Sometimes, all it takes is a love of tacos and a dream. That’s how Jonathan “Yona” Estrada got his start, opening Yona Redz in the 500 block of State Street five months deep into the pandemic. Now, four years later, he’s got a second restaurant — Santa Playa Mariscos — and a new location for both at 1230 State Street.
Hailing the seven blocks as a great move, Estrada claims, “In the 500 block, people would go down for fun and then stop by for food, but here, people gravitate for the food.” Currently, you can order from the classic Yona Redz menu — especially those sloppily delicious birria quesotacos with consommé — or from the new seafood-focused Santa Playa Mariscos menu offering fresh catch straight from the Santa Barbara Fish Market.
Estrada hopes Yona Redz will be in its own space — that’s Suite A at the address, Santa Playa is Suite C, and you could get your nails done between the two — by the end of the first quarter of 2025. Thinking about how opening businesses tends to go in town, he admits, “You can have a plan, but … .”