One of Santa Barbara's Most Celebrated Restaurants Opens a Dazzling Ventura Location
Velázquez's food is well-known to the Santa Barbara community. The Guadalajara-born chef immigrated to the U.S. in 1990 and worked at restaurants including Arigato and now-closed Cielito throughout the years. In 2014, Velázquez launched a popular weekly pop-up at Three Pickles Subs & Sandwiches before opening the first Corazón Cocina in 2016 in the Santa Barbara Public Market. At the Public Market location, the restaurant offered a compact menu showcasing five tacos, one quesadilla, a salad, and two ceviches. Six years later, in 2022, Velázquez opened a full-service Corazón Comedor on Victoria Street.. Velázquez also made an appearance on the Cooking Channel's Taco Trip and debuted Alma Fonda Fina in the Montecito Country Mart in mid-2024.
At Corazón Cocina, diners can find traditional Mexican fare inspired by lessons from Velázquez's mother and grandmother, including burritos; salads; and a fiery Sayulita ceviche with wild Mexican shrimp, mango, tomatoes, ahi amarillo, avocado, and habanero aioli. Multiple tostadas and tacos are available, featuring proteins like birria with a peanut salsa macha, and chicken mole, along with quesadillas prepared with tortillas made on-site.
The Carpinteria location operates as a fast-casual spot with a similar menu to the original location, while Ventura's is a full-service experience. At Ventura's full bar, Velázquez used small-batch mezcal for traditional margaritas or a flight to sip. All beers are Mexican, with wines hailing from Baja Mexico's Valle de Guadalupe. Corazón Cocina Ventura will also introduce a ribeye chicharron with mozzarella, chorizo, pasilla, and flour tortillas, as well as a tuna tartare with avocado, burnt habanero, and a crema serrano ponzu.
Velázquez says that timing was key for the Ventura and Carpinteria locations. According to Velázquez, the building's landlord came to him with the opportunity, bringing his total number of restaurants up to five. 'My goal has never been to open a chain of restaurants and make money,' says Velázquez. 'Our main objective and goal is to produce great food at a good price. We are driven by farmers' markets, local fish, and great corn from Mexico.'
Corazón Cocina Ventura is open Sunday to Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday at 278 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA, 93001. Corazón Cocina Carpinteria is open at 772 Linden Avenue, Carpinteria, CA, 93013 from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday to Thursday, and 8:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Tuna tostada with house-prepared tortillas. Corazón Cocina
Tuna tartare. Corazón Cocina
Asada taco.
Corazón Cocina's cilantro passionfruit Margarita.
Dining area. Corazón Cocina
Entry to Corazón Cocina Ventura. Corazón Cocina
Sky view from dining room.
Entry to Corazón Cocina Ventura. Corazón Cocina
Related The Best Restaurants in Santa Barbara
Eater LA
All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required)
Sign Up
By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
Wahlburgers closes 79 locations nationwide in 2025 shake-up
Wahlburgers has closed nearly 80 locations this year, dipping to 34 restaurants nationwide. The burger chain founded by actor Mark Wahlberg and his brothers, Donnie and Paul, simultaneously closed 79 locations earlier this year that were in Hy-Vee grocery stores, Eat This, Not That reported earlier this month, ending an agreement that started in 2017. Wahlburgers CEO Randy Sharpe told Nation's Restaurant News that the closures affected food court kiosks at the Iowa-based chain. "It's not a full-service restaurant, and it wasn't a significant revenue driver for either side,' Sharpe told the publication. Here's what to know. Where are Hy-Vee stores located? Hy-Vee operates 302 stores in Iowa and seven states near it, according to the web scraping tool ScrapeHero. Iowa has the most in the U.S. with 151 locations. Other locations include the rest of the Midwest and the Southern region of the country, too. Mark Wahlberg owns Chevrolet, Buick and GMC auto dealerships Wahlburgers isn't Mark Wahlberg's only business interest. The former rapper known in the 1990s for Marky Mark and the Funky Bunch also owns several auto dealerships in the Buckeye State. Mark Wahlberg has Chevrolet dealerships in various parts of Ohio, including Columbus, Worthington and Avon, as well as a Buick GMC dealership in Columbus. The dealership websites prominently feature a photo of the Hollywood actor. But wait, there's more Wahlberg launched a Mexican-inspired restaurant, Flecha Cantina, in bustling Las Vegas late last year. He's also a co-owner and brand ambassador for Flecha Azul Tequila, which he partnered with in 2022. Wahlberg made his mark in the fashion industry as well, becoming a co-founder and owner of Municipal clothing. The lifestyle brand blends athleisure apparel with streetwear flair and launched in 2020.
CNBC
2 hours ago
- CNBC
Greenhouse growers take aim at Trump's 'tomato tax' on Mexican imports
When the Trump administration announced a new 17% tariff on Mexican tomatoes, Florida-based growers celebrated the win. They'd pushed for years to end a trade agreement that they said failed to keep Mexican imports from flooding the market. But greenhouse growers, importers and industry groups in Arizona and Texas are blasting the Commerce Department's withdrawal from the agreement, warning that it could raise prices and cost U.S. jobs. "There has to be a better way of doing business than just putting duties on products that the consumers want," said NatureSweet CEO Rodolfo Spielmann, who grows greenhouse tomatoes in Arizona and Mexico. Since President Donald Trump took office in January, he's waged a sweeping trade war to promote domestic industries and specific political demands. Earlier this month, he threatened to impose a 30% tariff on Mexico for allegedly failing to dismantle drug cartels. But the tomato levy is distinct. It stems from the termination of a nearly 30-year-old trade agreement specific to Mexican tomatoes. Growers like Spielmann hoped — and still hope — the agreement would be renegotiated instead. Because NatureSweet works on both sides of the border, he says it's impossible to scale back Mexican operations without also hurting domestic ones. The footprint of NatureSweet's Arizona greenhouse could hold 30 football fields, Spielmann said. The company, whose tomatoes are primarily sold in grocery stores, planned to more than double its capacity in the United States, in response to growing demand and a desire to innovate. But it has now put that expansion on hold, he said, because of the change in trade policy. He says the new tariff will support Florida growers, who mostly plant in open fields, at the expense of everyone else, including consumers, who've grown accustomed to enjoying a wide variety of tomatoes grown in greenhouses year-round. "We understand that there's a need to protect the Florida tomato production, but also we should be protecting the total U.S. tomato production," Spielmann said. Moving more operations to the U.S. would present hurdles for NatureSweet. The climate in Mexico is better for growing tomatoes, he explained. And the partial-year H-2A visa program for farmworkers doesn't account for greenhouse operations that need employees for a full year. It would "take years and a lot of money" to transfer more greenhouses to the U.S., said Tom Stenzel, executive director of the Controlled Environment Agriculture Alliance, whose members include greenhouse tomato growers with operations in the U.S., Mexico and Canada. Economists have warned that the new tomato tax could mean price increases of up to 10%, harming both consumers and restaurants that rely on tomatoes. Industry groups that represent companies that distribute Mexican tomatoes in the U.S. say their workers are now at risk. "There is such a wide selection of tomatoes, and there's so many different factors that go into bringing all those different varieties to the store shelf," said Dante Galeazzi, CEO and president of the Texas International Produce Association, which represents warehouses handling imported produce. The White House did not respond to questions but referred NBC News to a statement Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick gave last week when he announced the end of the trade agreement. "Mexico remains one of our greatest allies, but for far too long our farmers have been crushed by unfair trade practices," he said. Critics say the trade agreement's safeguards didn't prevent Mexican tomatoes from being "dumped," or being sold at unfairly low prices, in the U.S., despite being renegotiated several times in an effort to help level the playing field. "People say, 'you're protectionist,'' said Tony DiMare, president of DiMare Fresh, which has operations in Florida and California. "You're darn right I am." The U.S. needs "boundaries and guidelines and trade laws to keep these countries in check," he said. The number of family farms has dwindled in recent years, according to Robert Guenther, executive vice president of the Florida Tomato Exchange, which spearheaded the original trade case against Mexican imports. Mexican tomatoes now comprise roughly 70% of the tomatoes consumed in the U.S. "We're talking about 100 years of domestic tomato supply that we don't want to see go away and this will help," he said. The Commerce Department's decision to impose anti-dumping duties is in line with tariffs imposed on other products, he said. Political leaders and lawmakers from both sides of the aisle in Texas and Arizona aren't convinced that the tomato tax will ultimately benefit the U.S. A statement from Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs, a Democrat, cited a Texas A&M study estimating that nearly 50,000 jobs in Arizona and Texas are tied to the import of tomatoes, jobs she said are now at risk. "Donald Trump's reckless trade war is raising prices, threatening our economic growth and killing jobs," she said. In June, four Republican lawmakers in Arizona and Texas warned against abandoning the agreement in a letter to Lutnick. "This agreement has safeguarded American jobs, stabilized markets, and driven agricultural innovation without burdensome government interference," they wrote. The Republican-dominated Legislature in Texas passed a resolution opposing the Trump administration's withdrawal from the agreement. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a staunch Trump ally, signed it last month.
Miami Herald
6 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Apple makes major store closing, opening announcement
It's pretty rare to see a giant tech company make a foray into the physical retail space. It's even less common to see a tech company hack the retail industry successfully. Don't miss the move: Subscribe to TheStreet's free daily newsletter Most disruptors tend to avoid brick-and-mortar retail space like the plague. That's because, historically, physical retail is a beast of an industry to crack. For one, longstanding retailers are already firmly entrenched in the space. And competition is fierce. Related: Popular Mexican chain unexpectedly closing down local restaurant It'd be awfully hard to convince consumers that you offer a better price point or experience than large incumbents like Walmart (ostensibly the king of physical retail), Target, or Home Depot. And brick-and-mortar tends to be a money vacuum. High costs of rent, utilities, rising shrink (another term for theft), tariffs, and supply chain issues make running a retail business something of a headache. Most of the successful tech companies know streamlined operations thanks to software and other online advancements make for a far smoother business model. So most of them lack a physical store presence and put their money saved into other things, like research and development or a dividend. This isn't to say that tech companies ignore the retail space altogether. There are plenty of successful online businesses that cater to consumers and offer robust storefronts - just without a physical footprint. Wayfair, Amazon, and even Carvana offer storefronts for customers to shop from almost exclusively online. More Retail: Popular Mexican chain closing all restaurants, no bankruptcyHome Depot local rival closing permanently after 120 yearsAmazon makes a harsh decision amid concerning customer trendHuge bankrupt retail chain closing down all stores after 80 years To be fair, some tech retailers have tried their hands at brick-and-mortar models. Amazon, for instance, has been trying to crack grocery and convenience for years. But it's been a rocky road; Amazon has largely shuttered some of its ambitious retail projects like Amazon Books and Pop-Up stores. It current operates over 600 brick-and-mortar stores. Despite its massive expansion, Amazon commands under 3% of the physical retail space. Part of the reason Amazon has struggled with retail is because it's over-expanded its offerings. Bookstores, convenience stores, pop-up shops, and grocery stores are a great way to spread your inventory thin and confuse your customers. But Apple (AAPL) does retail differently. Related: Home Depot makes clear statement amid boycott threats It's one of the few tech giants that actually sees success from its brick-and-mortar presence. Stores are highly organized and only offer a handful of products in very clear displays that make navigation a cinch. Each time a new iPhone launches, for example, stores across the globe see big upticks in foot traffic - and often lines forming outside the doors long before opening time. Another reason they're successful is because Apple is constantly monitoring store metrics and changing its footprint. Such is the case in Detroit, Mich. Apple announced it would open a new Apple store in downtown Detroit on Woodward Avenue near the Shinola Hotel. At the same time, it announced it would not renew its lease at the Partridge Creek Mall in Clinton Township, Mich. That store is slated to close in August 2025. Apple seems to be betting on a larger trend in the retail industry, whereby customers are moving away from shopping malls (which are rapidly declining in popularity) in favor of more upscale, frequented outdoor shopping areas. The Arena Media Brands, LLC THESTREET is a registered trademark of TheStreet, Inc.
