Fig Mountain is a hard-charging Buellton brewery that Jaime Dietenhofer + Meighan Dietenhofer expanded to Santa Barbara, Los Olivos and Westlake Village. At their Funk Zone brewpub, Wild West wagon wheel and horseshoe imagery joins a plant-lined patio. They rotate 20 different beers on tap. Start with a $13 beer flight, which allows for four 4-ounce tastes. My initial visit involved Lunatic Soup IPA, Headless Horseman pumpkin ale, and Olé Mole, brewed with cumin, coriander, cinnamon and chocolate to mimic Mexican mole. With Head Brewer/Creative Director Kevin Ashford and Director of Innovation Victor Novak, anything is possible.

Aaron Olson and Kim Anderson are former professional cyclists who have made an impact on the local coffee scene. The couple expanded and beautified their first café across from El Presidio State Historic Park since opening in 2011 and now run a larger roastery and cafe in a former mid-town Safeway that offers classic drinks and a surprisingly ambitious baking program.

Brandon Reynolds Ristaino and wife Misty Orman-Ristaino first boosted Santa Barbara’s cocktail scene with The Good Lion. The couple added Test Pilot tiki bar to the Funk Zone in 2016, drawing inspiration from Hollywood tiki titan Don the Beachcomber. A curved copper bar under palapa-style lanterns complements a lounge with reclaimed wood walls, ship’s steering wheels, and tiki idol art. The cocktail menu was a good mix of classics and modern originals. The signature Test Pilot Cocktail is a play on Donn Beach’s original creation featuring a house rum blend, clove, citrus, bitters, and absinthe foam on a lime raft under a cocktail umbrella.

Santa Barbara County wine legend Fess Parker’s grandson Kristopher “Kris” Parker launched Third Window Brewing with partners at The Mill in 2016. The Bruery’s original brewhouse fuels up to 28 rotating taps in categories like Farmhouse Beers, Abbey-Style Ales and Stouts. Local ingredients factored into beers like The Oko Bomb Chocolate Stout, made with Twenty-Four Blackbirds cocoa nibs, and Gio and the Giant Persimmon, a Weizenbock brewed with fruit that Parker found on a neighborhood stroll. Other favorites included “funkalicious” Saison with Brettanomyces and Memoirs of a Gose, a tart beer spiked with savory Himalayan pink salt. Over the years, Third Window has also upped their food game, adding Wagyu smashed cheeseburgers and wood-fired pizzas.

Topa Topa started in Ventura and expanded to the Funk Zone in 2016. Since then, Jack Dyer and brewmaster Casey Harris also opened taprooms in Ojai and Camarillo, while name-checking a local mountain range. In the warehouse space they share with Fox Wine and The Nook, Topa Topa arms up to 20 taps for tasters, pints, and growler fills. I tried citrusy gold Chief Peak IPA, Solitude Series Single Hop IPA featuring Simcoe hops, and Gadabout nitro oatmeal stout featuring Centri Coffee New Guinea roast.

This “Aussie Inspired, American Made” coffee truck equipped with a La Marzocco espresso machine roamed the waterfront during a recent stay. I enjoyed their invigorating Iced Sunkissed Latte spiced with turmeric, vanilla, white pepper and ginger.