Holy cow! There's a reason Lilac has an average of 4.6 stars as I write this review. We spent two nights in Montecito recently and ran across Lilac as a breakfast place just by accident. It's one of my most pleasant "accidents." The atmosphere is wonderful - bright, airy, comfortable, clean, and with some soft jazz wafting over the sound system. Music was loud enough to be comforting, soft enough to never interfere with conversation. Service was spectacular both mornings. First morning, I had eggs with country potatoes and chicken apple sausage. Everything was great. I'm picky about needing the whites of my eggs firm, and these were perfect. Potatoes, with the peppers and onion were cooked perfectly, as well. The sausage was delicious. Day two, my wife and I both had the Huevos Rancheros. Again, cooked perfectly and served atop black beans and marvelously crispy tortilla. I have no idea how they made the sauce, but it was not your traditional red sauce - more pink with just a hint of heat and still retaining the excellent tomato flavor. Best I've ever eaten, in no small part because they were very interesting. Located on Coast Village Road so it's easy to find. Do yourself a favor and stop here for breakfast. read more

Newer restaurant in Montecito with Sunday brunch that is worth a visit. I ordered two entrees as everything sounded so exciting. I can't stop thinking about the stack of cakes with berries & cream. Yum, yum. Service was efficient and a fun place to people watch and sip local wines. read more

I had 5 meals here on our trip to SB. Delicious GF food, lovely ambiance and friendly servers! Would highly recommend!

Never have I ever been able to eat everything at a restaurant, and especially not with the wide variety of gluten free options. The French toast was delicious - almost more of a dessert - infused with orange zest and served with the freshest fruit and crème. I took a blueberry muffin to go and can't wait to try it. read more

This place is expensive and had bad service and dishonest. I paid $35 for the tiniest lunch portion of chicken fettuccine alfredo for my daughter, along with2 other means. Got terrible service, we were there for hours waiting fur our food, had to get up multiple times to look for someone to ask for things. Left a 20% tip despite all of this . Then i get home and look at the receipt and I see they added a 20% "large party" tip to our bill automatically before I left a tip. There were 3 of us. Completely shady and dishonest to do this IMO. Especially when I know they added an auto tip because they knew they gave us terrible service. But the norm to add a tip to a party of 3 without telling the customer!!! This place sucks, do not recommend. read more

Took my boyfriend here for his birthday and he said it was the best gluten free restaurant I've ever taken him to! I'm celiac and having a safe kitchen is so amazing, highly recommend! Great food, atmosphere and staff. read more

Lilac Montecito - Chicken Marsala - Modern European Near Me - Montecito, California

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The food was wonderful, our waiter was fantastic, and the ambiance in the restaurant was great! Will definitely return!

Everything about Lilac was amazing. The staff was exceptionally helpful and friendly. They went out of their way to ensure that we had a wonderful anniversary meal. But the best thing of all was that EVERYTHING is gluten free. You can't order gluten if you try. I was able to watch my wife eat bread before the meal and choose whatever she wanted from the menu without having to ask about making it gluten free. From appetizers to dinner to dessert (and drinks along the way), everything was perfect. It's an hour and a half drive, but we are already planning our next trip out. read more

We popped in here for an early lunch on a Wednesday. We were seated quickly and found out that this is an entirely gluten free establishment. We found the food to be of excellent quality as was the service. I had the smoked salmon breakfast and I added an egg. So fresh and appetizing not to mention delicious. It was quite large and could easily be shared by two people. My husband had the huevoa rancheros which he enjoyed and my daughter had the avo toast and added an egg. The eggs were so fresh and scrambled really well. Fluffy and light. We ended with sharing a lemon bar and a brownie. Both were outstanding but in my mind the brownie was the clear winner. Although none of us follow a gluten free diet, we all found the food to be fresh and delicious and we will be back on our next trip out here. I would imagine parking can be hard in the busy season but as it was winter, we had no problem finding a spot. read more

Just walked in since Jeanine was too crowded. Great food! Amazing staff. Nice interiors.

Best in town for breakfast. Food was great. Like a European bistro with friendly service

Beautiful restaurant (more like a bistro). Limited menu but food was tasty. Service was just good; not excellent. Good option if you want a light lunch. read more

Lilac Montecito - Their berry cake is good. - Modern European Near Me - Montecito, California

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Delicious food and delightful ambiance. A new favorite. Veggie sandwich, Quiche Lorraine, both great. Attentive service. Nice relaxing music. read more

Cute place and friendly staff we will go back. We also bought our group of girls coffee and they loved it : )

My friends and I love to come for brunch at Lilac. It's our new go to spot in Montecito. Love to get the traditional breakfast and lemon bars read more

Nice place, quiet and easy to find parking The most important thing is that one person present had celiac disease and is highly sensitive. In this restaurant all the food, everything in the bldg was gluten-free, so if that's you, this is the place to go. As for the rest of us, we enjoyed a nice meal with elegant service. I could see returning for pastries and coffee even by ourselves read more

The new Montecito Lilac has beautiful ambiance, lovely staff and of course, their magnificent pastries, as they do in Santa Barbara. And that's where the 5* review stops. I am happy that they are trying a new shop and full menu service, so I was excited to go with a group for lunch. The menu looks great, with lots of options. Unfortunately, all of us thought the food was extremely bland and lacked seasoning. We had four different options, so we had a selection to review. I had the hot chicken sandwich, which was served on their lovely house bread - that was the best part of the dish! Well, actually, the chicken breast was also cooked perfectly! But the vegetables and pesto were so bland as to not add any flavor at all to the dish. Had to add salt and pepper to get any taste to come up at all. I had asked if it was a 'knife & fork' dish, and the waitress said no, it could be eaten hand-held. Good luck with that! Veggies are slippery and the chicken slipped in the opposite direction and the bread was dry on the top piece and very soggy due to the cooked veggies on the bottom slice. Knife and fork only for this dish! Another friend had the breakfast sandwich. Same bread and great sounding ingredients but again, he said no flavor at all - even the bacon! At least he could eat it like a sandwich, if he wanted to (which he did!) One person had the quiche Lorraine and she was pretty happy with her dish, although she wanted a different salad instead of the house, and they were going to charge for a half salad. That's understandable, so she went with the house, which she said didn't even have dressing on it, but was at least fresh. Our final dish was a soup and sandwich combo. Same complaint with the soup of the day, which was a tomato based vegetable soup - no flavor at all. And the sandwich, toasted cheese, got a thumbs up. I will go again, but stick to the pastries and coffee, both of which are great. I think they need to work on the regular food side of things a bit more - at least for our group! read more

Had a really enjoyable meal, the food was good and my family that can eat gluten didn't feel like they were missing anything and especially enjoyed their appetizers. We enjoyed the nice outside patio and appreciated the bread before our appetizers came. I was extra excited to be able to get the pomes frites as gluten free fryers can be hard to find. It's definitely pricier than the cafe in Santa Barbara and has a more upscale vibe but I plan to return to both in the future. read more

Lilac Montecito - Ravioli dish - Modern European Near Me - Montecito, California

I've loved everything I've tried here. The stag is friendly and accommodating. The location and ambience is beautiful

Excellent food and excellent service. One of my favorite restaurants in Montecito. I highly recommend going here. All the food is gluten-free and it's delicious. read more

Horrible service. Took long time to serve water. Waitress didn't smile at all and took a long time to order. Asked for drink refill and Busboy came back with wrong drink and insisted that it was the drink I ordered. Didn't even notify me that refill isn't free until I noticed it on the bill. Will never come back to this place again. read more

Had the lamb the other night and it was so fantastic. Perfectly cooked and amazing flavor. Love the rolls they bring out before the meal also and their chicken caeser salad. read more

Great food, excellent service and serves breakfast thru 3PM! I had the Farmer's Omelette and my wife had the Veggie Omelette. They were both delicious. Special shout out to our server, Juan for quick service, making us feel welcome and taken care of. read more

My wife and I had a wonderful dining experience. The vegetarian soup was delicious as was the steak frites which was savory, tender, and cooked to perfection. My wife loved the salmon. The service was perfect with just the right balance of attentiveness and not interrupting our conversation. The environment is comfortable with excellent outdoor heating and a modern elegant clean decor. We are definitely returning and will recommend to our friends. read more

Nice clean setup. The food was good. We had salade niçoise and a hamburger. They were delicious. The service was excellent.

Great place, great food and excellent service. The latte is delicious and the gluten free bread is yummy. Grab a seat outdoors!

my wife and I stumbled upon this intimate restaurant in Montecito .No reservations but they were still able to seat us promptly . They first brought out the most amazing freshly baked biscuits with equally amazing butter . My wife had the Branzino and I had the crispy skin salmon both were perfection. Next time I'll skip the biscuits and butter and save room for one of the housemade desserts. read more

The house made smoked salmon with poached eggs for breakfast was beyond YUM !!!! Came 2 days in a row for it.

Wonderful. Everything is gluten free,if that's something you're concerned about. Pricey but very good. Ver lovely staff.

love the location and feel of the place. we came here for a sunday brunch and enjoyed some mimosas. butterfly beach is right around the corner so we also enjoyed a hot girl walk. the brunch was not extraordinary but we were satisfied. read more

Lilac Montecito - eggs benedict, mimosas, breakfast platter - Modern European Near Me - Montecito, California

lovely spot for nice relaxing dinner . The staff was very welcoming and attentive. Shortly after we placed our drink order, they offered a variety of warm rolls to choose from . burrata Salad paired with beets , chicken marsala, and fettuccine Alfredo read more

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We were at a Birthday party celebration so a good size party. Service was on point, very attentive and knowledgeable. The Food, although small portions.. were pretty tasty. The lasagne was very good. read more

Amazing gluten free restaurant including free gluten free rolls brought to the table, gluten free entrees, and all desserts gluten free.

The French Toast was very very bland with no flavor would not reccomend, service was just okay - below average in our experience, but the coffee was good tasting + sized and the breakfast sandwich as another option was a better choice than FT. Better looking restaurant ambiance wise for sure than the culinary dishes themselves (taste comparison wise). read more

Amazing, delicious, and elevated. Have been several times and will continue to go. All the food is amazing. Not a bad remark to be made.

Speechless about the customer service! Owner be aware! Waiter and waitress both need to be retrained. Worst dining experience ever.

Just had Mother's Day dinner and it was insanely good. Sweet and sour cauliflower (wow) and fried calamari appetizers, followed by crispy skin salmon, steak frites and branzino. Everything was delicious. The key lime tart was also delicious. Service was excellent and timely... Fernanda was truly a gem. We LOVED the entire experience. read more

Quality, quality and quality. All pastas are handmade in-house at the Lilac Montecito restaurant. This restaurant has an Italian in the kitchen creating the dishes unlike all the fake Italian restaurants in Montecito. Lilac Montecito is a "Breath Of Fresh Air," to Ca Dario steps away. Thank you Lilac Montecito for bringing quality to Coast Village Road, Montecito. Enjoy! read more

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Great atmosphere and amazing aesthetic. Servers were very professional and attentive. Food is also definitely worth the price and is delicious. read more

My family and I had dinner at Lilac Montecito last Sunday and absolutely loved it! The food was delicious and the presentation was top notch! Everything we ordered tasted and looked amazing. They have a good selection of wines and gluten free beers. Deserts were decedent and that was no surprise since we have already tasted them at their state street location. We are very happy with the service too. Johnny was our server and he went above and beyond to make our dining experience enjoyable. Also Alam, the owner stopped by our table to chat with us for a bit and he was very kind and friendly. The place was decorated beautifully and we loved the table placement and the lighting. It gave a very beautiful and elegant look to the restaurant. I highly recommend Lilac Montecito to anyone! read more

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