Casa Sevilla
Casa Sevilla is at 428 Chapala Street below Haley. This was a tenant improvement I worked on, a lot of work, finish carpentry, framing and forming for concrete. There was a lot of repair, I even grouted some plate steel in the new walk through openings cut into masonry walls. The project was fun.
The Smoking Room.
Main Dining.
This restaurant doesn't exist now. They had a 5 year lease and it took two years to do the tenant improvement. The construction itself took 8 months. It was high end of course. They recruited a chef from Chicago and they had him on the payroll for a year before he served his first meal.
I can't find a picture of the exterior. It is an old stone house built in 1867, if I recall right, by Italian stone masons, the stone is coldwater sandstone from a local quarry. It became a restaurant not too long afterward. It was supposed to be the oldest continuous operating eating place in Santa Barbara. It closed down in the late 90's or early 2000's. It was bought by the people who owned the Holiday Inn around the corner on Haley. The parking lot of Sevilla was in back of the Holiday Inn. They wanted to tear down Sevilla after the lease was up, the problem was it is a historical landmark. It's still there today as far as I know.
It has a coed restroom! The stall partitions are from floor to ceiling. It has a lot of trick features, lots of expensive craft work. I am sorry it is not in business anymore. We went there once and the food was good, it was not memorable but I remember it was good.
I was working for Young Construction of Santa Barbara, the general contractor on the job. I appreciated the work but the company was not easy to work for. I did not get much appreciation. They did give me a lot of interesting work. So in balance it was a good job.
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