Big G's BBQ has quickly become a favorite amongst the community here in Santa Barbara. After trying…read moretheir food, I can see why! The "G" standing for Gabe the chef/owner. He wanted to bring something different to the table, and he is quickly making his mark in the BBQ foodie world. I finally managed to make the time to drive out to Goleta, and check out one of the pop-up events. You can find out the location and times by following Big G's BBQ on Instagram. IG Handle is: big_gsbarbecue The location of this pop-up is usually held at Old Town Coffee & Roasters in Goleta. You can find their set-up out in the spacious patio located in the back of the coffee shop. I ordered the BBQ chicken torta, which came with a side of charro beans and homemade curtido. That first bite was delicious! Not only was the meat juicy and tender, but the tamarindo bbq sauce blew me away. This bbq sauce is homemade and has a nice tangy, but slightly sweet flavor unlike any other sauce I have tried. I told Gabe he should bottle it up! I would totally buy it. My co-worker ordered the carnitas (pulled pork) torta, and let me try it. The meat was nice and tender as well. The charro beans aka Mexican cowboy beans were also delicious. They were hearty and full of rich savory flavors. I wish I had the recipe for these. It was a nice change as opposed to having regular chili beans or just beans. The curtido slaw is also housemade, and probably the best curtido I have tried thus far! It was fresh, crunchy and the dressing gave it a nice pickled flavor. Overall, I am happy to see how successful Big G's is quickly becoming. I look forward to attending more pop-up events when I get the chance.

Closely following Big G's BBQ on Instagram for weeks and I was blessed to find them two times in…read moreone week! Once at the Taste of Santa Barbara and another at Old Town Coffee! Big G's personally has the best tacos in Santa Barbara PERIOD! Their Smoked Carintas Tacos CANNOT BE BEAT. At the Taste of Santa Barbara, their booth had the longest line and I got back in the line multiple times. Later that week, I visited their pop-up at Old Town Coffee and was blown away yet again from their Carnitas and Chicken Tortas. AMAZING! Though I have only had a few of their meats, I have been told their Tri-Tip is to die for. I cannot wait to try it! Be sure to follow them on Instagram to see their rotating menu and pop-up locations: @big_gsbarbecue ! They are just an amazing small family owned business that I hope to see more often in the Santa Barbara area because they deserve all of the love and more! Can't wait to see you all again soon! Thank you Gabriel and Misha!

Amazing food and great people. They definitely know their way around the BBQ. I highly recommend…read moreOak & Fire for any event!

For the tri tip bbq sandwich which has house coleslaw and fried onion strings. It was good! The bbq…read moresauce and with the coleslaw, meat, and the fried onion strings was a tasteful combination. i wish the seats were in the shade, especially since it was a pop-up. It was a hot summer day. The wait wasn't long but would have liked to enjoy the sandwich with some sun coverage.

Great little gem on a backstreet. Innovative menu with fresh ingredients. Attentive and informed…read morestaff. Eat on the outside patio. Delightful.

Aegean started as a popup, but now has its own restaurant near State street. Efe Onoglu is a superb…read morechef and brings Turkish/Mediterranean food to Santa Barbara. We got the hummus with a herbaceous zhoug sauce, which was smooth, nutty, and not too tart. I can't stand extra tart hummus. We also got an extra order of pita because one was not enough to scoop up all those delicious hummus. I didn't taste the kofte because I don't like the gaminess of lamb, but they looked beautifully grilled. The levrek on the other hand was insanely good. It came highly recommended by our server who seemed very passionate about all the delicious food that she was serving. She said people even drank the sauce the fish came in. Yep, she was correct and I did drank all the sauce. I normally only get fish in Asian restaurants, but this seabass was perfectly cooked to tender flakiness, bathed in a savory and delicate sauce with dill, lemon, and oregano.

Best pizza in town! Wait was a bit long but great atmosphere and delicious options of pizzaread more

Excellent pizzas. Dude, LOVED the Pastrami pizza. At first I was a bit nervous about pickles on my…read morepizza but it actually turned out to be AMAZING. Definitely need to come again. The pizza came out pretty fast (although it felt so looong since I was so hungry and it smelled soooo good haha). You gotta go to capt. fatty's and you order at the back. It was kind of cold cuz we got there late and were near the back door but it was fine and the atmosphere was great! There was trivia night there but all my friends and I didn't know half a thing about dinosaurs (or were too drunk to get it hahaha)

My friends and I stopped by here as we were waiting for our car to be inspected for a flat tire…read moreafter our camping trip. That flat tire was definitely a blessing in disguise because without it, we wouldn't have found this incredible spot! This place is located in a business complex, and from the outside, it looks like a quaint little place, but the moment you walk in, it is HUGE! Tons of seating, a pool table, and outdoor patio. It's even dog friendly! Such a hidden gem. Not only that, but the food was INCREDIBLE! We tried everything on the menu, and we were all blown away. Each of my friends had a different favorite, which means that there's something for everyone, and I'm still drooling just thinking about it. Haha It's hard to pick favorites, but I especially loved the ribs and tri tip sandwich. The staff was SUPER friendly and took their time explaining the menu to us. They made us feel like close friends rather than customers. It's been awhile since I left a review for anything, but I knew I needed to give this place one because they deserve all the hype. I'll definitely make my way down here next time I am in the Santa Barbara area.

Really good bbq. I had the tri tip sando, pork spare ribs and esquite. The meat was smoked really…read morewell, tender and still really juicy and Smokey. Located in The Draughtsman brewery in Goleta, the vibe is really cool and good beers on tap. Charles, the owner is really friendly and takes care of you. He's got some good bbq sauces and hot sauce is banging.

Superb! Delicious! Easy! Fun! Honest! Worthwhile! Gorgeous! All these things describe Diana's…read morewonderful cuisine, presentation and service. We've used her service twice now. Once for a 150 person housewarming party here, with a bartender, servers and Chef, and once a simple drop off with a chafing dish, and some flatbreads and platters. Both were so well received and satisfying. I have to say, we rally got to enjoy our own party with the bartender and servers! That's a value in itself! We actually had a blast at our OWN PARTY! We are believers now. Her menus of possible dishes are so great, it's hard to choose, but Diana helped us decide so capably. She is the BEST! And may I say her presentation is lovely too. We are both designers, and that's important to us. Dining with Di is more than up to our challenges! We are "Foodists", meaning we live a healthy and delicious food lifestyle. She satisfied that level as well! Go for it! You will never regret it! Thanks Di! See you again soon!

Never heard of Dining with Di? This is definitely one of Santa Barbara's best kept secrets in…read morecatering. Diana Cutrell of Dining with Di has partnered with Pete Clements of Cookbetterlivebetter catering to create an amazing full service event/catering offering. Pete is a world class chef that can cook anything you can dream of and provide fantastic suggestions for thing you would have never thought of. Diana has a fabulous eye for style and an keen ability to remember even the smallest details that ultimately make for a seamless and spectacular event. In planning my SB wedding I hit all the usual suspects in SB wedding catering (Lorraine Lim, Pure Joy, SBBbq, etc) with lackluster results. Overall I found those caterers to be way overpriced with well presented but mediocre tasting food and poor service and responsiveness. Pure Joy even suggested I change my wedding date to better accommodate their schedule... From the beginning of the process working with Diana and Pete was awesome, they were responsive and easy to work with. They were sensitive to our budget requirement and easily provided the best menu for our budget of all the caterers. We had fresh SB seafood paella and hand carved beef tenderloin when others were offering chicken and pork for the same budget. We also had a huge selection of hors d'oeuvres for cocktails hour! We are a family of restaurateurs and I can honestly say we are food and service snobs so finding a caterer for our wedding that would provide the level of food and service we expected for a limited budget (in SB under $100 per person is pretty limiting) was a challenge for us, but not for Diana and Pete. They just did what they do so effortlessly and made our wedding day exactly what we dreamed it would be. Everyone raved about the food and the service, we had an amazing event. Menu below.... For any bride or groom-to-be that is reading this review, I would strongly encourage you to work with Diana and Pete. They will deliver on everything they promise, they will return all your phone calls and emails promptly and you can have peace of mind on your wedding day, which is priceless...trust me! Hors d'oeuvres Roasted Asian duck tostada, hoisin, shredded cabbage and sweet onion mango chutney Miniature Rubens with creamy thousand island and onion marmalade Scallop ceviche with chili and mint Assorted Flat breads - Prosciutto de Parma w/ sweet and fig jam, gorgonzola & arugula - Pesto, roasted sweet peppers, caramelized onion, goat cheese and Romano - Smoked salmon, creme fraiche, red onion and lemon oil Salads Thick sliced heirloom tomato, Bermuda onion, feta, fresh oregano and vinaigrette Belgium endive, julienne spinach, apple, Maytag blue cheese, toasted pistachio and grain mustard vinaigrette Entrees Carved Beef tenderloin w/ herb jus and horseradish sauces Brick Oven Baked Paella, fresh fish, mussels, clams, shrimp, roasted chicken and chorizo, lobster broth and saffron rice Starch & Vegetables Potato gratin Seasonal Local Organic Vegetables

5 STARS! We chose an Upscale Smoked BBQ and could not have been more pleased…read more This team's flawless execution, EVEN IN THE RAIN, from early morning set up to smoke the meat on-site, to a stormy rain filled set up and delivery, was IMPRESSIVE to all 75 guests. This upscale BBQ for 75 was PERFECT! Quality smoked meats, served to perfection! We know how hard it can be to serve tender chicken breasts and rare smoked steaks, to 75 guests, but YOU DID IT WELL, and EVEN IN THE RAIN! The initial tasting was what sold us and the level of professionalism and care was felt from start to finish. The quality ingredients chosen, the culinary skills and the display and aet up proved to be beyond what we had desired. If you are lucky enough to have GeezyQ's cater your next event, say YES!

Mister Mikey is a genius on the GRILL. His ribs are to die for but the chicken and tri-tip aren't…read morefar behind. The sides are all delicious too. Catch Geezy's Q at one of his pop-up's soon!!!! Your taste buds will love you!!!! Jeff D

These guys have amazing food! I have not tried one bad meal. Their meat is always the highest…read morequality and seasoned to perfection. Very moist chicken and tri tip. Pastrami sand which and breakfast burritos are also to die for. Check them out if you are thinking of having an event catered

Live Oak catered my wedding. We originally chose this caterer because we felt that the food was…read moregood, the pricing was competitive, and the caterer was willing to be flexible both in terms of menu and venue. However, things did not go so well for us. We had our wedding and reception on the beach. However, our cocktail hour was to be on a patio by the property that we had rented. The house and the beach were a short walk away from each other, but certainly presented a bit of a challenge in terms of getting things between the two. It was about a 5 minute walk. I know this is not the simplest set-up, but I assure you that I paid through the nose for this service and they charged us extra because of that 5 minute walk. Originally the caterer asked if they could just do wine and beer during the cocktail hour. This made no sense to us because it's called "cocktail hour" and we bought all the alcohol necessary. So, we asked them to actually serve cocktails and gave them a recipe for a signature drink. When we got up to the patio, there was a HUGE line waiting for drinks. Instead of premixing some of the signature drink so they could hand things out quickly to the crowd, every single drink was being made to order and the line was ridiculous. For me, that was a strike against them. It's an open bar- there's no reason why someone should be in line for 20 minutes to get a drink! Have they not heard of making pitchers?? Next, it turns out that the caterer hadn't split the alcohol supply between the patio and the beach. They had everything up on the patio, including things that really didn't need to be there, like the bubbly and the wine- things not being served at cocktail hour. So, they had to carry everything down with them. That took them a very long time. This meant that no one got any alcohol at the actual reception until after everyone had already eaten dinner!! Not to mention that the bubbly was never served, nevermind that it wasn't available during the big toasts. It gets better though. By the time they drag all the alcohol down, everyone's done eating and they are once again incapable of figuring out how to serve the crowd. Again a large queue forms. At this point I can't take this anymore and I just grab the bottles and start opening them and handing them out to various tables. Honestly, a wedding for which you bought all the alcohol and where you intended to have an open bar, is not so much fun when after all that it's pretty much a dry wedding! No one is feeling courageous enough to get on the dance floor. Now to finish the bar story- on top of everything, they run out of glasses!! They're talking to me about this issue and I'm amazed that they run out of glasses. You would think this would be just one of the most basic things a caterer does and prepares for. To top it off- the staff suggests picking up people's dirty glasses and reusing them, dirty! I was appalled. My wedding coordinator had to go drive to a supermarket and pick up plastic cups. Now on to the food. We had a buffet - with metal trays that were heated from the bottom. The food tasted good. However, after the last table was called to get their food, the caterer started taking food away. They made no announcement that they were taking away the food. When I asked him what he was doing he said that food couldn't be out for too long or it would go bad and then he'd be liable for making people sick. Folks, I'm a lawyer and here to say that if that were true, then you'd see waiters coming to take people's plates out from under them if they didn't eat fast enough. So, no one got to get seconds, even though people had taken little in the first round to make sure everyone got enough. And because the bar was so slow in opening up, now I have a bunch of guests who are drinking but no longer eating. That's a great recipe for alcohol poisoning. They hauled away tons of perfectly good that I paid good money for. I have never ever seen anyone do that before at any event. ADDITIONALLY the waitstaff went around to all the tables and took all the plates away for anyone who was dancing or not in their seat. So, without any indication that someone was actually done, they took their food away and they closed the buffet. We had a lot of hungry people!! The food was good, but the service was absolutely abominable. I really wouldn't recommend this company to anyone trying to do an event that requires any serious planning or foresight. These people showed themselves really incapable of problem-solving and really did not care at all whether the guests were getting everything they needed. When they ran out of cups, instead of figuring something out, they just didn't serve people! They also did not give a damn about my protestations with regard to the food. To think- picking a fight with a bride on her wedding day! If I knew that's how they were going to do things, I would have never in a million years signed up for this caterer