We've been regulars of The Natural for years, maybe more like decades. The food is very consistent but has remained unchanged for years. Specials are usually good. But their new location has really changed our Natural experience. From the garden feel with nice, warm wood tables, chairs, floor and service area, lots of plants and earthy decor, we now get cheapo, fast food tables, intrusive lighting, and a completely uninviting ambience. We no longer linger and chat over a meal but take it to go. Our kids are big Natural fans from birth and used to request it regularly. After the first couple of visits, they haven't suggested it and when it was brought up, said they'd rather not. We're very sad that Natural Cafe didn't stick to its roots with this new location. Now, it just screams, "Goletans don't deserve what Santa Barbarans get downtown and at La Cumbre." Thanks for making one of our favorites just another unpleasant Goleta dining experience. read more

Kristin (small cute blonde) at the cash register was so nice. She checked on our table and cleaned and was super respectful and kind. Some of the best service and great food! read more

The Goleta location seems to have better food than the Santa Barbara one but great food.

Did both locations -- Goleta and DT SB. I liked the Goleta location better. Nice outdoor dining.

Sandwich was fine but waiting 15 minutes... Not. Overstaffed and under managed, it took the waitress 3 requests before I could get a fork. I decided to go bread less. Same dance as when it was on State St. Lots of dirty tables and staff socializing. No thanks. I'll spend my money where people actually care. read more

The salads and flourless cakes are very good. :) However, some of the food like sandwiches is way too healthy to be tasty :\ The pita bread is dry/hard and there's no flavor to the sandwiches. The dinner combo like pastas are okay, but nothing great. read more

This is a good place if you are looking for a quite place with good ambiance. Pleasant staff and quick service. Food taste was ok. Tamales were good. Tofu dish was dry and little salty. read more

I love Natural Cafe! Delicious and fresh food and you can get anything from salads to pasta to salmon, rice, and veggies. I also love the environment and the little flowers they have on every table. I've had a few subpar interactions with the employees there but nothing to stop me from coming back. read more

Just as good as all the others. A little stark but the food is what you expect. I always get the enchiladas or the chicken Caesar. They are both outstanding. Go to core power next door for a Felix and then come over here for a great meal. read more

How do they make an avocado sandwich taste so good? Yummy, fresh food. Great soups of the day! Good music and the ambience is happy and spacious.. One of my favorite places to lunch when I am in the area. read more

Been here a couple of times now. The sandwhiches are decent, the other foods are so-so. Service is pretty quick. For the type of food the price isn't a little high. Would recommend it if youre looking for something not greasy and decent. read more

This was the first restaurant I tried when I moved into ucsb. I gotta say its a pretty good restaurant. I ordered a turkey burgers and with all the extras, the burger came out to be 11 dollars. Not bad, my only complaint really is that they didnt serve fries with the burgers. I guess they really take this healthy thing seriously, lol. In conclusion the food was very filling, and delicious. I would return again since it was healthy, and close to my apt. read more

Love natural cafe: food selection and quality, service, atmosphere and now their camino real location is very convenient on the way home from work. Sautéed tofu is a great addition to any salad. The east beach salad is great but I wish it came in a half size. My guy is definitely a meat guy but he still enjoys the chicken quesadilla or one of the pizzas. I liked the chicken stuffed spud. The smoothies are also a sweet and nutritious addition to a meal because they don't have the fillers of other smoothies. Natural cafe is my comfort food. My guy knows if I had a rough week that natural cafe will cheer me up. Which makes the convenient location that much more awesome. read more

Had another great meal here recently. The food is always pretty consistent and the service is friendly. I really can't fault anything here, except maybe that it doesn't seem as clean as it was when it first opened. Management, please make sure it stays clean in the public areas....that's the only way your customers know how to gauge what's happening behind the scenes, so to speak! read more

For those who desire a well balanced, nutrient rich meal, The Natural Cafe (TNC) is the real deal. Offering five types of hamburgers including the Natural Burger ($8.09; with cheese, add $0.79) made with a soy patty, sprouts, grilled red onions and Thousand Island dressing, Zen Burger $8.09; with cheese, add $0.79) with a grain/vegetable patty and the Kelly Burger ($8.99) which is a Gorgonzola cheese topped turkey patty, that is complemented with garlic mayonnaise. Aside from hamburgers, TNC has many types of food to choose from, including four pasta dishes, three pizza varieties, seven chicken and fish entrees, eleven vegetarian entrees and a kids' menu. Good for grown-ups, kids and grown-ups with kids (or vice-versa). CAUTION- Although TNC offers dishes that cost over $10, such as the Grilled Salmon Pesto ($12.99), Mt. Fuji Stir Fry ($11.59) and the Veggie Stir Fry with sauteed tofu ($11.59), by far most of the offerings come in at $10 or less. The "$$" indication that most of TNC's dishes cost $11-$30 is misleading and should be changed to a one "$" rating. read more

I was very disappointed about their salad because the lettuce had already started to wilt and appear black. Definitely not going back for salads. read more

Natural Cafe - Needs some quality control on the freshness of their lettuce. - Salad Near Me - Goleta, California

Yeeeesssss!!!! I'm so happy to have this place so near to me! It's so yummy and so many heathy options and great options for everybody.

I arrived at 9 pm closing and they ushered me in with a smile. I ordered a wonderful Tostado Salad - it was delicious. I really appreciate the smile and warm welcome at closing time by all the staff and serving me ! read more

I hate to give them anything but 5 stars because I love the food, but my experience has always been horrible. All 4 times I have ordered from there they have forgotten all extras I add AND STILL CHARGE ME FOR IT. I get that things get missed, but to consistently charge me for things I don't receive is absurd, especially on top of their already overpriced items. I always told myself it was just a fluke...but for this to happen every time is either horrible luck or horrible service, and I'm guessing the latter. I wish I could say I was coming back, but 4 frustrating experiences is more than enough for me. read more

I love coming here for lunch on the way home from El Capitan canyon campground. It's quick healthy and delicious. The hardest thing about this place is NOT getting dessert because the cakes all are as good as they look!! And they look fabulous. read more

Love this place! My favorite part of eating here is that there are awesome and yummy choices for everyone, regardless of diet restrictions! They offer so many vegetarian options, it's so easy to please everyone. I've had their salads, sandwiches, appetizers, everything basically and it's all super good! Reasonably priced and a friendly staff, definitely worth a visit! read more

I tried their chicken taco special for the day today and they were really plain and no flavor at all. Took two bites and threw it. I wouldn't go to this place again. read more

I like their new location. Food came out promptly and was delicious. They have a good selection and great prices.

I have a short lunch so I generally call ahead of time and order to pick up. Today I ordered the grilled veggies and a side of chicken. I picked up the order and the person at the register was busy texting on her phone. She had zero customer service skills...no smile, no "thank you, come again...have a great day". It seemed like I was an inconvenience to her. To top it off, when I returned to work and opened the bag I realized she gave me a tiny serving of steamed veggies (not grilled veggies as I had ordered). The steamed veggies are no substitute for grilled veggies. They look like veggies out of a bag, microwaved and soggy. Very disappointed. read more

Great food! Very healthy and tastes delicious. I love their smoothies especially. Good place for salads as well!

My experience at Natural Cafe was mixed. I came as part of a large group, and after reading the reviews I was excited to see what they had to offer. Immediately after walking inside, I was a little disappointed as the atmosphere reminded me of a Souplantation. I ordered my food (the Killer Chicken Quesadillas) and it took about 15 minutes to come, but I was on the luckier side of my group. They were good, but over half the plate was a tasteless salad.For others who simply ordered grilled cheeses (a very simple meal) it took almost 30, and it's not like the place was packed. Two of the waitresses seemed rather confused and kept walking around aimlessly and looked lost. They gave the wrong food to other tables a few times. They also asked us if we were doing okay, and my friend who still hadn't received her food told them she hadn't and they told her it was coming (in a very rude/sassy tone) and then ran off to go make it. I tasted some of my friends milkshakes and it had a distinct soy taste, even though there was no mentioning of it being soy on the menu. Overall: The food was decent but the service was poor. read more

The place is called natural cafe so i was expecting some organic options, fresh vegetables and so on...but instead what we got was microwaved vegetables, soggy and slimy... absolutely disappointing. The people were friendly but the food was definitely not good. read more

Ordered fish tacos. Blah. Looked terrible, tasted terrible, what a mess. Wife had a sandwich that was slapped together and cheap bread falling apart at first bite. I will never go there again. read more

The falafel pita was over spiced and dry. The tahini sauce was not recognizable. The main ingredient should be yogurt, but theirs is some kind of salad dressing. We had to return the veggie grill because it was not prepared as described in the menu. The menu said balsamic marinade, but there was none. The turkey burger was ok, but not at all outstanding. read more

I was pleasantly surprised to see so many vegetarian options at this place, went there twice just because of the food quality...but on the otherside i found employees to be very rude. read more

I also wish I could eat here every day--and wish there would be a place like this in Redlands! I popped in for a quick lunch some time ago and was so impressed. BBQ sandwich special was delicious, and they served chow chow, which I haven't had for decades! read more

I think I'm over Natural Cafe. The other day I ordered my usual SB Veggie Grill, and realized it no longer comes with the tahini sauce. It's just grilled veggies on brown rice. When I asked what happened to the sauce the employee said it now costs $2 extra. It's already $11.50 for the plate (grilled veggies and tofu on a bed of brown rice). Unless there's something about tahini being super expensive that I don't know about, I don't get why you would take away a sauce from a menu item and then charge for it. I think that's bad business. read more

The Natural Cafe, no matter which one, always has good food and great prices with fast service. And I love the fact that it's healthy, fresh food! read more

Great remodel! Please bring back the soy milk and soy icecream!! (A girl who worked there told us that they stopped using it because it would freeze so hard that they dread on having to scoop it out to make the shakes and other drinks requested with soy. Then another employee mentioned that it was too pricey to buy and not enough people were requesting soy milk or ice-cream. This in fact doesn't sound right, and you can always have a small stock for the customers who do request soy. Thank you! read more

I was meeting a friend for dinner and I have a new puppy. She is very small and to young to stay home alone yet so we picked a place with outside seating. I had the chicken tacos which were very good. They had a lovely flavor and all the ingredients tasted fresh. I also had a peach juice that was delicious. The reason for 2 stars instead of 5 is because the staff was somewhat rude. I had my puppy in a puppy bag when I went inside to order. They don't take orders at the table so I had no choice but to go in. Before I could say a word the man taking our order exclaimed, "we can not have that dog in here!" As a pet owner I am very aware of the pet policy in SB. Most places that have outside seating but don't take orders at the table are accepting of you carrying your dog inside long enough to place your order. Larger dogs they politely ask to wait outside, totally understandable. My puppy is 3 pounds and only 11 weeks old and she was in a bag wrapped in a blanket because it was cool out. He could have handled it much nicer. My reply was simple, "yes I'm sitting outside with her but you don't take orders outside." He gave me a dirty look. If it were not for the fact that I was meeting a friend there I would have left. I really enjoyed the food but won't be going back or recommending Natural Cafe to any of my friends. read more

I went to this restaurant recently with two friends. We'd just watched the movie 'Spectre,' and we wanted a snack. The place looked busy, and I had bad feelings when my turn came to order. All I wanted was the Hummus and Pita Bread appetizer, but the girl on the counter seemed not to understand me. I had to tell her several times what I wanted, and even show her the item in the menu. We went and sat down. My two friends got their food, and, by the time they had both finished my order appeared. The girl who brought it was very apologetic, and explained the the kitchen was simply overwhelmed because the place was so busy. All she brought me was literally the hummus and the pita bread. The dish usually comes with a small salad, but that was nowhere to be seen. How hard would it be to make this? You simply cut up pitta bread, and put it on a plate with some hummus. I told the girl to take it away and put it in a takeout box, as my friends were finished and were ready to go. All in all, it was a pretty poor dining experience for me. The girl on the counter appeared to lack training, I don't think she passed on my order at the same time as my friends' orders, and the person in the kitchen who prepared this so-called "dish" seemed not to know what he, or she, was doing. Either get some better staff, or properly train the ones you've got! read more