This Friday marks the last day for Bar Lou on Coast Village Road. Despite a flurry of interest after it opened in November 2024, the restaurant never gelled with local diners. For many months, at least till Little Mountain opened, the main topic of conversation among Montecito foodies was why Bar Lou wasn’t working—the location is enviable, and the space is handsome (with the prettiest outdoor seating in town). Given those factors, it will surely prove tempting to another restaurateur, especially one who understands the value of not having to pull permits.
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It’s a shame…I actually can’t believe Local outlasted Bar Lou. I feel like Montecito needs to figure out what it wants to be. The only “new” restaurants that have really meshed in Montecito are Bettina and Honor Bar though I feel like Clark’s will soon be in that category also.
Sad. We enjoyed the food & service every time we dined there.
There was one of the finest restaurants in town A vegan restaurant every meat eater could love. A stunning white decor that made coming there romantic and professional at the same time. White and clean. It was so good their new seafood neighbor knocked it off and is extremely successful. They spent hundreds and hundreds of thousands, all this money to make it brown and beige and so what. Olives did was a great twist. If Craig had not gotten tired of the place and maybe it town it would still be successful. They should have spent there money on being able to deliver a good meal, served on time, at a reasonable price. Look at how jammed Ca Dario is, his food reasonable price and portion size.
I really wanted to like Bar Lou and have it in the rotation, but the price to good ratio was just off for me, even for Montecito. Especially the wine.
Also, they used avocado oil for almost everything in the kitchen and I have a severe allergy. Not necessarily saying that is a factor to them closing but it does seem a little unwise financially.
Hello fellow avocado allergy sufferer! I too have the same allergy and was shocked that even the marinated olives weren’t safe to eat. So weird. The food I did have was very dull and unmemorable but I chalked it up to having to have recipes edited to accommodate my allergy. Still, the menu wasn’t very exciting.
I’m curious what the chatter is with Little Mountain. Is it positive?
I agree that Bar Lou was a beautiful space. I hope a solid restaurant takes over because the space and location is a gem.
Personally think that there’s too many similar restaurants clustered on Coast Village Road and they need something different. I actually loved when Empty Bowl opened up in the now Local space with a very similar menu to their public market space. Sad they didn’t make it-should have kept their same name!
Little mountain is quite good — leagues above bar Lou. Perhaps less…comfortable? Less of a weeknight spot? But also a beautiful space and I can imagine the bar really taking off.
I tried Little Mountain. Beautiful space and decor. But the menu, portions, and prices are ridiculous even for Montecito. $8 for cold bread (3 small pieces for a table of 4)…$17 for a bowl of rice that’s swimming in oil…paper thin crudo, all meant to be shared family style. I really want LM to do well, but they need to reevaluate their concept or they’ll be out soon.
I love Little Mountain and have been three times. The rice is $12 not $17 and it’s swimming in butter not oil and everyone whose shared it with me (4 people) loved it. The pork with apples is terrific…the cheesecake is amazing – and i love the staff.
Food should not be swimming in butter, period. But I want them to succeed.
Nailed it! And let’s not forget that 5% cost of living charge they stuff into the bill.
Yep, that puts it on my permanent “No Fly” list. Oh, how I love parts of the world where everything– food, tax, tip, service, is included in the bill. It’s bad enough that we have to deal with the out of control tipping scene here in the U.S., but it’s just insanity when a business starts adding on other non-included charges as well.
Price transparently!
We gave Bar Lou a try after it opened. It was SO NOISY our server had to scream the specials to each diner at our table. Then she said her throat was really hurting from all the yelling she had to do.
Why would ugly oak furniture without upholstery, carpets, and other noise absorbing measures be a good idea? How could the owners feel it was a good choice to remove all the beautiful decor which was so nice from the vegan place?
Bring back a slightly elevated version of Peabody’s! A diner with a great friendly crew and good food. Somewhere to take the family and the dog and not break the bank.
Like the old Paradise Cafe!
We need better and different options in Montecito!! why only steak frites on every menu !?!?!? And personally I do not understand why ca dario, tre lune (and don’t get me started on los arroyos) are always busy … perhaps old habits
What I want to know is, why is it that Santa Barbara abounds in Italian places, yet no place really exists for classic French cuisine, especially of the bistro/brasserie variety? Bar Lou at times represented itself as having French fare – but it didn’t look that way to me…
Le Petit Valentien — maybe not classic French, but pretty close and great prices and great chef Robert. (and Ethiopian on the weekends!)
Montecito restaurateurs need to learn that not all diners are billionaires and, and that inflated pricing does not work. The successful spots all have a good price/value ratio for what you get (relatively speaking!). Please give us that, and leave your pipe dream that’s DOA in dream world.
PS. Coast Village Road is not Montecito. That’s well known but unimportant. MONTECITO has 3 fine dinner options: Pane Y Vino, Firehouse Grill and Futniture Store, and newby … Little Mountain.
Its surrounded by Montecito though. Montecito is a much better descriptor and creates less confusion.
Where is the airport? The Santa Barbara Airport is in Goteta. No!!!!! You cant say that!
If you own a business on CVR you are going to say Montecito unless you want to confuse customers as to where you are located. Marketing 101.
You can’t say that because the Santa Barbara Airport actually is in the City of Santa Barbara – there’s a 7-mile long strip of City land primarily under the Pacific Ocean that connects the City to the airport.
True!
To describe where it is, out in Goleta…then explain the whole 7 mile long strip…or not.