Pete pictured with one of his favorite cookies, the s’mores, a delightfully warm and delicious treat perfect for a foggy Isla Vista afternoon. Piper Cheney / Daily Nexus
Pete Smith, better known as “Sweet Pete” by Isla Vista locals, opened up a cookie shop in September 2024. The shop is tucked inside one of Isla Vista’s most beloved restaurants: Sam’s To Go. If you can’t see it from the street, you can definitely smell it. Caramelizing brown sugar and sweet vanilla waft from Pete’s oven down Pardall Road, luring in all who pass by.
Over a glass of beer and the noise of a football game blasting from the Sam’s To Go TV, I asked Pete how he had ended up in Isla Vista. His answer stretched back nearly 40 years. Although born and raised in San Jose, California, Pete considers Santa Barbara home. He attended UC Santa Barbara in 1987 and has thrived in the warm, intellectually stimulating environment ever since. He found his people on the Isla Vista cliffs; one of them being Mehrdad Homayouni — the owner of Sam’s To Go.
During his sophomore year, Pete worked as a delivery boy for Pacífico beer. One Halloweekend (one of the busiest weekends for Isla Vista businesses), he followed his routine drop-off of beer at Sam’s To Go. The store was packed with thirsty college students. Mehrdad asked Pete to pour a few beers in return for a sandwich. As a college student, how could he refuse? Pete kept coming back to Sam’s, drawn by Mehrdad’s company and the free sandwiches. Pete went on to help Mehrdad organize invoices and accounting in his messy back office of the restaurant. The duo, 20-year-old Pete and 28-year-old Mehrdad, became friends quickly; they spent weekends together skiing in Mammoth and partying in Los Angeles. Pete was even around when Mehrdad met his wife and later attended their wedding. Nearly 40 years later, Pete’s shop in Mehrdad’s storefront tells the story of their friendship.
Pete has not always been a baker. After graduating with an economics degree from UCSB, he went into real estate. Pete began baking around this time, making mass amounts of cookies for work events. As Pete put it, “Baking is something easy to do that creates a product everyone enjoys.” His coworkers loved the cookies, begging for more and requesting different flavors. So, after many evenings spent in his own kitchen and hundreds of cookie-flavor requests later, Pete officially ventured into the cookie business.
His shop, Sweet Pete’s Treats, is best known for his unique flavors of cookies. Ranging from Mexican coffee to an Elvis-themed cookie (peanut butter, jelly and bacon), there’s not much that Pete can’t or won’t do when it comes to experimenting with different flavors. You could come to his shop every day and never eat the same cookie twice — that’s how often his flavors rotate. Don’t be mistaken though, he can whip up a simple cookie with just as much talent. His classic chocolate chip and snickerdoodle cookies are some of his best-sellers.
Pete bakes his cookies throughout the day, everyday. He hand scoops each cookie with care, ensuring that each flavor can be noted and enjoyed by the customer. He uses the highest quality butter and sugar, and never touches high fructose corn syrup or preservatives. The cookies are big: scooped at 3.5 ounces, and coming fresh out of the oven about 4 inches wide and 2 inches thick. Each cookie costs $3, and adding a scoop of ice cream to make it a Pizookie is just $2 more. If that’s not enough for your sweet tooth, order an ice cream sandwich: two warm cookies with a heaping amount of ice cream in between them.
Pete’s end goal is to not only have the best cookie in Isla Vista, but to help foster the student community in the neighborhood. He is still very involved in UCSB life; if he’s not baking cookies in the shop, he’s probably refereeing a UCSB basketball or volleyball game, or taking his nightly sunset walk down Del Playa. The next time you’re walking home from class, follow the smell down Pardall Road for a cookie and stay for a conversation with Pete.
A version of this article appeared on p. 11 of the January 15th, 2026 print edition of the Daily Nexus.
