The Bistro At Bacara Resort & Spa

I thought, «WTH? I’m paying top $ to stay here. Why dig soooo deep in my wallet to feed me?» Then… the food came. A satisfying meat to bun to condiment ratio. – Sheldon, Big Bang. Oh yeah, I had the burger and it was banging! A mixed greens salad with just the right amount of dressing was also hearty and satisfying. And them darn fries-​were crispy on the outside and hot and soft on the inside without being greasy. I got extra aoli for dipping and crushed it.
The lobster roll was good. That’s about all I have to say about that.
So value? I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food. Soooo, I guess it’s worth it? Maybe? Yes.

I would like to update my prior review. I was promptly contacted by management and they were incredibly receptive, helpful and gracious. Everyone makes mistakes, I am thoroughly impressed by their reception and response to my review.

I made a reservation for the Bistro for Mother’s Day. Having never been there, I checked the website and the menu for pricing and information on food. Menu items looked delicious, albeit a little high priced, I decided it would be a special treat for Mother’s Day. Not a mention of a special menu on the website. When we arrived, they could not find my reservation which I made through open table with a special request for outside seating. When we checked in, we realized that this was not normal menu, as they gave us a ticket and asked us to go pay at the cashier. The cashier did not give us a total, only ran our credit card. To my surprise, our bill total for 4 people was $ 460. I believe I stopped breathing for 30 seconds and then proceeded to sign the check. We were 2 adults and 2 teens that were not going to be joining us in bottomless mimosas.
They were quick to accommodate us regardless of not being able to find our reservation, taking us to what looked like the inside of a large conference room. I asked to be seated outside and they were able to find us a table.
The food was tasty, the omelette bar was fantastic, many choices between breakfast and lunch options.
The service was excellent as well.
I am very unhappy that I spent nearly $ 500 for my family of 4 to basically eat breakfast. Just because you CAN charge a certain amount, does not mean you should. I felt take advantage of by not having any notice of this special menu, not being told the price before being charged, all of which causing me to feel pressured and embarrassed to sign my bill.

Breakfast review — Opens at 7 but plan to wait til 7:15 for service. Once they arrive, coffee is very good, food portions are very large and fruit is extremely fresh. Buffet to please any discriminating guest and then the view and relaxing atmosphere make this a great start of the day. Very good food quality and service.

Best view in town. Free valet parking. Delicious food. Very attentive service.
I had the salmon and it was wonderful.

We were there last night celebrating my 60^th birthday and had such a wonderful time!!! The food was different than any other I have eaten; it was amazing with wonderful taste combinations AND the service was over the top! The chef created beer batter fries with teriyaki, sriracha and aioli sauce!!! And the chicken main dish was absolutely delicious! Best location in all of Santa Barbara/​Goleta– right on the beach!

Are here while I stayed there this past week. Not my first time staying here, but I can say the service at the Bistro has taken a tumble. It was slow pretty much all times I at there during the week to a point I almost actually got up and left at one point because 15 minutes went by before anyone even came to ask me what I wanted to drink. We had a lunch group of 4 and though the food came out decent timed, our waitress never once came to check on us or the food, and when we wanted to leave we asked a random guy walking by to get our checks because our waitress was MIA.
This is a place that should have high standards. The food is great, if you have nothing to do but wait on the crummy service.

We are here monthly for business. We came at the beginning of our week and had a terrible experience. We came back midweek (because the Ocean House is currently closed) and had Alexis and Yuri. The experience was incredible with these two!!! Any time you come to this restaurant, you should request these two. The difference in the experience was astonishing! OUTSTANDING service with these two! Thank you, Alexis & Yuri!

It has been such a wonderful experience here at the Bistro at Bacara… due mostly to Alexis whom has been a extremely attentive and pleasant server! After living in So. Cal the past five years and being in many different restaurants up and down the coast the service that Alexis has expressed to me and my colleagues has been impeccable! Thank you Alexis!

I was excited to dine on opening night at Bacara’s bistro with an entirely new streamlined menu. The menu does offer a variety of choice exciting dishes but it’s definitely not all over the place. French Chef Vincent Lesage has selected a wonderful menu of locally grown and harvested organic veggies and fresh caught seafood that satisfy even the most picky of palettes. Our dining experience last night was nothing short of outstanding. From the moment we arrived our severs went out of their way to make sure we were attended to and not hounded. Our cocktails were delicious and the cuisine being offered is not only spectacular, but it’s reasonably priced and the atmosphere at Bacara is in a class all of its own. Congrats Chef Lesage and your team of professionals. I highly recommend you make a reservation and come try the new menu and see for yourself.

Don’t waste your time even looking for this restaurant.
The reception by two young women is friendly and delightful. The only thing worse than the table service is the food. Imagine ordering a salad wedge and being served four unrelated pieces of lettuce covered with a thin layer of Roquefort dressing (probably an imitation) and several stale balls (!) of what might once have been bacon remnants. The only noticeable «wedge» was the price of $ 12! The vegetarian grain dish was tasteless. Most restaurants double the retail cost of a bottle of wine for table service. Our wine (Meiomi Pinot Noir) was priced somewhat above triple the retail bottle price. Come on, Bacara! For $ 3 per leaf of lettuce, you could be a bit more generous with the wine pricing. Then there was the table service. Took two requests to get water refilled and the restaurant was only half filled.

I’m sorry to have to write this, as I’ve really liked this hotel for years. The location is stunning and the property is beautiful. However, after my last experience here, I will never go back. The food is gross and the service is terrible.
We ordered drinks upon arrival. After waiting for almost 25 minutes, we had to remind our server that we had ordered them. By the time our drinks came out, we had been served our entrée.
The appetizers were almost not edible. The calamari was the weirdest dish I’ve ever seen — they had actually deep fried lemon wedges that were randomly mixed around, which made for a bad surprise. In addition to the squid, which was mushy and gross, there was a weird assortment of fried vegetables mixed in. It was seriously disgusting. We also tried the arugula salad, which was basically arugula with lemon on it — super bland and not good. The «caprese» was also mostly arugula, with little chunks of clearly not fresh mozarella mixed in, and the same gross lemon salad dressing.
Another member of my party ordered a salad to start, and oysters as the main course. They brought both out at the same time (despite everyone else in our party being served appetizers first), and we had to ask them to return it to the kitchen.
Our dessert order was similarly strange and disorganized. The waiter came over to tell us that only two crème brules were left, and we ordered those and the smores dessert. About 10 minutes later, another waiter came by to tell us that none of those dishes were available. Inexplicably, 10 minutes after that, a crème brule was delivered to our table that was one of the strangest, most disgusting desserts I’ve ever had. I can only equate it to a cadbury egg with vegetables on top.
Overall, we spent $ 400 on a disgusting dinner with terrible, disorganized service. Skip this place.

Beautiful way to end the day is to have dinner at the Bistro. Conveniently next to the pool. Perfect weather, perfect view and delicious food. The only thing was that the waitress mistakenly switched my bill with another but she corrected it so it was ok.

The property is STUNNING and everyone seems so friendly — but beyond the surface — ugh.
We were seated quickly to a nice table — win.
Our server greeted us — and then we pretty much never saw/​heard from her ever again. We had 6+ people serve us while we were there — 1 server took our order b/​c we had waited for 15 minutes to place our order and the breakfast buffet was ending in an hour and we just wanted to eat.
We opted for the breakfast buffet — and at $ 40+/pop — we expected a little more than the usual continental breakfast. It’s interesting that they have duck, octopus and salmon for their omelet station. The fruit was fresh and perfect. The breads/​pastries were on point. But that’s pretty much it — I’ve had a better breakfast at a Hyatt Regency.
We had to flag down people who weren’t responsible for our table to refill our drinks. We even flagged down a hostess b/​c for a while — there was NO ONE to be found. And we were seated in a pretty well occupied area. The support staff deserved the tips the most. They were awesome at clearing empty plates and making sure our drinks were filled. The support staff should all be promoted to servers.
If you’re looking for mediocre food + less than hospitable service — go here.

This place was nice for a relaxing breakfast — I had the eggs Benedict and my husband had the buffet — The view and area is probably worth the price tag — the food is just okay :)!

Bacara resort is a nice beach resort in Santa Barbara! The bistro restaurant is located by the pool area facing the ocean. It’s the perfect place to watch the sunset. They have both indoor and outdoor seating. We chose to sit outside so we can enjoy the gorgeous view. We ordered the following —
Frito misto calamari (³⁄₅) — just ok, it was better last time I had it here
Sauvignon blanc steamed mussels (⁵⁄₅) — the sauce was yummy and perfect for dipping the bread
Forager pizza (⁵⁄₅) — white sauce with wild mushrooms and truffle oil! Yummy!
This is definitely a great place if you want to have a nice meal with a gorgeous view!

The service was good (Rosemary), other than that, certainly not worth it.
We ordered several dishes
The bread rolls brought to the table were stale and not fit to be eaten.
The Heirloom tomato — the tomatoes weren’t even heirloom tomatoes. Regardless, they were not ripe and shouldn’t have been served.
The octopus — had the consistency of rubber. It had a nice taste, but was far too chewy.
The halibut — unmercifully overcooked. It had the consistency of overcooked chicken.
The steak — cooked far past the requested medium and tasted like jerky.
Pappardelle — tasted fresh (out of the freezer)
. The pasta would break apart when trying to eat it. It was very odd.
The spaghetti — the best dish of the night but still just ok.
The pizza with Italian sausage was greasy, but quite good.
The flowerless chocolate cake was fairly average but decent.
The highlight was our server, Rosemary. She was wonderful and should be paid double whatever she’s currently making. We are SURE of it!

For how much you’re paying, this place is crap.
My husband and I spent almost $ 100 on breakfast buffet, which was one of the worst food we’ve ever had. Considering you’re paying over $ 600 a night at this resort, you would think the food and service would be pretty decent. But we were so wrong.
Hostess: Awkward. No eye contact. She was spaced out, and was flat out unfriendly to us.
Service: One of the worst. Had to flag down 3 different people before we were able to order drinks. Asked few more times just to get water. We had to fetch our own salt and pepper from another table because of nonexistent service.
And the worst part? We noticed that other tables were getting so much more attention. Servers sure seemed nice and attentive to everyone around us (who were not Asian). It was so obvious… Water and coffee were served immediately to tables around us, whereas we had to flag down several times for anything.
Buffet: Disgusting. Eggs were old and watery. Potato was stale and cold. French toast was soggy. Pastry was hard and gross. Smoked salmon and sliced tomatoes were FROZEN. And half the food trays and plates were empty. Are you seriously charging people $ 35+ for this mess? My dog probably wouldn’t even eat this. Only thing that made up for the shitty buffet was the omelet station. The guy making food was really friendly too.
We will never be coming back to this restaurant. This place ruined our experience at Bacara.

They know how to poach eggs.
Beware of the sea gulls. If you’re not looking, they will swoop in and disrupt your meal.

Great view but that’s where it ends.
Patio seating on the edge of the surf can’t be beat but the very limited selection let me wanting more.
Scrambled eggs
Bacon & Sausage
Waffles
Breads
Omelet bar
Smoked salmon
And that’s about it.
With most people self serving form the buffet, the wait staff has little to do. I guess they were too busy to come by and check on drinks. We had one round of mimosa and never offered a second round. The next time we saw our guy, we asked for the bill.
Sure this could be a romantic evening or family filled Sunday brunch and if the service was better, I could justify the cost. The Bistro is just too much for too little.