Three easy and well instructed lessons! Were easy to plan and complete. Learned lots along the way. My instructor Herbert was great!

I had my first lesson with Herb the other day and we developed very nice interpersonal chemistry, he gave me total control of the car with his professional " damage control " ability as a driving coach, which built in with a very chill and laidback personality vibe, it's easily boosted my confidence. He's definitely not a conventional type of instructor, but he still teaches you everything and make sure you absorb well with his fun languaging. I was worried about the negative reviews I saw on yelp, but I'm glad I chose him. read more

My daughter had a great experience with her instructor Herbert. He was so calm and supportive. She learned a lot and passed her driving test with no troubles the first time. read more

Love every detail of these driving lessons with Herbert. This is my first time learning how to drive so I want to take a driving school, even my friends keep telling me that they can teach me with their cars. No way, I want to drive properly with an instructor so I can drive with confidence, either on the freeway or on any road. Herbert is a wonderful instructor, his lessons are really great. After only a few lessons, I can drive with confidence and I learned all the tips to be a safe driver. He cares about your driving skills and is very chill and nice to drive with. He explained everything things so well and let you practicing several times if you made a mistake until you felt comfortable. Thank you very much, Herbert, I will keep you updated about my BTW test in the next 2 weeks. I strongly recommend this driving school and Herbert. Time and money are well spent. read more

If I could leave no stars I would!!! I just had the worse experience ever! Not only was the instructors car (Herbert) dirty to begin with. He completely freaked out when I turned left instead of right up on the Mesa. He actually said "I don't think I can work with you" "I didn't think you had that in you" this was my first ever lesson and he has made me feel so uncomfortable about taking another lesson. He as a driving instructor should br prepared for these kind of situations! Yet he completely freaked and was very rude towards me. My lesson ended after 40 minutes as I told him I wanted to go home. He never apologies to me for the way he acted and was completely silent when he was driving me home! Herbert was completely unprofessional!!! I see he had many good reviews but I wonder how many other people he has freaked out on like that after a simple mistake from a first time driver. Lucky I can speak up and use my words when I feel uncomfortable but I know many can't. His behaviour was not acceptable for a driving instructor of 4 years! Unfortunately for top notch I know he's the only instructor in Santa Barbara right now. Stay away from this driving school. I DO NOT recommend ! Following this review - Herbert call my personal number of his personal phone and upon answering the phone his first words were "why did you leave me a bad review?" I'm not sure what stuff this guy is smoking but his professionalism is non-existent! We argued over the review and I told him my review was accurate. For some strange reason he said he wanted to talk to my husband! I ended up hanging up after a hostile conversation. He then proceeded to text me "does writing a bad review make you feel good?" "Let me talk to your husband, please?" Herbert should not be working as an instructor!!! read more

Top Notch Driving School - Harassing me ? - Driving Schools Near Me

Hi Im the driver instructor. I love teaching students to drive downtown Santa Barbara. Its easy for me to point out my defensive driving techniques and watch students drive all on their own. read more

I passed the driving test and was even complimented on how great my driving was by the tester at the DMV and it's ALL THANKS TO HERB! My permit was going to expire in 3 weeks and I freaked out because I had little to no driving practice at all! I called the number listed on this Yelp page and the sweet lady over the phone was more than cooperative when booking the three driving lessons (2 hours each = 6 hours total) and made sure that I would be able to take my driving test on time! Herb was my instructor and he was super easy to work with and went above and beyond in educating me about driving etiquettes, definitely more than what I needed to just pass the test! But what shocked me the most was how based off of just SIX HOURS of practicing with Herb (yes, I didn't even practice on my own outside of lessons because I didn't have a car!), I was able to pass the test with flying colors! He did a splendid job drilling important skills they were going to test me on and made sure I mastered them in time for the test. On the day of the test, he made the best of the little time we had before my appointment and had me warm up and review all the skills he taught me. I am more than happy to recommend Herb to ANYONE who wants to become a great, safe driver! He truly cares about his students' driving and taught me way beyond the driving test level. read more

My daughter just completed the required 6 hours with Herbert in Santa Barbara. He was on time, kind and patient, and gave appropriate feedback for our daughter to improve! She passed with flying colors and was even complimented by tester as being " one of the best drives " he tested in past few weeks! Thanks Top Notch and Herbert!!!! read more

I did my lessons with Herbert and can totally recommend him. He is a very nice teacher who takes care to explain the rules of the road and safe driving. He is super fun to talk with and while driving with him, I felt super confident. He gives excellent advice regarding lane driving, blind spots, distance between cars while driving etc. Thanks to him, I passed my exam on the first try. read more

Herb was my son's driving instructor and he did a spectacular job. He went above and beyond standard driving lessons and taught my son defensive driving techniques, what to look out for, how to drive on highway, how to drive downtown. Once our son had the stuff down pat, Herb went on to discuss the actual driving test. He seems to know all the testers, and what each of them look for. This instilled great confidence in my son. He was also very personable and relatable. We had one instance where our son was sick, and we though the would be better in time but at the last minute we called Herb to cancel and he was completely understanding. Also, the evening after our son's test, he immediately texted to see how he did (of course, he passed). Herb asked for us to text a pic of the scoring sheet, and then he pointed out what the things are that he did wrong - always trying to help our son improve, even after all the lessons and the test. Thanks Herb! read more

This is the worst driving school!! If you are looking for high quality staff keep looking. They did not give us correct information on signing up for the dmv driver license test- so you can imagine how that went... when you are paying these types of fees you would think they would make this policy clear. First we heard of it was at the DMV when my daughter was denied taking her test because it was only six months and not six months and one day. Now we get to reschedule her driving test for an entire month away because there were no openings....super! The DMV asked me to call the school and ask them to get the information correct to their students, third kid this week who was not allowed to test because of a lack of info. When I called to explain the situation to Top Notch the woman who answered the phone was rude and explained it was "our fault" for not paying attention. Would not recommend this company, search elsewhere. And not to mention the driving instructor was a total creep!! read more

Herb is wonderful! He's friendly and communicates well w/ teenagers. My son really enjoys his lessons.

Our daughter had the best instructor Herb Cook who was so supportive, thorough, and specializes in defensive driving techniques! Our daughter passed the driving test with no problem and the driving instructor at DMV said he felt so safe that he could have taken a nap! Thanks Herb and thanks Top Notch Driving School! read more