Toma Restaurant & Bar

The food was disappointing for the price. The tables were tightly spaced, and some folks had their dogs with them- that’s fine by me, but not might not be for everyone paying $$$-$$$$ for a fine dining experience. Two stars instead of one for the food as the Italian sausage was tasty, and they did have fresh, good quality seafood, but the cook on it wasn’t great - not as good as more casual seafood places I’ve been to off the beach or harbor in Ventura. “Lightly” battered fritto mix was quite heavy and a puddle of grease collected on the plate. The cioppino was not properly seasoned or spiced - could only tasted tomato - I could not appreciate any essence of fennel nor herbs/aromatics.

We visited Toma tonight for my mother-in-law’s 81st birthday. The food is top notch, I had the lasagna and I'd say it was about the best I’ve had. It was hot but not molten lava hot like most restaurants where you can not even eat for 20 minutes. Also the beet appetizer was excellent. The flavors were unexpected, and the prices are decent as well, about what you’d expect from a restaurant in its class. The service, on the other hand, did not match the quality of the food or the establishment. Our server, Jay, came around at the beginning and took our orders, but did not provide any opinion on the choices when asked.
He did not ask for our drink order before our food order. And then never came back until our plates were cleared and we had a credit card to let us know we had enough. Jay never asked or offered bread with our meal, although I heard him discussing bread with the party next to us. We waited 15 minutes from the time our appetizer plates were cleared and our main course was served, and in that time, not a single member of the staff came to our table to ask if we would like another glass of wine, water, or bread. Our water was empty, and the wine was gone. We never had bread anyway. The manager walked past our table a dozen times as we were right next to the bar. If I were a manager that day, I might have stopped by and said Sorry that your meals are delayed. Can I get you another glass of water or wine? Our meals were great when they arrived. However, our waiter kept walking past us, serving others, and never stopped to check if everything was all right, which it was. Or to ask if we needed anything else. I might have liked coffee, a dessert, or a glass of port. We would have stayed for a bit of birthday celebration. Too bad it was a great meal, but the whole experience was just brought down a few notches by poor service.

EDIT - I especially like it when the restaurant does not even reply to their reviews. So, I suppose they don't care at all.

All around excellent experience. Food was tasty and delicious. Service from Jay was excellent and meeting Sam was very nice. Toma has always been a neighborhood gem. Can't wait to come back.

This is our go to Restaurant. Always perfect service, food and drinks. The pasta was outstanding, also the stuffed green olives with blue cheese and deep fried. So delicious !! Parking is some what difficult but it is a beautiful walk if you have to park far away. I can't wait to go back.

My absolute favorite Italian restaurant in SB. The service is great, the food is fantastic, the atmosphere is cozy.

I have had just about everything on the menu, but I can’t pick just one thing that I would recommend. However I repeatedly get the black squid ink seafood pasta and the hamachi white fish appetizer. The tuna cones are also great, but the hamachi is so fresh and bright.

Would recommend to anyone local or tourist!

We recently dined at this place. It is a bit pricey, but the food is so worth it. Our server was really attentive and had great suggestions. We did not have a reservation, but since we went early we managed to find a table. We started with some garlic bread. We had the seafood (scallops and prawn) risotto and the lamb chops. For dessert, we had the warm chocolate torte. From start to finish, all the food was amazing. I had the risotto and each bite was so flavorful. Initially, I thought the quantity was less, but found it hard to finish at the end :)

Best meal we have had this year!!!! Will definitely beback. Lovely atmosphere, and good small and large plate choices. A nice feel of formality without being stuffy. LOVED it!

Had the lamb and ravioli. Both were excellent. Waiter recommended a Chianti that was one of the best we've ever had.

First off, we LOVE TOMA. It's always a treat to go there have fine food and service in such a nice place. Parking, everyone knows, it its main difficulty - but we know that. Food was excellent as was the service, however the beautiful ambience, white table cloths and wonderful fine art on the walls is distracted by patrons wearing baseball caps. I know we live in a world with no dress codes but there are still plenty of restaurants that will say, not flip-flops, not tank tops, etc. There certainly shouldn't be a problem with NO BASEBALL CAPS. I can live with shorts and sandals since they're under the table but to look out at this beautify place, considering itself "fine dining" and see guys in baseball caps makes me wonder if this isn't just a fancy burger or pizza place. Of course, it isn't because the food is wonderful. But, geez, guys, 86 the hats.

I'm not sure I'll be returning. Our meals were good but not great, and it was expensive for what you got.

This restaurant have really bad smell

Lovely dinner with good good. The pasta del mare was excellent. The special appetizer was indeed special, though it had a bit too much cheese for my wife (but not for me). Same with the zucchini flowers. The mussels were great, as was the chocolate tort.

From the start of the evening we were already greeted with amazing hospitality from the host and then seated at the bar to wait for our table. The bartender was very friendly and polite and made some excellent cocktails for us to enjoy while we waited. Then the host seated us at our table and the server was excellent and so was the service. The food was amazing and the specials were both creative and delicious. All around I definitely recommend as just the ambiance of the restaurant was perfect for an intimate dinner experience.

Great service and food. A great traditional Italian restaurant. We will definitely go bsck.

this was a perfect experience in every way. The owner, Julian, who is extremely knowledgeable about wine, helped us choose a delicious bottle. The food was perfect. The service was perfect. The ambience was perfect.