Too Much Red Tape: Linden Hall Restaurant Done in Carpinteria

For nearly a year, chef and restaurateur Nick Bodden — whose first brick-and-mortar spot Revolver Pizza quickly became a cult favorite in Westside Santa Barbara with its endless collection of vinyl, music nights, and sourdough-crusted New York–style pizza — has been in an uphill battle trying to open a second restaurant, Linden Hall, in Carpinteria. But a labyrinth of red tape and extended delays waiting on permits from the City of Carpinteria have pushed the opening back at least 10 months, and this week Bodden announced via social media that the long-awaited restaurant would not be able to open up at all.

“Despite all the excitement and planning, the restaurant I had hoped to open has faced some unexpected challenges,” Bodden wrote on Instagram Monday morning. 

In an interview with the Independent, Bodden said that while the restaurant had been awaiting building permits with the city, everything else was lined up and ready to go. He purchased plateware, kitchen equipment, and furniture (including tables and chairs salvaged from The Palms, a Carpinteria mainstay on Linden Avenue that was recently sold and closed). He hosted pop-ups and gained a lot of interest among foodies on the South Coast. He hired two talented teams that were excited to work but were forced to move on to other jobs when the doors never opened — “Every employee left,” he said. He perfected the menu after taking over as head chef in October 2023 and putting together a second team of cooks and servers. And as each week passed, he was told the permits were right around the corner.

By the New Year, he said, the amount of money he had poured into Linden Hall reached a breaking point, and he had to seriously start considering giving up on the project. “I lost my opportunity months ago,” he said.

On Monday night, after making the announcement, he spoke to the Carpinteria City Council, where he shared during public comment his “difficulties related to permits” and how he felt “the city has contributed to the challenges” he faced opening the restaurant.

He said that when he opened his first restaurant, Revolver, in August 2020, the process was much smoother despite “being in the middle of a pandemic.” Within three months, he said, the restaurant was up and running. 

In Carpinteria, however, the restaurant has sat empty for the past several months. Most days, Bodden works in the small dining room area with the front door open, where would-be customers poke their heads in and ask over and over again: “Are you guys open yet?”

“It’s frustrating for a small business owner who puts everything into a project when 10 months down the line I have nothing else but the option to close and not see everything I’ve worked on come to fruition,” Bodden told the City Council.

He said that the people he has worked with in the city were very helpful, but that “10 months is a long time” and he could no longer afford to rack up any more debt while waiting for the city’s approval.

Carpinteria’s Community Development Director Nick Bobroff, who has been working with Bodden and the property owners for several months, said that the permits were “literally at the finish line” after multiple delays and “miscommunication between all parties involved.”

“It did take a while to get here,” Bobroff said. The building permits came to the city in September, he said, at a time when the city’s longtime contract plans examiner had just retired. After a three-month delay, the plans finally were checked in December. The situation was further complicated when the city found out the property owner had started some work without permits and the city issued a stop-work order. “It’s been frustrating for us as well,” Bobroff said.

The Linden Hall location, which was previously the kitchen area of Señor Frog’s on Linden Avenue in Carpinteria, is owned by Jason Jaeger of Jaeger Partners. Bobroff estimated that the building permits could be issued as early as next week, and that even if Bodden had to drop out, the architects and property owners would likely move forward and look for another business for the space.

During the meeting, local business owner Davis Mersereau, who said he had no affiliation with the project, added his perspective. He said that Bodden’s first restaurant has brought “culture, community, and food” to the Westside neighborhood, and that it was a disappointment that the Linden Hall project might end in a “shared failure” of the bureaucratic process.

He asked how the location could sit empty on one of the city’s main drags without somebody in the city looking into the situation and trying to resolve the issue. “I’m afraid that we spend so much time focused on ways to restrict things but not enough time is spent in terms of ways of helping people that we really do want here,” Mersereau said.

In a subsequent interview with the Independent, Bodden said that “he wouldn’t wish his experience on anybody,” and that he worried that the city was giving more “empty promises.” 

“They’ve been saying that for a while,” Bodden said. “It’s a little too convenient. I’ll believe it when I see it.”

He said he felt he was “strung along” for too long and “lumped together” with out-of-town developers with deep pockets when he was working with what he described as a “microscopic budget” in comparison.

For now, he is keeping his options open and hopes up while looking at new locations to continue his dream of a second restaurant where he can continue spreading his jazzy vinyl bar vibes, even if it isn’t in Carpinteria.

“We want to thank all of you for your support and understanding during this time,” Bodden said. “While it’s disappointing for all of us involved, we choose to look at the positives. We’re taking this time as an opportunity for personal growth and learning from this experience.”