Neal Callahan Building, Hotel Santa Barbara, 533 State Street, next door to MARCEL HEMP!
I agree with your reviews, although your reviews of RH and Clark's are more kind than I would have written. RH's menu is boring. The food is bland. Yes, the service was outstanding. They make absolutely no effort with dessert. I guess they didn't want to spend the money on a dessert chef. Clark's service was also great but the food was disappointing. My crab cake was way overcooked, dry and the color of a brown shoe. Local has better food and nice atmosphere, but I too miss the Empty Bowl.
Ha! Even a slight amount of staggering would have made it much less obvious.
Thank you for an honest review- refreshing and fun to read.
Lion’s Tail….where is it?
Sam, I'm afraid the leadership we've had in place for far too long is incapable of common sense approaches to inequity. I'm not talking about the poor individuals "just trying to make a living" but instead all the actual tax-paying business owners that endure the un-ending task of compliance with local building permits, zoning ordinances, ADA compliance, health codes, tax codes, employment rules, and market competition. We will continually turn a blind eye to being taken advantage of in the name of "fairness" marketed as DEI accomplishments.
I thought the same thing!!
Go Elon Go🚀
Restore. The. Land. Back. The. Amazing. Plan. It. Was don't. Allow. This. Rot. Away. If only. Knew. The. Love. That. Put. Into. This. History ❤️
My husband and I had our first date here in 1967. We have now been married for 57 years! It is magical.
Bring back the skate bowls, use to love skating that place in the 80’s.
Thanks! Fixed it.
Edit - it’s mar y cel - not ciel -
Seriously! Is this Yelp now??
I hope they do nothing. I spent a lot of time up there in the '80's and I'm sure others would say I missed it in it's heyday. Truly magical in it's wildness.
That kind of sloppiness I can handle, the sloppiness I can't handle are things like our state spending $20B on homelessness, with zero accountability, no audits, and for the homeless population and overall situation to get worse.
My point is, even if you're a supporter of the current administration's changes in principle, you should be worried about the sloppiness.
Regardless of your stance on the federal employee layoffs, it's shameful and a mark of mediocrity that the CI National Park workers (and countless others) were laid off with a letter that stated "the Department has determined you have failed to demonstrate fitness or qualifications for continued employment."
If this is about cutting costs, there's no need to abuse those we're laying off. Just say that their positions are being eliminated.
There is also the issue of arrogance, credibility, and a culture of clear thinking. Everyone with a functioning brain cell knows it was a mass layoff and individual workers weren't vetted. Credibility is a currency and it was an unforced error to squander so much when different language could just as easily have been used. It may not be a problem today, but eventually the chickens come home to roost. You have to feel that this level of unnecessary, reckless arrogance will eventually become a problem. And with this wanton disregard for clear thinking and decision-making, those at the very top are setting a poor example for the entire federal government.
Though they may disdain bureaucracy, those at the top are now part of it. And undermining all structural respect for the institutions and replacing that with loyalty to individuals is an extremely fragile and unstable proposition likely to ultimately collapse, hurting their own cause as well as others'.
Your reviews are spot on, as usual. I love the atmosphere, service and comped bread at Clark's but have a hard time finding anything on the menu since I don't eat shellfish. The chicken and burger are OK but the fish is overpriced for what you get since and you need to order additional sides like a steak house. Hoping they add some fish tacos/sandwich and more entree salads. RH stands out for their salads (Mulholland and Chinese Chicken) but the burger was tiny. Wish Bar Lou had the same menu as their sister restaurant, Little Dom's which we love, though the chicken shawarma on the appetizer menu was a full meal and a good value. My favorite of them all is Lion's Tale since all their dishes shine despite the limited menu: the fish, steak, burger all good and the cozy atmosphere and service can't be beat. They will swap out the fries that come with the burger and steak with a salad which we prefer. Local is our new local favorite since their new chef of 2 months has totally revamped the menu and everything we've had is a good value and very tasty (fish or short rib tacos, miso salmon, chicken milanese, smash burger). I want just about everything on the menu so they are on the right track after a bumpy start. All in all, nice to have some fresh new restaurants that might make some of the old Montecito stalwarts sit up and modernize their 90s look and menus.
and all On the same date 😂😂😂 good for them to have that enthusiastic clients…
The obvious and obnoxious fake comments/review by Bar Lou on here is reason enough to never step foot in there. Their reaction is more cringy than their Costco furniture.
Bar Lou is the real thing!
amazing ambiance , incredible food ( oh la la , the beet salad), the service is lovely and personable. you MUST try their brunch as well- the best in Montecito!
I love that RH is now in the upper village. I’ve found their food and service to be great. They could expand their menu a bit. A big improvement from Lucca Antiques where it was “by appointment” and “to the trade only.” Remember that?
🤣
Had your burger with my friends during burger week and we were so disappointed! Burger was so tasteless and burnt! We definitely won’t come back!
