Ask a local how to get to this historic tavern, set high in the hills above Santa Barbara. The very definition of “rustic” Cold Spring Tavern began as a stagecoach stop in 1886. The site and its historic menu have been preserved as a “travel back in time” to the days when the road was used by stagecoaches traveling from the Santa Ynez Valley to the Santa Barbara coast. Patrons often head up on weekend afternoons to chow down on unmissable tri-tip barbecue sandwiches and onion rings while enjoying live country music and cold beer. Dinner includes such adventurous choices as wild game chili venison sausage stuffed mushrooms and sautéed medallions of rabbit.