I still need to get a new secretary.
She will read my posts and edit them for dropping the fuck bombs.
Hopefully, and it goes without saying, she’ll be easy on these here eyes too and that ain’t no fucking joke.
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Joined this site just so I could beg to differ with all other posters. My recommendations in SB are Sama Sama (Malaysian hipster), Julienne’s for great farm fresh cuisine, the Lark or Les Marchands in the funk zone, Empty Bowl at the Public market and Arigato Sushi on State. Blue Owl is good for sandwiches, but very small. For bars, we love Pickle room on Canon Perdido which is a red boothed replica of the iconic Jimmy’s Oriental Garden restaurant that thrived in the 50’s and 60’s. Besides Les Marchands for wine tasting, Muni winery is a good place down in the funk zone. If you want Montecito people watching, the Lucky’s bar cannot be beat and they have an excellent burger. Best coffee is Handlebars and French Pres. and my fave Mexican is La Superica (get the #16 or any of the specials) and the mojacate at Los Agaves.
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Taqueria La Colmena (Milpas and Jennings).
Not exactly downtown SB, but worth the detour for the homemade corn tortillas.
Heck, it was almost worth the drive from San Diego this morning. Almost.
Sadly a day too late!
We went to Palace grill for lunch yesterday. I had crayfish pasta Lafitte while she had the oyster po’ boy
The pasta was good and she liked the po’boy more than little jewel’s though the bread was much worse.
We had dinner at finch and fork which was excellent. Her sister loved the tomato soup. In fact her brother in law said it was so good it didn’t taste like tomato soup which might say more about his past tomato soup experiences. . .We had trout with spaetzle fennel and spinach, Mac 'n cheese, and deviled eggs. The fish was well cooked and tasty but plain. The mac 'n cheese was delicious with bacon and a crispy cheese crust. The deviled eggs were some of the best I have had with salty smoked trout.
Oh and there was a complimentary jar of sweet pickles that were mainly too sweet for my tastes but the cauliflower was spicy and tasty.
I had a waffle cone with Whiskey pecan praline and with chocolate chip from mcconnells. The ice cream was great but the waffle cone was soft and took away from the ice cream. Next time I will get it in a bowl.
That night we stopped at the blue owl for the pork ducked which they do not currently make. We had the fried rice with tritip instead. It had great flavor from cilantro and chili paste with chewy beef and crunchy cabbage. We really liked it but I am disappointed to have missed the adobo. (I forgot to take any more pictures) this morning she had a croissant from Renaud’s which was very good while I had a fried egg sandwich that I really liked. The mushrooms and gruyere really went well with the egg. Umami I guess that’s it as I am back here now. . .thanks everyone for your suggestions! We all appreciate it.
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There isn’t a ‘Deals’ board but this is a great deal at the Four Seasons Resort, The Biltmore Santa Barbara for Breakfast Buffet for two at $48 or for four at $96…
Holiday blackouts and holiday weekend…but good till next year.
Gorgeous place to have a lovely breakfast Mon-Sat…
I live in SB and not places I would have recommended but glad you enjoyed it. Next time check out Sama Sama, The Lark or Empty Bowl Noodle and coffee at Handlebars (they serve renaud baked goods) or French press where they bake all their own stuff.
Sama sama is closed for lunch when I could have easily fit it in and the lark wasn’t walkable. We did go to handlebar but as I am not a coffee drinker I have nothing to report. Will keep them in mind for next time as they sound great.
just came back yesterday and apart from our regular places we fell in love with http://barbareno.com/ because of dishes like:
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is that beef jerky?
o_O
Everyone loves Super Rica 
We ate a bunch of Mony’s this time too. Los Agaves is still #1
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Update?
Need something high end in SB itself. Usually go to Barbareno but want to see if we’re missing something and it’s closed on the day we need it.
We were pretty pleased with the Lark when we went last month. I really enjoyed their Farmer’s Market vegetables plate, the roasted chicken, and the hanger steak. Don was a great server. Patio seating suggested. Lucky Penny sharing the same parking lot makes a nice pizza…we had a bit of a wait so we shared a pizza and walked the neighborhood during our wait…didn’t make reservations.
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yoichi’s
oh right, that spot right next to Les Marchands that we always visit. thank you
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Had a quick trip to SB this past weekend.
La Super Rica
By FAR the standout was the Rajas. Some godlike stewy combination of (unspicy) chile, cheese, onions, and probably a million other things. We probably should have ordered two. We also liked the Tamal Chiapaneco (banana-leaf wrapped with chicken and mole; wish it had the slightest bit more mole) and the watermelon agua fresca. The spicy bean gordita was pretty good though it came out later so we were pretty full by then. The quesadilla was standard and the taco de bistec wasn’t special.
Barbareño
One of my favorite meals in some time.
We started with the Hamachi crudo, which had the most perfect ponzu with it. Probably the best crudo I’ve had all year.
Next, the summer salad. Again, perhaps the best salad I’ve had all year. The mix of pickled (green strawberry) + sweet (plum) + the quality of the greens and dressing was just perfect.
Grilled avocado with black garlic marinade was basically a garlic bomb. Quite delicious, though didn’t reach the heights of the top two.
We ordered Uni carbonara and got the nduja on the side, as my wife doesn’t eat pork. The bucatini was perfectly cooked, but I think it needed the nduja; it was a little too subtle without it. Adding the saltiness of the nduja really improved it.
The Crispy brussels sprouts were perfectly fine; not bad but nothing special either.
We were stuffed by the time we got to the tri tip, which was still quite delicious; probably my third favorite behind the hamachi and the salad.
For dessert, we had the strawberry shortcake. It was kind of deconstructed, with strawberries, cream, shortcake, and white chocolate, and again it was one of the best versions I have had period.
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yep, Barbareno has been our favorite place up there since opening.
I agree, it was a real find for us too, when we were at Barbareno everything was superb, the service was agreeable and the staff pleasant and informative, and they were young but serious about their cuisine, that’s rare!
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Thinking of driving up to SB for the day and wondering if anyone has any recent experiences (since COVID) there?. We will probably get food to go and find a park or other recreational area to eat said food, just to keep safe.
We went to Santa Barbara 7 weeks ago so maybe not recent enough but we felt very safe there. Every place was mandating face masks and social distancing. At the time we went there was no indoor dining. SB was very similar to the OC except 95%+ of the population was properly wearing masks over both their nose and mouth. We had excellent meals at Loquita and The Lark. Llama dog is always a great spot for beers.
Don’t forget McConnells ice cream. Handlebar coffee is great.
We’re going to Paso next weekend.
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