Posted by lemonjelly on: Thu 28th Jun, 2012

I don't care for the phrase "hands down," but in this case, the summer solstice festival is, hands down, my favorite weekend of the year in Santa Barbara.

Everyone is good natured and pleasant, except maybe the bitter pills that laid out their lawn chairs the night before and get all pissed off when people with children need to pass through their staked claim to reach the sidewalk. 

It's an occasion to dress up, get a little wacky, dance your head off at the Park afterwards, and then wander off to the plethora of private solstice parties afterwards. 

But gosh darn it, don't you just hate it when you've queued your camera up to get a photo of Pali-X's latest mad infatable and one of those jellyfish umbrellas walks in your way? 

Tags: summer solstice, sbopinion

Posted by lemonjelly on: Thu 28th Jun, 2012

So I'm running errands in Goleta, like finally getting some shoes repaired, when I decide to stick my head into Los Tarascos in Calle Real, in that shopping center that has Zodo's. I'd heard they had good tortas, and I'm only there to pick up a menu.

But the friendly guy behind the counter points out it's Tuesday and that means it's Taco Tuesday, when their small tacos are just $1 each. Normally they are $1.25, which is a pretty nice price too.

So what the heck, I order three of them, including one that's not listed on the menu - birria, carnitas, lengua.

The place is way cuter than I was expecting for a Goleta strip mall. And the tacos came out quickly, with chile salsa and a tomatillo salsa with a little kick. Plus a little bag of tortilla chips. All for about $3.25. Cuz it's Taco Tuesday, you know.

They're delicious! Normally the birria is super drippy and sloppy, but this was tender meat and just enough sauce to hold it all together without making a mess. The lengua was shredded, which I much prefer to being chopped. Carnitas was good too.

This is the same people that run Las Tarascos down on Haley, but that shop is more a panaderia. Here is where you come for some savory eats, including breakfast, lunch, and dinner. 

Las Tarascos

5915 B Calle Real, Goleta

Tags: tacos, goleta, cheap eats, las tarascos

Posted by lemonjelly on: Fri 8th Jun, 2012

Tags: casa magazine, adult ed, stone carving

Posted by lemonjelly on: Fri 8th Jun, 2012

I'm liking this guy more and more. First, he proposes putting a community ping pong table in downtown for everyone to play on. Now, he's got an exhibit of quirky and fun tic tac toe panels up at the Project Fine Art Zone, with many local artists contributing their interpretation of this simple childhood game.

What next, something amazing with spacehoppers??

Tags: hugh margerum, tic tac toe, the project fine art zone, first thursdays, The Project