The new 7 Eleven convenience store will be located at 700 State St. which is the former home of restaurants Panera Bread and Left At Albuquerque.
State Street is showing another sign of renewal as a business rises at a long abandoned corner.
As businesses and restaurants continue to reopen, the former home of restaurants Panera Bread and Left At Albuquerque has turned into a 7-Eleven convenience store.
The new 7-Eleven will be at 700 State St., making it the sixth 7-Eleven store in Santa Barbara and the third location on State Street.
Other store locations include 1909 Cliff Drive, 331 W Montecito St., 402 N Milpas St., 1936 State St. and 3430 State St.
7-Eleven could not be reached for comment about its new location.
The corner site at 700 State St. has sat vacant since Panera Bread left in 2015. The restaurant, which opened in 2013, proved popular with tourists and residents alike. It was part of a national chain that continues to operate a Panera Bread restaurant in Ventura.
Before Panera Bread, the site was home to Left At Albuquerque, a Mexican restaurant with a popular following. It was in business from 2009 to 2012.
The restaurant had a distinctive name. The phase appeared previously in Bugs Bunny cartoons in which the rabbit, racing underground, pops out of a hole far from his destination. He says, “I should have turned left at Albuquerque.”
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