santa ynez food zine
vol. 01 / fall 2026
Los Alamos
One street. A Michelin star.
Book Bell's
Bell's holds a Michelin star and opens its tables online at 1pm on the 1st of each month. How to land one.
A day in the valley
Three routes from LA, each with lunch, walk-in tastings and dinner before the drive.
Walk-in wine tasting
Who pours without a booking, town by town, and where you must book.
Los Alamos hit list
Bell's
Los Alamos
A Michelin-starred, family-run bistro on Bell Street from Per Se alums Daisy and Greg Ryan.
Pico at the Los Alamos General Store
Los Alamos
Farm-to-table dining and its own Lumen wines in the 1880 dining room of the old Los Alamos General Store on Bell Street.
Bob's Well Bread Bakery
Los Alamos
A Sunset Travel Awards winner in 2024 and 2025: naturally fermented bread from a stone-deck oven, and what Eater calls a superlative breakfast for the road.
Verified picks coming soon.
One Old West main street, Bell Street, with Michelin-starred Bell's, the 1880 Union Hotel and 6-plus tasting rooms.
Where to stay in Los Alamos
Four places, three of them on Bell Street. The 1880 Union Hotel lists rooms from $325 a night, a 1-minute walk from Bell’s. The Victorian Mansion next door delivers breakfast to your suite on standard rates. The Alamo Motel is a 1-minute walk from Pico. Skyview, on the hill, has the pool and welcomes dogs for $50 each per stay. Check-in times, dog rules and walk times for all four are in Los Alamos hotels at a glance.
Where to eat in Los Alamos
Aim for Thursday to Sunday, when Bell’s, Pico, Priedite and Full of Life are all open. Michelin-starred Bell’s serves Thursday to Monday, and Pico, in the 1880 general store, Tuesday to Sunday. Norman at Skyview is open every day. Out back of Bodega, Priedite Barbecue smokes brisket over oak Thursday to Sunday. Priedite started in 2020 as a pop-up in the lot behind Bell’s, with backing from Bell’s owners Daisy and Greg Ryan. For pizza, Full of Life Flatbread bakes thin California flatbread in a wood-fired oven founder Clark Staub built by hand, Thursday to Sunday. 50 Top Pizza put it on its 2026 USA list of Excellent Pizzerias (see the best pizza in the valley). Before you drive up, check which Los Alamos restaurants are open today, with every restaurant’s hours for each day of the week and the walk along Bell Street.
Where to buy a bottle of wine to go in Los Alamos
Three places on Bell Street sell wine by the bottle to take away. Pico, at the Los Alamos General Store (458 Bell), has a retail wine shop that lists over 800 wines. Los Alamos Market (405 Bell) has the R&B Meats deli inside, and Collins Market & Deli is at 290 Bell. Owner note (Tony Michael, Oct 17, 2026): Los Alamos Market and Collins both have good wine by the bottle for grab and go, and Pico has a bottle selection to go. Phones, Pico’s hours and sources are in grab a bottle to go in Los Alamos. For tasting rooms, see Los Alamos wine tasting.
Sources
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Los Alamos guides
Eat · Santa Ynez Valley
Best pizza in the Santa Ynez Valley
Stone-hearth flatbread in Los Alamos on 50 Top Pizza's 2026 USA list, slices at Stica and pinsa at the Fess Parker inn from the S.Y. Kitchen team, and contact-free delivery from Gino's in Buellton. Eleven pizza stops and when each one is open.
Los Alamos restaurants
Michelin-starred Bell's, Pico in the 1880 general store and Bob's Well Bread from a stone-deck oven, all on Bell Street. Days open vary a lot, so each one lists them.
Where to stay in Los Alamos
Every bed in town, all four: Skyview's hilltop 1959 motel, the 1880 Union Hotel, a pirate-ship suite at the Victorian Mansion and the Alamo Motel's fire pit.
Bars in Solvang & the valley
A speakeasy behind a homebrew shop, an Irish pub, the Vaquero Bar pouring to midnight, a saloon open to 2am and a dive in an 1882 train depot, with hours.
Bob's Well Bread: hours, Ballard vs Los Alamos
A Sunset Travel Awards winner in 2024 and 2025, for the Levain loaf, croissants and English muffins, at two bakeries: Bell Street in Los Alamos and the hamlet of Ballard.
Eat · Santa Ynez Valley
Best coffee in the Santa Ynez Valley
Good Seed's Q Grader roaster, Queen Cup's Airstream caravan in Los Olivos, a 6am opener in Solvang and a church-run room with free coffee and Wi-Fi.
Priedite Barbecue: days, hours & tips
Texas-inspired brisket, ribs and ranchero sausage smoked over oak from the area, with beef-fat tortillas and pinquito beans. Saturday is the full BBQ Round Up.
Taste · Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara County wine tasting
Jim Clendenen's Au Bon Climat in Santa Barbara's Presidio, or a day in the Santa Ynez Valley vineyards? How to choose between the Urban Wine Trail and the valley, with typical fees.
Eat · Santa Ynez Valley
Michelin restaurants in the Santa Ynez Valley
Bell's holds the valley's one Michelin star, and its tables open on the 1st of each month. The other three on the 2026 list, and who dropped off.
Skyview Los Alamos: know before you go
A 1959 hilltop motel with a 21+ pool: Norman, its poolside restaurant, has a new chef, the bikes are free and there's no resort fee. Which room to book, and how non-guests get in.
Los Alamos wine tasting
Grenache nerds, start at A Tribute to Grace (nine bottlings). Six tasting rooms on a quarter mile of Bell Street, and Casa Dumetz is now Clementine Carter.
Weekend · Santa Ynez Valley
Santa Ynez Valley wedding guest guide
From the porch at Mattei's Tavern to the 1880 Union Hotel: where to sleep near seven open venues, the rehearsal dinner, the brunch after and how to get home when the valley bus has stopped.
Weekend · Santa Ynez Valley
Live music in the Santa Ynez Valley this week
Maverick Saloon's weekend bands, Carhartt's back patio and the last of the winery Fridays. Dates, times and cover from each venue's own calendar.
Weekend · Santa Ynez Valley
Stay at a winery in the Santa Ynez Valley
Sleep at Sunstone, in Carhartt's Sangiovese or in Firestone Vineyard's 1890s farmhouse. Who sleeps how many, what it costs and who takes dogs.
Photos from Wikimedia Commons and Unsplash. Photo credits and licenses