Fiesta begins Wednesday, but restaurants and bars have been preparing for Fiesta for weeks.
What’s one way many people like to celebrate? Taking a stroll downtown, more specifically, the bars and restaurants on State Street.
Fiesta has become a long-lasting tradition that over the years has drawn thousands to Santa Barbara for the five-day event.
Joe’s Cafe, Baja Sharkeez and Dargan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant are just some of many popular businesses that have been prepping early for the crowd this year.
Joe’s Cafe
Joe’s Cafe has been in business for around 98 years. It’s a local favorite well known for its food in the afternoon and drinks in the evening.
During Fiesta, the cafe is extra lively, and General Manager Joey Summerville explained the staff is already prepared for yet another year.
“Fiesta’s the biggest week of the year, especially for downtown bars and restaurants,” Summerville said. “So what we do is just increase everything that you do, so you order more food, you order a lot more liquor and you [staff] a lot more people.”
Summerville said the main priority this year is security. They plan to increase the number of security guards from six normally to 10.
“That’s basically for crowd control, capacity control and just in case something happens downtown,” Summerville said. “We want enough security guys to keep our place safe and our guests.”
Joe’s will charge a $5 cover on Friday and Saturday.
The company has also made some slight changes to the menu.
The menu will be minimized to the business’ popular food items to help out the cooks for the busy weekend and prices will remain the same.
“We also always add five or six Mexican specials,” Summerville said.
Since the weekend is a tradition locals look forward to, Summerville said he’s excited to see his regulars come to the cafe more frequently.
“Joe’s has been here for so long,” Summerville said. “We have so many regulars. They come out and it’s nice to see them, sometimes two or three days in a row.”
Joe’s Cafe is open from 7:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and will extend its Friday and Saturday hours from midnight to 1 a.m for Fiesta.
Baja Sharkeez
Baja Sharkeez has been ready for more than a week.
The business received its first shipment of liquor and beer for Fiesta on July 28.
“Just so we make sure that for next week if we do order and they’re out of stuff that we still have some backups,” Elliot Spechler, general manager for Baja Sharkeez, explained. “Next week we’ll obviously do another order of everything too.”
Friday and Saturday, Spechler said, are what they expect to be the busiest days.
“From basically open-to-close is nonstop with a few lulls here and there, but it’s basically all hands on,” Spechler said.
During Fiesta, Sharkeez will offer special drink deals on select days with partnered brands. Some brands include Corona, Modelo, Patrón and 818.
“When they come in here, they go around and give away a bunch of cool stuff like shirts, hats, cool little headbands,” Spechler said. “They make it super fun.”
Along with partnered brands, DJs will run the show during the day.
Sharkeez has also planned some extra precautions during Fiesta.
“We aren’t letting in people that have had too much to drink,” Spechler said. “We have ABC’s, alcohol beverage control officers’ phone numbers in case we get fake IDs.”
Sharkeez will be fully staffed with its regular hours of operation. The business will have a cover charge Friday and Saturday
Dargan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant
Dargan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant is known for its Irish drinks and food. The pub and restaurant will have its 30th anniversary in October.
To honor Fiesta, for the first time in six years, Dargan’s is bringing back an old local favorite: the Irish nachos.
“We get asked for it often so we’re bringing it back,” Manager Sarah Robinson said.
Unlike the other two businesses, Dargan’s is located on Ortega Street. It’s closer to another Fiesta favorite, De La Guerra Plaza or “La Placita.”
Despite the Fiesta parade being no longer on State Street, Robinson said the business still gets a lot of foot traffic from De La Guerra Plaza.
“It comes in waves and then obviously when the beer gardens do close we get a big hit,” Robinson said.
Before the pandemic, Dargan’s was more dinner-centered, where there were waitresses, table service and workers had to take extra preparations during Fiesta.
Employees now know what to expect for it and are all hands on deck with serving food and drinks.
“Now everyone is a bartender and our business is heavily centered toward late nights,” Robinson said. “I feel like we are more prepared for it because it’s more of our regular routine at this point.”
One thing Dargan’s has every weekend is late-night bites until 12:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.
Robinson said those items have given the business a special boost during Fiesta.
Along with sales, Dargan’s has seen only a mild increase due to being capacity-based.
Workers will hold the line at the door and inform people that if they’re in and leave, they need to go back in line.
In the past, Robinson said people will get upset, but that employees try to make sure everybody understands it’s a safety issue.
Unlike the other two businesses, Dargan’s will not have a cover charge.
“We don’t want to charge [customers] extra just because something fun is happening in town,” Robinson explained.
Dargan’s will be open Sunday through Saturday from 11:30 to 1:30 a.m
What to expect
Whether one is feeling tasty breakfast food at Joe’s Cafe, a margarita at Sharkeez or Irish nachos at Dargan’s, all three businesses welcome everyone for Fiesta.
Mariachi bands are expected to be walking in through the locations, giving customers the chance to sing, dance or connect.
