Collective — Restaurant in Santa Maria

I visited The Collective in Santa Maria last night with a friend. The concept of having several restaurants in one building is pretty interesting, and the food and drinks themselves were good. I especially enjoyed the beer selection and the dishes we tried.

That said, my experience was a bit off-putting. When I ordered my first beer—before even ordering any food—the bartender asked for my card and said he needed to hold onto it because he didn’t know who I was. I’ve never had that happen at a restaurant/bar before, and it made me feel a bit put off, like I was being treated as a potential dine-and-dash risk just because I’m from out of town and he hadn't seen me in there before.

Overall, the food and drinks were solid, but that interaction left a strange impression. Will be neat if this place is able to grow, with more vendors as it seems to still be...

So I went with my lady friend and her bestie. There was a band playing some cool cover songs, lots of tvs with sports games throughout kind of like a boojie version of buffalo wild wings. Lots of things look good. My friends said that their plates were good. I ordered the wings to see how they taste and look. The plate was 16 bucks and was wondering how many come in the order and we'll I was disappointed when it's only 8 of them, 😔. They tasted good just not sure if they are 16 dollars good and they were really small which was a little concerning. Not sure if I'll order that again. Maybe I'll have luck a different time ordering something different. Over all the vibe was good, ohh and the pint of beer was like 12 bucks. I...

The Collective is hands down the best place to visit if you’re looking for eclectic selections ranging from wine and cheese to beer and hot dogs! The open floor concept is inviting for any tastes—sitting casually at the bar, lounging more intimately at your own table, or getting your flip cup game on in the patio area! 805 Charcuterie has the best presentation with their boards, making it almost too pretty to eat. The live entertainment was also a crowd pleaser with being able to put in requests from a long list of classic songs. Being able to purchase wine by the bottle sealed the deal with our group, and we had the best time!...