Barbareño - Santa Barbara

Had booked a reservation there to treat my friend to the ny strip, which i had recommended to numerous people. it was not on the menu. in it's place was a $165 tomahawk. no mention of size, no real idea how many people to share it with, and i thought it was ridiculously priced...and i am hnw...we wound up ordering the pork and the tri-tip bbq which were both very good....but left disappointed. this happened to me once before when we went there for the mushroom lasagne (form my wife). off the menu. so, be forewarned, if you go, check out the menu first if you are going back for something that you had there before and want to order again.

We were a bit disappointed in just about each item we ordered. The Caesar was over dressed. The Brussels sprouts were beautiful to look at but greasy underneath the top layer. The black cod's natural flavors were overpowered by the sauce. The “raviolo” was a creative idea that didn't result in better flavor. Furthermore, the red wine (by the glass) were likely stored in the fridge, as they were served cold, clearly lower than 55 degrees (cellar temp). Fine for taking pictures of your food (the plate presentations were beautiful), but that as much praise as I can offer. Overall, the service was fine as well.

Could not have been a more perfect experience. Flawless waitstaff (personality, timing, knowledge), exciting menu (some tastes I had never encountered), and interesting wine list (unusual selection — don't be afraid to ask for help from the wine-savvy staff). Even the carafe of [still] water left on our table tasted so good we had to ask our waiter where it came from (answer: local but filtered with their reverse osmosis system). Love this place!

Inventive, well prepared, and tasty dishes! Grilled avocado appetizer, barbecued Tri-tip and porchetta mains were delicious. Server was top-rate as well. Noise level too high for our tastes, though.

Good food, good service, energetic. My one complaint is that once we were seated we felt totally rushed to order, eat and leave. It was one of the shortest dinners I have ever had. Sat at 7:05 and was fully paid and left by 7:55. Not good.