Pretty sure the positive reviews may be fake. This was one of the worst dining experiences we've ever had. Not one kind hello, place is worn and feels extremely dirty. They sat us first in the very back table with stacks of produce and fish boxes. We were overwhelmed with the smell of urine from the bathroom behind us. As no one was coming to help we moved to a center table. All the menus were sticky. Old Dennys style worn plastic cups used for water. We had to flag down a waiter. He took our order including appetizers. Entrees came first. Hair in a bowl of food was served and we had again to flag down someone. No apologies were made. We re-ordered a different item as we felt they may or may not just go back and remove the hair. We waited another 25 minutes, the order never came, and one appetizer arrived at the very end. We canceled the missing order as well as the other missing appetizers. No apologies, nothing. Place felt dirty, food was mediocre at best, extremely unfriendly people who seem just to take for granted their customers. We noticed another customer debating with the hostess with their bill as well. Never, ever ever again. Unbelievable. read more

Always good food especially their lunch special! Nice friendly service that tops it all! read more

Kyoto - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Food is good. But it takes a long time. Pretty sure the gyozas were frozen. Good place for sake bombs. My plastic shot got stuck in the plastic glass. The group booths are very traditional(you have to sit with your legs crossed. Little decor inside. The servers were nice. read more

Went here for my friends birthday party. The service was terrible, the servers were not friendly at all and were rolling their eyes at us the entire time. Such a bad experience and god i'm so happy I didn't go there for my birthday. Will never be returning to this place. It's not that hard to put a smile on your face. read more

Nothing is leave. This place is too good. The Chinese, Vietnamese, and America group agree that this is best Japanese restaurant in the town. read more

This is my go-to sushi place- the quality of the seafood is great, and the price is reasonable. You can tell that the ingredients are high quality and the service is stellar. The secret here is happy hour (for sushi- not drinks). M-Th between 5-6, nigiri and basic rolls are 50% off. It's amazing!! read more

Kyoto - Chefs sushi boat! - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Friendly and fast service when I visited. I came here for the happy hour sushi (but there were no happy hour drinks) the sushi was simple and beautifully presented. However, the rice was not prepared and was somewhat al dente read more

Kyoto - Happy hour sushi after 5:30 on weekdays - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

We got takeout tonight and it was so good! The beef sirloin teriyaki was the best! A lot of food for a great price.

Great selection of rolls! I liked the fire roll and lobster roll. Good service and clean restaurant. I'll go back!! read more

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Kyoto Restuarant in Santa Barbara has been around since 1981, but over the years, its has been open with 5 different owners. Currently it is Korean owned and Sushi Chefs are Korean, too, although like most Korean owned Japanese Restaurants, they have learned how to say "Welcome" in Japanese to fool the non-Japanese who come here. (Hai, Irashai, [Yes, Welcome] Irashaimasen [Welcome, a little more formally]) Aside from the little Sushi Bar, Kyoto has a pretty complete menu of traditional Japanese dishes, Hibachi grill items like Yakitori or Saba Shioyaki and about 4 different Teriyaki; Tempura, Noodles like Udon and Soba, including cold Zaru Soba and fried Yaki Soba, and Sukiyaki. They even have Oju dishes, which you might recognize as Donburi (Tempura, pork cutlet or chicken/egg over a large rice bowl.) Although Una Ju (Eel) is usually served in a special little bento like dish with a cover. They do have 3 larger combo Special meals, too. They have a very reasonable mix and match Lunch special for only $7.95, so prices are reasonable here, and they have a lot of local regulars, although business is slow right now. And of course, being Korean owned, they offer a Yaku Niku, which is a Japanese version of Korean Barbeque. Imagine that: A Korean owned Japanese restaurant offering a Japanese version of the classic Korean barbeque, eaten by Caucasians in Santa Barbara, home to the Haas Avacado, which is popular in a California Roll, which is a US invention and is hard to find in Japan. I am confused! read more

Kyoto is my favorite sushi restraint in S.B. The sushi tastes gr8, the green tea comes nice & hot, and I love their dressing on the house salad! My mom & I often dine here. read more

FIVE STARS for food. Minus 9/11 to 2008, I have been coming to Kyoto since 1996 on a regular basis. ONE STAR for letting loser drunk college kids with no manners whatever take the joint over at dinner with the sake bomb BS. My boyfriend had problems when he was there with his 3rd grade son a couple weeks ago. Last night, these total losers minus ONE pretty girl who came over to tell me she was a Berkeley student (these kids looked mid-20s not college age and perhaps they're upset because they're 25 doing sake bombs after classes that their peers took, what, 5 years ago?) The owners and their nice son, Alex, are absolutely useless when this happens. Ineffectual and subservient, wishing it all to go away but that's now how things generally work. When I pointed out they were screaming and ruining everyone's dinner, one kid had the GALL to quote YELP to me: "Have you seen the Yelp reviews? Everyone knows it's loud and that they sake bombs are the draw [not his word, they were all low IQ, white kids trying to be cool and ghetto and pathetic/unattractive the lot of them]." Well, I had not noticed this. Then again, I don't always read all the other reviews, particularly on an old place I've been going this long. Outrageous. My boyfriend stood up to fight one of the dorks in the matching turquoise shirts and my boyfriend is 200, 6 feet, muscular and from Texas. These were not wimpy boys but they weren't built like Mack trucks either. More: my boyfriend doesn't care how he looks when he fights. He never starts a fight but if he is attacked, he doesn't think about perfect boxing form. He thinks: how is this person going to get laid out on the floor in what Ving Rhames called in Pulp Fiction, "agonizing f****** pain." It didn't come to blows but those loser kids will wake up today with a headache and a long life of trying to make a living and educate themselves and I am happy to report I'm 41 and have to worry about neither. P.S. LUNCH is wonderful. But I have been going, I confess, to Shintori which also has a great lunch and recently, their salmon has been off the hook great. read more

We had two combination plates. The sushi and tempura were good. The yakatori and teriyaki were horrible.

It's quite good. Try the fire roll. It's the best thing they have. It's spicy and wonderful. No other sushi place I've been to has anything quite like it. Seriously, it's piled on fish and spicy goodness. You'll want to eat it in 2 bites, but open wide like the slut you are! It's rude to eat sushi in 2 bites. I love the little rooms if you have a big party. Volcano roll was weird. read more

Finally tried Kyoto. First impression when entering is that it's a bit tired. Things improve with the friendly staff and very good food. It's hard to find a Japanese restaurant that serves sukiyaki, both beef and vegetable! I had the Kyoto combo. with salmon, and it was excellent. I'll be back to try the beef sukiyaki! read more

Me and my boyfriend ordered 6 items last night for an anniversary dinner. This was by far the worst sushi we have eaten and we're big sushi eaters!! The sushi had a heavy fishy after taste and one roll was worse than the other... honestly a wasted of $97.00 read more

We ordered takeout from this restaurant and had a very disappointing experience. When we got home we found that half of our food was missing, and the restaurant gave us a sushi roll that we hadn't ordered. All of our vegetarian rolls were missing, so one person from our group couldn't eat. I called the restaurant to explain and asked them to make our items correctly so that we could pick them up. Restaurant declined. Food that we did have was fine, nothing special. I will not be trying this restaurant again and definitely would not recommend it. read more

We had two birthdays in a party of six, so they took care of us by giving us a private room with free sake and asahi. The sushi was way way wayyy overpriced, but still very good. The service was wonderful. read more

I wanted to go to Edomasa but it's only open for dinner. So I came here for lunch to-go. I ordered 3 hand rolls-- tuna, spicy tuna, and scallops. All of them were really good. It's a bit on the pricy side though, $16 total. I've been here for a friend's birthday dinner and it was good. They have a lot of different specialty rolls, especially if you like the baked kinds. Lunch prices are really great. Better than Takenoya by a mile for their fresh sashimi. I want to come back for the love boat. read more

Food was good and the workers were really nice. My friend was sake bombing BY HIMSELF like a loser and the workers were nice enough to set it up for him because he was too incompetent to do it himself. UPDATE: We went back to Kyoto with a group and reserved a private room to sake bomb. It was so fun and after several rounds of sake, they gave us a free one. They were probably trying to trick us into buying more beer but whatever. The waitresses were very nice in doing the sake bomb chant with us. WHEN I SAY SAKE, YOU SAY BOMB! SAKE! BOMB! SAKE! BOMB! read more

Kyoto is a really nice, family owned, locals sushi bar, away from the hustle of downtown State St. I hadn't been here in years and starting coming again about 6 months ago with my son. It's our favorite Japanese eats now. It's a bit dated and homey inside, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. After having traveled through Japan, it's closer to a Japanese dining experience than anything else I've had in SB. The Tatami rooms, serving platters, lanterns, etc, all contribute to the ambiance. We were eating chirashi sushi right outside the fish market in Tokyo and were thrilled to see it here. The "love boats" are also great. Sushi is fresh, with nice portions - we tried an Osaka roll last time and it was delicious. I'd put Arigato tops in terms of overall fish quality and fancy presentation, but I find it froo froo for a quick weekday fix. Will keep coming back and trying more of the menu for sure! read more

Kyoto has pretty good fish but the private rooms are really the highlight. I went here for my 21st birthday and there were about 10 of us sitting on the floor (pillows) eating excellent sushi and sake bombs. read more

Kyoto - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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This is another place that seemed a lot better when I was a local. My buddies and I used to enjoy Kyoto's happy hour and I loved the fact that it wasn't inundated with tourists or the tourist prices on State Street. Servers were friendly and the location was convenient. Unfortunately, years later, the restaurant is showing its age; Kyoto could use a good, deep cleaning as well as fresh paint from top to bottom. During my most recent trip here on a busy Friday night, the service was still friendly and attentive, but the food wasn't as good as I remembered. I ordered the hamachi nigiri and the 911 Roll. Both were decent, but nothing to write home about. My family liked their food (various rolls and a dinner combo), though, and seemed to enjoy it overall, which makes it A-OK in my book. read more

Went here for my best friends 21st birthday. Her friends always talk about this place and their sake bombs. And that's the only thing I liked about this place. There were I think 14 of us so we were put behind the sliding screens where we had to take off our shoes and sit on the floor. It was uncomfortable since there were so many of us that we couldn't sit properly. Our server Mitchell came in and got our drink orders first and since it was Thursday we got a half pitcher of sake for free if we bought 10 beers. So we did that and we asked for the menus but he took forever! We finally got the menus and ordered our food. That also took forever to come out. We were starving and I wna say it took 45 mins to come out. My friend had to leave and she asked hers to go since she paid already and Mitchell never put in her order. He brought out the wrong sushi for another girl. And we couldn't put in another order cause it would take too long. I ordered the Philadelphia roll and it was tiny! It was $10 for 5/6 small pieces maybe it was cause I was starving but they were tiny and they weren't all to rave about either. Pros: - sake bombs - specials - (is that really all that was good about it?) Cons: - bad service ( maybe just this time around) - food for the high price - long wait for food read more

Much to my husband's chagrin (he works late most nights), I eat here once a week at least with my toddler in tow. It's two blocks from our house and I'm lazy and tired of cooking. Every time I come in the service has been quick and friendly. I'm a jerk and I don't know the name of our usual waitress but she greats us with smiles and brings out a large Sapporo for me and tofu for my kiddo as soon as our bums hit the booth. I'm not big on raw fish so I usually order an avocado or baked salmon roll. I'm always pleasantly surprised that our bill is so cheap. $15 for two full tummies, a large beer AND I didn't have to cook or do dishes? Sold! My husband should be thankful that I'm not here every night. *** In the interest of full disclosure, I have heard/watched complaints unfold because a party has to wait for a portion of their order. I usually have a laundry list of complaints going in my head about that table before their squawking begins (really? you're upset that your special order of fried chicken -- er, excuse me, "tempura chicken" took 5 minutes longer than rolling fish in seaweed?). Rant aside, just relax and enjoy your meal. The service is extremely friendly and the food is great. Keep calm and drink your sake. *** read more

My friends and I just finished eating here. it was my 2nd sushi experience ever and I have to say it was great!! My friends ordered the lunch special which let them each get a California roll, chicken teriyaki, a salad, and miso soup all for $7.95.!!! What a great deal! I went with the 911 roll and an avocado roll! The sauce on the 911 roll was amazing! So spicy and delicious! Our server was so nice and helpful! We loved the place and I would definitely recommend it! read more

We come here all the time, since it's close to our house. The sushi happy hour is the best deal in town if all you're looking for is basic no-frills nigiri and rolls. During regular hours, their food is reasonably good and their service is always attentive and friendly. What keeps this from being a 4- or 5-star review for me (and keeps it from being my regular sushi place) is that the quality of the fish can be hit-or-miss. Also, not all of their sushi chefs actually know how to cut fish properly for sushi, so you will often get cuts of nigiri or sashimi with the fish sliced with, instead of against, the grain. This can make some fish very difficult to chew! With attention to detail, Kyoto could easily rise from mediocre to excellent. Then again, the weekend sake bombers probably don't care how their fish is cut. read more

Very slow service (busy night). My biggest complaint was that they served imitation crab as sushi. read more

Kyoto - Hawaiian roll. - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I cannot express with words how amazing our dinner was. Jacob our server was so accommodating and kind and took care of our friend who did not eat pork. Jacob made our experience and I can't wait to come back. The food and service is absolutely amazing! read more

This place was nice and chill. The food was delicious. We ordered the love boat (dinner for 2) comes with soup, salad and was pleasantly surprised when they brought out the main dish. It was literally in a boat. It was delicious. Would definitely recommend read more

Kyoto - This is the Love Boat - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Every time I pass through Santa Barbara I eat at Kyoto because I haven't had a bad experience yet and why fix something that isn't broke? My favorites are the San roque and the yuki delux rolls. They take reservations here so if you want to guarantee yourself a table without a wait, I would suggest you make a reservation (something I always forget to do). read more

Kyoto - San Roque Roll - Japanese Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Enjoyed sushi combination and yaki soba noodles! The server was very friendly and helpful! Food was alright, but seems good value! They also have sushi happy hour on weekdays, with selected sushi at 50% of the regular price. read more

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Good service! And delicious foods! My kids loved the sushi they could eat tuna rolls a lot. I really love this store. Will be the reason to visit Santa Barbara again! read more

My go to place for sushi - we go here at least once a month. The staff is very nice and will seat you and serve you quickly - even when the place is jam-packed. Their sushi is amazing - I have had almost everything on the menu and it is all good. Definitely try my absolute favorite sushi roll ever: THE 3-MOON ROLL. Seriously - I crave this stuff. The HAWAIIAN ROLL is also pretty fantastic, and if you like sashimi their fish is top-grade - very flavorful with nice, thick slices of delicious fish. They also have fresh ginger not the pickled, preserved kind which is a good indicator of quality ingredients! If you are with a large group, they have 3 of the traditional rooms that you can reserve for your private party. I came with a group of 14 once for a birthday and it was really fun - we ordered 7 pitchers of beer and sake for sake bombs and the whole restaurant kind of got into a sake bomb war - really fun! I would say most of the time these types of parties are Thursday-Saturday night, so if you are looking for a quieter dining experience maybe go on another night or before 7:00 pm - but I personally think it adds to the experience! They have a wide variety of food and drink to choose from so there is something for everyone. They have a great cold sake that was recommended to us by the servers called Nigori - wow it is soooo good! After dinner they bring you fresh orange slices and always bring the check promptly. This is by far my favorite sushi place in town, and yes I have been to them all including the much pricier Arigato downtown. Don't waste your money or the extra time spent waiting to go there (they ALWAYS have a wait) - Kyoto is much better and a much better value! read more

This sushi is good enough for the price. They are very quick and the miso soup is great. I would only come here for their happy hour which is 5-6 pm and has 1/2 off rolls. Not the freshest sushi I have ever had, but I appreciate the free refills on green tea read more

Was in town visiting my brother we came here since it was close to his house. We were sat next to a big party and for me it was a little much,But it ended up being ok, our waiter was very attentive. The food was excellent I will definitely will be going back. The beef spareribs are delicious and I highly recommend them. read more

It's really hard to find a nice Japanese restaurant in America. But Kyoto is nice and clean! People are so kind and they know how to make the sashimi and the sushi. read more

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Good value sushi place. A lot of sushi snobs seem to hate this place because it's not authentic and it's rolled too big so you have to take two bites or its rolled wrong or whatever. Screw them, it's not like you go to Kyoto to impress anybody. You go because they give you a grip of sushi per plate compared to fancy places with their measly, bottlecap-sized rolls. You go cause they often have sake-bomb deals and it's a fun place to drink especially with the private rooms. Plus as 'non-authentic' as some of their specialty rolls are, they're pretty damn tasty to me. Sure sometimes the sushi isn't wrapped expertly but it doesn't really bother me. Who cares, it's all the same in your mouth right? That being said, I can't in full conscience give it more than three stars. It's a solid place but it's kinda just a place you go to eat and be merry, not really a place you go for the sushi - if that makes sense. Good for groups. read more

Not sure why such low reviews, have always had great food and service. Their combinations are very affordable, especially for lunch and you get a ton of food. They also have really good tempura, a lot of places mess up the batter. I just wish they had a patio so they could do outdoor dining during the pandemic! read more

Very hopefully ordered $100 of sushi and was very disappointed. Leathery and thin salmon, flavorless lobster roll, and just sub par sushi. I threw away nearly everything and still have a gross taste in my mouth. I won't be back. read more