After more than a half-century serving steaks and more to generations of Central Coast farming families inside a brick building on Guadalupe’s main drag, the historic Far Western Tavern officially opened its new doors in the middle of Old Town Orcutt in October. The out-of-the-way former oil town located just south of Santa Maria may seem like a curious place for a Santa Barbara County institution to start anew, but the Far Western is actually just one arrow in Orcutt’s quiver of quality establishments.
From wine tasting rooms and gourmet kitchens to pizza, pasta, pies, and pubs — not to mention rumors of a sushi joint and tapas bar on the horizon — Old Town Orcutt is steadily evolving into a genuine foodie mecca, a trend cultivated by the ongoing efforts of the Revitalization Association (oldtownorcutt.org) and the Merchants Association (oldorcuttmerchants.org). So to coincide with the Far Western’s grand opening back on October 29, we headed north to sample from Orcutt’s expanding trough. Here’s what we found.
FAR WESTERN TAVERN: When retrofitting rules pushed the Far Western out of Guadalupe, Renee Righetti-Fowler and her extended family found a similar “small-town atmosphere” in Orcutt, where Chef Rick Manson serves up artichoke-goat cheese fritters, bacon-wrapped scallops, and coconut beer shrimp before your hearty main course. Though housed in a palatial new building, the family imported special touches from Guadalupe, including velvety red wallpaper, old cowboy murals, and a 1,200-bottle wine cellar. “It was really important that you felt like you were walking into the Far Western,” said Righetti-Fowler. Farwesterntavern.com, 300 E. Clark Ave., (805) 937-2211.