Los Agaves

Chef Ricardo Garcia was born and raised in Guadalajara, Mexico. He discovered his passion for food early on in his childhood, as he would see the women of the family gather together to create family meals while sharing stories and laughter. Chef Garcia graduated from Escuela Culinaria Internacional (International Culinary School) with an emphasis in Mexican cuisine. Upon graduation he began demonstrating his artistic culinary skills at the renowned Hilton Hotel Guadalajara and Corazon De Alcahofa (Artichoke Heart). Soon after, he was extended an offer for what would become one of many adventures of his culinary career.  In 2004, a family friend called to ask Chef Garcia to assist him in opening a restaurant in the states. This was an opportunity of a lifetime, so he packed his knives and stacks of his own recipes and flew out to Chicago. Little did he know that Tequilas Mexican Bar & Grill would be the restaurant that would launch his career into full-force. Here he developed an entire full menu from scratch from his repertoire. Along with buying appropriate kitchen equipment, finding the best suppliers, creating and managing a kitchen budget, and training a kitchen personnel of 20.  Once the restaurant was up and running, he moved to California where he would continue to develop his skills at places such Il Fornaio, Latitudes, and Lallapalooza. Given his great success in Chicago, he was given yet another offer to come back and open a second location for Tequilas Mexican Bar & Grill.  After the opening of the second location for Tequilas Mexican Bar & Grill, he moved to Santa Barbara to take part in one of the most exciting projects of his life. Together with his relative and childhood friend, Carlos Luna, they immersed themselves into creating what we now know as Los Agaves. Chef Garcia created a menu that is filled with unique, authentic, Mexican food, which showcases his signature dishes and dishes of those grand chefs who served as his mentors.