At the upper end of North Milpas Street’s restaurant row is a self-described “little Eastside café” that has attracted a big following among visitors from Los Angeles and San Francisco, but is just now catching on with locals in Santa Barbara.

We’re talking about The Shop Kitchen, at 730 N. Milpas St., recently re-energized and owned by longtime Santa Barbaran Dudley Michael.

“We started this because we didn’t think there was a really good breakfast/brunch/lunch café in the area,” Michael told us.

“But I’m terrible at marketing, I think people maybe forget about us.”

He’s not kidding. Although the restaurant opened in 2012, until recently the only sign on the building said J’s Tires, for the tire shop next door.

One look at the Yelp reviews, though, confirms that word is out, no doubt fueled by the internationally inspired menu that ranges from Chilaquiles to The General fried chicken sandwich, to Ugandan Rollex wraps.

One of the Let’s Go Eat Team members tipped us to this place, going on about how much they loved the Tugboat (named after a favorite pet dog) eggs benedict.

Without delay we set out to investigate, trying (and loving) the Tijuana caesar salad grilled chicken wrap (caesar salad was invented in Tijuana) for which Michael uses African flatbread (sometimes called Chipati) instead of tortillas.

The African flatbread was perfectly grilled, the lettuce was crisp and fresh (no brown edges), and the chicken flavorful and not overseasoned. The little things tell so much.

“We started this restaurant because we thought it would give us more free time to run a charity we had started for water in Africa,” Michael recalled, laughing.

As you can imagine, extra free time is not the defining characteristic of restaurant ownership.

“My family owned restaurants, I grew up in them,” Michael shared with us.

“I was hosting at 12, busing at 16, oyster bar cook at 18, and bartending at 21.”

And he has an impressive local résumé as well, including a BA from UC Santa Barbara (1996 Biochem), plus stints at Jaffurs Wine Cellars, Wine Cask with Doug Margerum, and Cadiz back in the day.

These days, in addition to The Shop Kitchen, he owns Wingman Rodeo (takeout chicken) and the adjacent Rodeo Room bar, at 233 W. Montecito St. and 231 W. Montecito St., respectively.

And he’s thinking of expanding his empire to include The Shop-Mini, a grab-and-go version of The Shop, set to open soon.

What’s the inspiration behind The Shop’s menu?

“I travel a lot,” Michael said, “to Europe, South and Central America, and a lot of trips to Africa.”

One of the best-selling items is the Rollex, which, “I discovered when I went to Uganda the first time,” Michael said. (He maintains that two Ls is the correct spelling.)

“They sell these by the side of the road for a dollar, made with African flatbread, scrambled eggs, and sautéed onions, which they roll up.”

Other menu items at The Shop spring from the experiences and upbringing of various employees, and with the addition of new head chef Adam Abrams (whom Michael met while they both worked at the Wine Cask), the current menu is now “sharpened,” per Michael.

“We make most of our food from scratch every day,” Michael told us, “and source as much as possible locally from places like Rosemary Farm for eggs.”

And, of course, the African flatbread.

“We make them all here, every morning, from scratch,” Michael said. “They have less than a 24-hour shelf life.”

Team LGE likes them because they not only taste really good but because they hold everything in without getting soggy and falling apart.

A few years back, Michael’s wanderlust was kicking up, and he considered moving to the next place/project.

But then the COVID-19 lockdowns came along, which was the impetus for opening Wingman — a side project to keep his chefs busy.

That led to him opening The Rodeo Room.

“Coming out of 2022,” he told us, “I looked around and said, ‘I own three restaurants in Santa Barbara, I’m here to stay.’”

With that renewed commitment, Michael decided to invest in expansion, and added considerable indoor dining seating at The Shop, along with comfortable and charming patio space.

And they finally even have their own sign now.

Locals Only

Regulars know to order the Bananas (housemade almond butter, banana and honey on thick-cut sourdough) to share after the main dish.

“Almond butter is one of the best things we make from scratch here, and the Bananas is one of the most perfect dishes on the menu,” Michael shared.

“It’s a great finisher.”

Get one for the table, ask for it to be cut into pieces, and definitely get the chopped bacon on top.

When You Go

The Shop Kitchen, at 730 N. Milpas St., is open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.