I was lucky enough to work on a Walter Matthau movie that shot in Santa Maria. We took him to Jocko’s and he was hooked. His son, Charley, came to town and was chiding his father about cholesterol; Walter had had several heart attacks. Walter told him, “Charley this kind of thing is what’s keeping me alive!” Jocko’s would hold a table for him, something I understand is very rare for them.
Cold Spring Tavern, on the 154 just north of Santa Barbara, has really good Santa Maria style tri-tip on weekends. Its a beautiful place as well, http://coldspringtavern.com/index.html. Parking is roadside and pretty crazy however.
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