Lucky Dragon

Amazing and authentic. Incredibly complex flavors and tastes in the dishes, the group I was with had a great time debating over what some of the ingredients could be. Wish the specials board had an english translation. Lucky Dragon is a gem amidst all the americanized asian cuisine in Santa Barbara!!!

I order the pepper lamb and beef noodle soup to go. I called and the girl that picked up didn’t seem to know English very well and I when I asked for pepper lamb, she asked me for the number of the menu. I had no clue what number was so she eventually gave the phone to a guy who knew what I was talking about.
Anyways the whole thing came out to $ 30, the pepper lamb was very spicy, it had more peppers than lamb, the lamb was very good tho. The beef noodle soup was good, but lacking BEEF. Other than that it wasn’t that bad

So disappointed! After hearing this place has been revamped we gave it a shot. I’ll preface this with, we like spicy foods, but this was more about showmanship then flavor. The spicy chicken was funky, plainly put. The chilies which should be just a garnish was overdone, half the plate was just chopped chilies. They use another small spice that right away started reacting with my fiancé. After two bites of just chicken peices she was done. Wiping her tongue to get the taste out of her mouth. The Garlic eggplant was ok, not my favorite and much more green onions then any garlic. We asked the waitress to take the chicken plate away bc it was making us sick to our stomachs. The repulsion smell started affecting everything else we tried to eat or drink. Did I mention the waitress didn’t ask us what we’d like to drink? We drank the tap water they provided as we listened to the cook and owner talk crap about us from behind the counter. It wasn’t to spicy! It just tasted bad.
Of course they charged us for food we didn’t eat…
Any other restaurants manager would have come talk to us about it, not charged us full price without a word at the counter upon checkout, or discounted the plate or offered a substitution.
Here nothing but cold service. It wasn’t the waitresses fault so of course we tipped but still really $ 34 for one dish and white rice.
We won’t be coming back here or recommending this place.
Save your sanity and money and go to Red Pepper or some place else. Yuk I can’t get over how awful the whole place made me feel.

Not sure why the bad reviews! The food here is excellent. It’s not your typical Americanized Chinese food, and that’s a good thing. This is the best Chinese food I’ve found in the Santa Barbara area, though of course it’s a very specific cuisine. It’s important to understand what you’re getting (damn good Szechuan) and appreciate it on its terms. No cream cheese wontons here.
Though I’ve found the service to be good, it’s definitely not a «Hi, how are you!?» kind of place. I appreciate that, but if you need your server to do some emotional labor, this might not be the place for you.
They use a LOT of the szechuan peppercorns in some dishes, which I quite like, but heads up for those who are spice-​sensitive. If you’re looking for this kind of thing, the beef and tofu is awesome. Everything else I’ve tried is on point (mapo tofu, string beans, dandan noodles, cold noodles).
My one complaint is that they’re a little pricey — about 20% more than I’d expect. They have the market cornered, so I keep coming back.

The food taste not like beginning… Very expensive for the amount of food. Also, the tea is way too expensive… It’s 5 dollars for a regular pot of tea also I didn’t know when I ordered it. It just going bad for everything.

Definitely not your typical Americanized Chinese food place! But they had some good dishes with a lot of flavor :). We liked the Stir fry vermicelli and fried rice!

1. Food is genuine, so don’t go here if your palate has been caressed (and lied to) with American Chinese, which tends to be overly sweet.
2. Most of the food here is hot, but not in a sweating, veins-​popping kind of heat. This is like your tongue-​goes-​numb kind of hot, but it’s not unpleasant. Hard to explain.
3. Food is hit or miss. I had a beef and tripe dish, which was good, but the sour noodles should be avoided at all costs. Kung Pao chicken was good, as well as some sort of sautéed bok choy dish, but some foods are way too hot, and some not spiced enough.

This is the only authentic Chinese restaurant in Santa Barbara. They specialize in Schezuan cuisine, so the food is spicy. Schezuan cuisine relies on spicy chili oil to provide heat to the dishes that you won’t find anywhere else in the area. I was recommended this restaurant from a Chinese friend who is familiar with the traditional cuisine.
My favorite item is the dumplings in chili oil sauce. It is not as spicy as other items but is very flavorful. The ma po tofu is incredibly flavorful and the soft tofu provides a nice contrast to the heat of the dish. The beef stew with tofu has a lot of heat to it. The twice cooked pork belly is made with pork belly and is one of the few items without a lot of spiciness to it.
Service has improved since they first opened but is not quite perfect yet. Staff were attentive to ensure our rice bowl and water glasses were filled. The staff were slow to bring the check and difficult to flag down when needed. However, they are making efforts to improve and this should not be an issue in the future.

The spicy food is so great! For example, spicy crawfish, spicy niuwa, spicy noodle, spicy blablabla

Eggplant was delicious, spicy fried chicken was REALLY spicy and not very good! The service was okay but a bit slow and they never brought waters or silverware/​napkins. Luckily those were in sight so we got them ourselves! The good thing about this place is that you can tell how authentic it is (very), but it might not be what you’re looking for if you’re used to the typical American Chinese dishes.

Decent Sichuan food, with some interesting items in the menu and some home cooking feel.
The Ma Po Tofu had the signature Sichuan peppercorn flavoring – would have been nice to see some whole Sichuan peppercorns but I know I’m weird for liking to munch on them directly – with a reasonable if modest amount of heat. A bit heavy on the oil and a bit light on the pork such that the dish as a whole did not come together completely for me compared to past experiences elsewhere. Still, better than other offerings I’ve had in the area. So plus one star for that.
The spicy eggplant again was a bit heavy in that same chili oil. The sweet (vinegar?) and garlic sauce was good! It went quite well with the rice.
Portion sizes were more generous than expected, which was good as prices were also a bit higher than expected.
I’d certainly like to explore other items on the menu – they have a favorite: bullfrog! So I’ll definitely be back.

Although the food was good (and deserving of more stars), the service was terrible.
Almost immediately after we received our menus, the server asked if we were ready to order. We asked for a couple of minutes and didn’t see him again for at least 10 minutes. During this time, he cleared tables and ate lunch, but didn’t notice us waiting until his boss pointed us out.
The food came out very quickly, but the server managed to tilt one of the plates, allowing a portion of the food to slip off onto the table. He apologized but didn’t offer to get a new dish or even clean the table off — we were just left with some noodles on the table. He also forgot to bring out water until reminded.
We had to ask for the check and apparently the credit card machine is down now and we’ve been waiting in uncertainty for the past 20 minutes.
The set up of the restaurant isn’t great. The tables are so close together that when trying to navigate to your table you’re left with the age-​old question: «As I pass, do I give you ass or crotch?»
Maybe this place is best for take-​out?

I went here for the second time last night and it’s phenomenal! A lot of the Chinese food in this town is the typical stuff you find everywhere else, but not Lucky Dragon.
The first time I went here, my SO and I ordered the garlic shoots with Chinese bacon and the mushroom soup. Both were excellent. The garlic shoots were the standout, absorbing tons of flavor from being cooked with the bacon. The mushroom soup was also excellent and was full of mushrooms. On the second trip, we had the beef with pickled peppers and the noodles with «grounded» pork. Both were excellent and were very spicy, just like I like it. The pickled peppers really made the dish pop! I can’t wait to come back and try more dishes!
Both times, we were in and out in just under an hour. Yes, the service isn’t blazing fast here, but it wasn’t sluggish either. There are a lot of people leaving bad reviews here purely based on the speed, and that fact really saddens me. This is a new restaurant and they are probably still figuring operations out. Moreover, if you know that your office only gives you 30 minutes for lunch, go somewhere that you know is going to be able to give you extremely fast service. Don’t come here and expect to be in and out the door in under 30 minutes; that is a ridiculous expectation, especially for the quality of food that you are receiving.
tl;dr: My advice is to ignore the reviews about the bad service and give this place a try. The food is definitely worth it!

They are Closed on Monday, and open other days from 11:30 AM-2:30 PM and 5 PM-​8 PM.
It’s odd that some reviews are bad because the restaurant is so BUSY. What that said to me is that you can find something here you won’t find other places. The food is good, and authentic. If people didn’t love it, they wouldn’t wait for it.
Atmosphere:
The restaurant is small and crowded. I suppose, that adds to its authenticity. :) But you shouldn’t go expecting to find a high end grandiose space where the bulk of your food price pays for the rent. This is a small space in a strip mall, where the bulk of you food price pays for. .. well, obviously the food. The space is clean, the tables are close together. There is a cheery atmosphere, and everyone are happily talking and eating.
Food:
The food is spicy. You can find a few non spicy options, but in general it is going to be spicy. Try the eggplant though, it is sweet and yummy, and almost a desert. If you are weirded out by frog, duck head, and intestine, don’t worry there are options that will appeal to a more delicate palate. We had the Kung Pao chicken and it was very satisfying and not too spicy. I also tried the roast duck and duck head, and though both were good they were a bit salty, but not hot (spicy hot) at all. The Bashu fish in chili oil was amazing, but very hot due to the chili so be prepared.
The rice here is incredible. Friends from China and America commented on how good the rice is. I expected my Chinese friend to notice, but Americans are not as specific about their rice so I think it says something that they commented.
Price:
There are photos of the menu in other reviews, so I won’t say much here except that many of the dishes are huge. They are not meant to be eaten by a single person, but as a dish to be shared. We had 3 dishes between 4 people when we went for lunch and could not finish them. I would encourage you to go with a group so you can try more things. It is also a good idea to keep that in mind when you see the prices. It seems a little expensive until you see the size of the dish that comes out and then it makes sense.
Service:
I agree that they have been overwhelmed since they opened and could perhaps use some more help. But I never felt put out by the time it took for waiters to get to us. They seemed busy, and a little harried but were never unwilling to attend us when we requested their attention. The food was a little slow during lunch and we had limited time so we requested they let us start with rice and they brought it immediately. Our food came right after. The man at the register asked my opinion of the dishes we ate and was genuinely interested in the reply. I think that they will have a lot of adjustment as they get on their feet. But I wouldn’t choose not to go just because it is busy or because it takes a little time to get your food. Go when you have some company and time to talk and you won’t even notice it.

Friendly service and really tasty food with Clean environment! Overall a decent restaurant ;) totally recommend to come and try the food! But just a little but too expensive for the dishes.

Food tastes good and friendly service! One of best Chinese food in SB! But the dishes are too expensive

You can’t get more authentic. Come hungry with an open, culinary mind. There’s no General Tso’s chicken on this menu. And unless familiar with traditional Chinese dishes, won’t recognise anything on the menu. That’s the best part!
Weekday lunch and I walk in, excited to find I’m the only Caucasian in a place with room for 40 but 11 of those seated and all eating.
Ordered at 12:55
2 server boys, both rushing around looking lost.
This is not Panda Express. There are no Paw Plates and the food is made when you order. I’m ok with waiting for this.
Tofu with ground pork and chili oil $ 10.99 arrived at 1:18 and with a delicious spiciness. Wow it’s like being back in China. Seriously folks. My point of view, this is the real deal. One of the boy politely offered me a fork. Yea right. I can handle tofu with chopsticks. But thank you.
Ordered Mung Bean but was brought Chengdu Hot And Sour Soup, $ 8.99, at 1:27. The soup was good, a lingering burn but nothing too hot. Glass noodles are always a challenge for me by my chopstick skills prevailed with no broth on my shirt. Sure it was the wrong dish but it was delicious and I know I’ll be back for the Mung Bean.
The service and time was beyond reasonable for a sit down dinner but not very appropriate for a quick business lunch. Lucky Dragon is meant to be savored, not rushed, with friends, not alone. The food may scare those not familiar with savory but a pain to eat duck tongue, the tiny little legs of bullfrogs or the jelly like jellyfish, but I ask you to try some of it. Not all exotic with beef and fish dishes.
Outside of China or a Chinatown, you’re not likely to come across this menu. Give it a try and perhaps I’ll see you there.

This place mainly serves SzeChwan Chinese food, which is hot and spicy. I will say it’s the most authentic Chinese place in town.
I came at 1:30 pm for lunch, and order a beef tenderloin soup noodle. Waited for about 5 min. The noodle is very good. I was sweating after I finished my noodle because the noodle is hot and spicy. It reminded me the time having noodle in China.
Definitely I will come a lot and try some other food in the future. I am so glad that finally there is a good Chinese place near my work place.

Authentic Szechuan food! We ordered the sliced beef wit tofu and Bashu fish. They are really tender and have bold flavors:)

Finally, Goleta has a place so authentically Chinese that I would be afraid to invite none Chinese to visit. You know the type of people who complain about Sichuan peppercorn in a Sichuan restaurant. Don’t bring these folks here, they’ll hate it. Now for the rest of you more adventurous souls, Lucky Dragon is actually called Ba Shu Impression. Ba Shu is another name for Sichuan. I snapped a few menu pictures and you can see there are duck tongues, tripe, frogs, and many other exotic items.
I came here around 7 and they were completely packed with more people waiting outside. I got two cold appetizers to go and it still took 30 min. My mouth is still numb from the Sichuan mung bean noodles and salivating chicken. I love the marriage of intense garlic and Sichuan peppercorn flavors with generous amount of dangerous looking red chili oil. The liberal use of fragrant peanut, refreshing cilantro, and a tinge of sourness from black vinegar are all what make Sichuan cuisine so addictive. My one major complaints would be the chicken didn’t have a lot of meat on the bone and should have cost five dollars less.
Service was complete chaos. Servers had no idea which table ordered which dish. I hope they hire two more servers, figure out a better way to expedite food from the kitchen, and don’t go down the path of Wok on the Wild Side. Sure, people come here mainly for the food, but you still can’t let service get too ridiculous, because nobody likes stressful dining experience.