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Olio e Limone Opening Olio Pizzeria in Santa Barbara

Photo: Olio e Limone

As day-trip season approaches, we learn that one of Santa Barbara’s finest Italian restaurants is expanding with its own casual outpost. Alberto and Elaine Morello are opening Olio Pizzeria in mid-June next to their Sicilian Olio e Limone, which debuted itself of off State Street in 1999. This will be a 50-seater, La Signora tells us, complete with wine and a full bar, and plans to stay open seven days a week both for dining-in or picking up pies to take home. The star of the show is an authentic wood-burning oven, while Alberto will provide support players in antipasti and salads. The idea, according to Mrs. Morello, is to recreate the kind of place you would find around the corner from every piazza in Italy, with the traditional spirit of an enoteca.

Olio Pizzeria, 17 West Victoria St. Santa Barbara. 805-899-2699.

Olio e Limone Opening Olio Pizzeria in Santa Barbara