The Hitching Post 2

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

Where Wood Smoke Meets Wine Country

On Highway 246 in Buellton, The Hitching Post 2 has earned its place as one of California's Santa Ynez Valley institutions — a no-nonsense American BBQ restaurant with a wine program serious enough to earn a Wine Spectator Award of Excellence. That combination of open-fire cooking and genuine wine credentials is what sets it apart from the casual roadside look it wears on the outside.

The Wine That Put It on the Map

The restaurant operates alongside The Hitching Post Winery, and the connection runs deep. Guests can explore the wine list with the same seriousness they'd bring to a dedicated tasting room — the Wine Spectator recognition reflects a cellar and by-the-glass selection that goes well beyond what you'd expect from a BBQ house. The winery's tasting room, just next door at 420 E Highway 246, offers its own lunch experience for those who want to linger in the vines before dinner.

Smoke, Grill, and the Full Experience

The menu covers lunch and dinner, with take-out available for those who want the full American BBQ experience on their own terms. The kitchen leans on the grill, and the atmosphere is relaxed and unpretentious — the kind of place where the food does the talking. Cocktails round out a program that covers all the bases without overcomplicating anything.

The Hitching Post 2 also holds a particular cultural footnote: it featured prominently in the film Sideways, the wine-country road movie that introduced the Santa Barbara wine region to a global audience. That moment of screen time brought visitors from around the world, but regulars will tell you the BBQ and the pours were the real draw long before the cameras arrived.