Bluewater Grill, a Santa Barbara waterfront restaurant, features a second-floor dining deck with a view of the ocean.
Bluewater Grill, the Santa Barbara sustainable seafood restaurant in the iconic lighthouse building across from Stearns Wharf, is welcoming guests back with a new executive chef, a new outdoor dining patio, and new events and promotions for locals and visitors that signal new life after the pandemic.
The restaurant is located on the water at 15 E. Cabrillo Blvd., at the base of State Street.
Alberto Torres, formerly executive chef at Hollister Brewing Company in Goleta, has joined Bluewater Grill in the same capacity and is applying his years of culinary experience to create new signature dishes and menus for the restaurant.
Before his stint at Hollister, Chef Torres was executive chef for the Shalhoob family of Santa Barbara restaurants and retail markets and served in the kitchens at several other destination restaurants in the area.
“It’s safe to say that no one knows more about the local dining scene and what Santa Barbarans want than Chef Alberto, and we’re excited about the new ideas he is bringing to Bluewater Grill,” said Autumn Vaughn, general manager. “We just debuted a new weekend brunch, happy hour and seasonal spring menus, and we are offering new dishes and new takes on classic seafood favorites throughout the spring and summer.”
The other big, post-pandemic news at Bluewater Grill is a new outdoor dining patio on Helena Avenue, offering lunch and dinner customers views of the ocean.
“When combined with the restaurant’s existing second-story dining deck overlooking Stearns Wharf, the new street-level patio makes Bluewater Grill one of Santa Barbara’s best options for outdoor, beach-view dining,” said Ms. Vaughn.
Bluewater spotlights Santa Barbara-area wine, beer and spirits providers in the form of ongoing pour partnerships with Melville, Alma Rosa, Margerum and J. Wilkes wineries; arrangements with local brewery favorites Firestone Walker and Figueroa Mountain; and a vodka, gin and coffee liqueur alliance with Cutler’s Artisan Spirits.
“We are able to introduce locals and visitors to the constantly evolving array of new field- and brewery-to-table opportunities in the area with many of these partners following our commitment to sustainable sourcing and operations,” said Ms. Vaughn.
The restaurant recently co-hosted a trivia night with the Surfrider Foundation to promote the nonprofit’s work to preserve and protect the world’s oceans and beaches as an extension of its industry-leading sustainable policy.
“One of the first restaurants in Santa Barbara to adopt the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s stringent ‘Seafood Watch’ criteria’ for seafood purchase, Bluewater Grill supports local fishing sources when possible, such as Hope Ranch mussels and Santa Barbara sea urchins supplied by local diver Stephanie Mutz,” Ms. Vaughn said.
Once again, Bluewater is participating in “Taste of Santa Barbara” during Santa Barbara Restaurant Week, which ends Sunday.
“And during Santa Barbara Locals’ Appreciation Day, every Wednesday, residents can take advantage of happy hour drink prices all day with proof of local residency. The restaurant’s regular happy hours are from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Friday,” said Ms. Vaughn.
Continuing the fresh fish legacy established by the Castagnola Family who established a seafood restaurant on the same Cabrillo Boulevard site in the 1950s, Bluewater Grill Santa Barbara is open daily for lunch and dinner and offers a full bar featuring local wines, beers and spirits; an outdoor dining deck and patio; and a contemporary coastal casual vibe and pet-friendly policy.
In addition to the original location in Newport’s Cannery Village, there are Bluewater Grills at King Harbor in Redondo Beach, in Los Angeles County’s South Bay, in a newly remodeled space in central Phoenix, in Temecula wine country in Southern California’s Inland Empire, over the water on Avalon Bay on Catalina Island, in the former Hotel del Coronado boathouse on Coronado Island in San Diego and in Carlsbad Village in northern San Diego County.
email: mmcmahon@newspress.com
FYI
For locations, operating hours, menus and other details about the Bluewater Grills, go to www.bluewatergrill.com or visit the restaurant on Twitter or Instagram. Each Bluewater Grill also has its own Facebook page for restaurant-specific promotions, events and local happenings. For information on Bluewater Grill’s sustainability program, go to www.bluewatergrill.com/sustainability.
