Terrible service. No utensils. Menus had typos everywhere. Food took forever and wasn't very hot. Duct tape and graffiti on the walls. Knew it was going to be bad but gave it a shot. Wish we hadent.
Jeffrey B.
Calla G's review is much more articulate than i could hope to match. Molly's son Ali has shown Santa Barbara that this family is dedicated to our town and its patrons. Alito's has been on our "must do" list for a few months. we strolled into a weekday lunch hour piece of Southern Spain/ Mexico City, and were instantly greeted with courtesy and escorted to our beautiful table. Calla did a wonderful job of describing the beautiful interior, full of Moorish accents, and Mexican folklore touches. Let's cut to the chase: in a town FULL of excellent Hispanic Cuisine, from 5 star taquerias, to elegant restaurants, the food here is the best that we have tasted. The Posole Verde exploded! with vibrant fresh flavors, and perfect seasoning. I ate more of it than i should have, but just couldn't stop!! WOW x 2! the service, drinks, (they DO need to get the world's best Mexican food beer, Negro Modelo, though) and fresh airy environment was perfect. Lower State Street has a new Sheriff, folks....
Alyson J.
Food was great! Very accommodating to our group of 13- best Mexican a girl could want on the 4th of July!
Dino Zincarini
Amazing food! Can't remember the exact name but had a carne asada type dish that was out of this world! Delicious ceviche and if course a great selection of wines. Will head back every time I'm in the city!
Nathan Gallardo
Great service. Authentic flavors. Really nice atmosphere.
leo marquez
After reading some reviews I had high expectations about this restaurant unfortunately I they weren't met.
Gil O.
Made last minute dinner reservations for UCSB Grad night on Sunday. We had a wonderful waitress named AnaKay wait on us and she was fantastic. The food had great presentation and was delicious. A party of 8 and all had great food. The the Margheritas were excellent! Finally, if you dont have great chips and salsa, I dont come back to the place, but at Alitos, they do everything well! You wont be disappointed at this place.
Diana L.
There is definitely better Mexican food options on State St. and this place is not one of them. The food is mediocre and flavorless. The service so so depending on who you get. I got there around dinner time and asked the hostess for walk in availability. She walked away and brought someone else. She proceeded to ask for when I wanted to make the reservation and I said for today (mind you that the restaurant was empty for dinner time on a Friday night). The hostess responded oh I misunderstood. The hostess proceeds to hand me the menus and tells me to follow the other employee. I found this strange. The waitress was even puzzled that this happened. The waitress asked if I had a preference of where to sit and I said if outside. The only compliments that I do have for this restaurant is the excellent service and attentiveness of the waitress that we had. She made sure that our drinks kept coming and we were attended to. I am disappointed on the food though as it was bland and nothing too special about it. The margaritas were light as well as they lacked alcohol and felt I was just drinking juice. I feel that the quality lacked for the price point. There are other places in town that serves better quality Mexican food and for less. Hostess: Not a great first impression. I should have proceeded elsewhere. Waitress: Excellent. Attentive. Food: Not memorable. Bland. Lacked the flavor Mexican food is known for. Drinks: Watered down. Environment: Nice Overall: 3 stars
Susan M.
Fresh, fresh, fresh! The margarita was a refreshing blend with lime, not the usual heavy syrupy kind. The salsas were flavorful, could have given more though than the tiny stainless steel cup. This were warm with just the right amount of salt and crispness. I liked the "rolled" beef taco. Every bite was flavorful. Now, I steered away from the traditional Mexican dishes and had the shrimp & mashed potatoes. Oh my stars, this was absolutely delicious. What could have been a dish ladened down with butter turned out to be light, buttery and lemon fresh. The shrimp was so fresh it could have walked right in from the sea and jumped on my plate. Service was prompt and we were taken care of nicely throughout the meal. Decor was well done. We felt as though we were sitting in a beautiful patio in Cuernavaca. Putting this restaurant on my list as a definite stop when in Santa Barbara.
G D.
Just had dinner last night with my mom and daughter. We were visiting from Manhattan Beach and craving Mexican food. We'd walked up and down State St. and noticed a cute/quaint restaurant Alito's. Decided to eat there. The service was very attentive and the food was delicious!!! We were glad we ate there and would come back again!!
Alito's is a colorful New Mexican restaurant on lower state, and one with big competition. While Alito's lunch prices are a few dollars cheaper than Los Arroyo's a few blocks up, the food is unfortunately a bit bland. The chicken in the chicken carbon tacos was under seasoned, which unfortunately wasn't saved by the similarly-uninspired salsa. The service was lovely, attentive, and prompt. To be fair, they're new and are likely smoothing out some kinks. I'll definitely give them another chance in a month or so! 3/5
cleve Moore
Service from Rafa and Daniel was exceptional! Food came out in a timely fashion, and was good. I would recommend it to anyone!
Jennie Welsh
Food and service are exceptional. Tried the shrimp and mashed potatoes. Never heard of this combination before and it was delicious. Highly recommended.
Sonya Johal
I'm having my wedding reception here. The food is amazing. The owner and Dan the manager along with the cook are so kind everything is Made with love and screams flavor!
Rob C.
This didn't feel like the typical Mexican restaurant in America. It felt like I stepped into Mexico and a good part of Mexico with nice table clothes and no oversized menu with photos of food and a list of margaritas. More like a gourmet restaurant with a wine list, nicely uniformed staff, Latin jazz in the background, and reasonable prices away from the revelry on State street.
Terrible service. No utensils. Menus had typos everywhere. Food took forever and wasn't very hot. Duct tape and graffiti on the walls. Knew it was going to be bad but gave it a shot. Wish we hadent.
Calla G's review is much more articulate than i could hope to match. Molly's son Ali has shown Santa Barbara that this family is dedicated to our town and its patrons. Alito's has been on our "must do" list for a few months. we strolled into a weekday lunch hour piece of Southern Spain/ Mexico City, and were instantly greeted with courtesy and escorted to our beautiful table. Calla did a wonderful job of describing the beautiful interior, full of Moorish accents, and Mexican folklore touches. Let's cut to the chase: in a town FULL of excellent Hispanic Cuisine, from 5 star taquerias, to elegant restaurants, the food here is the best that we have tasted. The Posole Verde exploded! with vibrant fresh flavors, and perfect seasoning. I ate more of it than i should have, but just couldn't stop!! WOW x 2! the service, drinks, (they DO need to get the world's best Mexican food beer, Negro Modelo, though) and fresh airy environment was perfect. Lower State Street has a new Sheriff, folks....
Food was great! Very accommodating to our group of 13- best Mexican a girl could want on the 4th of July!
Amazing food! Can't remember the exact name but had a carne asada type dish that was out of this world! Delicious ceviche and if course a great selection of wines. Will head back every time I'm in the city!
Great service. Authentic flavors. Really nice atmosphere.
After reading some reviews I had high expectations about this restaurant unfortunately I they weren't met.
Made last minute dinner reservations for UCSB Grad night on Sunday. We had a wonderful waitress named AnaKay wait on us and she was fantastic. The food had great presentation and was delicious. A party of 8 and all had great food. The the Margheritas were excellent! Finally, if you dont have great chips and salsa, I dont come back to the place, but at Alitos, they do everything well! You wont be disappointed at this place.
There is definitely better Mexican food options on State St. and this place is not one of them. The food is mediocre and flavorless. The service so so depending on who you get. I got there around dinner time and asked the hostess for walk in availability. She walked away and brought someone else. She proceeded to ask for when I wanted to make the reservation and I said for today (mind you that the restaurant was empty for dinner time on a Friday night). The hostess responded oh I misunderstood. The hostess proceeds to hand me the menus and tells me to follow the other employee. I found this strange. The waitress was even puzzled that this happened. The waitress asked if I had a preference of where to sit and I said if outside. The only compliments that I do have for this restaurant is the excellent service and attentiveness of the waitress that we had. She made sure that our drinks kept coming and we were attended to. I am disappointed on the food though as it was bland and nothing too special about it. The margaritas were light as well as they lacked alcohol and felt I was just drinking juice. I feel that the quality lacked for the price point. There are other places in town that serves better quality Mexican food and for less. Hostess: Not a great first impression. I should have proceeded elsewhere. Waitress: Excellent. Attentive. Food: Not memorable. Bland. Lacked the flavor Mexican food is known for. Drinks: Watered down. Environment: Nice Overall: 3 stars
Fresh, fresh, fresh! The margarita was a refreshing blend with lime, not the usual heavy syrupy kind. The salsas were flavorful, could have given more though than the tiny stainless steel cup. This were warm with just the right amount of salt and crispness. I liked the "rolled" beef taco. Every bite was flavorful. Now, I steered away from the traditional Mexican dishes and had the shrimp & mashed potatoes. Oh my stars, this was absolutely delicious. What could have been a dish ladened down with butter turned out to be light, buttery and lemon fresh. The shrimp was so fresh it could have walked right in from the sea and jumped on my plate. Service was prompt and we were taken care of nicely throughout the meal. Decor was well done. We felt as though we were sitting in a beautiful patio in Cuernavaca. Putting this restaurant on my list as a definite stop when in Santa Barbara.
Just had dinner last night with my mom and daughter. We were visiting from Manhattan Beach and craving Mexican food. We'd walked up and down State St. and noticed a cute/quaint restaurant Alito's. Decided to eat there. The service was very attentive and the food was delicious!!! We were glad we ate there and would come back again!!
Restaurantji Recommends
Alito's is a colorful New Mexican restaurant on lower state, and one with big competition. While Alito's lunch prices are a few dollars cheaper than Los Arroyo's a few blocks up, the food is unfortunately a bit bland. The chicken in the chicken carbon tacos was under seasoned, which unfortunately wasn't saved by the similarly-uninspired salsa. The service was lovely, attentive, and prompt. To be fair, they're new and are likely smoothing out some kinks. I'll definitely give them another chance in a month or so! 3/5
Service from Rafa and Daniel was exceptional! Food came out in a timely fashion, and was good. I would recommend it to anyone!
Food and service are exceptional. Tried the shrimp and mashed potatoes. Never heard of this combination before and it was delicious. Highly recommended.
I'm having my wedding reception here. The food is amazing. The owner and Dan the manager along with the cook are so kind everything is Made with love and screams flavor!
This didn't feel like the typical Mexican restaurant in America. It felt like I stepped into Mexico and a good part of Mexico with nice table clothes and no oversized menu with photos of food and a list of margaritas. More like a gourmet restaurant with a wine list, nicely uniformed staff, Latin jazz in the background, and reasonable prices away from the revelry on State street.