texaztaste: Funky Town

Located between West Cabrillo Boulevard and Highway 101 in Santa Barbara, the Funk Zone is a neighborhood of artisan shops, art galleries, hip eateries, award-winning microbreweries, and a craft distillery. For many years it was an area of run-down and empty buildings, located in probably one of the best real estate areas in town, blocks away from the beach and the picturesque Santa Barbara Pier. Local businessman Brian Kelly had the vision to renovate and started luring artists, winemakers, and up-and-coming chefs to take up shop in aged warehouses and forgotten scuba shops, transforming the zone into an eclectic array of hidden gems unique to California's Central Coast.

If you are visiting Santa Barbara and do not have the time to drive to the wine country, the Funk Zone is home to (as of the date of this post) 8 wine tasting rooms, making a day of sampling the local Santa Barbara County wine fun and easy. Additionally, 5 of the wineries located in the Funk Zone are part of Santa Barbara's Urban Wine Trail.

On Yanonali St, Pali Wine Co. is a good place to start

Buy a cheese plate and a wine flight and enjoy the day

With wines on tap you can refill your bottles as often as needed

They have two labels marketed under Pali and Tower 15

This is a great label

AVA Santa Barbara is right next door and another good stop

And across the street is the Lafond Tasting Room

If wine is not your thing, you could spend your day channeling your inner artist, by visiting the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara's satellite location at Hotel Indigo or taking a tour at The Santa Barbara Art Foundry. In addition, there are many restaurants in the area, one of the most popular, and hard to obtain reservations, is at The Lark on Anacapa. Or to grab a quick bite, you might find a food truck or two stationed at one of the intersections. No matter your fancy, head on down to check it out.