TV Restaurants

Is Cold Spring Tavern Still Open? Best Thing I Ever Ate Update

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 2 Santa Barbara, California

Current status

Open

As of October 2026, Cold Spring Tavern is open — confirmed via Yelp, July 2026.

What the source shows: Yelp shows customer reviews dated as recently as July 2026 for the Stagecoach Road address; the tavern's tourism-listing page describes ongoing regular service. How we decide a status →

What happened after Best Thing I Ever Ate? 2 episodes

Best Thing I Ever Ate, Season 2, Episode 5

The 'Meat-Fest' episode profiled Cold Spring Tavern's oak-pit barbecue, built around the tavern's tri-tip and wild-game dishes. Cold Spring Tavern operates as a 19th-century stagecoach-stop roadhouse on Stagecoach Road in the Santa Barbara backcountry, pairing its dining room and bar with live music, according to the business's own website. The site's navigation includes dedicated 'History' and 'Fun Facts' pages describing that heritage. Checked on 2026-09-08, coldspringtavern.com listed hours as Thursday 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. and Friday through Sunday 11:30 a.m.-4 p.m., with Tuesday and Wednesday closed.

Man v. Food, Season 8, Episode 13 Aired

During the Santa Barbara episode, Casey Webb stopped at Cold Spring Tavern, a mountain roadhouse in the San Marcos Pass known for its outdoor barbecue and grilled tri-tip sandwiches, according to the episode. The tavern dates back roughly 200 years to its origin as a stagecoach stop on a Wells Fargo route, and the property still includes a saloon and the relocated original Ojai jailhouse, according to the tavern's own historical account published on its visitor-facing pages. In September 2026, Yelp showed customer reviews dated as recently as July 2026 for the Stagecoach Road address, and the tavern's posted hours listed regular weekend service. No closure or ownership change has been reported for Cold Spring Tavern since the 2019 broadcast.

The episodes Best Thing I Ever Ate

Episode 5
Air date not confirmed
Title: Meat-Fest · What was featured: oak-pit tri-tip and barbecue specialties at a historic stagecoach tavern
Man v. Food, Season 8, Episode 13
Aired
What was featured: grilled tri-tip sandwich at a historic stagecoach-stop tavern

Also in Season 2 Best Thing I Ever Ate

Season 2: 64 of 102 still open · 8 renamed, moved or under new owners

All 13 Season 2 episodes →

Nearest restaurants By distance from 5995 Stagecoach Rd

All 892 TV restaurants in California →

Before you go: Businesses change fast. Always confirm directly with the restaurant — call ahead, or check its own current website or social media — before making plans around anything on this page.

Sources we checked 5 references

  1. coldspringtavern.com https://coldspringtavern.com/
  2. santabarbaraca.com https://santabarbaraca.com/businesses/cold-spring-tavern/
  3. Yelp https://www.yelp.com/biz/cold-spring-tavern-santa-barbara
  4. syvbuzz.com https://syvbuzz.com/venue/cold-spring-tavern
  5. imdb.com https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12312382/
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Record mvf-453 · checked by Cal Marchetti.