Anchor Rose Blooms at the Harbor

It’s rare a place recently opened is instantly a family legacy, but not every place is Anchor Rose. The bubbly, quick with a hug owner-operator Amy Rose knows everyone’s name as she cruises the dining room with the to-die-for harbor and mountain views. “I’m married to my work and my children are my people,” Rose insists. But it’s what the spot means to her for her father, Bob Rose, that’s the real story.

Bob Rose lived in Santa Barbara and Goleta for 50 years, leading a restaurateur’s life, including buying Harry’s Café after the original Harry. Eventually his career led to owning six Black Bear Diners in the San Joaquin Valley. Though born and bred in Santa Barbara, Amy was living in Europe managing several Lululemon locations when her dad reached out in 2015 to say, “Come help me retire.” So she came back to the states and put her business acumen to work.

But then COVID hit, and the family business went from 750 employees to 8. And personal tragedy struck, as Bob developed dementia. Hoping that opening a business closer to home might keep him going — Amy says, “When talking numbers, his brain started working again” — the Roses made a proposal for the Goleta Beach space formerly occupied by the Beachside, where Amy had worked for years back in her college days.