Nordstrom Café

The Order system and the dishes service system need to be improved.
Took a long time to order.
Then 5 dishes got 2 wrong and the resubmited dish was still wrong.
And we even got a «White eye» when we pointed out the wrong dish.
Wait forever for the water and folks…
Food are JUST ok.

I feel strange saying it but this is one of my favorite restaurants in town. The cilantro lime chicken salad and the salmon pasta are the best. The tomato soup is great too. Also, the kid’s meal is a tasty deal for the little person in your life. Order at the counter, servers bring your food and beverages to your table.

I ordered a skirt stake chimichuri medium rare but they brought a well, well, well done stake. It was super dry and was so hard to cut. When I told them that I have ordered a m-​rare, they told me that they can’t make it, even though they asked me when they were taking order (doesn’t make any sense). Also, they lied that there were only one order of chimichuri stake left in the kitchen, but they brought another one after my complaint (I had to wait 15mins…). In addition, the shrimp from the salad was not cleaned properly, the vein was inside and smelled like melted plastic and it was burned. I ended up getting some allergic reaction after 20mins later… Lastly, there cake comes on top of a cardboard or some box or something, my sister tasted a piece of box, so we called our waitress and she told me that it’s normal and can happen??? I’m not sure if I was being weird or they were just kidding… Anyways, I have filed a complaint but here’s some review, I’ve been to all other nordstrom cafes and I’ve always thought there café was great! But I was wrong, this one isn’t!!!

Always the best salads! I wish they had even more variety of salads so that I could try them all!

I wound give it 5 stars if the prices were a bit lower. I had the Asian chopped salad, the wife had the cilantro chicken salad and a cup of tomatoe basil soup. Everything was tasty and fresh. We sat out on the balcony and enjoyed our lunch with a beautiful view of the hills and mountains. Overall it was a very good experience.

Uma vista linda com pratos gostoso e rápidos! Comi um bolo de banana de sobremesa delicioso! Vale a pena pela vista!

This is the second time I dined at Nordstoms café, the first in San Diego and the second in Santa Barbara. Trust me, this is nothing to write home Unilocal about. The first time I ordered the Santa Fe Chicken sandwich, was supposed to be incredible — like an inside-​out grilled cheese. Nordstroms no longer prepares the sammie this way. The second visit I ordered their cilantro lime chicken salad — good but not WOW. It is a nice spot to get a semi-​quick bite to eat while shopping. The sequence of service is set up weird. You prepay for your order but they give you’re receipt in a check pad, which you take to the table. Once you sit down, a server comes by to reviews your check and bring out whatever your order.

I looooove Nordstrom Cafes. Food is always delicious. However, the servers at this particular café are somewhat rude. I watched as my food sat on the counter for five minutes before it was brought to me. And during that time, the waitress was just standing around.
I got the prosciutto sandwich with side salad and the champagne dressing. The sandwich was delicious and I highly recommend the champagne dressing. Also ordered a lemonade which I was extremely satisfied with. Tasted like freshly squeezed lemonade, not too much sugar.

All kinds of yes for this place. Period.
Excellent customer service (cannot beat it), decent prices, amazing food. Love sitting outside here after some Nordstrom retail therapy.
Side note: Get the big chocolate chip cookie! Nom nom

Honestly so good! I have been here many many times over the years and am always satisfied, but today it occurred to me what a complete gem this is here in Santa Barbara. The staff is always so on it and the manager is a doll!
I had the blackened chicken noodle soup and it was just the thing to warm me up. I ended up getting a pear bar too which was heaven.
There are few restaurants in Santa Barbara that have a view of the Riviera, for one thing… Add to that, great service and great food and I am a happy girl!
Will be returning more often for sure!!!

Best tomato soup ever! I also had a half order of the pad Thai salad and it was super yummy! Food came out in good timing and the waitress serving was nice. Although we were never asked for refills she did act fast on serving us more bread and butter lol either way love coming here for a quick bite to eat!

My blackened salmon salad was extremely salty. The salmon was very dry as well. Portions for both meals were small for the priced charged. Servers were busy and did not pick up the ticket to get our meals until we asked how we get our food. There are many better options close by.

Food was mediocre, kinda luke warm, butter pats were hard (personal pet peeve… It tears my toast, damnit!) Server was great! My biggest complaint though is that every one of the servers, with the exception of the one we had… And there were WAY too many of them… Was eating behind the counter. And not just popping a piece of candy in their mouths, or tasting something the chef just whipped up, but EATING… like a meal out of bowls… every single one. Really icked me out… which is not that easy to do. Am I being too picky?
So, Would I go back? Doubtful. it was just meh and there is way mo bettah breakfast experiences to be had! :-)

The chicken club sandwich was fantastic. The prosciutto ciabatta that my son got was a greasy, heavy-​handed mess. The salads are really good, but the sandwiches are hit or miss. Staff is super attentive and professional.

Great sandwiches, turkey with cranberry the favorite. The best tomato basil soup ! Service was excellent today as usual.

THis is a very well kept secrete. I’m not sure why most people don’t know about the upstairs café. Maybe they’re just not used to eating at the same place you buy fancy clothes. But it’s totally worth it. Great salads and sandwiches. And their cookies are amazing as well. I really liked their lemonade with the berries but beware because they told us it had refils but when it came time to refill my glass I got a bunch of 50 cent charges. Lame. But other than that it’s all good.
UPDATE: I just tried a new cookie they had, some sort of sugar cooking. in the words of Bill and Ted «it was most excellent»

Normally I’m a big fan of Nordstrom Café but yesterday it was a total bust. My wife and I went in for a salad late in the afternoon. There were 6 employees behind the counter more interested in their personal conversations than in serving customers. I thought, «hmm, this doesn’t seem like a Nordstrom experience.» Finally the server brought our food. Later she dropped by to see if we needed anything and we asked for refill on the ice teas along with some water. 15 minutes later we realized that she had joined her fellow employees back into the conversations and had forgotten about us. So we ended up walking over to them to get service. She was very apologetic but geez, what happened to the outstanding customer service that Nordstrom is famous for.

Consistently excellent food. The salads are amazing, every one of them! The service is usually really good, too. I’ve really got no complaints.
Once, out of maybe 100 times eating here (I work downtown, so I’ve eaten here once or twice every week or two for several years) my food was seriously delayed. Turned out they had gotten a new oven and it wasn’t working properly. My meal was comped and they brought me a brownie, too! Considering how often issues crop up at restaurants when you only eat at them two or three times a year, I always think this is a great example of how consistent this place is. And IF something does happen, they are great about handling it properly.
Great value for money in terms of taste, easy in and out and service.

Had a beautiful salmon nicoise salad for lunch on their charming patio. Ambiance was very pleasant — the place had a nice buzz about it. The staff was friendly and accomodating throughout my experience and I have to say that the place was very inviting. Had to grab a couple of Royal cookies for the road.

Ate here for the first time today after shopping at not only Nordstroms but outside of it. Not sure why we haven’t eaten here before. We were starved and wanted to eat before getting back on the road. We over ordered thinking we could always take it home. Service was perfect. Soup of the day was tomato and chipotle rice. Husband and I both had a cup (mine was tomato his the other) I’m a tomato fan and it was amazing. I only had a taste as we had salads coming. Their salad was perfect. Croutons were so crisp. Husband raved at his balsamic dressing. He had chicken sandwich (hold the cheese) with caramelized onions. It looked heavenly. I had the salmon pasta. It was perfect. Only thing that would have made our meal better was wine but we had a drive. Love that they offer it though. I will be back. Nordys is one of my favorite stores.

Downgraded. Bad service from our waitress today. She was great but a little forgetful (ketchup, iced tea) for the first 40 minutes or so but then disappeared. She attended to a couple tables around us but avoided us for some reason after that. We sat around for 40 minutes without anyone checking on us when we just wanted to order another round of drinks. Bummed.

I have come here for years and it used to be my favorite lunch spot. I love the outdoor patio! The food is good most of the time, but lately it has been hit or miss. The food isn’t always consistent and the service is ok. It was a lot better a few years ago.

tomato basil soup
clam chowder
cilantro lime salad with chicken (don’t know what its actually called… i just know it has these 3 ingredient in it)
tasty chocolate mints at the end of your meal
awesome cookies (snickerdoodles are the best)
free wi fi
the service is OK… I’ve had some times where its just standard, and then I have that one waitress that checks up on me a lot so I guess it just depends on who you get? Alex (the girl) has always been great and the dudes… they’re alright.

Best French Dip HANDS DOWN!
Had some other tasty sandwiches and salads but the Frenchie is my fave by far!
–Awesome staff
–Delicious food
–Best public restrooms in Paseo Nuevo (hahaha)

This place is a real gem and I cannot believe there is no review yet for this little Café.
Sitting out on their patio, this is a PERFECT place to eat one of their sandwiches with some tomato soup and enjoy the day. Honestly, their tomato soup is one of the best I have ever tasted. I have no idea why the rest of the world needs to complicate Tomato soup so much… this stuff is awesome and they sell it up at the front. I have trouble keeping my wife from buying a jar of it every time we go. I think I have had every one of their sandwiches as well… all of them are worth having.
I have been here a bunch of times, and I have yet to have anything that I didnt really like when it comes to lunch and I have yet to have bad service.
If you have not been the top floor of Nordstroms for lunch, you need to check it out!