With more than 20 years of cooking experience, Isaiah Oregon and Dan Wang can safely say they have mastered all variations of noodle dishes. Their shared love of Asian cuisine has brought them together not only as husband and wife, but also as co-owners of the newly opened restaurant Pang Zi Noodle Shop.

Located on Hollister Avenue across from Creekside, Pang Zi opened its doors on July 10, a few months after previous tenant SB Munchiez moved out. However, it had undergone several remodels in the time Oregon had had its eye on the restaurant space since 2012.

“The first day it was posted on Craigslist, I jumped at it and we got it right away,” Oregon said of finally securing the space this spring. From the day the lease was signed until early July, Oregon renovated every inch of the space himself.

Offering a small menu of Asian dishes, Pang Zi operates on a take-out basis with limited seating inside. The restaurant’s mascot, a smiling panda with a mouthful of noodles, is featured on the back wall. If you choose to eat inside, you’ll be well looked after by Wang, the restaurant’s lovely and friendly hostess.

In the years before opening Pang Zi, Wang worked in the kitchens of Saigon Noodle House, China King and Meet Up Chinese Cuisine. Pang Zi’s dishes reflect her extensive experience in the restaurant industry.

“People follow her from restaurant to restaurant. Everyone loves her,” Oregon said of his wife’s infectious positivity.

Their two-page menu won’t overwhelm you with options, but offers enough variety to suit any appetite. The offerings include a little bit of everything from Chinese, Vietnamese, Singaporean and Thai cuisine. Of course, there are plenty of different types of noodles from Mei Fun to Vermicelli and Pho, plus fried rice variations and a selection of fresh and cooked appetizers. Pang Zi aims to prove that it serves the best versions of some Asian favorites, rather than trying to master every recipe in the book.

Oregon’s culinary resume also shows a passion for Asian cuisine. Oregon, who was born in Santa Barbara and began his culinary career after moving to Rochester, New York, in 2001 to work at Wang’s family’s restaurant, learned to make flavorful Chinese takeout dishes. But the two didn’t officially meet until 2003, when their paths crossed during Oregon’s cooking class in China, where Wang was still living. They married in 2004 and continued working together at her family’s restaurant in Rochester before living in Santa Barbara on and off for seven years.

Oregon brought Wang to Santa Barbara, where she studied accounting at SBCC. The couple continued to gain experience in the restaurant industry until Rochester called again in 2012, this time with an invitation to open a full-service Chinese restaurant.

Operating a more formal establishment just didn’t feel right for the couple, who preferred the casual nature of takeout, so in 2013 they opened the original Pang Zi Noodle Shop, a restaurant with affordable offerings that was very popular with the Fairport community. Their departure from New York in 2015 was final, with a determination to bring quality noodles to Santa Barbara once and for all.

The couple brought a piece of Rochester with them to Santa Barbara: Pang Zi’s Chinese dishes, which are Wang’s family recipes.

But Pang Zi’s menu is also a collaborative effort. Chef Alex Hernandez, who trained in the SBCC Culinary Arts program, developed the restaurant’s Vietnamese recipes, which include pork spring rolls and six variations of pho.

On a recent visit to the restaurant, we followed Wang’s recommendations, which reflect the restaurant’s offerings: shrimp lo mein, tofu pho, egg rolls, and their best-selling crab rangoon.

First, a sizeable portion of crab rangoon arrived, and relatively quickly. It was lightly fried and served with sweet and sour sauce; it was hard to hold back from eating every bite. But trust me, you’ll want to leave room for the other dishes in your order.

The vegetarian spring rolls were equally delicious with a different spicy dipping sauce.

The starters at Pang Zi are generously sized, with enough noodles for two people. The plate of lo mein noodles was low in fat and included lightly charred prawns and a handful of spring onions.

The pho, which I enjoyed with chunks of fried tofu, was huge. With onions, cabbage, broccoli and chewy rice noodles, it was complete, but I only managed a third of the bowl before asking for a container to take home.

Oregon said each dish focuses on “fresher foods, lighter ingredients and quality ingredients,” with most produce sourced from local farmers markets and frozen foods avoided whenever possible. You can taste that emphasis; even the crispy spring rolls had a fresh and light flavor profile.

We went home full and with the leftovers in our hands. I would describe Pang Zi as a place where you get what you pay for.

The positive response to the place has exceeded anything Wang and Oregon could have dreamed of. They are currently a team of four, including Hernandez and a dishwasher. They are taking things slowly and being careful not to create too much of a buzz they cannot sustain with limited staff.

With plans to gradually expand Pang Zi’s offerings to include vegan pho, desserts, and more in the future, the cozy restaurant is well on its way to becoming a neighborhood favorite.

Pang Zi Noodle Shop is located at 4427 Hollister Avenue and serves lunch and dinner daily from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit their Yelp page at bit.ly/3WygbqA.