Restaurant? Cafe? Takeout? Cafe and Blackbird both have this Happy Hour confusion. Don't have it. Not sure. Not good! Terrible Pinot and Rose. Champagne was only saving grace. 16$ during unhappy hour. Blackbird: Sink broken in ladies' room. Both toilets broken in Ladies' room. Chick pea fries... no! Spaghetti, not aldente and no apparent bread crumbs. Bartender listens to conversations and interjects. Does the hotel know that the cafe and restaurant are SUBpar? Do people pay 300 a night for this? read more

Underperformance from the front to the back of the house: and extending to the patio. It is hard to write bad review. Easy to write a great review. This is the first bad review that was as easy as pie. One word: CHILDREN. Children are running Blackbird Santa Barbara. First. I asked the bartender about a liquor being in stock. Absinthe. Did not know what it was, and I finally found it and pointed it out. I asked how he prepared it and if he was able to prep it in the traditional manner. He advised me that he did it with a rinse. I still don't know what that means. He then told me he can make it anyway. He had no idea what absinthe is. So I stepped in and said the traditional way. You take the absinthe spoon and a cube of sugar and pour over ice cold distilled water till the sugar melts into the glas, slight stir and you're done. NO RINSE. What is a rinse? He looked at me like I was crazy. Children take note. We don't expect you to know every drink, every concoction. Yet forget the effort (GET A SUPERVISOR), as polite as he was it's very hard and I know they're trying. This is why management needs to be present and of a certain age or better yet experience: let's put age aside. Great menu. So I tried the gazpacho and it was green, obviously from Green Tomatoes. I get it. I was very excited. I lived in Madrid for 5 years and thought I had seen every rendition of gazpacho: so again very excited. The gazpacho was well-put-together visually speaking with a Santa Barbara flair: however it was flat. Flat flat flat. I gave up. Then to the outside patio area where they had a gentleman doing songs from Frank Sinatra. The gentleman with only three people sitting there doing him sing ask if anybody wanted to hear something we all said My Way and New York New York. Two of Frank Sinatra's most popular songs. He refused to play them. He said as soon as he played them we would leave. It was early, there was nobody else there: why would he put out the question, ask for requests and then only to deny. When I told him you put it out there and then you say no he said he really doesn't appreciate banter. That wasn't banter. Now I came out to this location for one of the three major studios on a film location scout visual visit. I came for one reason, and one reason only. I was delighted when I saw what the menu looked like. Then I opened my mouth and used my highly educated palette only to find bland disappointment. Specifically to the Blackbird restaurant I came and went. Its right on State Street and looked out to the South: to the pier. A wonderful venue to establish a scene: then exit on a walk and talk as scripted. Do you really think I can recommend this location for a feature film: I don't think so. One final note. The place was packed and people seem to be enjoying themselves. I understand every now and then: you're going to get a bad meal- bad experience. This was mine. read more

We went to blackbird for our New Year's Eve dinner and everything was amazing! Great service, cocktails and vibe. The rib eye and the cheese platter are a must!! read more

I ordered flat bread to start. Everyone at my table got their starter dish and I waited. Everyone then received their meal and I still had not received my starter dish. I reminded them about my order and someone else ordered another dish along with my reminder. The new order still arrived before my starter dish. Needless to say I did not order after that nor do I plan on coming back. read more

This is a review for the bar and service only. Not the food. We came in the restaurant around 11:00 and were told we could get a drink at the bar. We were completely ignored by the bartender and manager for the entire time we were sitting there. We watched the bartender make two drinks for nearly 20 minutes, no one approached us except for who I assume was a bar back. He was not able to get us a drink. The manager and several other employees were very busy with the cash register and completely ignored us, not even a nod in our direction. The bartender had a frown on her face and also never acknowledged us. This is pathetic service and there is no excuse for it. Very poorly run restaurant. read more

Great food great service definitely worth the drive. Pretty awesome to feel the ocean breeze while having dinner to a well curated playlist(Radiohead playing when i walked in). Get here early(5pm) to grab a table on the patio you can actually see the ocean. Ask for Bobby the waiter super helpful/handsome guy the kind you'd want your sister to date. Scallops are fantastic of and crispy kale salad a must! read more

Great spot! Cocktail list was fun and unique but the bartender is also aware of some obscure cocktails as well so definitely in good hands at the bar. The food was also great the chickpea fries we very good, crispy kale salad was fun texture twist and the scallops were exceptional. The surprise dessert and champagne was also a nice touch read more

My husband and I ate here the week it opened. We had three appetizers: the scallops which were delicious, the caramelized figs and burrata (sweet, and savory perfectly paired)and the rabbit. Cocktails: the sea witch (savory, which was surprisingly tasty), a Moscow mule which was the best I've had, and the Divine inspiration. The latter was creamy and the way the foam and sage played off of each other was really yummy. Salmon for dinner. It was prepared just right with excellent seasoning and well thought out plating. We were delighted with the stone fruit dessert. Every ingredient was thoughtful and enhanced the dish. Our minds were blown with the pickling of the fruit. Nothing was extra or unneeded. You could tell that much thought went into the recipes. A great date night restaurant. read more

I haven't been back to SB since I graduated college in 2014, so I finally made the time to come visit the home of the Gauchos! I remember when I was in college, there were so many restaurants I would want to try back in the days, but I was too poor to eat at them! Student life meant no fancy dinners haha. So I was really excited to come check Blackbird out to see how the fine dining scene is really like in SB. I reserved a table for 7:30 and when I arrived the only one available was really close to the door, so the hostess asked if we wanted to sit there or wait for another table to open up. I decided to wait for another table to open up since I didnt'want to be freezing by the door and to be bothered by people comiing in and out. We sat at the bar while we waited. I ordered the Infinite Wisdom and this drink was so good!! I kind of forgot what was in it, but I know it was gin and there was a sage leaf as garnish. I really liked it. Boyfriend ordered an IPA. After about 20-30 mins a table finally opened up and we were seated. We ordered the brussel sprouts, uni, flat bread, kurobuta pork, and the cauliflower soup. We also ended up ordering 2 more beers too. Overall the food was OK..I think my favorite out of the dinner was actually the flat bread. Speaking of bread.. I kind of expected a place like this to have give us bread.. as most fine dining places do. I know Blackbird isn't super upscale, but it would have been a nice touch.. anyways back to the food at the table: I thought the flatbread was super good and the butter dip was so tasty! The soup came out barely lukewarm and lacked flavor. There was literally no taste haha, the menu said there was black truffle, but I did not taste anything. I wouldn't have minded the lack in flavor if the soup was at least hot. The uni dish was some uni on top of of a fish. I forgot what kind but this was a little underwhelming. My boyfriend enjoyed his pork belly, and thought the brussel sprouts were decent. Oh ya, we also got 2 oysters. They were fresh, but lacked any flavor in their sauce. I actually don't even remember what the seasoning/flavoring was. I just remembered it was kind of dry and blah. We also ordered dessert! I actually was going to wrap up my review, but had just remembered we both ordered desserts: Buddha's Hand which was coconut panna cotta and a chocolate soufflé with spun sugar around it. The desserts looked soooo amazing, but sigh, it was underwhelming yet again :( The panna cotta was wayyyyy too firm.. it reminded me of this basic vietnamese dessert jello... definitely not what I was expecting..the panna cotta didn't have any wobble at all, very stiff and firm.. Also the description said there would be tamarind in the dish.. I didn't taste anything tamarind-y AT ALL. zero. The chocolate soufflé was ok. We've had better. Presentation and service of Blackbird is amazing though. All the dishes looked so good and cute but thats too bad the tastes/flavors didn't live up to their looks. My coat dropped from my chair and the hostess immediately came over to help me pick it up. The bartender is super sweet and attentive. They definitely saved this dining experience. By the end of the night, my boyfriend and I left not too full not too hungry, but we knew we would have the munchies around midnight so we went to a taco truck to bring 4 tacos back to our hotel room hahah. Overall I still had fun eating here because of the atmosphere and drinks were great but would definitely skip out next time for anything food related. read more

Great New Restaurant in Santa Barbara at the Californian Hotel. Ask for server, Molly. She's terrific. read more

The Knock - New American Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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Was excited to go here because of the press I read about this new place in downtown Santa Barbara. Unfortunately, was really disappointed. First, the room is really uncomfortable. It's dark, cavernous and loud because of the lack of soundproofing. Also, I really dislike dining rooms that have a bar directly inside it. We also got probably the worst table in entire room--right near the doorway. I have no idea why the hostess gave us this table when there were plenty of tables available, including one towards the back of the restaurant that was available the whole time while we were there. Secondly, the service is really amateur. They try hard, but in the end, everyone needs more training. Drinks were extremely sloooooooowwww to get to us, and then our server forgot to take our menus after he took our order. Later on, our server forgot about our additional glasses of wine. To his credit, he didn't charge us for them since he forgot. The food was also very slow to arrive, but I place more of that blame on the kitchen, which gets me to the food. The food here reflects a head chef who is trying too hard. Everything on the menu has a lot of ingredients in sometimes interesting combinations. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. The tuna tartar was pretty good when you ate all of the components together (but each component individually was very salty except for the unit). The artichoke, on the other hand, was way too salty. We also got the chicken and the pork chop. The pork chop was pretty good, but the cinnamon on the chicken did not work--I've learned that I don't really like cinnamon in savory dishes. The desserts were the most polarizing. The chocolate was very good and would satisfy any chocoholic, but the peach and olive oil cake was terrible. The olive oil cake was a weird foamy thing and not cake-like at all. Given the casualness of the room and the loud bar and room, I think comfort food would work better. Because every dish had so many ingredients and complicated presentation, it meant the food took really long to get to us, and it wasn't really that good. Glad I tried it, but won't be coming back. read more

This was a really underwhelming experience. The service was actually okay which gave us hope for a very positive dining experience. When it was all said and done 4 out of 4 people at our table agreed that we would not be coming back. Every dish lacked some element of flavor or expectation. Really and very simply there was no element of value of price because the quality of the food was lacking. To spend $400 on dinner and drinks is one thing, but when you could have spent $100 on the same meal... ouch! read more

Came in tonight for some drinks and dessert. While we were there, a couple brought their baby into the restaurant at 9:30pm. Soon after the baby started crying very loudly for 10-15 minutes without anybody from the staff going over to the couple to ask is there anything wrong with the baby and why is the baby crying so loud for such a long period of time. Looking around at other people in the restaurant you could tell it was very annoying and rude of the couple to allow the baby to cry so loud and not take the baby outside. My girlfriend finally said something because the manager and staff did not have the courage to say something. After she asked the woman with the baby to take the baby outside, the mother started to verbally abuse my girlfriend by yelling at her and telling her to F$&@ off and saying F$&@ you. Still the manager and staff didn't do or say anything to the mother, they allowed the woman with the baby to verbally abuse another customer without reprimanding her but instead reprimanded my girlfriend. Security was called into the restaurant and only came over to our table. Security also spoke with the manager but never went over to the woman with the baby to talk to her about verbally abusing my girlfriend in front of their baby. The manager is extremely unqualified in handling this type of situation, nor did he care of the verbal abuse of one patron to another. The manager should have intervened right away when the woman with the baby started yelling curse words in his restaurant. Our night was ruined due to poor management and we were rudely pushed out the door with manager, staff and security huddled around our table as the waiter snarkily dropped our bill on the table; and NOT asking the horrible, rude, verbally abusive parents to leave. All in all, the situation was handled horribly by the manager and staff. We will not step foot in that disgusting, over priced restaurant ever again! read more

My friend and I ate here twice in two days while in Santa Barbara. Phenomenal service and excellent food both times. Mitch was our server and went above and beyond to make sure our experience was great. Birthday champagne and dessert on the house for my friends birthday. Such a great experience. read more

I was a little reluctant to go in, worried about the slightly higher prices and getting mediocre food but was I wrong!! Everything about the place was outstanding, such a creative menu and the food was delicious. Stellar service as well. What a great way to celebrate our 27th anniversary read more

Excellent service-- our server was Tim. It was our anniversary and we couldn't have picked a better place. Food was amazing-- I recommend the branzino and the strawberry fields for dessert. I will definitely come back here in the future! read more

Wow, wow, wow. This place is so amazing and well done!! My boyfriend took me for a surprise diner here and everything was so delicious!! We went back for a second dinner and the manager recognized us and gives a very special welcome. We felt like home and once again I was so impressed with the food and their services. I just want to go there again, and again. read more

Amazing wine, food, and service! 5/5! When I am back in Santa Barbara I will be coming back here!!

Have been back a few times since opening night and each time was better than the last. Outstanding ambience, service, subtle but interesting flavors, presentation, everything top-notch and world-class. We keep going back to the salmon and chicken dishes, but everything has been excellent. You will pay a little more but it's worth it. Also appreciate that they have 8 excellent tap beers which is unusual in this wine-centric state. Request an inside table or sit at the bar since the outside space is OK but not great. read more

Decided to give this new restaurant a try for our anniversary with our daughter. We live in town and we are always looking for good restaurants. We got the green salad, octopus and the mushrooms for starters. All three were good. For our main we ordered the tomato ravioli pasta, the halibut and the pressed chicken. The halibut was way overcooked. The tomato ravioli had a very strange taste and was not edible. The pressed chicken was prepared OK except they managed to undercook part of it and overcook the rest. We mentioned the fish and the pasta to the waiter. The manager came out and took the food back. When he returned he agreed with us and told us he would give us something else or not charge us for the fish or the pasta. He would also give us free deserts. When the bill came we were still charged for the deserts. We left without saying anything because we did not want to further interrupt our celebration with more unpleasant experiences. This was a very expensive restaurant. It was very disappointing that could not even get the basics of cooking done. Also the ergonomics was problematic. The inside was noisy with loud music and the outside was right on State St. with all the traffic and people on the sidewalk. read more

The Blackbird has a great atmosphere and the staff was very nice. As local Santa Barbarians we appreciated that. We are so excited this part of State Street is transforming. However, forewarning the entree's at Blackbird are very small and overpriced. A glass of wine and dessert cannot be had without spending $15 on each thing. The menu items are served as if they are tapas, but they are priced as entrees. Having dropped money for what we would have at a steakhouse, we left hungry and only full of regret. read more

Wonderful meal as a part of the inaugural Santa Barbara Restaurant Week. We were seated promptly for our 7:00 reservations. Our waiter Tim was charming and accommodating. We started with the seafood charcuterie board and roast octopus, followed by the chef's selected prefix selections: Rabbit, roasted root salad, salmon, pressed chicken and capellini with pork belly, uni, cauliflower and a poached egg. All of the dessert choices were fantastic. We'll definitely be back. read more

This is one of my all time favorite restaurants in the area. This hidden gem has a nice, classy, understated ambiance, excellent, prompt, friendly service, and stellar food, at reasonable prices for this area. Best of all, its not touristy and has a cool great gatsby type vibe to it. TRY THE RIBEYE MEDIUM RARE. IT IS COOKED TO PERFECTION. read more

Left hungry and unsatisfied. Meager portions, high prices, inattentive service, and forced 20% tip. Not coming back to restaurant or hotel.

Was there on christmas night . They had a fixed menu so this review is only based on those dishes n service mind you. Place is brand new , i mean even the building is new. Nicely decorated . A bit on the louder side of athmosphere, hard to hold a conversation with a calm tone. Service was OK , given the christmas night and place being packed they might have been shorthanded so no biggie. Our server mixed up 1 persons appetizer order. And we had to wait a bit for our orders. Food: i wasnt thrilled about the christmas fix menu. Nicely presented, definately looks like the chef took his time making the plate. Small portions , looks nice . Tastewise it was interesting , except the main dish including our desert every dish had 1 off ingredient which threw off the whole tasty balance of that dish so i was a bit unhappy about the food.So i'd say Chef had interesting recipies :) Conclusion would be , i'd probably try it again on a normal night but im afraid i might end up with same experience. read more

Environment is calm and welcoming and the service is spot on. However the seasoning on the food is way to over seasoned or salty fish extremely salty and too much citrus, the spaghetti has overwhelming citrus flavor, and the Sonoma red bird chicken tastes like a cinnamon breakfast was my fathers dish and he said it was the worst check he tasted. Playing is amazing and presentation but the flavor here is off unfortunately this is our first and last time here definitely for the price 14 dollar per persons water FYI to make it better that's not a big deal if the food was better tasting however in the end you notice everything wrong with your whole meal. read more

Extremely small potions, extremely over priced, pretentious service and all in all a bad experience. Save your time and money. This place will fail. read more

This was seriously outstanding. We enjoyed this meal so much - from the server who was so kind, welcoming and engaging - to the food and ambiance. We really loved this meal and it was one of the best we've had in a long time. It was our 18th anniversary and they really went out of their way to make it special for us (we stayed at the adjoining hotel as well, Hotel Californian, which I also give 5 stars!). The outdoor patio was heated just right and it had such a relaxed summer ambiance with a view of the pier from State Street. The food was outstanding from beginning to end. We had the chickpea fries which I can't stop thinking about. Then the crispy kale salad which was so perfectly done the kale melts in your mouth. I got the branzino (fish) and my husband got the Wagu beef burger. Both were prepared perfectly and delicious. Their dessert and coffee were a perfect way to end the meal. We would definitely recommend this restaurant and can't wait to go back! Check out the Hotel Californian and the other hotels restaurant called Goat Tree. It was excellent too. read more

Finally made it to here for dinner the other night. Happy right away as the service and decor made for a great first impression. Our drinks were served promptly. If they have a seasonal option, go for it - ours was great. Every dish that came out was as visually impressive as it was delicious. The flavors and textures played off of each other so well in each dish; we really did like everything we ate. My favorite were the hamachi appetizer and the octopus entree. read more

Nice to finally see a restaurant in Santa Barbara that delivers the service to make the high prices worth every dollar. The team here was kind and upbeat, not to mention one step ahead of our every request. It was a special night for us, and their attitude and service made it that much more of a perfect experience. We sat at the bar and had several shared items and all was delivered at the perfect tempo. Paired drink suggestions were spot on. I can't wait to come back! read more

You know, one of those times when you order the halibut(again) and it comes out on this mysterious dark plate with purple(!) cauliflower and then you start picking at it and the flavors just keep exploding in your mouth... those were not heirloom tomatoes, they were tiny oranges imparting a citrusy flavor to the carefully braised halibut filet. Don't. Want. This. To. End. read more

Loved the atmosphere and the food was great! A different flair for SB which I enjoyed very much! The avocado desert is a must and their 70% chocolate desertas well. Something for everyone- read more

Service was perfect. We had the flatbread(it was really good) the octopus (it spent too much time on the grill but that might be a personal preference) and the halibut (perfect). Desserts were really good. Our only criticism is for the wine list: the lack of dessert wines was a bad surprise. The desserts deserved better given how good they were. Pricey but that's okay given the atmosphere. read more

I want to start by saying the service was great. Which is why I gave any stars. The ambiance was nice as well. The food however was disgusting. My boyfriend and I drove from Ventura wanting to try a new restaurant. So we made a reservation and drove to Santa Barbra. The food was super disappointing, The menu is embarrassingly small. The main entries have ok choices. My boyfriend had the burger, It was so soggy, tasted incredibly boring especially for the price., (You can make a better burger at home). I had the salmon......It was undercooked, bit fishy, and also soggy. I feel like if it had been cooked more it would of tasted better. I saw another table discussing the same thing. We were super hungry and so ordered some bread before our meal. (There is no complimentary bread). They toasted a few slices of bread and it was burnt. If this was 10 dollar entrees I would say, "eh it's not good but for ten bucks it filled me up". For $36-50 dollar plates the entrees should be top notch, unique, delicious. Instead it makes you feel like you are eating undercooked boring food, I wouldn't recommend it, and hope they choose to improve the menu. read more

Blackbird was amazing!!! Every food component utilized in the appetizers, entrees, even desserts were so unique. The attentive elevated service was fantastic. Our server Bobby was very friendly and knowledgeable of the menu, especially the food runners and bussers were extremely welcoming. Highly recommend the Wagyu Burger, the caramelized onions, melted raclette cheese, and pickled green tomato over a brown butter bun indeed labels this combination as the best burger in Santa Barbara. Look forward to dining at Blackbird again. Team Blackbird most defiantly insures the best dining experience in town. Thanks again for a memorable night. read more

Everyone must try this! Small tapas style appetizers that you spend moments savoring every intricate bite and discussing all the succulent flavors! What an amazing culinary experience. That said, the best part was our server Molly! She was authentic, yet professional, and had amazing menu knowledge. Every recommendation she had was spot on! And on top of that.... she had an amazing personality that enhanced our dining experience! So glad we stumbled upon Blackbird! We will be back! read more

We ducked into this restaurant as my husband's birthday dinner. The food was interesting and well prepared and the waiters were professional and able to guide us through the menu. We had the kale salad that was great-the crispy kale could have been packaged. We also had the spaghetti-lemony and tasty, a better than basic charcuterie and just one main to split-cinnamon chicken. All tasty. Too full and tired for dessert. Check out the hotel bathrooms-exciting tile work. Thanks read more

Best new year's Eve ever! The chef was amazing, bartender Jody was a step above. Can't wait to come back.

Just opened this week. The food was really unique and the chef makes some very interesting food combinations that you don't find anywhere else. Every dish had a multitude of unexpected flavors that explode in your mouth. Good service also. The restaurant has a really good bar and the mixologists were fantastic, coming up with some really different drinks. The ambience between the bar and the restaurant was a good mix. read more

As someone who moved to Santa Barbara from Los Angeles, I felt very limited in my fine dining options. I couldn't be happier about the addition of this stunning restaurant to this city. The food is creative, elegant, and delicious. The octopus and pork belly appetizers were amazing, and the cilantro tagliatelle pasta was outstanding. The staff is attentive and friendly. Two thumbs up, Blackbird. read more