Madeline Bryce / Daily Nexus

Are you tired of eating food from the same restaurants over and over again in Isla Vista? Look no further! While I.V. has limited restaurant options, there still are hidden gems waiting to be discovered. These are the most underrated restaurants only a handful of UC Santa Barbara students know about.

1.Wingstop

If you’re looking for affordable wings, this is the place for you! Wingstop is a locally-owned restaurant hidden away in a low-key part of I.V. It has fast service times and consistently exceptional meals. It’s such a shame that it isn’t more popular!

2. Deja Vu Cafe

Deja Vu has a variety of food options and so many of them are really healthy for you. It would be such a great restaurant to go to when you’re drunk, but it closes really early on weekends. This is probably the reason why it’s so underrated. While the food hits when you’re drunk, it’s actually the BEST when you’re 100% sober. 

3.Woodstock’s Pizza

Everyone goes to Domino’s Pizza in Isla Vista, but they never visit Woodstock’s Pizza. The pizza is so fresh and always hits, but it’s such a ghost town inside. Also, Domino’s is the most expensive pizza place in Isla Vista. Woodstock’s is so cheap you could feed families of 10 for less than $10. You should highly consider taking 20 people to Woodstock’s and offer to pay for everyone. 

4.De La Guerra Dining Commons

You might be thinking to yourself, “Why is a dining hall on this list?” Well it serves food, doesn’t it? It’s also considered a restaurant on Google Maps. Despite it technically being a dining hall for students, it’s heavily underrated and highly exclusive — you need to swipe your student ID card to get in.

It’s basically as prestigious as Nobu and those other fancy niche restaurants in LA DLG never has people in it and it has a variety of options. Everyday, you have a cheese burrito, a chicken burrito AND a cheese and chicken burrito. What more could you ask for?

5.Freebirds

Freebirds is arguably the MOST underrated restaurant on this list. You should gatekeep it with your LIFE. They serve the cheapest and most delectable Mexican food ever, but NOBODY knows about it. It’s almost like it doesn’t even exist! If you ask anyone if they know what Freebirds is, they would tell you “no” without a doubt. If more people knew about Freebirds, it would be #1 on the most popular UCSB eats list. That will never happen though.

Mikaela St. James has never been to any of these restaurants.