The novelty of spinning records wore off fast, and what could've been a cool, defining feature for the place ended up feeling more like a missed opportunity. Kelly seemed more focused on catering to a small group of guys in cowboy hats than maintaining the vibe that actually makes this spot stand out. Instead of reading the room, she and her May 1st bartender colleague locked into a single stream of country music that clearly wasn't resonating with most of the crowd. That's really the frustrating part, it wasn't just a music choice, it was the complete lack of awareness or willingness to adjust. People weren't being heard, requests were ignored, and the whole "records" concept felt pointless when it was treated so rigidly. If you're going to lean into vinyl as part of the experience, it should feel curated, responsive, and a little bit special, not like someone just putting on their personal playlist and tuning everyone else out. The drinks were genuinely great, which makes the situation even more disappointing. The potential is clearly there, but the execution on the atmosphere just didn't match. If the records are going to stay, they should actually be used to enhance the environment, not limit it. Otherwise, it might be better to ditch the gimmick entirely rather than let it drag down what could be an otherwise standout spot. read more

Vaquero Bar is a great spot in Solvang, especially since it's open later than most places in town. The cocktails are consistently good, and I love that you can order food right at the bar. The donuts were the perfect sweet treat, and the spicy tuna on crispy rice was absolutely delicious. The atmosphere is fun and welcoming, making it a great place to unwind after exploring Solvang. I'll definitely be back! read more

I can see why this place is a Michelin star restaurant. It's worth the price but if you want a slightly cheaper experience then do the brunch. Honestly the steak is a have to and so good! The ambiance makes you want to spend your whole day there. The bar is well stocked and the staff is friendly, knowledgeable and attentive. I highly recommend you try if in the area. read more

Vaquero Bar - Breakfast 5 oz skirt steak - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

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Stopped in Solvang after a day of wine tasting. This was a great little bar, with quality cocktails. I had a margarita, and our group ordered some shots as well. Exactly what we were looking for. Would definitely come back. The bartender knew what she was doing as well, she made some great drinks. read more

Vaquero Bar - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

As we were ending our night, we passed by Vaquero Bar, it seemed where locals and tourist meet, the vibe was definitely it. It was definitely a busy night for a Friday night. Service was great. Drinks were great and music was loud enough where you can still have a conversation. Dog friendly for those who own a dog. read more

The only late-night cocktail lounge around! Really great, consistent drinks. Good service. Old-fashioned pub atmosphere. Fun locals after the other spots close. And the steak appetizer was so good I wished I had come for dinner! read more

Stopped in for a cocktail on a Monday, early evening, with a friend. Gabby took care of us, and was fantastic. I ordered a filthy dirty martini, and she brought me a side of bribe just in case my drink wasn't dirty enough. We didn't order any food but what we saw on other people's tables looked great. Prices were as expected given it's a touristy location. read more

Vaquero Bar is part of the restaurant Coast Range which opened up within the last couple years. There is bar seating inside and there is also outdoor seating. Their cocktail menu is organized by category like sours/mules/collins or classic drinks like old fashioneds/negronis/martinis with three different types of drinks under each of those categories. My first drink was the proper old fashioned ($15) which was accurately pretty proper. My second drink was the old pal ($14) which is a negroni but with rye. When I was here, another customer asked if they could play some music from the records that they had against the wall which was cool. This was a cool cocktail bar serving good drinks in a town where beer and wine reign supreme. read more

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Favorite spot in Solvang! We stayed in Solvang 2 nights and went to Vaquero both nights. What we loved most was the fact that they allow dogs. We sat inside, had drinks and martinis and found that they serve the same menu as Coast Range (related restaurants). We wanted to go to Coast Range but the available reservations didn't work for us (8:45pm being the earliest). So we ate at Vaquero and were even happier with the bar seating and bar service. Food is incredible. Drinks are perfection. Ambiance is great and we made friends at the bar. The walls had Dolly Parton on it, you can choose records for the bar to play and it was old time-y but with a modern, western twist. It is definitely a steakhouse bar. Can't wait to go back! read more

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Cute little quaint bar attached to the Coast Range Restaurant. There was only one bartender who made the best picante margaritas. She was really calm and didn't appear overwhelmed but I think they need to get her some help because it got pretty busy in there on a Saturday afternoon. My only issue was there were so many bees inside. No one seemed to be phased by them but me. I saw some people swatting them away but didn't really seemed bothered. I'm not sure if there was a hive right outside the window or what but I'm not cool with bees. read more

Vaquero Bar - Menu - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

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Five stars since it's one of my fav places on earth but the vibe was very different without Joey. Always love seeing our fav bartenders and servers Victor, Kelly, Kimber, and Gabby. read more

This a great place. They're hooked up with the restaurant next door and the food is fantastic. Great vibe and ambience. Gave it four stars because the staff came off incredibly rude at first. It wasn't until an old guy called them out on it, and a different lady came in to assist that the two working - some guy in hate who never once smiled and mostly acknowledged people with head nods, and some petite brunette, who, apparently suffers from the same affliction - started to be a bit more cordial. If I was the owner I would probably replace them. Keep them on as bussers or something, and get a couple of bartenders that are more customer friendly. It's a really cool spot and vibe. No need to have them ruin the experience. read more

Great food! Great service! Love the music selection and the turntable! We had a blast there!

Amazing cocktails, great service, friendly atmosphere and open late! A must stop while in Solvang. read more

Vaquero Bar - Espresso martini - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

0 stars if I could, was there last night the older blonde lady with glasses is very passive aggressive and not welcoming at all, very dismissive. Also had other customers ask us if we had the same experience with her. She comes off very rude, they should practice the slogan. read more

Great location with great drinks. The only thing that really took away from our experience was the bartender. He acted like he didn't want to be there. When we tried to make friendly conversation, his response came off as curt and annoyed -- totally took away from our overall experience. read more

Location and ambiance was promising. The guy behind the bar was extremely un-attentive. He had attitude for no reason though busy with every woman who walked in. We were a mature professional older group of people. He was very cliche. You will know him when you walk in. Wears shirt two sizes too small, ball cap to cover up his bald head, attitude if you threaten his in securities or his goal to score with the easiest target at the bar. Too bad, bar has potential. read more

If you're in Solvang you have to stop here. Fantastic drinks, and real good alcohol. You can spin albums while you drink! read more

Vaquero Bar was listed as one of the best bars in America (2021) by Esquire. I don't use it as a checklist-there are a bunch of them in Ohio for some reason but if one is reasonably nearby I'll check it out; I did it for a bar on the 2020 list and it was a fun place I've come back to a few times. What I'm saying is I had some expectations going in for the bar. Vaquero Bar doesn't fit in Solvang. Solvang is a little faux-Danish town and you can easily walk around it in a day and *kitschy* would be the best word to describe it; they have a red clog that people put their kids in to take photos, it's that kind of place. So when I say that it doesn't fit in there I mean that in a positive way. The bar is black polished marble, and even though it was busy it didn't seem too packed, even managed to find a seat. I like that their menu is laid out by classic cocktails and expands with their own twists on it. I went with their Midnight Rider twist on their Old Fashioned, and it was not only a vat of cocktail, the walnut bitters and maple syrup spin on it made it pretty good. Now that I knew that could make a decent cocktail I decided to get something off menu and get a Paper Plane which came out beautifully and tasted as good as it looked. I'm pretty certain it's the only place in town where you can get a cocktail but it could hold its own anywhere. read more

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We went in for a drink at Vaquero Bar in Solvang and had a horrible experience. The bartender (older women with glasses) was extremely dismissive and rude toward us but was attentive and friendly with everyone else at the bar. We felt completely unwelcome. The service was unprofessional and made the whole experience uncomfortable. Definitely won't be coming back. read more

Love this local bar bartenders are incredible. Would highly recommend this food and bar to anyone living in or visiting the valley

This restaurant was recommended to our party by the staff at Sunstone winery. What a great recommendation it was! The customer service here was top notch! Our waitress was Jennifer who went above and beyond to accommodate us. Unfortunately I didn't catch the other gentleman's name that assisted Jennifer, but he was also helpful and very knowledgeable about the food. I ordered the vaquero burger, which was cooked perfectly! The beef is from a local ranch and my understanding is that it is pasture raised, grass fed and carrot fed. The steak fries were a little too salty for me, so if you don't like overly salty fries, then be sure to ask for unsalted if they offer it. The oysters were fresh and delicious! I'm not a huge raw oyster eater, but these were very enjoyable. My friend had the fish n chips which is locally caught Vermillion rock cod fish. Her first bite was so impressive and described as melt in your mouth delicious. I tried a piece of the cod and it was just as she described. I loved it. Overall a great recommendation by the staff at Sunstone. I will definitely be back to try more items on the menu. read more

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The older blonde bartender was extremely rude. We stood there ready to order, and she completely ignored us, made eye contact and just kept chatting with other people like we didn't exist. We were clearly waiting, and she couldn't be bothered. Terrible attitude and customer service. Won't be coming back. read more

Five stars for the bartender, he made great drinks. Zero stars for the woman who apparently worked there and was sitting in the bar on her break and every other word out of her mouth was a vulgar swear word. Really? Customers don't want to hear that, clean up your act. read more

We went this past weekend with our elderly family member. We were told the wait was about 5 minutes, perfectly fine. The host tells us where to sit and wait. I actually go out to the sidewalk to wait but my elderly family member sits down. Well out of nowhere this super rude and unprofessional idk who, that works there, comes out yelling at my family member that she's in the way and she needs to move. She was an older woman with glasses. Her tone was so out of pocket. My grandmother in law doesn't even speak English, she's here on a short trip and she just came out immediately annoyed and yelling. Safe to say after that we just left. Learn how to treat people and I would never ever dine here or give you all a single penny. So incredibly rude! read more

Food was as good. Had oysters, shrimp cocktail and lox bagel. My French 75 was delicious and I thought the windows to the street and stained glass wers so cute! They even have a record player and a collection of vinyl to play in the evenings. Victor took care of us and a great time was had! read more

This is a unique spot in Solvang, a little hard to find. It's next door to the restaurant which is called Coast Range which is located at the same address. We came at night after bar hopping so if you don't see the sign if you see the restaurant you're in the right place. The online reviews sounded great, however I wish they would have mentioned how tiny it is. There's very little room for more than 10-12 people and on a weekend the bar was pretty full. The plus side is they are open until 12 am and they also serve food. We tried the potato pierogis which were very good. The food is on the pricey side but tasty. Not many selections that go with beer unless you're very hungry. The soup looks great but it's just a lot. The bartender was helpful and very friendly which was a plus. The drinks were every good. We tried a couple of their margaritas which I totally recommend. The only downside here aside from the fact that it was small is it seems like a locals bar. We're from out of town and it was packed, maybe because there aren't a lot of options but several people had dogs with them inside and there's just no room. We had to sit at the stools by the window off to the side. There's space outside as well but people were standing and chatting out there since there wasn't any more room inside. So its a chill place but small. If you need space and want to be able to talk and hang out with a group this might not be the place for you if it's crowded. But for a quick drink or perhaps when it's slower it seems like a very nice, cozy spot to grab a beer and maybe move on to your next location. It was conveniently located next to a liquor store and also Dominos in case you're super hungry. Thanks to the bartender who helped us even though it was super busy. The polite service was much appreciated! read more

Several girlfriends and I spent a recent weekend afternoon wine tasting, and then went looking for a fun place to hang out after dinner.  Vaquero turned out to be the perfect place! The bartenders are friendly, armed with ready smiles and great drink recommendations.  There's a good number of old-time vinyl records available to play on their turntable to provide tunes, and they've got some seriously killer donuts on hand for even the pickiest sweet tooth :-) Tip:  We ate dinner before arriving, but after I saw the fish and chips they serve here, I posted this tip so I'd remember to save room to try some next time - they look amazing, and smell even better :-) read more

Vaquero Bar - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

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Coolest spot in town; they have damn good drinks, great music (they have a whole selection of vinyls to choose from that you can request to play), great food, and incredible bartenders. You want a spicy margarita? Get the Picante, perfect mix of sour, spice, and you can taste the sting of the alcohol too. Gaby always comes in clutch with the kind yet slightly sassy personality, and she knows how to make drinks too. So if ever you come into the bar and she's serving you, expect a good experience that'll make you nostalgic once you leave town. read more

We paid $62 for 2 drinks and a shrimp cocktail. Which would be fine if the shrimp cocktail wasn't absolutely filthy, uncleaned shrimp with a pathetic slice of lemon and the drinks were not served by a bartender who could not even be bothered to serve them to the right person or be personable in any way. Monica was the bartender and the main reason we canceled our dinner reservations after our experience. If she had been even the slightest bit friendly we might have stayed. My partners hands stunk after touching the browning shrimp, that is not a good sign. read more

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Pretty pricey but it is one of a small list of restaurants opened past 8PM on a Tuesday in Solvang and I was grateful for that. Service was efficient. Everything tasted great. I ordered the ricotta cavatelli and the portion was really small for $39 but it was delicious! They gave us a limited menu when we sat but I saw a steak menu posted on the front behind the glass. Maybe it's depends on the time of day. read more

Vaquero Bar - Ricotta Cavatelli - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

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Very cute little bar. Good location and food looked good all though we didn't try any. Just stopped for a quick drink.

We were driving from Paso Robles to Los Angeles, through Vandenberg (we wanted to see a satellite launch). My husband, sister and I wanted to stretch our legs and grab something to eat. We stopped in Solvang and we're looking for something low key. Vaquero Bar was perfect. We were able to sit outside, ordered a few drinks (aMai Tai, Mojito and Vodka and soda), and had artichokes and fresh fruit. The artichokes had a herb butter and bread crumbs- they were wonderful. Not only did as the fruit ripe and sweet, it looked incredible. I highly recommend Vaquero Bar in Solvang. read more

Highly recommend the spicy margarita. The atmosphere here was great. This was my first trip to Solvang and we happened to come twice on this trip. The bartender was hilarious and had us laughing the entire time. We will see definitely be back. read more

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Had a wonderful time here! The drinks were great and the drama was very entertaining If you want some great drinks, help with drink recommendations, and knowledge on local bar drama go to Matt! He's funny and great at what he does. Thanks for the great evening Matt. I hope next time I'm in Solvang I get to say Hi! read more

Vaquero Bar - We had 5 drinks total, all incredibly delicious and well made. Thanks Matt! - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

The best place to be at for your birthday! What a gem! Loved this little spot with awesome inviting & fun locals, a turntable & great album selection, and awesome bartenders, thanks ladies! A great way to start the New Year and my bday. I was drawn in by the danish blue cheese stuffed olives and the Vaquero did not disappoint! A little bit dirty with (I believe) Castlevetrano stuffed , stopping at 2 was difficult...thank goodness this is the bar to Coast Range so I could have another w dinner! . (Sidenote: to whomever started the switch to Castlevetranos in the LA cocktail world, I love you!) Don't miss this gem but also leave any LA attitude at home, please. This mostly locals joint is best enjoyed by jumping in and joining the fun! I wish I could load the video my guy shot of the whole joint singing to me! read more

Really nice vibe in the bar area. The food was good and drinks were well prepared. The fillet was pretty good with the sides were wonderful. read more

Vaquero Bar - Bar - Cocktail Bars Near Me - Solvang, California

Came over to celebrate a friends birthday, Gaby is so sweet and fun ! Asked for a shot of tequila and oh myyyy , it was smooth! , Thank you Gaby for good vibes and good conversations read more

Decided to revisit this place and take my boyfriend as I had previously really enjoyed the cocktails. This time it was completely a disappointment. To begin with the bartender had an attitude when I asked her about the whiskey selection. She asked us if we liked our cocktail and we said it was OK and she didn't offer to give us another one. The cocktail was whiskey and not well balanced. Definitely not going again. read more

Hidden gem in Solvang! Best cocktails! Service is great and the music super fun! The restaurants attached is pretty amazing too! Almost don't want to share to keep this hidden gem all to myself! read more