Santa Barbara Shellfish Company, Seafood restaurant at Stearns Wharf, Santa Barbara, United States.
Santa Barbara Shellfish Company is a seafood restaurant perched at the end of Stearns Wharf, sitting directly over the Pacific Ocean. The menu is built around daily deliveries from local fishing boats that dock just below.
The restaurant opened on Stearns Wharf, which was first built in 1872 and remains one of the oldest working piers on the Southern California coast. The fishing community that has used the harbor for generations helped shape what the place would become.
The spot sits at the far end of Stearns Wharf, a place where local fishermen and residents have long come to buy and eat fresh catch. Dishes like clam chowder and raw oysters reflect what comes off the boats each morning.
You reach the restaurant by walking along the wharf from the beachfront, with no difficult sections along the way. The place stays open throughout the day, though midday tends to draw the most visitors.
Guests can pick live seafood from display tanks on site, then watch it being prepared right at the counter. The fishing boats that supplied the catch are often still visible from your seat as they return to the dock.
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