Montecito Cafe

We went to Montecito Café for dinner last night and our dining experience was lovely. The food was delicious and the service was really good. We did not have to wait too long for anything and we did not feel pressured by our server and server in training. It was really quite delightful.

Love this place! Coconut cake is delicious and so is basically everything else on the menu. Yum!

The food was ok. I would not make a special trip to sample any of the food again. It was just average tasting.
Spicy Chicken Sauté– Mixed Greens, Red Onions, Peppers, Tomatos, Avocado and Garlic Dressing. The chicken was not spicy, slightly overcooked, and dry. The Salad portion was very meager. It was served in a 10″ diameter bowl. There was just enough greens to cover the bottom of the bowl. Very pricy for a $ 14 salad.
Service-​Excellent. Very friendly and cordial service.
Parking– 90min street parking available.

While visiting Santa Barbara with our son to view some colleges, we saw the Unilocal reviews and decided to give it a try for lunch. Firstly, it was about 80 degrees in the restaurant — far too warm for my taste. The menu gave me great hope, but when the Caesar salad arrived I knew this was basic cooking. While my son enjoyed his burger, I thought my chicken, Brie and mushroom sandwich quite mediocre. The fries tasted like the oil in the fryer needed changing. My iced tea was so-​so.

I was met with disappointment after reading all great Unilocal reviews. Yes, this place is cute inambiance and I do recommend coming here for that and the drinks but sadly my culinary experience fell short. I would have given this place 2 stars based upon the food and experience but dropped it down to one star after one of us got food poisoning!
I even called back a couple days later to inform Montecito Café about the incident and to ensure they inspect any mussels from that night. The gal who answered the phone was very apologetic and would pass on the feedback to the owners and even took down my name and number in case the owners wanted to reach out. I was disappointed I did not hear back from them since that would have converted me and I would have given them another shot.
I made our reservation for New Years Day on Open Table. When we got there we were told there was not a high chair since they did not receive our Open Table note. I felt like I had to find a solution by asking if they had more or could locate one from another area. When it was not an option I said no problem we can wait for one, do you think one would be free soon? I felt we put a kink in their process and they seemed more confused as what to do than anything else.
Our waitress looked like she was sleepwalking through the evening and only came around when flagged or when serving us our food or drinks. She lacked enthusiasm and seemed to just be working on the holiday.
After having a lot of great food over the holidays, we were disappointed with the box pasta and underwhelming food. The food is very reasonably priced, the burger and fries are decent and are a huge portion.
Here is what our group ordered and yes I did try everything!
Goat Cheese Pancakes — I was disappointed after fellow Unilocal reviews! It was a nice presentation and they had a nice crisp to them but it was just ok.
Mixed Greens with Fried Bree and Apple Fritters — this was a nice combo but the fried items could have been lighter and crispier. The mixed greens seemed odd and out of place on the plate.
Café Caesar — can’t go wrong with this one.
Cioppino Special — I thought the sauce was too seafoody but the person who ordered it liked the dish.
Linguini and Clams — good dish but biggest complaint is the pasta. It’s bland and does not taste like homemade pasta.
Veal Scallopini — good dish and nice flavor. Decent.
Capellini and Local Mussels — it was good going down but not three hours later! My brother got food poisoning from this dish and the poor guy had to fly out the next day and was miserable!
Petite Fettuccini with Lamb Sausage — this is the perfect size dish and the sausage had good flavor.
Burger Special (with green chili and bacon) — this was surprisingly the star of the night. The patty was thick, juicy, flavorful and came with a lot of fries.
Chicken Piccata — chicken had good flavor just disappointed with the pasta.
Coconut Cake — how can this be their popular dish? I am a coconut fan and it did not have much flavor. We are ¾th of the dish and no one in our group wanted a second bite!
Crème Brûlée — it was a bit more custardy than others I had but I do like this dish and I can’t go wrong with anything brûlée.

I always love checking out a new place.
Out server, Ross, was top notch. Used to work at Jane (same owner) then was upgraded to Montecito Café. Lucky us.
We shared a bottle of Côtes du Rhone. Amazing and ridiculously reasonably priced.
The Pasilla chile starter was quite good.
My comrade was in the mood for chicken piccata.
I was set on the Blue Burger w/​grilled mushrooms and onions as well as Gorgonzola and an organic mixed greens salad with the most superb vinaigrette.
The piccata was the second best I’ve ever had. I’ll let you guess who’s was the best.
My burger was wonderful and perfectly cooked to the Rare degree.
Can’t wait to return.

Best dinner I have ever had 2 night in a row. The veal was very good, and the next night I had the Bulls eye steak. The Bulls eye steak was the best steak I have ever eaten. I have already promised the wife we will come here next time we are on vacation. Great food and great service

I had a work retreat at this hotel and our team decided to have a late dinner (8:00+ pm) after a long day of golf. We were all hungry and were looking forward to our meal. First let me start off with a big positive — the service here was outstanding. The waiters were extremely hard working and they really put out the extra effort to provide a great dining experience.
For appetizers, we shared several dishes (I can only remember two). Using my handy-​dandy Unilocal app, I found that the place specialized in the salmon pancakes. I’ve had this dish several times before in other restaurants. Here, it tasted like it was well prepared, but there was nothing from the dish that wow’ed me. Yet, it was still a nice home-​comfort type of food. Grade: B
Mussels — we ordered some freshly steamed mussels. The mussels were a bit on the smaller side (I think they were sourced out of Santa Barbara). The meat was very small, but the dish was prepared well. We enjoyed this dish! Grade: A–
For my main meal, I ordered the rib eye steak. The steak was grilled to perfection and it was a nice well-​aged piece of beef. The dish was served with a side that I was not familiar with. The beef was placed upon some kind French-​style vegetable reduction — it looked like baby collard greens or chard. I didn’t like it because it was very bitter. I get it — it was supposed to compliment the flavors of the beef, but it was a bit too bitter for me. Nonetheless the steak was great. Grade: B
Food Grade: B
Service Grade: A
Worth the Money Grade: B
Overall Impression Grade: B

We had a great experience at dinner tonight. We had a local (Stolpman) bottle of Syrah and had the steak and the lamb for dinner. The appetizer was a special (bacon wrapped prawns with asparagus and spinach) and the desserts were amazing! I really wanted the halibut but they were already out of this special entrée when we arrived. Our server was warm and attentive and gave some great suggestions. Loved our experience!

Hi we were visiting from Orange County for my wife’s birthday. WOW WOW WOW. The experiance was fantastic. Had the goat cheese pancakes, the Damon was smoked perfect melted in your mouth with the caviar and cheese, a wonderful combination hats off to the chef. The salad was fresh with sweet tomatoes. My wife had the fillet she likes medium well, they nailed it sweet and jucy, still tender but done, perfect. Many places cook it too long and it’s screwed up. My sordfish was very good with a cream and capers sauce. … Oh yes both the cheesecake and the coconut cake were light and fluffy fantastic. Kathrin was super attentive and she made us feel pampered. This place is on the must visit every time we come up north.

This place is wonderful. Great service, great food, few tourists. All the hype about the coconut cake is true. We were there during a power outage, and they persevered with grace and deliciousness. Staff is warm and friendly every time. A favorite for our family!

Quick stop here for lunch, wanted to avoid the Santa Barbara craziness on our way to San Luis Obispo! We stayed at the Inn after the US Open in 2000 but did not try the Café! Such a pleasant surprise today! The petite fettuccine with lamb sausage was the winner! Will definitely return to enjoy all the beauty of Montecito in the future! Cheers!

Absolutely superb dining experience. The ambiance is lovely and the food is phenomenal. I’ve never ordered a single item that I didn’t like. I always order the specials and I have yet to regret it.

Montecito Café is the absolute bees knee’s! I live right down the street and come fairly frequently. They have a casual but sophisticated ambience with great service and attention to detail. The servers are everything you’d expect– knowledgeable, fast, and on point. I always ask for Ross– he is Montecito Café’s very own McDreamy.
Their goat cheese pancakes and clam chowder make for a perfect rainy day pairing as you listen to the rain pitter patter against the large windows. The flowers in their fountain and on the table bring a little extra happiness to my day. The salads are always fresh and crisp, the Caesar and the Wedge are my classic favorites, but the half papaya and Dungeness crab… Oh my lanta.
Another memorable view and experience dining here is right around sunset. Although there’s no ocean view, some evenings blanket all of coast village and the sky a most brilliant pink/​purple. I absolutely love the windows here! It feels open and never stuffy.
And for desserts? They are famous for their coconut cake and rightfully so. It’s the perfect amount of sweetness and coconut. It’s light and fluffy. It’s got this wonderful sauce that accompanies it. Sometimes I take an evening stroll to pick a couple slices up. I like to believe that the ten minute walk there and back is enough to burn off two slices of cake. Craving a richer and sweeter decadence? Try the chocolate marquise. I’m all for gluten, but it also happens to be gluten free!
If you haven’t tried their bar next door, do so on your next visit. They have similar food items from the café you can order. Sunday evenings there are my favorite. Good drinks in a super cozy setting. Brings you back a few decades in a good way. Love the Christmas lights. Sit at the bar, try the pasta bolognese, glass of shiraz, and enjoy yourself.
More favorites
— the El Macho burger… has avocado and pasilla chile. Enough said.
— the filet mignon with oyster mushroom and herb cream
— pasta bolognese. The sauce is fantastic! I wish I could replicate this

My BF and I went to the Montecito café during our recent quick trip to Santa Barbara. I ordered (like the other Unilocalers recommended) the dinner salad with a half papaya and Dungeness crab. It came on a big bowl of butter lettuce and consisted exactly of what it says: a half papaya (that was quite yummy but I just went to Hawaii and got great papaya there) with what tasted like Dungeness crab claw meat — maybe ¹⁄₃ cup– and the whole thing covered with some yellow sauce that really didn’t add much to the flavor. I have to say for what they charged, I’ve had better crab — like in Seattle’s Pike Place Market.
However the coconut chiffon cake with raspberry sauce was absolutely delish and I even saved half for the next day. Eating coconut chiffon while traveling on HWY 101 at 80 mph is an experience to be savored!

The food was a bit heavier than I typically prefer, but delicious nonetheless. Our server was incredibly attentive and made sure my cup was never empty. I can’t believe it’s not frozen butter! This must be one of the few places that understands how stupid it is to try spreading frozen butter on a slice of bread. They have a display of all of the desserts that are available towards the back of the main dining area.
As far as ambience goes, it was a super laid back place, slightly noisy because the majority of customers were 65+ and assume everyone is hard of hearing. Not a complaint, just an observation. We’ll all get there at some point!

What can I say about our favorite haunt?
My wife and I can be seen here regularly for lunch, enjoying one of their delicious salads, fresh bread and often a bite of one of their exquisite dessert options.
We love everyone we meet in here and feel like we’re constantly popping in to see old friends. Old friends that know how to make a good meal. Steve, the valet, is one of the nicest guys you’ll ever meet.
I have yet to have a bad meal here. Their Halibut is some of the finest I’ve tried. I often get the Farmer’s Market Salad with Shrimp because it is heavenly and my wife gets the Crab and Papaya Salad.
Their Arnold Palmers are just delicious. I love everything about this place. We consider this our home away from home and visit whenever we can.

My BF is both a silent film era expert and raving fan, so of course he would love to visit the hotel co-​founded by The Little Tramp (Charlie Chaplin) and Fatty Arbuckle. The Montecito Café was added to the hotel years later by 2 graduates of the California Culinary Academy. Their fare is both slightly unusual, not the run of the mill options you see at every other restaurant out there. At the same time, the food is often relatively simple, just the ingredients and combinations are so delicious.
Note: The café only serves lunch and dinner. An out of date Coastal Cities tour guided cited it was a great idea to have breakfast here. The Inn serves only a Continental breakfast. Enjoy your lunch or dinner at this wonderful casual elegance café.
We attended mid-​week off-​season. You might be able to get a seating without a reservation, but I would highly recommend you phone ahead because this is a small/​medium sized boutique restaurant, not some giant scale chain behemoth.
We were seated at a romantic table for two right next to the open door offering a cool breeze, near the flower filled fountain, and a young family celebrating a birthday here at a special restaurant. Age range of crowd gathered featured all ages, including a few well behaved children.
They were very gracious over the phone, not only taking our reservation but also giving us excellent driving directions and approximate driving time which was super accurate.
We started with the Goat Cheese pancakes (2 pancakes) garnished with a few dollops of sour cream, a little smoked salmon, and golden (yes yellow, which was both beautiful and delicious) caviar. Amazing. A dish which I have also never seen anywhere else, and we’ve eaten in London and Paris as well as across the USA.
I selected the Linguine with Clam sauce with just a bit of white wine, Italian parsley, a few chilis, and Parmesan cheese scrapings. It was so simple and so delicious. The sauce was plentiful, so the french bread they optionally serve was perfect for sopping that up and getting the most out of the dish.
The flowers in the fountain inspired a song, and the ambiance is relaxed elegance.
They offer complimentary valet, which you will need to avail yourself of, because there is not a lot of parking nearby. Thank goodness they thought of that and make it easy for their dinner guests.
We would definitely eat here again and again. Wonderful experience all around.

I love when a restaurant welcomes you as if you were a close friend coming to dinner. The folks at Montecito Café do so.
Then you get the food and it’s fantastic
Get the goat cheese pancake. Out of this world

Stopped in here while driving around Montecito for lunch on a weekday.
Service was fantastic– very attentive. Food was excellent. I had a salad special with scallops and shrimp (salad dressing was heavenly). The portions were very large and presented well. The presentation made me want a salad when I walked in the door and saw others having salads delivered to their tables! Atmosphere is nice, quaint, clean. I’m not sure if it was the time of day or day of week but the crowd eating lunch was surprisingly older— much older… my grandparents age older. We were the only «younger» couple there. Not that this mattered– it just seemed odd!
Overall good experience– would not change a thing.