The Nugget Bar & Grill

The Nugget is very convenient to home, and a good family restaurant to take grandkids to, however, after many return visits, we continue to be more disenchanted with the service. Yesterday was yet another underwhelming experience for the six of us… 2 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 grade school girls. We went early afternoon, after the lunch crowd, and there were only about 4 other tables of patrons. Service was EXTREMELY slow, and Armando, our waiter seemed to be completely uninterested in even taking our order. We chatted as we waited (and waited) for our order, and I was quite excited to see Armando finally returning to our table. He advised us that unfortunately they didn’t have any more chicken fingers offered on the kids menu, and so we scurried to find a substitution for the girls. Again a rather long wait for lunch to be served to us. That was the last we saw of Armando until we saw him in the dining area and asked him for a box to take leftovers home. Another VERY long wait for him to return, and when he did, no box, and he wanted to know if we wanted the bill. We were there over 2 hours with most of the time being spent either waiting for food, or waiting for the bill. I look forward to taking the family to restaurants close to home that both kids and adults can enjoy, but after yet another unhappy dining experience here, I cannot in good conscience return… too many bad experiences here and several other options available close by for us to enjoy.

The food was good, but our waitress was so rude that we will never return to this restaurant. My elderly mother asked what came on a cheeseburger and was told «it tells you in the menu.» She was unable to see the menu without her glasses. I was clearly upset by the waitress’ response, so she proceeded to reach for the menu and tell us, «I can read it for her, we don’t need to go here.» Was told that about 3 times. All 7 of us at the table were so shocked that we all remained silent. Find it interesting that the waitress doesn’t know what comes on a cheeseburger, she can «read» it for us as if we need her to? Waitress then entered our order while proceeding to tell the story to two other servers, yes they both turned and looked at our table. Very disappointing for our first and only time there. Never again.

How hard is it to mess up meatloaf and mashed potatoes? Both were inedible in my meatloaf dinner. The meatloaf was spongy with an unnerving orange color and the mashed potatoes were just strange, in the worst kind of way. Veggies were a little salty but okay. Nothing worth going back to at this place.

We’re regular customers here, but recently had a humiliating experience with our waitress. Ten minutes after paying our bill (with a 20% tip), our conversation with our out-​of-​town guest was interrupted by the waitress. She asked us to leave the table so she could seat a new party who «seamed very hungry». We had been there a total of 1hr 15min.
We didn’t want to make a scene, but were all very upset. The next morning I called and expressed our disappointment to the manager. He was very understanding and apologetic, and said he would address the incident with the waitress and the staff. However, the situation left such a bad taste in my mouth, I don’t see any reason to return. It’s too bad because I’m a local and have been going there regularly for years.

This is a great restaurant. It makes me feel like I am at home.
Priced right. The staff makes you feel right at home from the time you walk in the door.
I now eat there most days during the week.
The Friday and Saturday Prime Rib is fantastic, but you have to wait until 4:00 pm. to order it.
Very fun environment. Bring your friends.

I’ve been here several times as it is one of the few restaurants in the area that serves decent fried chicken, and my wife loves fried chicken. The service is generally friendly and helpful. I feel like it’s a bit overpriced and there isn’t a lot of variety on the menu. I’ve had the steak sandwich, the club, and the turkey melt and they were all ok, nothing great. Not a lot of choices for sit down restaurants in Goleta so we’ll be back but I’m never very excited to go here.

I’m from San Diego and enjoy good food. My family and I stopped here on our way to San Fran. Let’s start with the drinks. The orange juice was warm and the root beer was flat. I got the tri tip dip and it was dry and had no flavor. My youngest got the kids pasta with red sauce and it wasn’t even as good as a microwave dinner. The only thing that was remotely decent was the Mac and cheese my oldest got. I would not come back here if I was getting the food for free and paid to eat it.

I like the setup. A bar place with a lot to booths and tables.
A few people raved about this place to me so I was expecting some amazing food. Unfortunately it wasn’t so.
I ordered a turkey melt and the meat were really dry. Not much flavor to it. The sandwich was «okay.» I wasn’t impressed. The waitress was very attentive and the food did come out fast.
Easily a 4 stars if they did a better job with the food. Otherwise, a nice place to grab a drink and hang out.

The food was fantastic
Been here many times love
the food
Kaila was wonderful with a great smile
Will be back again for sure5 stars

For an average American sports bar type of place, it was okay! I liked the potato skins — I also tried the BLT and fries and both were nice and average. If you’re looking to watch sports and eat standard American food, you’ll probably like this place. However, I found the 20 animal heads on the wall staring at me & the musty scent all kind of disconcerting…

I went here yesterday with my boyfriend. He got a western burger/​fries and I got the philly cheese steak/​onion rings. Everything was delicious but my philly cheese steak was okay. I’ve had better and I recommend not getting that but I will definitely would go back and try something new. The décor isn’t the nicest and the service was fast but not too friendly.

While the food is delicious and the bar is friendly and well-​stocked, I have noticed a misfortunate dip in service as the place has grown in popularity. Stopped going there anywhere near as often after I brought my family there 40 minutes before they close and the hostess met us at the door and said the kitchen was closed and they would not seat us. It’s sad because it has great food and atmosphere.

I’ve lived in the goleta area for a few years now and work across the street. I always saw the nugget and wanted to go check it out but just never got around to it until the other afternoon.
My bf is a goleta local and he had somehow never even heard of it but I convinced him to check it out with me for lunch. I got the Philly cheesesteak with fries and he got the tri tip dip with onion rings. We were going to split the two meals but we wound up liking what we ordered so much we tried a bite of each others and kept our own sandwiches lol
The décor isn’t «Santa Barbara» and is a little cheesy, I’d call it wanna be redneck, but it honestly reminded me of places back home and so I felt very comfortable. Good food, good service for the occasion.
We will definitely be back for dinner!

We had a very good server and equally good Sunday morning breakfast at The Nugget in Goleta.
We will gladly go back again and check it out for dinner.

Dropped in for Lunch with a friend on Wednesday, Oct. 21, 2015.
A server, Kaila C, seated us right away, but before that while she was arranging our booth a bus boy noticed us in the lobby and asked it we needed help. It was nice to see the staff was so concerned with our well being.
Kaila asked for our drink order, 1 Guinness and 2 Waters. She quickly returned with them, then took our meal order.
After asking a few questions on their menu items I ordered the Filet Mignon with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Veggies. Leo ordered Kent’s Chopped Steak with Onion Rings and a Salad.
Both meals were excellent. My Filet was cooked rare, just the way I ordered it, Leo’s Steak was also how he ordered it, well done. What I was impressed with was the Garlic Mashed and Veggies, the Potatoes were actually Garlic Mashed. I have had so many restaurants say Garlic mashed, only to get bland Mashed Potatoes with no Garlic to be noted. The Veggies were awesome, grilled al dente cauliflower broccoli and carrots. I couldn’t have asked for better.
The only comment Leo made was his steak was a little too salty, but he ate it all so obviously it wasn’t bad enough to complain about or send back.
The 2 meals were $ 50, and with tip it was $ 60, and we both left very happy we found this place. I will definitely return when in the Goleta area.

I found my favorite chicken wrap… the Nugget is dog friendly, we sat on the back patio… they lose a star from the noise of the Freeway; its almost unbearable…
Staff was attentive and spot on with our order and dtinks… even though they were busy and we were the only table outside.
If your watching your waistline try the chicken ceaser wrap with sauce on side or like me… no sauce. It was delicious and filling… feeling virtuous.

We come for dinner a few nights a month. It is a comfort food place. The veggies on the side of the entrees are the best in town, nicely sautéed and seasoned. The plates are large enough to share. We have had the awesome meatloaf at least a couple of times. Everything we have had is very good. The drinks are really strong. I had to add extra juice and ice to mine. That was a first.

Came in for lunch. Menu was a classic mix of sandwiches, salads and burgers and the usual accompaniments.
Had the crunch burger. Definitely thought the English muffin approach was interesting, but it was not delivering on any of its namesake crunch. Still, a decent basic burger. Held together nicely. Paired it with the sweet potato fries which did not fail to deliver at all.
Dining companion had the teriyaki chicken burger. Quite a messy sandwich. Chicken much bigger than the bun and sauce dripping everywhere. They didn’t seem to mind, and remarked that the chicken was properly cooked, not overdone or too dry. They paired there’s with the onion rings, which were a good take on the diner classic.
Overall food was decent, but nothing stood out. Prices were a bit high for being a go-​to place to quench a burger craving when better product can be found in Goleta for less, albeit portions here were large which will certainly appeal to those with an appetite.

If you go to their website, all it says «about us» is that you can «count on them for value» and that they are your «home away from home.»
That is a red flag right there my friends.
Everything about this place is mediocre.
The décor is chuck wagon western, with 70s style rounded booths that dot the perimeter. Old-​western works for a place like Cold Spring Tavern… but not a strip-​mall-​esque diner.
The service is about the level of a hurried diner. Servers are donned in sweatshirts or just regular clothes and it makes you feel like you made a mistake deciding to sit down and eat there. What, no cowboy belts or hats?
The food, yikes. You can taste the value. The menu is very familiar with specials reminiscent of the dishes of yesteryear.
My septuagenarian friends love this place though. Me, not my cup of chowder.

First time here and I had the Philly cheesesteak sandwich. Nothing special about it. It was very plain! Just dry meat and cheese. My co-​worker had the salmon salad which looked pretty good but it was just salad, one cherry tomato, and a few croutons tossed in lol nothing special here either.
I would suggest if you come here to just go for the burgers or fish and chips.