The Ellwood at Goleta Beach is finally open. As a restaurant lover who lives about four minutes away, very few sentences have made me happier to type.
I’m fairly certain that I’ve written more about the coming of this establishment than for any other topic in my career. It started in October 2021, when Omar Khashen won the bid for taking over this County of Santa Barbara–owned facility, which occupies the prime spot on Goleta Beach at the foot of the wharf.
The ensuing three-plus years have been littered with delays of the unfortunately normal but also exceedingly extraordinary sorts, as Khashen worked with the county to redo everything from the crumbling structure to ancient sewage lines. The entire landscape of Goleta Beach — the most popular park in the county, based on annual usage — has been revamped in the meantime, and continues, as Khashen’s plans to open a casual seaside eatery and event venue adjacent to the new restaurant. I’ve written at least eight stories about these travails, along the way befriending Khashen and his director of operations Chris Jow over lunches at China King, wine tastings in my driveway, and even, with Jow, golf tourney fundraisers…