Perched along the winding San Marcos Pass between Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley sits Cold Spring Tavern, a slice of California history where time seems to have stopped somewhere around 1886, but the tri-tip sandwiches are timeless perfection.
The drive alone is worth the trip, as you navigate serpentine mountain roads that make you question your vehicle’s suspension and your GPS’s sanity.
Just when you think you’ve somehow veered onto the set of an old Western film, the tavern appears – a collection of weathered log cabins nestled among towering oaks, looking exactly as they did when dusty stagecoach passengers stumbled in seeking refreshment over a century ago.
The approach to Cold Spring Tavern feels like discovering a secret that somehow thousands of others have also discovered, yet remains magical nonetheless…