An escalator ride to the Chumash Casino Resort’s third floor used to lead to the venue’s all-you-can-eat buffet. But 2020 marked the restaurant’s closure, and its managers decided not to hold their breath for a reopening.
Executive Chef Peter Sherlock, who oversees all of the resort’s food and beverage operations, remembers “tossing some ideas around” about a future reboot for the space rather than a revival not too long into the pandemic.
The casino’s culinary team landed on a new concept—which officially opened its doors in late June—that isn’t a buffet, yet it offers a similarly diverse selection of cuisine options you’d expect to find at one.
Simply known as The Sports Bar, its title is just the tip of the iceberg.
“We didn’t want to go with just the mainstream sports bar food,” Sherlock said, but clarified that it isn’t without sports bar staples, such as hot wings and nachos.
The reason there’s so much to choose from at The Sports Bar is because its industrial marketplace-style setting is broken up into six distinct eateries. Lucky Buns, for example, dishes out beef burgers, turkey burgers, Impossible burgers, and basically anything under the sun you can “put between a bun,” Sherlock said, while Let’s Noodle is all about ramen and pho.
Other offerings for bar guests to pair with their brews include sushi from Cali Rolls; chicken wings, bites, and sandwiches from Bok Bok’s; tacos, ceviche, and pozole from Lovin’ Tacos; and banana cream pie, carrot cake, and other house-made desserts from The Sweet Spot.
With so much grub to choose from, it’s fitting for The Sports Bar’s expansive beer, wine, and cocktail list to read like a novel. Among the imported and domestic brews for guests to choose from is the Valley Fog, a new original blonde ale produced by the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians in conjunction with The Sports Bar’s grand opening.
“It’s a light, hazy, pale ale, … [with] a touch of citrus. … It’s just beautiful,” Sherlock said. “[After] one sip, you’re like, ‘Oh, I can drink this all day long.’”
Not long after the Valley Fog idea came about, the Chumash Casino Resort took on another bold beverage initiative.
“We took it to the next level,” Sherlock said while recalling a business trip that led to the creation of the resort’s first official house bourbon, thanks to a partnership between the casino and a distillery nestled a few states away.
“A bunch of us and one of our owners went down to Woodford Reserve in Kentucky. We did a barrel tasting on three different barrels,” Sherlock said. “We blended our own bourbon, and then got it into California. … We have it now in The Sports Bar.”
Before joining the resort’s culinary team in 2017, Sherlock held various chef duties at venues in New York and Nevada during the span of his 42-year career. One of the reasons Sherlock decided to take on his current role in Santa Ynez was because it’s a nostalgic area for his wife, whose family often enjoyed road trips to Santa Barbara and Solvang during her childhood in LA.
Some of Sherlock’s food recommendations among The Sports Bar’s six eateries include the Bullionaire (a burger with a beef and chorizo patty between a black charcoal bun) at Lucky Buns, the “Not Chick’N Bites” (fried cauliflower bites served with a choice of dip, carrots, and celery) at Bok Bok’s, and any of the taco selections at Lovin’ Tacos, assembled with house-made blue corn tortillas.
“We created a masa blend that we make every day. It’s a purple masa, with blue corn meal,” Sherlock said, “and there’s also a little bit of white masa in there for texture.”
Along with curating The Sports Bar’s food and drink offerings, Sherlock enjoyed being involved with the design phase of the new venue as well.
With a distinct atmosphere in mind, Sherlock said he and his peers decided early on to tweak the original space’s ceilings, to “make it really industrial, so you see the pipes, … and air vents.”
The new venue’s 30-foot wraparound bar is surrounded by more than 20 television sets with various sports playing, and 22 slot machines so guests can enjoy gambling without having to descend to the casino’s main gaming floor below.
During its first few months in business, The Sports Bar has often brought in a lively crowd reminiscent of one you’d find at the broadcast sports events themselves, Sherlock said.
“[It’s] like a stadium,” he said. “You hear that roar, … that excitement from the guests as they’re cheering for their favorite game.”
Arts Editor Caleb Wiseblood will watch whichever channel plays bowling or dodgeball. Send comments to cwiseblood@santamariasun.com.