Visit Cold Spring Tavern

Travel back 100 years in time and experience the real tavern!

Last updated: Jan 2024

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Free to visit
145 Miles from you
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Description

Cold Spring Tavern is a former stagecoach stop dating back to 1886 that has been in the Ovington- Wilson family since 1941. It is located between Santa Barbara and Santa Ynez in the beautiful mountains on the San Marcos Pass off Highway 154. Here you can appreciate the true history of the old stagecoach days. They serve traditional American fare made with fresh local ingredients accompanied by the famous home-baked molasses bread. The dinners feature game inspired entrees, steaks, and ribs and are enjoyed by the glimmer of gas lanterns. Weekends at the Cold Spring Tavern are special. It starts with entertainment in the Log Cabin Bar on Friday evenings. Come and enjoy the great music of local bands, food, drink, and fresh air. It is a weekly tradition for many!

Perfect for

For two

For groups

For families with kids

For parents and grownups

Outdoorsy

Chill

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Location

5995 Stagecoach Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93105

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4.7 ● Google reviews

Absolutely a must visit if you are in Santa Barbara or passing by! The food is amazing, the vide is exquisite! I always recommend this place to my friends and people who are visiting town. A great place to visit any time of the year but summer time weekends are a bit special because of the live music and the guests energy!

At first, I was a little curious about this place location, but once we got there, it was totally worth every single mile drove. We got there 11:45, which had 14 min. since it opened and there were people already, but we got lucky to get a table right away. Starter with some onion rings , which were amazing with a cold beer. You must try the trip tip sandwich, and the BBQ sauce to me is one of the best I ever had. We also had the chefs special of the day, which was a New york steak with mash potatoes and perfectly cooked. We definitely will be back.. Place opens 11:30 and closes at 4 pm. Drive to get there off the highway is a little curved, but drivable.

Up on the hills in this amazing western and rustic tavern, you can enjoy their sandwiches, sipping a chill beer while listening to live music. The battered onion rings and the pork ribs were super good! The staff is nice, lots of spots to enjoy your meal outside. It's worth the trip!

This spot is amazing. Worth the trip, great food, great atmosphere, cool history. All of the food we got was amazing, including the tri tip and the onion rings of course. The bison sandwich was also out of this world.

This is a hidden gem. It is tucked off the beaten path down a windy narrow road. Under a canopy of trees and next to a flowing spring. The buildings and laid back atmosphere make it a must see adventure. A few things to keep in mind if you are planning a trip here are that the weekend is very busy and parking especially for cars are limited to parking on the shoulder of a narrow road, which means you may have a bit of a hike to get to the tavern. Motorcycle parking is much easier with the parking in a designated spot next to the tavern (dirt and gravel, uneven surface). I ride a large bike and was able to park relatively easy. The food was fantastic, I would go back again just for the tri tip sandwich. The ride was beautiful with a great view of an arched bridge which was breathtaking. My advice is to arrive from south end of Stagecoach road and leave heading North which is downhill from the tavern.

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