Last summer, we were visiting California for college visits, and we decided to drive down the coast (San Fran to San Diego) to see as much as we could during our trip. One of our stops was in Santa Barbara (natch), and we wanted to try out a restaurant that looked pretty nice that was right on the water…and obviously had some good wing reviews. But once we got there, we found that the wait was an hour long, and I desperately needed my calories. (Did I mention I have to eat 8,000+ calories a day because I’m a swimmer?) So, we drove into town and found a nice place called Benchmark Eatery.
Downtown Santa Barbara is what you’d expect…super cool. And Benchmark was a wonderfully quaint place with quick service and a surprisingly complex and sophisticated menu. In addition to the wings, they had my other favorite: New England clam chowder. (So, I had to crush that, too.)
But I digress…onto the wings! Overall, pretty darn tasty. The sauce was fantastic and the wings were cooked very well. The only gripe is that they didn’t give me more! The size/quantity was a bit lacking for me, but maybe that’s because I need so many calories compared to others. So, I can’t dock them for that.
All in all, it was a great pit stop for a long trip, and a really nice place for lunch in general. Check it out when you’re visiting Santa Barbara.
Link to Benchmark Eatery here!
7.5/10
