Do the Lama Sama on Upper State Street

There’s a wealth of ways to lay out this story about how Lama Dog met Sama Sama on Upper State Street and made a supergroup of brews and bites amidst sports-beaming TVs, open air breezing through lifted garage doors, and smells of chile spice and savory fish sauce emanating from the casual Asian-Cali cuisine. 

I could, as usual, just refer to the notes of my recent conversations with Lama Dog owner Pete Burnham and Sama Sama co-owner/chef Tyler Peek, some of which you’ll see down the page.

Or I could rely on my own personal experiences at each of their existing establishments: numerous pints at Lama Dog in the Funk Zone with friends from near and far as World Cup matches and American football games played on; or repeat meals at Sama Sama next to the Granada, where I’ve hosted Indy events, celebrated a milestone birthday with about 30 friends in the backyard, and took my son for chicken wings when he graduated from some grade during the foggy COVID days, qualifying as our first restaurant visit together since that mess began.

But it’s probably best to just put it this way: When I set foot in the establishment everyone knows as “Lama Sama” a few days after it opened in October, I planned to stay for about an hour, the usual amount of time an interview like this takes. Instead, I was there for almost five hours — not getting drunk, mind you, but talking food, drink, and life with Pete, Tyler, and an assorted cast of characters while casually eating okonomiyaki tots, Korean-fried cauliflower, “Naughty Nuri” spare ribs, and a ferociously addictive miso kale caesar salad.

Lama Sama proved to be such a comfortable place — and one where people really and already did know each other’s names — that I preferred it to my couch and kitchen at home, a statement I rarely make. Especially on a Monday.

If you require more validation than that, let’s start with the basics.

Sama Sama Kitchen opened on State Street first, back in 2013, part of the Shelter Social Club family, which emerged out of Santa Barbara’s Presidio Motel and Agave Inn before opening hotels in Ojai, Los Alamos, and Solvang. Co-owner/chef Ryan Simorangkir — born in SoCal; raised through high school in Indonesia; cousin of Social Shelter cofounder Kenny Osehan — met co-owner/chef Tyler Peek (born in Tampa; raised in Nashville) during culinary school, and then they cooked together in both Puerto Rico and Bali.

For obvious reasons, they opted for Indonesian-influenced cuisine at Sama Sama, bringing something new to Santa Barbara diners a dozen years ago. They’ve since partnered as the cuisine creators behind beverage-minded businesses such as Topa Topa Brewing in Ojai, Strange Beast in Ventura, Lion’s Tale in Montecito (which just opened), and Babi’s Beer Emporium in Los Alamos (though their Dim Sama just closed there).

“Some of our cooks have been with us for like six, seven years, and it’s been really cool to promote people and give them opportunities within the company,” said Peek of one reason behind Sama Sama’s growth. “If you have one restaurant, it’s hard to keep people around. So we’ve had the opportunity to move people around to Ojai and Ventura and now here.”

Lama Dog, meanwhile, opened as the centerpiece of the Funk Zone’s ambitious, shared-space Waterline development in 2016. A former Carr Winery cellar rat who fell for beer while harvesting grapes, Pete Burnham drove across the state, accumulating bespoke brewery sources for his 20 taps, overseen by his dog, Lama, a Tibetan mastiff that lived until 2020. Those welcoming vibes and ample brews were paired with cuisine from The Nook, originally run by star chef Norbert Schulz. 

While the masses did show up for Burnham’s beers, he realized the importance of eating to the drinking formula. “Food is everything,” he said. “I wouldn’t be nearly as busy without it.”

He’s been wanting to expand. “I’ve been looking up here since Lama Dog opened,” said Burnham, who believes there’s enough beer-loving residents in San Roque to support the 30 taps he installed at Lama Sama. The spots he initially found were too small, or broken up into pieces, or had low ceilings and other complications.

“I couldn’t get a very good vision of them,” he explained. “I’m fairly risk averse, and I just don’t want to open for the sake of opening. So I just waited and waited and waited.”

When this old, 5,000-square foot bar, which was formerly La Rumba Bar & Frill and Josie’s Fourwinds, hit the market with a redesigned look — the landlords added the critical garage doors, bringing light and air into what was once a dark, dingy space — Burnham knew it was the place. He signed the lease in November 2022, and spent most of the next two years playing the permit game and completing construction.

How Lama Dog hooked up with Sama Sama isn’t entirely clear, though it was probably a combination of the Little Sama-Topa Topa collab in Ojai — Topa Topa is Lama Dog’s Waterline neighbor — and the fact that Burnham’s parents live in the Granada building, right above the original Sama Sama. “My mom and dad kinda know Ryan and Tyler,” said Burnham. “I think my mom may have said, ‘Why not try them?’”

Mom’s hunch was right. Sama Sama’s span-all-Asia cuisine — Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China are obvious influences, though Cambodia, Laos, and Burma might be involved too — brings so many combinations of sweet, salty, savory, and funky to the table that 30 beers on tap seems barely adequate. Don’t fret — more than 400 cans/bottles can be found in the fridge, too, many of the labels impossible to find elsewhere.

“Our wings are our most popular dish, so we put them everywhere just to attract people,” said Peek, who also plans to run catering gigs out of the San Roque kitchen. “But we’ll have a specials board here soon, and we’ll start adding and taking away dishes.” A recent drooler was the PLT, where braised pork belly, lettuce, and tomato meet pickled carrot and Thai basil aioli on a brioche bun. 

Television placement rarely gets mentioned in restaurant articles, but the 13 big screens here are arranged in a way that they can be seen from every seat, yet aren’t in your face at all. Toss in some arcade games in the back and a big patio for dogs, and you might be able to see why I lingered so long. Frankly, I haven’t had enough of a gap in my schedule to go back, but that’s coming soon. Maybe I’ll see you there.

Lama Dog Uptown Tap Room + Bottle Shop and Sama San Roque (a k a “Lama Sama”) is located at 3435 State St.; lamadog.com; samasamakitchen.com/; @lamadogtaproom; @samasanroque