On The Alley

Whoa!!! Holy good Tacos! Best veggie taco I’ve ever had — Fried Avocado Taco. And best fish taco I’ve had in over a year. Great place and fantastic staff! I’ll be make On The Alley a regular stop from now on. Thanks OTA!

Small spot with indoor and outdoor seating.
I typically come here for the fish & chips which is delicious (swai not cod). My husband recently discovered their fried shrimp and it’s also delicious.
Today I tried the fried clams. This is the first time I’ve ever had fried clams that weren’t good. Doesn’t seem like a dish easy to mess up. Theirs was flavorless and didn’t have the signature clam chewiness so it seemed like i was just eating batter. Drag. Guess I’ll stick to the fish or shrimp.
They have $ 3 microbrews on tap Mondays I may have to try out also.

Kerry at OTA is the best! She was so sweet to stop by our table and even snuggled my niece. I was in town visiting the area from St. Louis. Had heard great things and HAD to try OTA.
Had the crab cake burger with tater tots. Absolutely perfect. The bun was delicious and perfectly balanced with the crab cake. (Unlike other crab cake burgers where it’s just WAY too much bread!)
I wish I lived closer! I’d be here all the time!

THERE’S TWO OF THEM NOW!!!
I love the original location on the harbor and I am so happy there is another one closer to Isla Vista!
The quality of the food is still the same here as it is in the original location and the service is so much better!
It’s also semi-​self serve where you order first, get a number, seat yourself, and have food come to you!
We ordered:
BAJA FISH TACO
— comes with tortilla chips and pico de gallo
— the piece of fish is huge and super crispy
— it also has pickled onions, avocado, and crumbled cheese
— ITS DELICIOUSSSSSSS
CRAB CAKE BURGER
— comes with potato chips
— pretty big with a really tasty Crabcake patty
FRENCH FRIES
— I always want some fried potatoes with my meals so I ordered a side
— there were so many fries
— definitely something better shared
Overall I love this place and try to come here everytime I’m in town!

Stopped in for a late dinner. Recommend by the hotel front desk but ended up being a let down. Ordered fish tacos & shimp tacos. Tortillas were hard & not fresh. Salsa was old as well. Even if it is 8 PM only fresh ingredients should be served. They need more quality control. Only thing that was good was the beer & the chips. Bummer. More like food IN the alley. BTW table next to us returned 2 of thier 3 taco plates.

I was very underwhelmed. I ordered a gaucho and tater tots. Neither tasted very good. The burger had too much Blu cheese, the bread may have been from the Costco across the plaza and the tots didn’t even compare to the ones I used to get on the school yard.

First time here! Came with one of my friends before she studies abroad in Australia.
The food came out so fast and hot! That was definitely a perk.
I ordered the fish taco and it was so yummy! The fish was hot and freshly fried, and the taco shell wasn’t rubbery (I can’t stand rubbery corn tortillas).
To be honest I’m not sure if it’s worth $ 4 for ONE taco, but it was tasty nonetheless!

Still slow and mediocre. Went back for the 3^rd time after a months gap, and it hasn’t improved. Some of the food is good, but some dishes are very amateurish and not worth it. For the time it takes orders to come, every dish should be good. Cooks should sample every dish and improve upon any that aren’t delightful.

Staff are great, prices reasonable. Food menu has great variety but not too many choices to cause indecisiveness. I thought the fried avocado taco was awesome. The tater tots are great too. I got a root beer float also which was just a lovely topping on a nice meal !

Love, love, love On The Alley. My company orders from here a couple of times a month, and they are at the top of the rotation. Between generous portion sizes, fresh ingredients, and the super friendly staff, it’s hard to go wrong. Kerry (the owner) is a ray of sunshine. I like ordering from here just to have the opportunity to chat with her.
Tried most of the menu at this point. It’s all good, but I’d recommend the Chipotle Pork Tacos, Southwest Chicken Salad, and Fish & Chips specifically. Their burgers are also pretty satisfying, and don’t forget those tots!

So I checked on their website and saw that, under the heading «Sandwiches», they had «chicken tenders.» I figured that this must be a chicken tender sandwich (since it was under «Sandwiches»), but when I called to order it, the guy I spoke to was surprised I would order this. He said they only have chicken tenders, but no chicken tender sandwich. He said he would make me one though, and combine it with the BLAT sandwich. I said yes to this, and asked to receive chips with it. He said all sandwiches come with chips, so this wouldn’t be a problem.
I then when to pick it up, and was charged $ 14.99 for my sandwich. I thought this was odd though, because the chicken tenders were listed on the website for $ 7.50 and the BLAT was $ 8.75. I asked about this, and was told the only way he could make my sandwich was add chicken to the BLAT, so he charged extra for that. This is not at all what he told me he would do over the phone, and I was never told he would charge extra for the chicken and that the sandwich would cost that much. None of the other sandwiches on the website are even over $ 10. Then, when I got home, I noticed I got tater tots instead of chips, even though I was told all sandwiches automatically come with chips. The food I had wasn’t even that good, and it tasted just like normal frozen food. I would never come here again and was really disappointed.

It is nice to have another food option in the Camino real shopping center… but I think there are a few things that could be improved to make this spot even better! The food is consistent but by far not the best seafood in town. The potions are pretty spot on, but I think it’s kind of over priced. The place itself is small so rethink coming here with large groups unless you want to sit outside. This is becoming a boring review so I’m gonna move on to the praise…
What sets OTA apart from other restaurants in Goleta was their shocking surprise birthday Sunday (see attached picture). After many hints were dropped to all of the employees about a birthday girl in our group, and after being told multiple times that they don’t do anything for birthdays… the Sunday that was delivered to our table was an unexpected bonus that put us all in good spirits!
As far as food suggestions go… I would recommend the avo taco paired with some tater tots. Beware: the tots are similar to the ones found in the freezer section of most grocery stores… But they are truly a crowd pleaser, so don’t skip on those, or else you will have to buy and fry your own. (And let’s face it, no one has time for that).

Delicious burgers haven’t tried the rest of the menu but soon I will slowly… it’s a must try!

Joe loves the burger with the fried egg on it– but we quickly learned that the yolk doesn’t stay runny when you do a take out order and bring it home (which makes sense I suppose).
great food. loud atmosphere but that’s cool. I love the chicken wrap and the crazy grilled cheese. brophy’s has done it again with this addictive place. and all of the staff that i’ve encountered have been friendly, both to customers and between each other which was surprisingly nice to see.
we go here every chance we get.

Love this place and the food is killer! It’s family owned and operated which is a good thing to see these days. All the staff are very friendly and come by your table occasionally to thank us for stopping by. The customer-​business relationship is reciprocal and OTA’s service really shines in that aspect. Carrie even bought me a beer on my birthday, super nice!
I’ve had quite a few items on their menu but I’m a huge fan of their chicken club wrap as a healthier menu option. Homemade potato chips sweeten the deal!

If you like the quality of the other location, you won’t be disappointed with this new one. I got the chicken club wrap, which was very tasty. I had to get the taster tots instead of the chips. Yeah, it’s $ 2 extra, but well worth it. They’re nice and crispy and the only way to go. They also have a small, yet good, selection of local craft brewery beers. Glad that there is another good spot to eat in Goleta.

Love Brophy Bros so when I found out a small version of it had come to Goleta, I i was stoked. My friends and I stopped by Sunday afternoon after Halloween. There was a farmers market set up out front so they were kind of busy. Got our order taken promptly and the food was brought out within 10 minutes.
I ordered the clam chowder and the ceviche. Both were really tasty. The owner was seen walking around the restaurant the entire time along with the rest of his family who worked there so I thought it was pretty great having the entire family involved in the business. He came over and greeted us and thanked us for coming in. All the employees had really great attitudes.
The only thing I wish they had would be more of their fish items on the menu since that’s the reason I go to Brophy Bros, but the things they did have were really tasty, so can’t complain.

Came back on two different occasions to try their chicken tenders during lunch and during breakfast for a breakfast bowl with avocado. When I broke into the chicken tenders to let some steam out, a strong chemical smell (amonia?!) hit me like a ton of bricks. It was nauseating and alarming. I threw it away immediately. The accompanying fries were so so, really nothing special. The breakfast bowl was also terribly disappointing and utterly bland. Adding salt, pepper and hot sauce just didn’t cut it. But since a friend of mine was treating me, I was obliged to at least finish most of it. It was one of the biggest breakfast let downs I’ve ever had. I found myself pining for a simple slice of buttered toast with some jelly which would have been so much more flavorful and satisfying. I don’t see myself coming back to try anything else.

Very good fish tacos! I would definitely recommend the fish tacos and only the fish tacos. They’re really fresh and have a large flaky piece of fish and are topped with pickled onions and avocado.
We also tried their ceviche and chipotle pork tacos. The ceviche is fish ceviche which is not really my cup of tea and not really worth the price. The pork chipotle tacos were dry and not as flavorful as the fish tacos. I would only come back for the fish tacos.
This location also doesn’t have shrimp tacos like the original location which is one of its downsides.

I’ve only been here once but I wanted to rave about the pulled pork sandwich. I don’t normally eat pulled pork but I decided I wanted to try something totally different and I’m so happy I did!
The sandwich is served on a warm toasted sesame seed bun with a slightly sweet coleslaw on the bottom, layered with delicious pulled pork and a few slices of fried jalapenos. The combination of flavors going on paired very well together and my taste buds were instantly turned on from the first bite! Seriously I couldn’t stop biting into it.
They didn’t skimp on the meat and there wasn’t too much coleslaw which is good for me since I’m not a huge fan of coleslaw but it tasted yummy in this sandwich. For $ 2 extra I decided to add on the tater tots since you don’t see those being offered at very many places. Nothing special too them but a nice replacement if you don’t want potato chips or French fries.
I’m glad we have a new hot spot at the Camino Real location and I’m looking forward to going back to try their breakfast and more delicious items on the menu.