The Blue Owl at Zen Yai
Making Downtown Late Nights a Great Time for Food
Where: 425 State Street, (805) 705-0991, theblueowlsantabarbara.com.
What: Late night Thai-inspired eats right downtown, serving just three nights a week. Delivery also available during Owl’s business hours.
How Much: Weekly menu plates, $6-$8.
The Dish: Santa Barbara isn’t exactly known for having an array of late night eats, but The Blue Owl is an astoundingly spicy and intriguing exception. The Owl’s weekly menu is short but sweet, as are its hours: Thursday-Saturday, 11:30 p.m.-2:30 a.m. Whether already out at downtown’s bars or home awaiting the stroke of midnight, diners flood in to enjoy nighttime fare with a Thai flair. The tri-tip sandwich is slathered with rich oyster chili mayo, a new spin on our traditional Santa Maria–style. Their signature burger is a Thai basil cheeseburger for which the grass fed beef is infused with aromatic green curry. Craving something on the richer side? It doesn’t get much more decadent than fried egg fried rice (I mean, come on, “fried” appears twice within the four word description).
