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BizHawk: Coast & Olive Restaurant Opens at Montecito Inn

Brothers Jim, left, and Jason Copus celebrate the grand opening Thursday of the Coast & Olive restaurant at the Montecito Inn. (Joshua Molina / Noozhawk photo)

Montecito has a new restaurant — Coast & Olive, at the Montecito Inn.

Owner Jim Copus held a grand opening on Thursday.

The spot was previously home to the Montecito Cafe and The Monarch.

"We've always had aspirations to do it ourselves and have the restaurant fit better with the hotel," Copus said. "We just decided this was the right time for us to do it ourselves."

The location, at the front of the Montecito Inn, 1295 Coast Village Road, has been vacant for about one year. 

For now, Coast & Olive will only serve dinners, but plans also call for breakfast and lunch. 

The Copus family also owns the Montecito Inn.

"We're a hotel," Copus said. "We really want our hotels to service breakfast."

Copus said the menu is California cuisine, with inspiration from the French Riviera. He wants the eatery to be a "locals restaurant."

"We want it to be a place that the locals can embrace," he said. "We want it to be a place where people would feel comfortable coming more than once a week."

He also said the spot is elegant and "a restaurant for all occasions." 

"You might feel very special coming here for your anniversary, but it's comfortable and casual, and you might also feel comfortable coming in four times a week for lunch," he said.

There are also cocktail and kids menus.

"This is our new baby," Copus said, "and we want to do it well."