Ordered 2 tacos and Moby Dicks Bloody Mary's. Service was excellent, Daniel V was prompt and efficient. He brought our food quickly and was attentive without be overbearing and intrusive. The tacos were good and so were the Bloody Mary's but they seemed to be a bit light on the vodka...maybe that's because we are use to pouring our own drinks due to covid (and you all know we pour differently when it's for ourselves). Nice patio area, beautiful view and relaxing. read more

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Have been here a couple of times on our trips to Santa Barbara. We were actually headed to sea food bar next door but we decided to come here instead. Plenty of tables and staff is nice. Very nice views of ocean and coast. My wife and I had good time on "date" alone from kids. Would recommend. OK for families. read more

Great service, plenty of tables for a late morning breakfast. As always, the huevos rancheros were superb.

Super nice atmosphere, with a luxury beachfront restaurant vibe. Lee W was amazing and above and beyond to take care of us. Will definitely come back next time! read more

This place was meh. Not horrible, but not great. People complain about the prices -- seeming to forget they are in Santa Barbara. Probably a better spot for lunch than dinner. read more

Food was hot, fresh and flavorful - but a bit smaller than expected. Presentation was nice, view was wonderful. Waiter was polite, knowledgeable and accommodating and tge support staff was on top of everything. The iced tea was fresh....laugh all you want, but I do judge the tea at restaurants. read more

Been to this restaurant twice and both times I've had great food and service. Recently went there with the family to celebrate a graduation and our server Ricky was incredibly attentive and sweet. He even helped us celebrate by providing a complementary dessert (bread pudding) which was excellent. read more

Making reservations. Friendly staff. Enclosed patio with heaters and great views of the ocean and boats etc sitting by a window. Food was good and plentiful. End of the pier was for fishing and there were some little stores you could wander in and buy ice cream or hand made candy or even a palm reader. read more

Food was fresh. Love the branzino, it was perfectly grill with the right seasoning and cooking time. I was a little disappointed when he told me no sweet potatoes, and I was reluctantly ordered the fries. However, the fries were so good. The ceviche was refreshing too. It is just like they claimed that all the good were locally produce. Thanked our server, Joseph, who arranged all the food to come in order so it was served warm. It was nice view too. read more

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I often go to Moby Dick Restaurant in Santa Barbara; their food is excellent and so is their service. Ms. Lee W. could not have been nicer. Restaurant is clean, welcoming, and has nice view. read more

The food is simple but good. The views are perfect! The staff is friendly and attentive. Although the interior is old it is very clean. Whenever I visit Santa Barbara I eat here with the family I'm visiting. read more

(-) Fish and chips was sad. At least the fries were good but the fish was small and had a strange breading and taste. It included fried shrimp too, again small, same breading as the fish, and I think they left the shell on?!? Maybe, maybe not... the breading was that bad I couldn't tell. (-) Seemed overpriced, even for seafood. Is it the location? Shouldn't it be cheaper since it's near the ocean? Joking aside, I've had much better fish & chips for a lot less. (+) Decor is interesting, fits the wharf vibe. Lots to look at if you're bored. (+) Big enough for large parties and provides great views of the ocean with all the windows. read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Fish n shrimp n chips - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Embarrassing. Tourist trap so they don't care about treating people well and especially the food.

Meh. I've experienced better. Pretty much sums up my experience this past weekend at the Moby Dick Restaurant. Not for the service though. Service was excellent. The server and those helping him were on their game that night. Uber friendly. Attentive - anticipating needs. Great follow up. Courteous and genuine. I just wish I could rave about the food the same way. Oysters on the half shell. Shucking needs improvement. Good though. Chilled and small to decent size. Clam chowder - lacking in the "taste of the sea" department. Adding table salt isn't the same. Steak - ordered medium - received well done. Not about to argue as it was more of a side than the main dish (lobster). Cut was on the tough side but the sauce it was served with wasn't too bad at all. Lobster - a little on the well done side. Some of the meat in the claws were rubbery. Kind of like a piece of gum that's been chewed on for a while. Shrimp - small, on the size scale. Needs more than just the butter for seasoning. Pretty plain - definitely needed some kick - for example, some Cajun flair. Views were awesome as we had window seating. They do validate as parking is $2.50 an hour on the wharf. I just would think that as this place is on the wharf, that the cooks would have the process dialed in. What ever the case may be, this is one place that I will definitely remember - but just not in a positive way. read more

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We wanted to give this place a try since it wasn't as busy as the other restaurants on the board walk. Now I know why!! The Cobb Salad and the Rockefeller Oyster dishes were the best part of this visit. Skuna B Salmon: the veggies are nasty I've tasted Walmart frozen veggies that taste way better then this. Salmon was bla nothing special. Manxman's Soup: WORSE!!! BAD!!! Disappointed! You expect seafood soups to be delicious tasteful yummy!! Well you won't get it here. The tomatoe soup was plain no taste whatsoever I had to add alot of lemon and still didn't have any flavor. The calamari they put in it is ridiculous!!! At least they could have cut them in smaller pieces make it look presentable. The rest of the seafood inside the soup was as bad as the broth. Save your $40 don't order this soup!!!! I wish the food was as good as the friendly staff, that's why the 2 stars are there. For a $160 bill I expect way better food! Won't ever come here again rather wait 2 hrs for something else. read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Oysters Rockefeller - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

I am very grateful to my friend for treating us here but I think the group agreed that this place is pretty bad. Our server was a nice young man but even he looked sad he had to be at this establishment. I am so happy he offered to let us sample the soups because I was dangerously close to ordering the Lobster Bisque which turned out to be watery and tasted liked iodine. I had the clam chowder instead and it was the highlight of the entire dining experience. We decided to share the seafood platter of mussels, clams, and lobster. It was very disappointing. Almost all the clam shells were empty and the lobster was overcooked. We basically had a few bites of mussels each for $33. The view is not worth the sad dining experience. Grab some clam chowder to go and enjoy your surroundings from the outdoors! read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - $33 seafood platter. Mussels were pretty good but 99%of the clam shells were empty and the crab legs were overcooked. - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

My favorite dishes are the following in order: 1) Red snapper. Love your spicing and love how the snapper is cooked perfectly with no dryness to the fish. Definitely the red snapper is your restaurant signature dish 2) clam chowder. Especially the clam chowder special with using the sourdough bread bowl. Clams are large and chunky, exactly what a good clam chowder supposed to be. Potatoes also nice and chunky too, also another thing I really love about your clam chowder 3) Seafood Mac and cheese. Like how you also include shrimp and small clams in the Mac and cheese. Really a good mix. Your fish of the day dish was also good too. My family and I had Sea Bass for the fish of the day. But I really like your Red Snapper more than your other fish you served. Timing of waiting service was quick and nice staff. Restaurant environment very cozy and warm with nice view of the beach. Overall earned a perfect 5/5 from me. Great job Moby Dick restaurant!!!! Keep up the good work read more

No one wrote reviews on their breakfast that I saw. Awesome breakfast! The sunrise coming in hitting the water fire was beautiful. The santa barbara omelette was superb! They had all my little quirky assortment requests like orange jam, French vanilla creamer, fresh lemon etc. The waiter was SO attentive and the location was prime! They are a perfect rise and shine go to! read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Outdoor patio sunrise omelette - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

This is one of the higher rated restaurants for their fish and chips and I now see why. Some of the better fish and chips that I've had. I also had the garlic clams that were really good too read more

Stopped by for a quick lunch during our trip to Santa Barbara. Our server was amazing!! We got the clam chowder, snow crab, calamari, and shrimp cocktail! Everything was fresh and hot. The view was perfect! read more

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I'm still trying to figure out what "fish" was used in their grey with black streak fish and chips. I expected regular white colored cod, moist light fish in light batter. This was 2 dry squares like a fish shake n bake. I was really wanting to send it back. I was also half expecting to get food poisoning later but luckily I didn't. Nothing is more disappointing than craving something yummy then being handed quite the opposite. I really tried to like it. Im really not picky either. I'm sorry we had such a lovely day otherwise. read more

I ordered the steamed plate and it was amazing! The staff was very friendly and I will defiantly return soon!

On a recent trip from Los Angeles to Cambria, I had many lunch options for my stopover in Santa Barbara. I'd eaten at Moby Dick a few years previous with my dad and opted for comfort over trying somewhere new. I had the best possible view of the water I could've imagined. I ordered the fish filet sandwich and asked them to hold the onions, which I rarely do. The sandwich came with onions on it, which I didn't mind at all. I don't hate onions, I just don't love them. But my server asked me if there were onions and when I replied that there were but it was okay, he comped my dessert. Terrific service! I even lost my sunglasses somehow and returning to the restaurant, they had them in the lost and found. I wouldn't hesitate to return here for lunch or dinner. While leaving, there was a line out the door for the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company, but at Moby Dick, I was seated right away. read more

Good location, great views, nice server, BUT the food was bland and sad. Ordered a lobster sandwich and a sea food sandwich for my husband and we were so disappointed, the lobster was served cold (I guess that is the style) and it tasted like a 6 day refrigerated fish, was expecting way more. I rate the food 2/10. read more

First restaurant I dine in since the pandemic began. The staff was really nice especially our waiter wish I remembered his name he was bilingual lol if that's any help. We wore our masks to order to show consideration for the staff as well. The lobster was super good and my family was happy with everything they ordered too. If you're in the area should definitely try this spot :) read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Lobster Bisque Lobster Bisque Lobster Bisque - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

While visiting Santa Barbara we decided to stop for drinks, apps, and a good view. This place had 2/3. Our cocktails were delicious and exactly what we were looking for, but we found out very quickly that this place doesn't have a single appetizer or snack-type item on the menu. I don't know if this is a COVID related change or if they never have, but it was a major disappointment. Our service was average, but the view from the patio was awesome. Just wish we would've had some food too... read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Hawaiian-made vodka with pineapple juice and house-made hibiscus syrup. Soooo good. - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Don't eat here !! Stay away !! Over cooked fish, stale bread, coleslaw from a box, and fries undercooked. My fish was so old one of the apostles sent it back. Wish we had gone someplace else. Wait staff were the only nice part about this place. The manager did not charge us for the fish and chips either. That was nice too. read more

Birthday Lunch for my mom. Party of 8 with a baby. We are visiting from LA. Tbh, we ate here because we were already really hungry and the next door place was full and wait was long. We walked towards here, menu looked okay so we decided to try it. This place is hard to give a review. I'll start with the good things. 5 stars for: THE VIEW. The location is superb. Right on top of the ocean, open windows and the ambience was great. Seating area was comfortable. THE DRINKS: My mom definitely enjoyed the hibiscus whatever drink she got, it was recommended by our server. 3.5 stars for: THE SERVICE: They were really nice, our server, manager even the busboy. U ask for it and they give it. But, our waters never got refilled until we were finished eating. Maybe they were just busy, since place was really slow before we came in, and after we didd, everyone kept coming. They kept asking if food was okay, lol. Idk if we were going to be rude and say hells no. We just nodded awkwardly. 1.5 stars for: THE ACTUAL MFKING FOOD: This is a restaurant right? Damn we spent almost 500$ for food and tips. We were full alright but thats because we just gulped down everything. We almost ordered the special , thank God we didnt. But eitherway we still ordered a lot. We ordered Calamari, Oyster Breaded, Raw Oysters for appetizer. The first two was salty, thank God for the sauces and we asked for vinegar, that helped. Oysters did not taste fresh at all. It had like an after taste and my tummy hurt after. Mind u, my tummy never hurts. I loaded it with tabasco and lemon too, to mask the weird taste. Then we ordered surf and turf (medium well steak)- steak doesnt taste good, tastes old and chewy. It came with lobster- dry af. Idk if its salty or no taste anymore lol. Then we ordered two steamed platterss. Came with 1 rock crab, 1 lb of mussels and clam and something else im forgetting. The crab is the reason for the star. The only things thats fresh. Mussels were very small and shriveled, u know the mussels u would normally get prepackaged lol. Clams became really salty because of the soup. We ordered fried fish as well. Suprise, also salty. Then we had the pasta with lobster. Lobster dry af but tthats not new. Whats really sad is that the pasta tasted like nothing. Very dry and tasted like nothing. We put lots of lemon so we can eat it. Another good food is the Clam chowder. So 1.5 really for the crab and clam chowder. For a birthday lunch, this was definitely sad. We still made a good time out of it though. We came to Sta Barbara for fresh seafood we ended up eating chewy salty "food". But its our fault for not just waiting it out on the other place next door. To the business owner, or manager. I really think u should listen to the reviews. This place is a waste with bad food. read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

Following our tour of SB, we walked over to Stearns's Wharf for a late lunch/early dinner at Moby Dicks Restaurant, we were told on the tour it had some of the best clam chowder. We had about a 10 minute wait to be seated which was worth the wait since we were seated in the patio. The server came right over and bc we hadn't had time to look over the menu all we could ask for was water and more time. We finally settled on 1 combo & chips (fish & shrimp), 2 Top sirloin & shrimp entrees w/Fries, and 1 Grilled sea bass w/Baked Potato. 2 the 4 ordered 1 small mixed green and a bowl of clam chowder, both were good. As for the adult beverage, we ordered the Captains Punch and XX Beer, the punch with a kick was tasty but needed a little more alcoholin order to move to adult beverage! Now for the food: The sirloin steaks were seasoned just right, tender and tasty, the shrimp however, was over cooked and tasteless, sad really that the cocktail sauce gave it taste. The fried fish was ok so I'm told but the sea bass not so good, also over cooked and in need of seasoning. Oh, can you believe we noticed after our meal was over that everyone was brought bread and butter bet we never were! Overall, fast and great service once seated minus the bread and unfortunately a hit and miss on the food, the view however, beautiful! I'll let you decide whether to stop in, clearly some of the food is great! Happy eating!! read more

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I visited Santa Barbara today and stopped by here, we ordered the fish tacos and fish and chips the food was unbelievably bad. Fish was dried out and flavorless and the fries and rice were stale and flavorless. Avoid this restaurant, it was once good but not now. read more

The food was horrible not worth what we paid for the food we paid $60 dlls total a side saldas was almost 8 dlls and it was horrible it was not fresh and the crotons tasted stale. They told us the had just opened so they must of been using old ingredients DO NOT recommend I questions the price of the salad due to the taste and they don't even credit me for that .... bad management read more

Looking forward to a nice seafood lunch today , I pulled up to a parking space across from the front entrance . As I get out and put on my jacket, i see a person outside the front of the restaurant staring at me, and frowning . It went on for a long time , and made me uncomfortable as he seemed fixated on me . I walked toward the door and said "what's up " . He replied with a scowl on his face as if I had done something to piss him off . I assumed he was an employee as he had the restaurants shirt on , albeit a grubby green sweatshirt. Turns out it was the manager . I looked at the menu and looked inside , but after that incident , I really wasnt comfortable eating there. Maybe try greeting the guests with a smile , it makes them feel welcome . After reading the reviews, sounds like I made the right choice in going somewhere else. read more

Ordered the clam chowder in the bread bowl. Usually the bread bowl is a rustic bread, this was a white bread bowl and the clam chowder was pretty much tasteless. My husband ordered fried calamari, couldn't even chew it. Left half behind. Will never be going here again and won't be recommending to any of my friends and family read more

While spending Thanksgiving in Santa Barbara, my family decided to try Moby Dick when we were at Stearns Wharf. We didn't know that we would enjoy it so much. My wife ordered the whole fish, and my son and I both ordered the Moby Dick's Seafood Roll. The fish was grilled exactly the way my wife liked it, with the skin crispy and the fish soft and flakey inside. The rolls were fantastic too. We loved it so much that we returned the next night and ordered their garlic fries with steak bites (delicious), steak tacos, fish of the day and the snapper. It was so wonderful that we decided that we would make Moby Dick a must stop whenever we return to town. Enjoy! read more

First time we dine here on our short trip to Santa Barbara it became our instant favorite place to eat! The service is amazing and food is excellent, nice outdoor patios seating for the ocean views. We enjoy the relaxing atmosphere watching the sunset. Enjoyed so much we went back the next day for a 2nd round of dinner before leaving SantaBarbara. For sure we'll be back here again next time we're in town! read more

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Came to Santa Barbara on a day trip (along with what seemed like half of SoCal :) and were gonna go to the Santa Barbara Shellfish Company at the end of the wharf for lunch. Unfortunately there was absolutely no seating. We yelped Moby Dick, but saw the dismal reviews and waited around at Santa Barbara Shellfish for a few more minutes. Then a woman had some kind of medical emergency there and people were calling 911 and running around, so... yeah, we went to Moby Dick instead. Despite the reviews, we had a nice experience. Service was friendly and there was plenty of room, both inside and out. We got a nice table by the window where we could look out at the water and ordered shrimp, scallops & chips, a bouillabaisse and a stuffed white fish. A common complaint I have about stuffed white fish is that the parts with the stuffing are usually too rich for me, and that was the case here, too. Maybe that's just me, though. The fried scallops were the best. They were fresh and with just the right amount of breading. Take a look at my photo and tell me you don't wanna eat that. Overall, this is a place I might not go all the time as it's crowded as hell all around the wharf. The restaurant itself is fine - a lot of families and couples on dates - but it's getting to it that's the ordeal. If you're on the wharf, though, it's a solid bet. read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Shrimp, scallops & chips - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

My friend and I came here thinking there would be a happy hour. They don't have one, but if you do take out, you can get cheaper food. Wish we would have done that especially since we went to ParaNorman later that evening. We got seated outside, as we requested. We took our time deciding what we wanted, and settled on chips and calamari (there was a ratio of 1/3 calamari to 2/3 fries) and the mussel/clam appetizer. We contemplated trying the raw oysters, but the waiter had no idea what kind they were or their flavor profile. If a restaurant doesn't feel that it's necessary to have their staff know what oysters they serve, then I don't think I'd like to try them. The fries were good, the calamari was ok. The mollusks were cooked well enough but the broth fell flat. After we ordered we never saw our waiter again. He just abandoned us, leaving it up to the other servers to check up on us and the hostess to give us our check. We also saw flies hovering around and would have preferred that they weren't there. Definitely a touristy thing. The view is gorgeous, with views of the harbor and the beach. read more

Moby Dick Restaurant - Fries and Calamari, not so much Calamari in this, but the fries were good! - American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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We decided to go to the Santa Barbara Pier for our anniversary and ordered some seafood and when we thought we were done ordering the waiter decided to let us know they were out of rock crab and lobster which we ordered. Then we ordered drinks and a bowl of clam chowder. We got one drink and no soup. Waiter was more concerned about chatting it up with his co workers than ensuring his customers had what we needed. Food was barely ok. Salty and overcooked. Go elsewhere for seafood and good service, because you won't find it here!! read more

It's such a shame that a restaurant that is in such a wonderful location beautiful location view awesome scenery, magnificent great surrounding feeling would have such horrible food. It was very disappointing. I was really looking forward to some awesome seafood, tacos, and calamari even clam chowder , was a disappointment even the clam chowder lacked flavor, really disappointing. I'm so sorry because it's a wonderful wonderful location. The servers am kind of mediocre. They look overworked not too engaging and not too pleasant are happy. I hope this helps not to criticize, but to improve. read more

I used to live a few blocks away, but never ate on the wharf. Decided to eat at Moby Dick Restaurant on a recent visit while in town to see a speaker at UCSB. Visit was around noon on a Friday. The ambiance was very good as we were seated by a window with a view of the harbor. The food was alright, but lacked the wow factor I was hoping for. In the rare mood to have a burger out, I ordered one but it was bland and underwhelming. The seafood choices were a little bit better but nothing stellar. Prices were pretty fair considering the location and this being a seafood restaurant. Server was friendly but one of those people who is a little too in your business as an attempt to be personable. Might consider giving this place a second chance; the ambiance and location is good for something. read more

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