376 Avenue of Flags, Buellton (under new ownership, plans to reopen after renovation); Rockfire Grill, 6583 Pardall Rd., Isla Vista (changing to a pizza place)