I hate to say this, but it was really disappointing. I ordered beef carpaccio and a caesar salad. The Caesar salad was full of leaves that were browned on both ends where they had been clearly cut at least a day before service. The beef carpaccio was smothered with arugula salad. The lemon salad dressing on the arugula was overwhelming for the beef. It was absolutely a solid even though it was listed on the starters portion of the menu. There was so little beef in the beef carpaccio that a better menu description would have been whispers of beef. And the server was very inattentive, and just really ill-informed about basic menu options. I'm sure that my guest and I would have been much better off had we ordered one of their pizzas from the wood fired oven or a pasta. However none of these had gluten-free options. So I was left with a salad and a salad.
David K.
I was hoping the food experience would be as good as the old Piatti's days when the restaurant was thriving with good food and lots of ambiance. It is a totally different place. The restaurant was about 1/4 full on a Friday night. The food was very average and the bill was $143 for 3 with no alcoholic drinks. The chips and guacamole was not great, not many chips and the guacamole was watery. The salad lettuce did not seem fresh and crisp. It was bland. The salmon was decent. The restaurant needs a complete overhaul as it is dirty, I.e. really dated/small restrooms, flies buzzing around the table and really dirty awnings overhead. The staff was very young. It is incredibly overpriced. The restaurant could thrive again in such a great location on a creek, but it needs a new look and much better food, especially at the current prices.
Not what it used to be... The food is the same, but the service and ambiance isn't what it was pre Covid. Music out of context of the setting and the service was lacking despite a low turnout.
Pamela Larsson
Good food, friendly, helpful staff,
Aldoux C.
As locals, we are disappointed at the meal we had on Friday night. From what we remember this place used to be much better. The location is absolutely gorgeous and the staff seemed nice but inefficient- the pros end here. The menu is limited and overpriced, it features no local ingredients that scream Santa Barbara- like sea urchin and abundant farmer's market produce. Even the limited items they had on the menu were bland and lacked finesse and attention to detail. The service was inconsistent and the waitress kept apologizing for being busy, they brought us a cocktail menu but then never came back to ask if we chose a cocktail. They also had two hostesses upfront when there was a huge abundance of tables and really you could sit yourself anywhere. From our experience there's an upgrade needed for both menu and structure.
C F.
Lovely sophisticated dinner spot. Ate on the back patio dear the fireplace. Ambience was excellent. Unfortunately the restaurant was out of filet mignon, which knocked out like three different items on their menu. Pepperoni pizza was flavorful and well cooked. Wagyu burger was delicious - moist and flavorful.
frank pulido
Great customer service
Bennett1111
Terrible!!! Three inexperienced children were in charge. It seemed as if no one had been trained. The “C” team was working on Memorial Day. We were ignored through the whole experience. The restaurant was empty and our food server was never there. After 20 minutes of her passing us by I finally asked our host if we could get some water. Then she greeted us. She took our beverage order and 15 minutes later came back with our sparkling water. She took our food order and never came back. Our food was delivered and 30 minutes later we had to ask the other employee walking around for our check. Our table was filled with dirty plates and we were alone on the patio surrounded by dirty plate filled empty tables... The food was so boring and bland and either overcooked or undercooked that our party just wanted to get out of there. Never again. There are so many amazing places to eat in Montecito and Santa Barbara and this is by far the most disappointing!
Mellany
Everything was just average. Considering wine Bistro was in the name they did not have a huge selection of wine. The food was OK nothing spectacular. The ambience was nice but a little too warm as all of the heaters were on in the room and a fireplace. We wished we had sat outside.
Trinity W.
This restaurant has a wonderful ambience and fantastic service! McKenna was extremely courteous and cheerful . The Ahi bites are to die for! I highly recommend!
I have been coming here on a weekly basis for 8 years after evening church in the neighbourhood. It has always been our go- to date place because the food was wonderful, relaxing ambiance by the fireplace and wonderful service. It is so disappointing to see the change: no wonderful bread arrives, their special lemon ravioli off the menu, their flourless chocolate cake off the menu, the wonderful healthy bowls off the menu ... all in all it is a very stripped down menu and lacks the special quality it always had. sad change to the neighbourhood
LizMck
ugh this place was a huge disappointment. the facility is just filthy. the patio walls and awnings haven't been cleaned in years. the food was OK but i was so upset with how dirty the place was that i could not enjoy the meal.
Kate S.
Their impossible veggie burger is fit for a king. It is by far the best veggie burger in the entire world and I mean that for real. There is no better veggie burger anywhere on planet earth. This veggie burger is out of this world delicious.
Michal L.
It's seriously heartbreaking to write this review, because I used to love this place so much. I discovered it in 2016, and although they serve cruel Kobe beef (they just call it Wagyu), I made peace with it, because everything on their menu was great, the place is beautiful, and the service was fantastic. It became my favorite restaurant in Montecito. I never missed an opportunity to stop by there for dinner or lunch by myself, with my husband, or business associates. In 2017, my husband and I had a 20-people wedding rehearsal dinner there. The manager back then was Ernesto, and he made our experience wonderful. When the pandemic hit, I continued to support this restaurant by ordering take-out. I was so excited when I learned that they reopened. Two weeks ago, I called them to make a reservation for Friday, 4/2, for my husband's birthday. I requested the table by the fire place, because that's where my husband and I sat at our wedding rehearsal dinner. I relayed all this to the man I spoke with. He said: "Table 22! The one by the fire place! That's the table I have you down for." I thanked him, asked them to also bring dessert for my husband at the end of the meal, and hung up. My husband and I showed up there on Friday. They had our reservation, but instead of leading us to the table by the fireplace -- which was empty -- they led us to a different table. I explained that I specifically reserved the fire place table. At that point, I was dealing with a young man, presumable the host, and a giggly waitress. They seemed amused by the situation, as they checked my reservation, and said there had been a mistake. That table was reserved alright, but to a different party. I told them that even if that was the case, the table was empty, so since we were the first to arrive, we should get the table. The giggly waitress went to get the manager. We stood around for 10 minutes, when the manager finally showed up. Ernesto, the wonderful manager whom we've dealt with, is no longer there. And this new manager said that the other party to whom the table was promised had just arrived, and that they will get the table. Apparently, he knew them... The manager then told me that he will FIRE the person who was responsible for the mix up. I think he should fire himself.
James T.
Great place. Sat at the bar. Warm out door dining. Impressed at how friendly yet low key the staff was. Really makes the meal great. Tuna bowl was perfect California fare. Highly recommend for excellent casual dining.
I hate to say this, but it was really disappointing. I ordered beef carpaccio and a caesar salad. The Caesar salad was full of leaves that were browned on both ends where they had been clearly cut at least a day before service. The beef carpaccio was smothered with arugula salad. The lemon salad dressing on the arugula was overwhelming for the beef. It was absolutely a solid even though it was listed on the starters portion of the menu. There was so little beef in the beef carpaccio that a better menu description would have been whispers of beef. And the server was very inattentive, and just really ill-informed about basic menu options. I'm sure that my guest and I would have been much better off had we ordered one of their pizzas from the wood fired oven or a pasta. However none of these had gluten-free options. So I was left with a salad and a salad.
I was hoping the food experience would be as good as the old Piatti's days when the restaurant was thriving with good food and lots of ambiance. It is a totally different place. The restaurant was about 1/4 full on a Friday night. The food was very average and the bill was $143 for 3 with no alcoholic drinks. The chips and guacamole was not great, not many chips and the guacamole was watery. The salad lettuce did not seem fresh and crisp. It was bland. The salmon was decent. The restaurant needs a complete overhaul as it is dirty, I.e. really dated/small restrooms, flies buzzing around the table and really dirty awnings overhead. The staff was very young. It is incredibly overpriced. The restaurant could thrive again in such a great location on a creek, but it needs a new look and much better food, especially at the current prices.
Not what it used to be... The food is the same, but the service and ambiance isn't what it was pre Covid. Music out of context of the setting and the service was lacking despite a low turnout.
Good food, friendly, helpful staff,
As locals, we are disappointed at the meal we had on Friday night. From what we remember this place used to be much better. The location is absolutely gorgeous and the staff seemed nice but inefficient- the pros end here. The menu is limited and overpriced, it features no local ingredients that scream Santa Barbara- like sea urchin and abundant farmer's market produce. Even the limited items they had on the menu were bland and lacked finesse and attention to detail. The service was inconsistent and the waitress kept apologizing for being busy, they brought us a cocktail menu but then never came back to ask if we chose a cocktail. They also had two hostesses upfront when there was a huge abundance of tables and really you could sit yourself anywhere. From our experience there's an upgrade needed for both menu and structure.
Lovely sophisticated dinner spot. Ate on the back patio dear the fireplace. Ambience was excellent. Unfortunately the restaurant was out of filet mignon, which knocked out like three different items on their menu. Pepperoni pizza was flavorful and well cooked. Wagyu burger was delicious - moist and flavorful.
Great customer service
Terrible!!! Three inexperienced children were in charge. It seemed as if no one had been trained. The “C” team was working on Memorial Day. We were ignored through the whole experience. The restaurant was empty and our food server was never there. After 20 minutes of her passing us by I finally asked our host if we could get some water. Then she greeted us. She took our beverage order and 15 minutes later came back with our sparkling water. She took our food order and never came back. Our food was delivered and 30 minutes later we had to ask the other employee walking around for our check. Our table was filled with dirty plates and we were alone on the patio surrounded by dirty plate filled empty tables... The food was so boring and bland and either overcooked or undercooked that our party just wanted to get out of there. Never again. There are so many amazing places to eat in Montecito and Santa Barbara and this is by far the most disappointing!
Everything was just average. Considering wine Bistro was in the name they did not have a huge selection of wine. The food was OK nothing spectacular. The ambience was nice but a little too warm as all of the heaters were on in the room and a fireplace. We wished we had sat outside.
This restaurant has a wonderful ambience and fantastic service! McKenna was extremely courteous and cheerful . The Ahi bites are to die for! I highly recommend!
Restaurantji Recommends
I have been coming here on a weekly basis for 8 years after evening church in the neighbourhood. It has always been our go- to date place because the food was wonderful, relaxing ambiance by the fireplace and wonderful service. It is so disappointing to see the change: no wonderful bread arrives, their special lemon ravioli off the menu, their flourless chocolate cake off the menu, the wonderful healthy bowls off the menu ... all in all it is a very stripped down menu and lacks the special quality it always had. sad change to the neighbourhood
ugh this place was a huge disappointment. the facility is just filthy. the patio walls and awnings haven't been cleaned in years. the food was OK but i was so upset with how dirty the place was that i could not enjoy the meal.
Their impossible veggie burger is fit for a king. It is by far the best veggie burger in the entire world and I mean that for real. There is no better veggie burger anywhere on planet earth. This veggie burger is out of this world delicious.
It's seriously heartbreaking to write this review, because I used to love this place so much. I discovered it in 2016, and although they serve cruel Kobe beef (they just call it Wagyu), I made peace with it, because everything on their menu was great, the place is beautiful, and the service was fantastic. It became my favorite restaurant in Montecito. I never missed an opportunity to stop by there for dinner or lunch by myself, with my husband, or business associates. In 2017, my husband and I had a 20-people wedding rehearsal dinner there. The manager back then was Ernesto, and he made our experience wonderful. When the pandemic hit, I continued to support this restaurant by ordering take-out. I was so excited when I learned that they reopened. Two weeks ago, I called them to make a reservation for Friday, 4/2, for my husband's birthday. I requested the table by the fire place, because that's where my husband and I sat at our wedding rehearsal dinner. I relayed all this to the man I spoke with. He said: "Table 22! The one by the fire place! That's the table I have you down for." I thanked him, asked them to also bring dessert for my husband at the end of the meal, and hung up. My husband and I showed up there on Friday. They had our reservation, but instead of leading us to the table by the fireplace -- which was empty -- they led us to a different table. I explained that I specifically reserved the fire place table. At that point, I was dealing with a young man, presumable the host, and a giggly waitress. They seemed amused by the situation, as they checked my reservation, and said there had been a mistake. That table was reserved alright, but to a different party. I told them that even if that was the case, the table was empty, so since we were the first to arrive, we should get the table. The giggly waitress went to get the manager. We stood around for 10 minutes, when the manager finally showed up. Ernesto, the wonderful manager whom we've dealt with, is no longer there. And this new manager said that the other party to whom the table was promised had just arrived, and that they will get the table. Apparently, he knew them... The manager then told me that he will FIRE the person who was responsible for the mix up. I think he should fire himself.
Great place. Sat at the bar. Warm out door dining. Impressed at how friendly yet low key the staff was. Really makes the meal great. Tuna bowl was perfect California fare. Highly recommend for excellent casual dining.