Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café

The story

Crafted with passion, served with love

On a quiet stretch of Grand Avenue in the two-block town of Los Olivos, California, Los Olivos Wine Merchant & Café has been doing things the same principled way since 1995: grow it organically, source it locally, and pour wines that genuinely reflect the Central Coast terroir surrounding the restaurant.

A Place Rooted in the Land

The café's three-acre Café Farm — CCOF certified organic and located less than a mile away — supplies much of what lands on your plate. Heirloom tomatoes, little gems, snap peas, asparagus, butternut squash, fresh basil for the signature pesto: the menu rotates with the seasons because the farm dictates it, not a marketing calendar. The café also sources grass-fed beef, natural free-range chicken, and sustainable seafood to round out what the farm produces. It is Californian cuisine in its most literal sense — the soil it came from is visible on the map.

Owners Sam and Shawnda Marmorstein have run the operation since its founding, and their adjacent Bernat estate — a CCOF certified organic four-acre vineyard growing Sangiovese, Syrah, Nebbiolo, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Grenache Blanc — is another expression of that same hands-in-the-earth philosophy. Grapes are hand-harvested and minimally processed using old-world methods, with the wines poured alongside hundreds of other Central Coast bottles in the dining room.

The Wine List and the Room

The wall of wine that lines the interior is more than décor — film fans may recognize it as the backdrop for a pivotal scene in the Academy Award-winning movie Sideways. The Wine Spectator Award of Excellence, earned in 2024, reflects what the team has built over three decades: a list of more than 250 wines weighted toward Santa Barbara County and the broader Central Coast, curated by Wine Director Sam Marmorstein, with depth enough to satisfy serious collectors and approachability for guests still finding their palate.

Seating spills outdoors onto a front patio shaded by wisteria, and the overall atmosphere is what regulars describe as "rustic-elegance" — unhurried, genuinely warm, and suited to a long lunch or a leisurely dinner.

The Kitchen Under Chef Alex Garcia

Executive Chef Alex Garcia came up through the industry the hard way — starting as a dishwasher and earning every step to the top of the kitchen. His reputation for smoked meats and locally sourced seafood has already made an impression, and his commitment to continuing the café's farm-to-fork tradition is evident. The menu's beloved classics remain intact; Garcia adds his own instincts without erasing what made the café a destination in the first place.

Dishes that appear repeatedly in guest accounts include the mushroom ravioli (house-made pasta, a sauce guests describe as savory yet light), the artisan cheese plate, and seasonal preparations that shift with whatever the Café Farm is producing at its peak. The front patio, the wisteria overhead, and a glass of something local from the Central Coast: it is a combination that has been drawing people back for thirty years.