Had a great meal in this restaurant when I was visiting Santa Barbara. Started with some Dungeness crab cakes appetizer for two (crispy on the outside with lots of crabs inside so delicious - paired so well with the Pinot ). For the main course: Chargrilled rack of lambs (paired so well with a glass of Shiraz) and maple glazed duck confit (so yummy as well). For the dessert I got a crème brûlée which also paired so nicely with some dessert wines. The ambiance was super nice with great music and the service was excellent as well. read more

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The most extraordinary restaurant in Santa Barbara. A fantastic menu offering up a delicious American take on classic French cuisine, served graciously, and led by a true master. A wine list of very special selections and a staff that knows what they are pouring. Always a place we go to celebrate and enjoy special occasions. read more

Excellent food. Duck is definitely a signature plate. Had fish and my wife had a duck. Fish was good , but duck was excellent! Special thank you to Domenic who was our waiter. Very professional and pleasant. Highly recommend the restaurant! read more

Service is great, Server was great, Food is great. Go out and treat yourself and love one. Great for Date Night.

In Love with this place! Very nice and romantic environment. We were going to celebrate a birthday. Everything was perfect, beautiful and astonishing. The service is wonderful.. all the servers are professional, kind and wonderful people. I was so impressed of the decoration and birthday wishes card for my boyfriend. The food was absolutely delicious and beautiful... I really can not express how amazing we were treated, served .... Everything was perfect! Thank you for everything and warm wishes again.. :-)) read more

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Quite an enjoyable restaurant with the option to dine inside or outside. We opted to dine outside as it was a beautiful 70s weather. The waiters (at least the weekend crew) were knowledgeable (without making you feel dumb), friendly and very polite/well-trained. They were attentive/checked up on us sufficiently, but not overwhelmingly. In the middle of our dining, they even swapped out our dinner ware to ensure we had a clean set to work with. 1. French Baguette (5/5) Perfectly crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. Paired with their quality butter, it's hard to not want to have more. 2. Chargrilled Lamb Rack (5/5) Cooked to perfection. The meat was tender and not too gamey. It sits on a bed of risotto, which was deliciously cheesy and with chunks of fried pork/bacon in it. 3. Maple-glazed Duck Breast and Confit of Thigh (5/5) Overall, this was a very delicious dish. Per the waiter, it's been on their menu for 26 years and never rotated out, which says a lot. My favorite part was the confit thigh. The akin was crispy and the meat was juicy and tender. The maple glaze was not too sweet. The duck sits on a bed of sweet potatoes and green bean seeds mixed with chunks of fried pork/French bacon. 4. French Onion Soup (4/5) The cheese on top of the soup was very good. They were not skimpy on the cheese. Minus 1 star because we felt the soup base was slightly too sweet from the onion. If they added a bit more salt and pepper or cooked it in red wine, it would be 5 stars easily. 5. Santa Maria Valley Pinot Noir (5/5) A surprisingly good red wine that paired very well with our meals. Fruity, light and subtly smokey, but not oakey. Wonderful wine experience altogether!! read more

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Excellent dinner at Bouchon for our anniversary. We decided to try several items and were satisfied with each plate. To start we had their recommended Cabernet and house passion tea. Both were excellent choices. To start we did the scallops trio for two. Glad we shared because it was much more than I anticipated. Each scallop had its own individual setting and flavors. Each one was excellent. For entrees we ordered the filet mignon and duck confit. Each was cooked masterfully. The duck breast was lean and the thighs were shredding meat right off the bone. Excellent pairing with its veggies. The filet mignon was tender and juicy. For dessert, we finished with the molten lava cake. Wow heaven. Happy we choose the spot and would recommend for a nicer date night. Book in advance! read more

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Very authentic French food, We looked up on Yelp and booked for 2 of us on the night We arrived to Santa Barbara on our 39th years anniversary. We had 3 kinds of scallops, it amazingly dish a must try, green salad tasted good, Farm river Snake farm Waygu steak, local sea bass,they both very good. The waiter was very tentative and wonderful services ,he provided us. Very frenchy looking restaurant, We love it. We'll be back when ever we visit Santa Barbara. Merci bien and Auvoir! read more

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A wonderful meal, fantastic service and loved the ambiance! The food was delicious and wines reminded were fabulous. Overall a perfect evening with friends. read more

Bouchon - French Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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We were recommended by friends to visit when we were in the area. The restaurant did not disappoint. We had reservations and were seated in the pergola outside. I appreciated that there were heaters everywhere to help warm us up. The service was great and our server gave us recommendations for a vegetarian diet. We ordered the forest mushroom ragout and the Roasted Mary's free range chicken (without the chicken) and mushrooms instead. Delicious!!! We also ordered the Warm Lemon Berry cake for dessert. That was yummy too. Overall, it was a great dining experience. read more

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On a college road trip with my son, had dinner here last night. It's been on my SB list for a while...the French onion soup pictures on Yelp were my main draw. Pros- service was great! Very friendly, came over just the right amount of times to check on us. They worked well as a team too, more than one person came over to our table for one thing or another. Bread. It was nice and warm, you could hear the crackle when they cut into the bread, and the accompanying butter was also quite tasty. Roasted chicken and mashed potatoes, brought me back to culinary school (14 weeks total on the recreational side!)! Was very comforting. And our wagyu steak was cooked to a perfect medium rare. French onion soup... extremely rich in flavor! It came piping hot and delicious, with perfectly melted Gruyère cheese! Mmmmmmm... Cons- the bread, oh the bread...it was delicious, but the handling of it... no gloves (or tongs) while placed in the baskets. I wish I had not seen the handling of it! Made me sad (literally!). They cut into it with a cloth over the bread, but picked it up and placed it into the baskets bare handed....The brussel sprouts accompanying the chicken, they had nice char on only one side... we cook them better at home. And the profiterole trio, I felt the pastry was overcooked... they should not have been as dry. I made a ton of these in school, even had a stomach ache from eating too many (I purposely made them small, so I could eat bites.... and yeah, I had a lot of bites that night!) My son thought the profiteroles were tasty, and they were.... But I thought also on the dry side, which they really shouldn't be. Overall though, we were both quite happy with our meal and restaurant selection for dinner last night! read more

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Excellent foods and service. Waitstaff knowledgeable and friendly. A few points for consideration: ambient music is stale- why not play French since that is the restaurant focus. ..perhaps a "teaching point" for patrons... Also we left feeling confused by the exorbitant cost for clam cakes,..$55.00! (Same cost for the ribeye)! Looked like a mistake. Merci beaucoup. G. Gonsalves /RPV read more

After going to the endless seafood restaurants in Santa Barbara I decide to try something new. It was my husband's birthday and we went to this wonderful French restaurant. The food was excellent starting with our escargot. We had the steak and the duck breast service was attentive and the restaurant was crowded. The restaurant was cozy with outdoor seating . There is parking on the street and a garage nearby that could be an issue sometimes so get there a little ahead of time. read more

Booked a reservation for my husband's birthday. We were so impressed with the service, the ambiance and the food! We were greeted by two very friendly men at the front door and from that moment on we felt like we were the only customers there (which was not true, the restaurant was filled!) We enjoyed a bottle of wine with our fabulous dinner and we took dessert to go. Definitely will return next time we visit beautiful Santa Barbara read more

Such a beautiful atmosphere to walk into, we were greeted and seated at our table right away. Our server Dave was knowledgeable on both the food & wine menu, was very personable, very attentive but not overbearing. Overall we had an amazing night, and will be back soon! read more

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A really good place to get local seafood. As a group, we tried the sea bass, lamb, and chicken. The dishes were cooked perfectly, although I do wish the sea bass was more flavorful (it was a little bland). Service was fast and staff were really nice and helpful. Otherwise, it's in a great location and ambiance is excellent. Overall, highly recommended. read more

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This restaurant was incredible! It is a romantic and small restaurant with seating inside and out. It's cute because they have dim lighting, sturdy chairs, and soft music. You are able to visualize the chefs cooking, which is a pleasing touch. It is not noisy, which adds to that date-night flare. Where I felt this place really shined was in their service. Tony, our waiter, went above and beyond in his kindness and made our special occasion (we traveled up the coast to celebrate our engagement) memorable. He was very knowledgeable about the wine selection and recommended a wine that would not give a sensitive person, such as myself, a migraine. I ordered the rack of lamb because Tony explained it was savory versus the duck, which is sweeter. I was so happy with my meal! The lamb was so tender, perfectly cooked, meaty, and not was not gamey. Thanks for making our night memorable and special! I will always think about this restaurant when I'm in Santa Barbara! read more

Bouchon - Shallot - Glazed Rack of Lamb - French Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

3.5 When we made reservations online, we were not able to choose indoors or outdoors. So we were actually happy to be seated outside. Just a note, this establishment does have a bit of a dressier vibe, but I think business casual would do. Service was good, our waiter was warm, friendly, and knowledgeable. We ordered 4 entrees, one shared appetizer and one starter as entree. Duck confit was well seasoned and tasty, however, to me the duck was a little on the dry side. The roasted chicken on a bed of garlic mashed potatoes was just a perfect comfort meal. The wagyu ribeye was delicious and cooked the way I liked it (medium rare), but it was kind of weird that it was like in 2 separate top and bottom pieces (I've never had ribeye like this, but then again, I'd prefer this vs meat that has been glued together). Not pictured was the ahi tuna and the French onion soup (soup was very good). Oh can't forget about the trio of scallops, which was amazing and the best thing we had here. read more

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Had dinner reservations to dine at Bouchon. When we checked in, we didn't wait very long to be seated. Our server was very nice and attentive. We started with escargots and the scallops - both were amazing. The escargot was in this wonderful pastry- haven't tried it prepared that way before but it was delicious. I had the lamb. It was cooked perfectly! My friends had the duck and pacific fish. The only hiccup we had was the duck...unfortunately, it was a bit chewy- per my friend. Otherwise, the wine, food, and ambience was great! I would definitely comeback just for the scallops- superb! read more

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I used to love this place. Unfortunately, the food is no longer good. The steak tartare was bitter and the duck breast was completely raw. Management was very kind and did everything they could to help. The staff is great. The ambience is also wonderful. Unfortunately, the food does not match. read more

Bravo! I can proudly now say that we have tasted everything on the menu and every time we are in aww of how each dining experience gets better and better. Always perfect, always consistent!! read more

Food, service, and ambience: all impeccable. Despite being full from our delicious dinner (filet poivre, venison, and duck, we all had to partake in dessert: lemon tart with Marionberry ice cream and chocolate molten lava cake with vanilla ice cream. All delicious and beautifully presented. We were promptly greeted at the front desk and seated right away in the outdoor sidewalk patio. Our server and support staff were all very congenial and hospitable, and as we dined we enjoyed the Santa Barbara cool breezes by romantically lit tables listening to soft music in playing in the background. We look forward to dining here again. read more

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Came here on MLK so it was very quiet and reserved, which was very unusual for DTSB area but it was very enjoyable. I made a reservation for 4 and they offered to seat us outside as the first option (we were fine with this since it was so quiet and they had very nice veranda outside, but was unsure why this was the first seating option). It was not busy at all - a few guests sprinkled throughout the restaurant. We enjoyed sitting outside with a heater lamps and the tables were very well-lit. They provided complimentary baguettes and butter - request more if you order the french onion soup! I absolutely love restaurants that provide complimentary bread and butter. Here's a breakdown of what we ordered: French Onion Soup (1/5): Came in a very cute, tiny pot. The thing is that this tasted more like burnt onion, than like cameralized onion. Cheese was too overdone to a crisp, and wasn't very cheesy at this point. Because it was overcooked, there was hardly any soup in the pot. More onion mush than anything. Maple Glazed Duck Breast & Confit of Thigh (2/5): Did not have any maple flavors and not sure if the duck was supposed to be under-cooked but it was too undercooked to my liking. It almost felt like I was eating it raw. Panned Seared Fresh Pacific Fish (Day of Fish was Sea Bass) (2/5): I've had excellent seabass before and know when it's cooked well. Unfortunately, the sea bass I had at Bouchon lacked so much flavor and almost had a slight fishy aftertaste...we were told by the waiter that the fish is caught in local waters so it should be fresh. The only thing that stood out was the lentils and artichoke hearts sadly. The fish was seared well that the skin was crunch but it just lacked so much flavor and ultimately was not enjoyable. Grilled center-cut american wagyu ribeye (4/5): this was the best dish out of everything we ordered. Delicious and tender and loved bordelaise sauce that was paired with it. It came out exactly how medium rare should come out so extra bonus for that as most restaurants don't know how to perfect a medium rare steak. All in all, amazing service but the dishes seemed to lack too much and quite frankly, I was pretty disappointed. Great vibes and ambience nevertheless, but not sure if I'll be back. read more

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Amazing from the moment we sat down. Impeccable service by Russ and the crew - the food was superb and the wine was delicious. !! Topped it off with the lava cake . Looking forward to going back already. Cheers read more

Wonderful experience. They took us in on a busy Sunday (for my birthday) and we had excellent service and the food was outstanding. They recommended the lamb and it was a good choice. Nice birthday perks too. The owners were very charming and welcoming. read more

Bouchon - Wonderful lamb - French Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

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It's always a top notch meal when you dine at Bouchon Santa Barbara - kind greetings from the host, warm smiles and thoughtful suggestions from staff throughout the meal experience, the attentiveness and kindness you experience here is par for the course along side their delectable menu. My hubs and I have celebrated our wedding anniversary here before and this time our daughter brought us to celebrate an early Mother's day dinner. Here is a list of what we ordered, and I recommend all of it: As starters we had the French Onion soup (warm, cheesy with bold deep flavors), accompanied by the Warm Pecan & Goat Cheese Tart (very tasty) and the Little Gems salad (crisp & fresh). For mains we had the Scallop Trio (each one so well crafted and uniquely delicious, allowing the perfectly seared scallops to remain the focus of each preparation) and the Pan Seared Fresh Pacific Fish (sea bass cooked to perfection, served atop a bed of braised lentils). For dessert we shared the Warm Lemon-Berry cake adorned with Lemon/Marionberry ice cream, crème anglaise & blackberry puree (just slightly sweet and tart, warm and cold, perfect). Wines ordered were Timbre 'Stereophonic' Riesling and the '21 Grassini Articando (Cab-Merlot-Petit Verdi). Everything we ordered was superb and I would order again and again. Highly recommend location for a romantic dinner date, or a special family meal or friends meet up. read more

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Amazing food and service! Went here for my graduation dinner, and had such a special night. I loved everything about Bouchon. read more

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We reserved the Cork Room and it was perfect for our family dinner after our SB courthouse ceremony. Staff was amazing to work with from beginning to end- made our entire experience seamless to plan. Even the pickier eaters in our family enjoyed the menu. Will definitely be returning again when we're in the area! read more

Wow! What an impressive experience! My friend and I went to see 'Seared' at The Lobero (Vic) for his birthday and we wanted to go some place to pay homage to the culinary theme. We picked Bouchon as it was right up the way and had scallops on the menu. When I made the reservation a week earlier, the staff was very thorough, polite and even asked the spelling of our names (super important as my friend's name is usually spelled wrong). When we arrived, the table was set beautifully and there was a birthday card for him! An unexpected yet kind gesture! We did a full course! Bread, scallop trio, pork belly, French onion soup, Wagyu steak, pork chop, lava cake. The bread was delicious! French onion was perfectly flavored with an amazing bake on the cheese. The steak was prepared beautifully and perfectly tender and flavorful. The pork chop was dry but the sauce on the side complimented the meat well and it was not a big deal. The lava cake was amazing with the most decadent vanilla bean ice cream and raspberry sauce! We almost didn't get it because we were full but it was worth being stuffed for! This is a pricey place but well worth it for the quality of food, service, pace of meal, ambiance and charm. They treated us amazing and made my friend feel pretty special on his birthday which was the most meaningful. Shout out to Jason for being such an attentive, polite and professional food server. The host was also very kind and made us feel incredibly welcome. As a bonus to our experience, the actors from the play next door walked by and we got to chat with the lead and take a picture with him! Very cool indeed! Thank you for the great memory! Definitely check this place out if you're looking for a 5-star, classy experience. read more

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We came to Bouchon on New Years Day and had a magnificent time celebrating a birthday as a family. Dave was staffing our table and was both knowledgeable and fun to talk to. From this trip to Santa Barbara, this was by far the best ambience and memorable of any dinner we had. The food was exceptional. We had the crab cakes, tomato carpaccio and a simple green salad to start. I cannot make a single complaint about any of these. The French Onion soup, local sea bass and salmon were our entrees, which we paired with wine that Dave recommended. All in all, it was a 10/10, and we will for sure be back again! read more

Bouchon - French Near Me - Santa Barbara, California

What a wonderful experience. Service is top notch. We dined outside on a lovely evening. The mixed organic sweet greens were so fresh and delicious. The dressing really made it tasty. We shared the trio of scallops and the Dungeness crab cakes. The scallops were amazing. I will admit I am from the east coast and California just doesn't know how to do a crab cake. We finished the evening with the warm blackberry lemon upside down cake. I love dessert and this was one of the best. The cake was not too sweet and it was paired with McConnells ice cream. Very good. I highly recommend this restaurant. Good for date night or with friends. read more

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We ate here in early September and I'm still thinking about the dinner! First off the hostess was dressed beautifully in a bohemian dress (she shared where to find)and was kind as we waited for our table on a busy weekend evening. When we were sat we had the good fortune to have Nicholas as our waiter, also great. I started with the fig and buretta salad-amazing mixture of creamy, sweet and crunchy-enough to share with my dining companions, even though it was so wonderful I could have ate it all myself. I chose the venison and it was perfection. It was some of the best venison I've ever had in my life; previously I was able to get at wonderful restaurant that has since closed-It was my favourite dish at. Everything about it was very delicious, cooked perfectly . My husband had the duck breast and it was also so good and I got a nice glass of wine to go with the venison that Nicholas suggested I think a cab; also a hit! So happy that we waited to dine here definitely worth the wait. Our server Nicholas recommended Scarlet begonia for breakfast which was also delicious and a great recommendation. Thanks for taking such good care of us Santa Barbara. read more

We are here Xmas eve. As appreciative as we are for the people that are working on Christmas Eve not with their families, It took 30min for 1st course. Main course is still not here 35 minutes later . Update: it shows up 40 later cold. One of the most mediocre meals we have had in over a month. We were seated in a trailer type tent there in the street with 10 portable gas lanterns fuel fueling up the place with a gas smell. The desert took 30 more minutes but worth the wait! The service was fine. 50% of the 1st course were amazing and other half not worth eating. Too bad, we love the Yountville location. read more

I came here 5 years with my then boyfriend and wanted to come here now after we got married to reminiscence the past and go full circle. My husband said we should try this place out again bc he recalled me saying it was the best duck I've had and that if i liked it so much we should go back. TLDR; I shouldn't have gone back! We ordered the French onion soup and the jumbo scallop trio and those were honestly the star of the show. My husband got the ribeye steak and his was good enough. However, when my duck came out it was black. The skin was charred to a crisp and I was surprised a restaurant of this caliber would serve me a clearly burnt dish. I made sure it wasn't just me and looked on Yelp to see other recent photos of duck plates and theirs were not burnt like mine was. It's crazy that they say the recipe hasn't changed for over 25+ years but clearly it has! It took me much courage to send the duck back and they came back with a perfectly seared duck this time. But the inside was completely raw/rare. I was really shocked that i couldn't just get a duck breast cooked through like how most places do. And I'm a huge duck breast fan so I've eaten many places all over SoCal and in Paris when I visited last summer, so I think I know my duck! My husband took the next turn to send it back and it finally came back cooked through. But by that time, my husband had finished his food and I was no longer in the mood for mine. The duck was not delicious as I remembered and the entire experience was something I couldn't believe had occurred. My last experience here 5 years was amazing and I loved the duck so much. I was sorely disappointed by the quality of food here and the lacking consistency. We paid over $250+ just for mediocre food and a wholly unpleasant experience. I wish I could get our money back and erase the memory of this experience from my mind. The only plus is the ambiance is beautiful and we were able to be seated with a great view outside. It was also our anniversary dinner and they did not give us any desserts and sent us packing. I totally would not recommend this restaurant to anyone. read more

(Overall: 90% | A) - I found the outdoor patio area to be very cute and the service to be of a high bar. With food like the venison, this was a really enjoyable experience! (Venison: 102.5% | A+) - I really love the cook on the venison.. it had a crispy edge with a buttery interior. The choice of potatoes were varied, which was wise to add diversity to the dish. However, the puree and sauce simply carried the flavors with a strong command in flavor that highlighted the earthiness from the venison! Phenomenal dish. (Pork Belly 65% | D) - Unfortunately, I found this pork belly to be overly trimmed to the point where the lack of fat does not allow the pork to build flavor and retain moisture. The dish is paired with a blood orange demi which sounds great in practice, but none of those flavors really cane through. Ultimately, the individual garnish was relatively nice, but the dish did not come through for an$26 appetizer. (Bread and Butter: 95% | A) - The bread was crispy, warm, and fresh! Very nice filler to complement this meal. read more

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My wife and I chose this restaurant to celebrate our 8 year anniversary. I had eaten here some 15 years ago. Although I could not remember what I had tried, I recall it being a positive experience. For starters, we chose the Forest Mushroom Ragout. For our entrees, my wife chose the Pan-Seared Pacific Fish, which happened to be the local seabass, I opted to go with the Grilled Center-Cut American Wagyu Ribeye. We shared the roasted brussels sprouts and, for dessert, selected the warm blackberry-lemon upside down cake. The mushroom ragout was creamy, oh, so buttery. Our entrees were cooked to perfection and seasoned just right. My steak was juicy and tender. We both loved our dessert. We washed down our meal with a glass of Chanin Chardonnay and ABC Pinot Noir. Their service and hospitality were terrific as the restaurant had a nice card and rose pedals on our table. read more

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Service was not great. Let us sit at our table for 15 minutes before we got up and left and that was with an appointment on the books. The table next to us stated that they had a delicious meal but we're also waiting for the check. read more

Took the wifee for her Birthday the last 2 years. She had the duck again and I had the roasted chicken. Both we excellent. The barrata salad was a little disappointing. The chocolate soufflé cake with ice cream is the bomb. The waiter is also fantastic. Thanks again for making my decision where to go easy. See ya next year. read more

A lovely spot. It was a quiet evening when we arrived. Sat outside (with great heaters). Our server, Keiser, was superb. He magically appeared each time we were close to needing something: more butter (for that delicious warm bread), more water, a question about dessert.... very professional. Our hostess, whose name I don't know, was pleasant and so hepful. The food was EXCELLENT! The seasonal persimmon and buratta salad was so well dressed. My husband had the duck and I had the tuna tartare. We both were delighted with the quality and the presentation was beautiful. Desert was warm blackberry upside down cake, accompanied by great coffee. Oh! I forgot! Keiser also knows a thing or two about wine...he recommended a Melville Syrah that was an excellent accompaniment to our most luscious meal. Thank you Bouchon! read more

Had previously made a reservation for dinner for Saturday night but still had to wait about 30 minutes. Inside ambiance was good. We sat outside to enjoy the nice weather. There're slot of cars go by so I recommend sitting inside. Staff were friendly. It took them along time to bring our food so they gave us free bread and butter. My wife had the fish of the day and loved it. I ordered the ribeye medium rare. It came with crusty on top and medium- inside. The crispy part tasted like burnt butter. It was ok but not the way I expected. If you're a steak eater, order something else. Otherwise ok. We also ordered wine and appetizers. The salad with pistachios was very good. Wine was reasonably priced for Santa Barbara. read more