Santa Maria-style barbecue

Santa Maria barbecue is made with two beef cuts, top sirloin and tri‑tip, seasoned only with salt, pepper and garlic and roasted over red oak coals, a native species that gives the meat a smoky flavor. It does not use barbecue sauce.

The tradition goes back to the 19th century, when owners of the large ranches in the Santa Maria Valley served barbecues to cowboys, family and neighbors in the shade of the oaks. The tri‑tip, a triangular cut from the lower part of the top sirloin, entered the menu in the 1950s when a local butcher began selling it whole for roasting instead of grinding it.

In March 1978 the Santa Maria Valley chamber of commerce obtained copyright registration of the name and the traditional menu to protect the recipe from imitations made in other towns.

The registered menu consists of the meat, pinquito beans — a small pink bean commercially grown only on California’s Central Coast — fresh salsa, French bread toasted in butter and green salad. Macaroni and cheese also appeared on older tables.

The barbecue is served in restaurants, parties, weddings and charity events, and city groups still set up grills on the street some weekends. The chamber of commerce recommends pairing it with a valley wine such as Pinot Noir or Syrah.