Far Western Tavern

Family ties, local roots and fresh ideas continue to abound at the Far Western Tavern as a new generation joins original owners Clarence and Rosalie Minetti at the restaurants helm. Daughters Susan and Marie, and son Tyke, as well as their spouses, all have a hand in the restaurant's ownership and direction. Manager Barbara Abernathy, who has worked at the Far Western Tavern since 1974, is the daughter of Mary Jean Minetti Ruiz, Clarence's sister who acted as the restaurant's first manager in the late 1950s and 1960s. While the Far Western Tavern is still known for Clarence's famous Bulls Eye Steak and other expressions of the region's celebrated Santa Maria Style Barbecue, the menu also offers a diversity of dishes beyond beef, such as herb-glazed rack of lamb, fire-roasted seasonal vegetables, home-style ravioli, & shrimp scampi. Wine is another facet of the Far Western Tavern experience that has grown with the times. When Clarence and Rosalie opened the restaurant in 1958, the local wine industry was still a decade removed from it's origins in the late 1960s.