Amidst the waves of partygoers, Isla Vista businesses stood ready to sustain the weekend’s activities. Over Deltopia weekend, businesses served hundreds of bagels, pizza slices and sandwiches to attendees during their busiest time of the year.
Throughout the day, locations across Isla Vista saw influxes of foot traffic at different times. Wesley Haver / Daily Nexus
Deltopia, I.V.’s annual unsanctioned street festival, saw approximately 25,000 attendees on April 5. UC Santa Barbara students and out-of-town visitors frequented local food and drink spots, with several of those locations seeing their largest day for sales.
Per Deltopia tradition, many partygoers began drinking early in the morning, leaving local businesses to bear the brunt of providing the food and drinks that helped sober them. Last year, local emergency services saw a record number of medical response calls, peaking at 106.
“Everyone just seemed to start partying so early, which is kind of a newer thing,” owner of Yetz’s Bagels and Yetz’s Deli Daniel Dunietz said. “I think in general, people should eat more before they start drinking and continue to make sure they drink water and eat … I feel like your body can only handle so much.”
Preparation began early for many businesses as they produced more food than usual and scheduled more staff on shifts. According to Jenaro Rios, owner of Super Cucas’ I.V. location, preparation began on Thursday, amounting to a fourfold increase in their standard order size for that weekend.
Doron Friedman, owner of IV Bagel Cafe and IV Pizza Pub, said his staff worked overtime through the weekend at both locations, with two extra people on staff at the IV Bagel Cafe.
Eva Aquino, manager of the I.V. Wingstop, said that the establishment prepped three times more food than what is typically sold on a regular day. She said staff were brought in from other locations to accommodate for some student staff that didn’t work that day.
Bryan Mathewson, manager of Woodstock’s Pizza, said staff prepped eight times the usual amount of ranch, at least 1,000 extra pizza boxes and 90 pizzas.
“You can only prepare [the pizzas] so many hours in advance, so at a certain point, you know, you can only prepare so much,” Mathewson said.
Local authorities scheduled parking lot closures throughout I.V. in preparation for the weekend and to curb out-of-town visitation. Managers at IV Bagel Cafe and IV Pizza Pub arrived to work at 5:30 a.m., earlier than their usual start time, due to a scheduled parking lot closure on Trigo Road.
Dunietz, a UCSB alum, said his day started at 4 a.m. to prepare 700 bagels and distribute them for free throughout I.V. on Saturday in collaboration with the Isla Vista Community Services District.
“It definitely felt like there was a much stronger effort on community engagement and accepting and trying to support kids partying, rather than turning it into an us versus them,” Dunietz said.
Throughout the day, locations across I.V. saw influxes of foot traffic at different times. Several local business owners said that crowds appeared to be calmer than last year.
“I thought that this year was a lot tamer than the last two years. Last year, I had to break up four separate fights, and I had to call out the paramedics for two separate people who were passed out,” Mathewson said. “This year, really, there was only one patron in the restaurant who was severely intoxicated, and fortunately, two of his friends came and kind of rescued him and got him out of [the] restaurant.”
Super Cucas has been in Isla Vista for 13 years, making it almost as old as Deltopia, which has been going on for 14 years, according to Rios. After experiencing several Deltopias as a restaurant, Rios echoed the sentiment that crowds were tamer this year.
“This year … it was better attitude[s] with the kids, more patient. And I think for me it was, [and for] Super Cucas, I think was better this year, in that point than last year,” Rios said.
However, there were still some difficulties in trying to cooperate with inebriated partygoers as in other years, according to Dunietz and Aquino.
“You feel helpless when you cannot give everyone the order at the same time. People are just [asking] ‘What is my order?’ We’re trying our best,” Aquino said. “Some of them were intoxicated, so it was hard to try to make [them] understand. Some of them were getting aggressive. So those are the ones that we try to fix it right away so they could leave and minimize the tensions here.”
Preparation began early for many businesses as they produced more food than usual and scheduled more staff on shifts. Wesley Haver / Daily Nexus
The weekend proved to be significantly profitable for local businesses. Friday and Saturday were IV Pizza Pub’s biggest days of the year, with Friday sales up by 30-40% and Saturday sales up three times the usual amount, according to Friedman.
“You have to go ahead and figure out processes so you can move the lines as fast as you can, because you’re busy the whole time; you don’t have a lull,” Friedman said.
Dunietz said Deltopia was Yetz’s Deli’s “best day yet” in terms of sales, selling close to 500 sandwiches, but that it was “a pretty average Saturday” for Yetz’s Bagels. Yetz’s Deli has been open for about a month, making it the business’s first Deltopia.
Mathewson said Woodstock’s had more than double the sales of a usual Saturday with about 1200 individual transactions, selling over 800 individual slices, 644 pizzas and at least 30 gallons of beer.
Some locations such as Wingstop and Domino’s Pizza did online orders and delivered Saturday morning, whereas smaller businesses like IV Pizza Pub and IV Bagel Cafe didn’t have those options available.
“We kept delivery open on Saturday morning till eight o’clock in the morning or pick up. And after that time, drivers can’t get in, and there’s too [much] foot traffic, and I think it’s also dangerous,” Friedman said.
The morning after Deltopia saw greater than normal foot traffic and sales for breakfast locations. Friedman said Sunday was the biggest day of the year for IV Bagel Cafe, with sales growing 50% from a normal Sunday.
“It’s not easy work to have to deal with that much traffic for that many hours straight. A lot of these kids who work for us are college students. Some are not, and the fact that they all come together as a team, it’s pretty cool. It shows an incredible work ethic, and I’m very, very, very proud of that team,” Friedman said.
Recovery from the day’s activities began Saturday night and extended into Monday. Aquino said Wingstop was in the process of refunding roughly 30 orders that weren’t picked up. Mathewson said Woodstock’s had to replace broken furniture and door handles.
Friedman has owned IV Bagel Cafe for over 30 years and said Halloween and graduation used to be his largest weekends. Over the years, Deltopia has solidified its position as his businesses’ busiest and most profitable time.
“I think that the most important thing of Deltopia is to basically operate within the confines of what the sheriff’s office wants you to do, which means no deliveries, no pickups,” he said. “The sheriff’s department’s been absolutely amazing, they’re so helpful. And so, I can’t say enough good things.”
Dunietz said he’s noticed that partygoers have started to drink earlier in the day since his time at UCSB. He emphasized that partygoers — especially those coming from out of town who may not have access to a kitchen — find ways to feed themselves on Deltopia.
Several businesses emphasized the “unique” way in which I.V. businesses must run, seeing slower slumps in the summer and spurts of business throughout the academic year.
“It’s a really unique challenge that you can have. Sales can vary by up to 400% in between the slowest date [and] the busiest day, and figuring out a good plan to make it work and executing and getting through the day successfully is a big accomplishment,” Mathewson said.
After countless hours of preparation, overtime and clean up, Isla Vista businesses are returning to business as normal — until next year’s festivities, of course.
A version of this article appeared on p. 4 of the Apr. 10, 2025 edition of the Daily Nexus.
Deltopia 2025 was a whirlwind! It’s impressive how local businesses like Yetz’s Deli and Woodstock’s Pizza stepped up to meet the massive demand, with some prepping up to eight times their usual amount of food. The community’s effort to keep everyone fed and safe truly stood out.
Interestingly, amidst the festivities, some attendees mentioned using their casino bonus winnings to fund their Deltopia experience. While not a conventional method, it highlights the lengths people go to enjoy the event.
Overall, it’s heartening to see the community come together, ensuring both fun and safety during such large-scale events.