Trader Joe’s - Santa Barbara

Smallish Trader Joes located in the upper state area of Santa Barbara with the smallest and most overcrowded parking lot you’ll ever see. Standard TJs layout and selection but you can find the limited releases by FW here for really good prices. I picked up a Firestone 17 for less than $20 which is about $5 cheaper than anywhere else on town.

Visited November 3, 2013.

This is about a block away from the Bevmo and San Roque markets on State St, so realistically if you can find parking you can probably walk to all three. The Trader Joe’s parking lot is not an easy place to navigate or park in. The aisles are very narrow, 90% of vehicles are SUVs driven by soccer moms, pedestrians are all over the place, and they bring large trucks into that same parking lot to deliver supplies. Park on the street if you can. Inside is your normal Trader Joes with about the same beers. They’ll always have the house brands (the German stuff made at Gordon Biersch, the American stuff made at Firestone, and the Belgian stuff made at Unibroue) as well as a few of the other staples. Chimay, Lindemans, Stone, and for whatever reason Kennebunkport stuff. Employees are the usual only semi knowledgeable Hawaiian shirt wearing Trader Joe’s employees that you’re used to seeing by now. Very friendly but not beer nerds, not that you’ll need a lot of help navigating the beer aisle since there are only a few dozen beers to pick from. Prices on beer are good, prices on food are bad. The usual.