Villa’s Tacos – Highland Park (Los Angeles), CA
February 17, 2026Three Restaurants – One Great Outdoor Space
Linden Square – Carpinteria, CA
Visited – Summer & Fall 2025
Tracy, Garbo and I frequently head north towards Santa Barbara county for a dog-friendly outing and lunch after exploring some local paths and trails.
Lately, we have been dining in Carpinteria at a relatively new space, and we’ve been cheating on our favorite Carp restaurant, Teddy’s by the Sea (please don’t tell them). Our latest hangout is Linden Square, a food hall that opened in late-May 2025 and currently has three restaurants: Corazon Cocina Sur, Third Window Brewing Company and Tina’s Pizza. Plus its patio is dog friendly!
First, we love the space. The restaurants are situated around a tree and umbrella-shaded patio. All three are fast-casual so there is no table service. After ordering take a seat at one of the numerous tables or, in the case of Third Window Brewing, you can dine inside.
On our first foray, we dined at Corazon Cocina Sur which is the latest restaurant from Chef/Owner Ramon Velazquez, renowned Guadalajaran chef who immigrated to the U.S. in 1990. The original Corazon Cocina opened in nearby Santa Barbara in 2016, where his inventive tacos and salsas inspired from Velázquez’s mother and grandmother received a Michelin Bib award. I have to say that his food is very colorful! And very good!
We started with a large side of guacamole, avocados, serrano chile, cilantro, onions, toasted market pepitas, and homemade chips which was delicious, but the smaller size would have been sufficient for the two of us. We each ordered two tacos expecting them to be small, but they were good sized and filling. Tracy ordered the Ensenada, crispy beer battered ling cod, cabbage, salsa cruda, pico de gallo, lime-mayo crema with a house-made corn tortilla. I ordered the Norteno, grilled skirt steak, cheese, guacamole, beans, salsa mugrosa on a house-made flour tortilla. We both ordered the New York sirloin steak taco with guacamole. All the dishes coming out looked great.
They have a bright colorful bar serving beer, wine and margaritas.
For our second outing, we tried the Third Window Brewing Co., which is also from Santa Barbara. The space is open and light-filled and has with two giant TV screens and a fireplace in case you want to have a pint and watch some sports.
This location has a smaller menu than its sister restaurant in Santa Barbara. I ordered the Wagyu smashed cheeseburger and a side of super crispy Belgian-style fries, while Tracy went with the BLT, house-baked pain de mie, Givens Farms heirloom tomatoes, house-smoked maple bacon, iceberg lettuce, and mayo. We also grabbed a brown sugar Rice Krispy treat for the road… um, dessert, as it didn’t make it to the car. There is also a variety of Third Window lagers, beers and ales available on tap or from the refrigerator case.
On a nice day, we prefer to enjoy our food and libations in their patio area.
Last but not least, we dined at Tina’s Pizza which is an offshoot of the popular Bettina’s, an Italian restaurant in nearby Montecito. As with the other two restaurants, Tina’s Pizza has a smaller menu than its sister restaurant being comprised mainly of pizzas and salads.
We arrived for a late lunch at 2 p.m. and we were starving which would explain why we ordered two pizzas. The summer special pizza was the Regier Peach with mozzarella, Teleme cheese, roasted poblanos, red onion, dried oregano and ricotta salata. Yum!
Our to-go pizza was the Cacio e Pepe Pie, mozzarella, Gioia ricotta, garlic, pecorino sardo, Burlap & Barrel black pepper. Tasted just like cacio e pepe without the pasta! I liked this pizza, but did add some prosciutto when we got home to offset the richness of the sauce.
The pizzas are 12”, thin and crispy with a “naturally leavened crust.” There are several other yummy looking pizzas on the menu (pepperoni and honey anyone?) as well two appetizers (Wagyu beef arancini and Meatball ‘Alla Vodka’) and a few salads. The server told me that they will soon be adding pasta to the menu.
For dessert, we tried an olive oil cup cake with orange buttercream and candied orange which actually made it all the way home! 
Tina’s also has a provision shop that sells “condiments and sauces, grab-and-go salads and sandwiches, Italian specialty items and a wide assortment of consciously produced organic, biodynamic and natural wines.”
Along with these restaurants, there is a coffee shop (Dart Coffee Company) and retail spaces, as well. Maybe a little yoga after lunch? Linden Square is a cool space to enjoy good food and libations while chilling in Carpinteria, and is, of course, 100% Garbo approved.
Linden Square
700 Linden Avenue
Carpinteria, CA 93013
Corazon Cocina Sur
Monday – Friday 8 am – 8:30 pm
Saturday/Sunday 8 am – 9 pm
Third Window Brewing Company
Sunday – Thursday 11 am – 9 pm
Friday/Saturday 11 am – 10 pm
Tina’s Pizza
Daily 11:30 am – 8:30 pm
