The Cliff Room

I used to meet my buddy Gerry Faul, KEYT Sports Anchor here after news casts when I worked at KEYT and honestly I could never understand what he saw in this place except that it is off the beaten path where you can escape the tourists and it is rustic but honestly I will say that I am more of a club scene guy and if I do a bar I will do something a little cleaner and more upscale, this place is dark and dingy, very old and musty. The bartenders are always friendly as are the people but It just isn’t my scene. I am almost afraid to put my arms, elbows or hands on the bar tops or table tops because they just seem dirty and you’re talking to a guy that will literally walk a half a block out of my way to use a driveway in a clean pair of shoes rather than walk across grass or dirt, it also smells like smoke and it’s no secret that I hate cigarettes. Bar Fly hang out. 6 AM people drinking kind of place ;(

Having just moved to the Mesa, I was excited to check out the local watering hole. I can only give this place 2 stars because the service was horrible! There were only a handful of people there and it took me 10 minutes to get noticed and get a drink from the bartender Thursday. She was talking to her friends at one end of the bar and she finally came over, walked right past me, and got on her phone. I was about to leave when the guy next to me called her over. Apparently this is the norm on this girls shift according to the people I spoke to on the patio. If your thirsty, don’t go on a Thursday!
On a more upbeat note, I’m looking forward to see the changes they are going to make when they remodel. This place could use a facelift and a good cleaning! I will be back!

Love the Cliff Room! Great locals place for a stiff drink and great company — especially if you get lucky enough to have Jennifer pouring your drinks! Go in once, and she’ll rember your name and your drink, and her awesome smile is free! :-)

A great place for a local to hang out! Be sure to work your time there around having Jennifer behind the bar! She always has great tunes playing and helps put a smile on your face!

Perfect local bar on the mesa with multiable flatscreens. Beer is cheap and always cool people in ther. Bunch of parking in the back and also has 2 pool tables and a dart board. I cruz in here on weeknights and it gets busier later in the night! Cruz in and have a beer!

Over the dart board area there are stickers that spell out the following: «Why go downtown?» This message hits home The Cliff Room’s appeal. The Cliff Room is effectively the anti-​downtown bar that isn’t overrun with hipsters (Elsie’s). A classic dive bar with good bartending. They accept credit with no minimums… they have not one but two pool tables, and they even have foosball. What’s not the love?
Important note: The pool tables are among the best in Santa Barbara. Only Don Q would be able to claim nicer tables but that’s a dedicated pool hall. (Games are $ 0.75)
This place is great. Plenty of parking in the back.

I really don’t mind this place much other than the fact that the bartender Brad is very bad at his job and doesn’t care about the customers. I would definitely advise to never go to this place on Thursdays so you can avoid ordering drinks from this prick. What bartender complains out loud to a customer for closing their card instead of keeping it open and then declaring they will start ignoring them? I may stumble across this bar again since I literally live across the street but most of the time I’m going to avoid this place especially when Brad is behind that bar.
Just FYI this is a review from 2 years ago. I’m not sure if Brad even works there anymore. Unilocal took it down, so I’m re-​posting a more G-​rated version.

I had only been here a couple of times… WAY before they hired Wendy as a bartender. Now, I go just to hang out with her. You should too! She is so awesome, and a very good bar tender besides that fact. She brings a light into that place. She even are her boss order a decent Chardonnay so that I would come in more often. This place went from total DIVE… into a cool place to hang out. YAY WENDY!!!1

Fun place to go have some drinks and play pool — I like that its NOT on State St :)
Its very convenient to city college!
The place is a bit dirty seeming, but not disgusting at all, and what can you really expect from a dive bar?

This was my first dive bar experience and it has not changed at all in over 20-​years. The location is good as are the drinks. That is all that matters…

Ah, the Cliff Room. You may not be able to judge a book by its cover, however you can judge a dive bar by its cover — or lack there of. Close your eyes Nancy, that’s not the ghosts of Christmas past your smelling, nor is it the cast extras from the movie Barfly … wait, maybe that is Mickey Rouke in the corner. maybe not. A true story, you ask? …Well, .if I must; My buddy and I stopped into this tired aforementioned establishment expecting nothing but a cold beer and a few stains to try to avoid. What we got was in the middle — I’m not kidding — we were in the middle — of these two goofs throwing punches at each other — what makes this story more fun than shocking is that nobody — nobody — got touched by any punch. Not one punch connected in this flurry of fury. The cops came — they decided to leave. The two goofs hung out and made up. That would be the end of the story as well as any reason to return. Comfortable in it’s classification as a dive bar there is really nothing more to add than the obvious. A semi-​surly crowd, scattered with 20 somethings to 60+, Low lighting, and cheap cold beer. Judging by the seated posture of the clientele, stiff drinks are also a feature. I seem to remember a pool table. All with the bonus of ample free parking.

This is a DIVE BAR. so in my book it deserves 5 stars for the best dive bar in sb. They have Darts, pool, buck hunter and karaōke twice a week. I do live close so this is one of my go-​tos when I’m not feeling the downtown scene. Mike always makes me feel at home he’s great and always knows just what I want! & they have fireball for my wife so everyone is happy!

After a night going downtown to the usual spots like Sharkeez, The Cliff Room takes the cake.
Love the place, get to know the bartender, my first time there he gave me a free shot & a drink.
Really really fun place if you just want to chill, listen to music, play pool, that sorta thing.
Place has a lot of character, I am a fan of this place!

When it comes to dive bars in SB, The Cliff Room has cornered the market.
That doesn’t mean it has no class… this place is quite accomodating for all.
Cold beers. And mexican food nearby :)

One of my favorite «Dive-​Bars» in town. Pool tables, Karaōke & Stiff Drinks.
Always a good time here. It’s the «CHEERS» of Santa Barbara (slightly Tougher. lol)

We were in the hood for dinner and wanted to check this establishment out for an after dinner drink. First impression, upscale dive bar. All the prerequisites are in place: two pool tables, darts, a couple of individual video games on the bar counter and juke box. The clientele were all low key and of mixed age as any good dive bar should be. Add to this $ 5 house vodka martinis and you really can’t go wrong.

Um. I came here for karaōke night out of desperation (I was having serious karaōke withdrawals, and this was the only place in town for karaōke that night), and was… sort of paralyzed by fear, shame, disgust, curiosity, and thirst simultaneously. Ultimately I grew accustomed to the someone-else’s-musty-living-room surroundings, and after a few jaeggermeisters, I was all set to sing. Crowd is strange: a rollicking combination of bikers, hessians, and country lads and ladies. The clientele is a bit hard and rough-​around-​the-​edges. Are we still in Santa Barbara? All right, I suppose, for a dive bar. Be prepared for some edgy patrons on the back patio.

Best dive bar in town! Plus karaōke on Mon & Thurs

One of my favorite dive bars in town, along the same lines as The Sportsman. Wood paneling, dark lighting, strong drinks, good selection of beers on tap, huge circular booths, dart board. There’s not one but TWO pool tables and they’re only 50 cents a game. Giant parking lot and a tiny smoking area out back.
This is definitely not a downtown SB bar. The clientele is generally older and not very hip– a mix of hardcore drinkers, sports fans and city college kids, mostly guys, but hey– it’s technically it’s a sports bar. I know a few people who won’t step foot in there so maybe it has a seedy reputation. Go with a group of friends if you want safety in numbers, but I’ve been here with a group of other ladies and haven’t had any problems.
I get the feeling that if this place was in LA it’d be crawling with hipsters. Being located on the Mesa, I’d say it’s off the hipster radar. Pretty underrated if you asked me.
Definitely check out Monday nights for karaōke night!

This place is such a dive. I’m the type who likes dives, so that works for me. However, I am not terribly fond of the «dives» downtown because they are just not that divey or relaxing. This is the kind of place where 50 year-​old women get hit on the same time that my girlfriend (21) and I (24) feel perfectly comfortable. A solid dive, it just needs more business and a bottled Belgian beer (like Duvel or Westmalle Triple) and it would really be great.