When I phoned Chef Miles Robbins and Kamil Jumale, the duo behind Milio’s Pizza, on a recent Wednesday morning, they were both in the car.
“Sorry,” Jumale said, his voice muffled, “we’re running errands.”
Miles Robbins and Kamil Jumale in front of their newly opened Milio’s Pizza | Photo: Brigitte Park
They were picking up drinks, they said, and other supplies to restock the shop. I suggested that maybe we reschedule; we could talk when they weren’t so busy.
“Honestly,” Jumale sighed, “if I don’t give you the time now — today is crazy.”
At the time of our conversation, the pair had opened their by-the-slice pizza shop less than a week earlier. They expected to be busy, yes, but not this busy.
They gave me a rundown of the past few days: On opening day, Friday, August 14, they started at noon and sold out at 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, they opened at the same time and sold out at 6:30 p.m. Both days, they were supposed to be open until 11 p.m. On Sunday, they lasted until 6:30 p.m. On Monday, they regrouped. Finally, on Tuesday, they were able to go until about 8 p.m.
They told me they weren’t sure how much dough to prepare for the coming week. How many pies did they need versus slices? What time were people usually coming in? Kids were going back to school; summer was coming to an end. Maybe the chaos would die down.
“This is some of the best times of the year for restaurants to have good revenue,” reflected Robbins. “So, it’s sort of like being thrown right into the ocean.”
They were overwhelmed, yes, but it was a good kind of overwhelmed. After every mention of stress, they were quick to remind me, and themselves, that these were “great” problems to have.
After all, they had spent years dreaming of opening a brick-and-mortar together. They weren’t about to complain now that it was finally happening.
The pair met in London in 2019, when Jumale was managing the front of house at a Michelin-starred restaurant, and Robbins had come from Los Angeles to do an apprenticeship there and deepen his knowledge of food and cooking techniques.
They bonded over a shared passion for food and stayed in touch after Robbins returned to L.A. That connection eventually led Jumale to visit California, fall in love with it, and move there in 2020, joining Robbins in building their catering company, 444.
Santa Barbara came onto their radar around 2023, when they started noticing that their catering clients had summer homes in the area. At the time, they had wanted to open a restaurant in Los Angeles, but after looking at a few spots, they just couldn’t find the right one.
So. they moved to Santa Barbara. At Godmothers Books in Summerland, they opened Godmothers Graze, turning the bookstore’s back area into a café that complemented the talks and events — serving things such as lox bagels, pastrami and eggs, and their popular smoked turkey muffuletta and braised beef sandwich.
“We found it a great place to be a bigger fish in a smaller pond,” said Jumale of Santa Barbara.
Milios Pepperoni | Credit: Courtesy Milios
That café became well known, which both gave them experience running food operations locally and helped build their reputation so that, when Milio’s opened, many customers already recognized them from Godmothers.
Still, they had dreams of opening a place of their own. They found the perfect spot the year before, but at the time, they weren’t sure what type of food they’d serve. They considered a smashburger spot. Then they shifted to a hot chicken shop, but both felt like crowded categories that didn’t offer much room to stand out.
As they looked more closely at the city, they discovered a hole in Santa Barbara’s culinary scene: a true New York–style slice shop — somewhere casual and quick, where people could grab a slice the way they might grab a coffee, as part of their daily routine.
Recognizing that gap, they decided to lean fully into the slice shop concept, imagining a place that could serve great everyday pizza with really high-quality ingredients and, if executed well, become a staple not just in Santa Barbara but hopefully across the West Coast.
They signed their lease in March and got to work. A month later, they met with chef and pizza consultant Anthony Falco, who took them to some of the best pizza spots in New York City. There, they not only learned about flavor and how to perfect the dough, but also soaked in the culture.
Miles Robbins and Kamil Jumale | Photo: Brigitte Park
The menu includes classics such as cheese and pepperoni, alongside specialties such as the Spicy Vodka Square and The Milio. Pizzas are available as whole rounds or Sicilian-style squares, with gluten-free options. Soft serve rounded things out, with a mix of seasonal and classic flavors.
Ingredients — and where they come from — are just as important to them as the pizza itself. They import water from upstate New York because, they said, Santa Barbara’s water is too “calcified” to achieve the quality they’re striving for. They’re just as particular about what goes into the dough and onto the pies: The flour comes from California, while the mozzarella comes from Wisconsin.
Other ingredients come from the Santa Barbara Farmers’ Market, and the menu’s specials change with the seasons, allowing them to highlight fresh ingredients from local farmers and artisans.
Some of the hard part is over, but of course, they’re still learning, growing, and working out the kinks.
“We have an amazing product,” said Jumale, “but, at the end of the day, we’re just two normal guys trying to create some magic, and that always comes with a little bit of chaos.”
Milio’s Pizza, 801 State Street, open Tuesday through Sunday. See miliospizzasb.com.
