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    Happy Cat Eats

    4.6 (163 reviews)
    Closed 8:00 am - 6:30 pm

    Happy Cat Eats Photos

    HAPPY CAT EATS ATMOSPHERE

    What's the vibe?
    Moderate noise
    Hipster
    Casual
    Touristy

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    Wow burger
    Thor M.

    Happy Cat is right on Cabrillo, across the road from the beach. You walk up and order your food and they deliver it to your table. It's all outside dining. The employees were very friendly and helpful. Great service!! I had the Now Burger and my wife had the fish tacos. The fish tacos were some of the finest that I have ever eaten. Large piece of perfectly cooked fish and plenty of very flavorful slaw. The hamburger was huge with a double smashed patties. It was fabulous. The fries were extra but they were incredible. Overall, it was a great meal.

    Bfast burrito
    Heather M.

    Amazing!! Such a creative menu! Ordered to go and it was ready in 15 minutes. When the bag was handed to me I couldn't believe how heavy it was for two $13 breakfast burritos! Wow! Bigger then a remote and thicker then an arm! These burritos were stuffed with egg, carnitas, potatoes, and... Mac'n'cheese! Like a really creamy cheesy Mac! The tortilla is perfect and grilled to a nice crisp. Top it with the green sauce and it's killer! One burrito feed 4 big appetites!! We have a whole burrito for another day!!!

    Lauren S.

    Coffee shop and bites along the beach. Stunning views, decent amount of seating considering location and how popular they are. It's a convenient and cute spot to stop at if you're having a hankering for food and enjoy a touristy area. Despite the long line, the staff works quickly to take and driver orders in a timely manner. Also what a CUTE NAME!

    Chinese salad - tasty and good portions
    Hiromi R.

    *Rating this experience with a child & grandparent* This spot was recommended to us by the lovely people at the Santa Barbara Visitor Center. We learned that this casual, beachside walk-up restaurant is the sister concept to the upscale restaurant of Oku, a sushi restaurant. Menus are different but has the same owner, so it has a similar concept and plays with flavors of umami well. We ordered the chicken bao tacos, Chinese chicken salad, and a kids meal hot dog. We really enjoyed those tacos! I loved the Asian flare of the chicken, and that it was served in a bao. The salad was big in portion and tasted fresh. A good way to get some crunchy greens in! The kids meal hot dog was, well, a hot dog! I appreciated that they had a kids meal. We loved the causal vibe of this place. Right by the ocean, sand as part of their decor, and open seating concept. Will come back here for another visit!

    Shrimp po boy, lychee lemonade, cinnamon roll
    Amanda L.

    You can't beat sitting near the beach with good food during a nice warm Santa Barbara day. I love the outdoor seating and how you get a beautiful view of the coastline. The shrimp po boy was somewhat small but without enough shrimp for every bite. It was perfectly fried, not overcooked. The slaw was fresh and the sauce helped punch up the flavor. The lychee lemonade was refreshing, a bit sweet so I definitely recommend getting the version with alcohol. The cinnamon roll was tasty and soft. Great frosting. They have a great menu filled with street food. There is a lot of variety, I can't wait to come back. Parking is tricky. I ended up walking over from the Funk Zone.

    Sushi Sando
    Morgan B.

    Happy Eats Cafe is centered around outdoor dining. You walk up to a register, order, and find a seat while you wait with your number. They had lots of yummy items to choose from. We got two of the sushi sandos. SUPER good. I would come back to try other things! It was very nice, right by the water.

    Mac and cheese breakfast burrito with pork belly. NA  BEER
    Shawn B.

    What went well---EVERYTHING! I can't say enough about how great it is to eat right on the main beach walk. Great views and patio. The person at the service window was really friendly and suggested I get a box because the burrito is really big. I've never had a Mac and cheese burrito before and it was fantastic.

    Ashley S.

    Wow this place is awesome! Food is great! The service is a bit slow but the food is tasty! The ambience is nice because it is in front of the beach but we had a bus stop in front and was a bit loud for a bit!

    shrimp po' boy
    Melissa W.

    This place is so good! We ate here 2 of the 3 days that we were in Santa Barbara! Love the fish tacos and shrimp po' boy! Slaw on top was excellent and fish and shrimp were crispy and seasoned well! Seating was casual with a beautiful view of the beach.

    Happy Cat Eats
    Liz G.

    Happy Cat Eats is great! My husband and I stopped by for lunch after visiting to Art Walk. He ordered a smash burger and I had the soy burger with cheese. We shared fries. Both enjoyed our meals. We sat outside and it was a beautiful day for it...a bit crowded. Service was good. You order at the window and they give you a number and bring the food to your table when it's ready. It's very casual, very efficient, a good place to grab a bite.

    Everyday happy hour 4-6PM
    Joaquin M.

    We just arrived. Ordered food. Weather and the view are beautiful. So far the service is great. Staff is polite and very welcoming.

    The delicious food options from Happy Cat Eats
    Celina O.

    We loved this wonderful waterfront restaurant and were pleasantly surprised to hear that Happy Cat Eats and Oku Restaurant have the same founders! The ambiance was absolutely stunning, the staff was friendly and attentive, this spot is budget friendly and we absolutely loved the variety of delicious bites and drinks!

    Chinese Chicken Salad
    Brent Y.

    My wife and I ordered the Chinese Chicken Salad and the Sushi Sando and split both, which worked out perfectly. After reading that the Sando was shareable, I definitely agree because I don't think I could have finished it on my own. The salad was great, with perfectly crispy wonton strips, tender/flavorful chicken and a really good dressing. The Sushi Sando was super unique and unlike anything I've had before. Crispy rice as the "bun" with crab meat, tuna, and seaweed salad inside made for such a fun and delicious combination. Both dishes were light and refreshing. My 5-year-old had the hot dog and it was surprisingly high quality and a really good size. It was served on a Hawaiian roll with a great-quality dog, and since he's pretty picky, the fact that he ate the whole thing says a lot. Overall, it was a great experience. The ocean is right across the street, so the view is a huge bonus, and we also really appreciated how clean the restrooms were. Note: You order at a window and the servers bring your food to you. There's a free 75-minute parking lot down the alley, or you can try parking across the street.

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    4.5
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    Gas. Come here…read more Smoked BBQ Bacon Smashburger - 10/10 Delicious. $15 for a very tasty burger. The onion strings on it, the bacon, the barbecue sauce, and the patties themselves, really really good. The pickles were also DELICIOUS. Like it's rare for pickles to taste different, and these did in an amazing way. Their ranch isn't my favorite, personally. Fries - 10/10 Unfortunately have to buy them as a side to the burger (don't come with). A small was more than enough and I think they were roughly $5 or so. Tasted absolutely amazing though, they did them really well. Pepperoni pizza - 6.5/10 Solid, but probably wouldn't get it again. $22 and was an underwhelming size when I opened the box. Not much sauce, but decent bread and solid pepperoni. Forgettable though. Brown butter chocolate chip cookie - 5/10 Meh. Wouldn't get again. $4 I think? Spend roughly $50 on the 4 things, so a bit expensive, but granted I got a lot. Ambiance is so-so, but that depends on what you like. It's sit down at large benches where other parties can sit as well. There are some smaller 2 person tables and 4 person bench like tables as well. Expected for a brewery though. Nice that they had options. It's largely outdoors which is nice. I'd definitely come back here again.

    This is our favorite restaurant in Santa Barbara. Here is why:…read more 1) They have a peanut butter and jelly hamburger. 2) The burgers are smash burgers. 3) Great prices. 4) Different and diverse types of food offerings depending on the day (the burnt ends on Saturday were great). 5) Live music and events (when we went, they had World Cup watch parties). 6) The water is free and super good. 7) Family friendly but also good place to chill with friends or a date. The wait times are a little long but I like to think they're being very careful with preparing our food. Parking can be challenging depending on time of day but there is street parking. Besides the parking, my only gripe is that I came here three times for the PB and J burger, and they do not sell it right when they open, and the kitchen closes at 9 PM.

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    Original burger
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    Saison 5/5 Oct 2025
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    Fried and house sauce
    Shalhoob's Funk Zone Patio

    Shalhoob's Funk Zone Patio

    4.3
    (698 reviews)
    0.3 mi
    $$

    I'm a first timer here ! Excited…read more I got the Santa barber burger with a side of fries , and a Arnold Palmer drink Fries , and loaded nachos , and the ribs are very tasty . There is a lot of parking available next to the outside seating . Great customer service, very nice and welcoming sat us right away , not waiting time , they assisted us with cleaning the table's Clean environment, very bright , tv outside and the water jug if you need water all near by . They have shakes and smoothies choices of strawberries, mango and banana , also chocolate and cookies N Cream . They have heat warmers outside if needed . Well recommended to friends and family Definitely will be returning back here when I'm around the city .

    Stopped by this place on a recent visit to Santa Barbara…read more Not a lot of positive to say, but not bad enough to give it one star. That's for the worst of the worst. There was an indoor area, and we didn't know at the time, but there are separate outdoor waiter service areas and counter service. We did counter service. There were two people at registers. There was literally no one in front of us and no marked nor even obvious line area. Naturally we stand a few feet in front of one of the registers waiting for her to say, "can I help you" before we move to. Instead the woman (to make it worse, I think she was the patio manager because she was older than the others and seemed to be doing more things than just working a register) gives us the, "I need you to wait in the line area over there" and points to a barrel with no indication that it's a line. You know like the old David Spade skit. This already left a bad taste in my mouth because again there was no line marked, no one waiting, and it's not like we got up in her space or were being pushy. She was just power tripping. To make it worse, we came here because they literally have "full bar" painted on the outside of the building, and the other places around are mostly wine bars or beer gardens. BUT (keep reading)... One of the young people working calls us from the "line of just us" to help us (because of course the other woman wasn't going to). They have 3 specialty margaritas listed. I ask if I can just get a "regular margarita". She says "no because they only sell pre-made drinks". Uh, what about the FULL BAR? Then we sit down. They have a few long picnic bench style tables. They all had a party at them but they were big so we asked a group if we could share the opposite end. The other customers were cool and had no problem with it. BUT... There were no napkins nor condiments. When our food arrived, it was mediocre. We left unhappy but didn't make a fuss. As we were leaving, the power tripping woman thanked us for coming as if she hadn't just been a total B to us for no reason.

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    1/2 lb Tri-Tip w/ side of fries and Mac & Cheese
    Nook

    Nook

    4.1
    (296 reviews)
    0.2 mi
    $$

    Over all these years, I have avoided the Funky Zone for various silly reasons. But for a while now,…read morewhen I visit my friend's auto repair shop downtown, he always gets Turkey Burgers from here. Always looking for places to have solo lunch, I finally ventured to FZ. There's no sign. I drove by several times and parked, determined to find it. It was next to Lama Dog. I ordered at the window from a very friendly and efficient staff member. I found a nice bar-height communal table inside a super cool restored warehouse with awesome indie music jamming, also surrounded by big screens and sporting events. I ordered a bottled Arnold Palmer from the bar, not realizing the bottled drinks are self-serve. Nevertheless, the bartender kindly got it for me along with a glass of ice. Now here's the best part: the very best Turkey Burger I have ever had--way better than any take-out before. It's topped with garlic aioli, avocado, melted cheese, lettuce, tomato, and crispy skinny onion rings, just perfect. I also ordered the fries with truffle and Parmesan--absolutely delicious, though a bit too flavorful, which overshadowed the turkey burger's flavor. I've tried both sweet and regular potato fries here, and they are excellent too. This place really hits the spot. Can't wait to come back.

    We stopped by Lama Dog for a drink and were very happy to find this little "nook" inside serving…read morefood. Perfect for grabbing a bite to go with your beer. Got their Lobster Mac & Cheese. Was enough for us to share between two. Creamy and cheesy, but could've used more lobster. Would've expected a better lobster to macaroni ratio with this one. Prices are a little steeper here. It was $25 for the Lobster mac & cheese, which I would've been more open to with a bit more fish in the dish. Plus, when I go to grab a beer, I'm not necessarily wanting to pay $20+ for a burger without fries. That being said, it's still a good spot to grab some food while drinking a beer at Lama Dog.

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    Turkey Burger and Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich
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    Happy Cat Eats - burgers - Updated June 2026

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