Live well on BELL STREET, Los Alamos
Well, the secret seems to be out about Los Alamos. This tiny town in Santa Barbara wine country isn’t as expensive as Los Olivos, at least not yet, nor does it have the Danish enthusiasm of Solvang. But more and more people are realizing that Los Alamos, home to about 1,800 souls, about 15 miles beyond Buellton along the 101, is a great place for a slow, stylish, foodand-wine-based weekend.
Be warned that much of the town is closed Tuesday and Wednesday. But Bell Street, the main drag, has an Old West feel, several stylish restaurants, a handful of tasting rooms and a few antique shops. Bell’s
Restaurant, whose bistro fare has won a Michelin star, offers wild snails and a $90 prix fixe dinner menu Thursday through Monday. (It also does lunch on those days.) Want to take a wine-tasting tour by motorcycle sidecar? Yes, somebody offers that.
Bob’s Well Bread Bakery and Plenty on Bell are popular for breakfast and lunch; Full of Life Flatbread does big dinner business. The menu at Pico (that’s the building with the “GENERAL STORE” sign out front) includes salmon tartare with seaweed and hanger steak with house chimichurri.
You could stay at a trendy motel (Alamo Motel) or a Victorian bed-and-breakfast with elaborately themed rooms (Victorian Mansion). If you’re splurging, the hilltop Skyview Los Alamos may be the answer. Several restaurants in town also rent cottages through Airbnb, including Bob’s Well Bread Bakery, Bodega Wine and Beer Garden and Pico.
BONUS TIP: If it’s exclusivity you’re aiming for (or a destination wedding you’re planning), the 1880 Union hotel is a historic property that no longer rents out individual rooms. If you want in, you have to book all nine rooms for your group.