Situated in the Santa Barbara Farmers Market complex, Empty Bowl is an inviting space where you can…read moresit right at the bar and watch the wok action. Service is friendly and the food well prepared. Menu options are limited, but everything is delicious. Recommend going at happy hour. There's usually a special offer.

The service was really fast, which was nice. Big portion for a little less than last half for…read moreleftovers. However, I didn't love the Beef Thai Pho, not enough of the filet and too many beefballs and really strong favored beefiness of the broth that almost overpowered the rest of the dish. I wish I would've gotten the fried rice, had a bite if my friends and that was yummy but also only available on Mondays. Thai tea was great, really strong flavor.

Arrived here on a Saturday night, driving back from Solvang. It was a bit chilly, so it was a…read moreperfect time to get some ramen. Got seated pretty quickly, where there are various heaters to ensure comfort. Drinks were served pretty quickly. Ordered the Black Ramen (made with Black Garlic Oil) for 19.50, solid price. I enjoy the choices of meat that you can choose from, which I chose Pork Belly, and added an egg to mine. Didn't take too long for the food to come out, everything was really fresh and tasted well. The pork belly was a nice chunk too (I had expected it was going to be smaller). The broth was very delicious, which I killed the entire bowl. With the check, they also give mini Hi-Chews. Overall, great food, great seating, great service. Much Better ramen than some chain restaurants.

Stopped here recently with my family on our trip to Santa Barbara and Solvang. Any place serving…read moreramen and sushi is a safe bet since these are my kids' favorites. I think this place is much better with its ramen than sushi items, however. I really liked my tsukemen (dipping ramen) but the sushi items my family ordered were just ok. Tsukemen broth was excellent and better tasting than ones I had in the past. The broth had little bit of sweetness which contrasted well with its rich fish broth and tonkotsu broth. It was served with thick noodles, green onions, spinach, bean sprouts, baboon shoots and soft boiled egg. Protein options are pork shoulder, pork belly, or chicken. I went with pork belly, which seemed to be a very good option. My wife and kids ordered a chirashi bowl, poke bowl, and California roll. These tasted rather standard, and the chirashi bowl just tasted very monotone. It was missing something, although I can't pinpoint what it is. Service was good and fairly efficient. This place only has patio dining.

Solid spot with great asian fusion food. The baos are really quite tasty, but not as tasty as some…read moreof the even more unique dishes. The Scallops on a half shell are probably the best dish, the dumplings are fantastic, the fried rice is very good, and the crab hand rolls are absolutely amazing! Service was kind and efficient, drinks were good, but would love some more options, and the vibes were on point for this spot. Glad it's there, and hope to see it continue to thrive.

Food: 4.5 We got…read more Kung pao cauliflower: 4 Flavor was really good and love the crunch of the peanuts but just a bit too salty. Chili crunch dumplings: 5 I love my dumplings and this is up there!! This was probably our favorite item. Would've gotten 2 orders looking back. Curry noodles w/ crab: 5 Amazing flavor. Loved the noodle texture. More soupy. Crab was a nice addition, a decent portion. Not shredded or small chunks but also not the most supple crab pieces either. But was happy that we added! Service: 10/5!!! Kathleen was amazing. So so nice. We originally had a different order but we kept going back and forth on items. Kathleen was not only helpful in helping us decide but came back to our table right before they started cooking and asked if we wanted to change our order only because the curry might give more contrast to our other items. I thought that was just so incredibly kind and really showed how she was invested in our experience. This is why I really wanted to write this review! Ambiance 5/5: Open kitchen is really nice and like that they had outdoor area. Garage parking next door too that wasn't too pricy. Overalls cute decor and clean space.

The owner of the place was very nice and was very helpful when it came to choosing our dishes. Her…read morehospitality was amazing. She remembers customers and is very friendly. I got the Dan Dan noodles and it was really good! The peppers will make you cough and sneeze, but I think it's worth it. If I lived here, I would 100% come back again just because of the owner's friendly attitude.

Cozy old school interior with friendly staff…read more I ordered the Triple Delight lunch special. The serving size was generous. Very Americanized food with heavy use of MSG. Beef was unfortunately inedible, shrimp was average and chicken was okay but tasted like warmed up chicken so not the best. Veggies were okay though the zucchini tasted a bit sour. Rice side was okay and egg roll was okay. Fried wonton was tasty. Soup was okay. Overall, I have had much better quality lunch specials at Chinese restaurants. Food was a bit below average in taste and quality. The lunch special price was cheaper than average for California. There were Chinese customers dining and I noticed they were not getting the lunch special. I was only given the lunch special menu so I guess they assume that if you are not Chinese you are going to order the lunch special?

Great family homemade Vietnamese authentic food. The…read morebulgogi bahn mi is delicious. It's a hit spiced but very flavorful and fresh. Also the pho is so tasty and heavy pour The parking is free for 75 min in the adjacent lot. It's hard to find the space so look for unit 10

Food was great. Pho tasted like it had very clean ingredients, no MSG. Beef stew and banh mi also…read morevery good! The portions are small and expensive but it's a gem to find a good pho place in SB. They do show you the bowl size when you order. The service was great.

Dined in today for lunch (I usually get to-go). Loved the tunes. Today was very 80's so I felt like…read moreI was back in college, although The Blue Owl wasn't there when I went to school. The vegan menu keeps growing! I ordered my favorite, the Mango Mint salad, but noticed that the dressing is Miso based. We also ordered the Vegan Sweetheart Burrito, Vegan Bahn-Mi, & Vegan Nam Toc Burrito. Thumbs up, or should I say 5 stars, to all of the good. A Side salad or chips came with everyone's order except for the salad. Friendly staff, plenty of indoor and outdoor (parklet) seating. Fun decor as well.

So unfortunate that this place has gone so far downhill in recent times. Last three times i have…read morebeen here i got a bad stomach ache. I think its the lettuce. A prices have done nothing but go up. Spent $42 on a meal for two, no drinks or sides just two mains. Crazy. The wait staff is more and more aloof, but they do an acceptable job. I enjoy the live music and i'll be honest the food does taste good, but a $42 tummy ache for two ain't worth it! They do serve espresso in case you want to feel the tummy ache immediately instead of waiting until the next day, at least that's an option!

We came in with a group of friends from our cruise ship to try Pho and Ramen. I used yelp to get…read moredirections. It was hard to find as this restaurant is a combination of Vietnamese Pho and Ramen. There were some tables outside and a customer informed us this is the right place we were looking for. Our waiter arranged a table for us as we had a group of seven. The service was friendly and immensely helpful as we looked at the menu that has two sides, one for pho and another for ramen. Dishes came out hot and delicious and our group really enjoyed the meal.

First time ordering from here. The food is delicious…read more When we visit Santa Barbara again, we will definitely reorder. We had soft shell crab, shrimp tempura, pho and vermicelli We will definitely return

My husband and I were looking forward to trying Nikka based on the reviews, and we were not…read moredisappointed. It's a relaxing and casual ramen shop that also offers sushi and rice bowls, so you get plenty of options! Their broth is cooked for 24 hours, so the flavors were deep and super creamy. They're also pretty generous with the protein! My husband ordered extra, as we assumed there might not be enough (our usual experience at other ramen shops), but we definitely did not need it! I was sad that I couldn't finish my bowl - I was already stuffed halfway through! The pork shoulder and pork belly were so tender and fell right apart. The staff were very nice, welcoming and provided quick service.

Came in for an early dinner and thank goodness we did because it fills up fast…read more Ordered their special that day (forgot what it was...) and the ramen salad. Both very generous portions and very good service! In my opinion, their broth is a little on the saltier side. The texture of the noodle was great but taking a spoon full of the noodle with soup was too salty for me. The ramen salad is a good sized portion with noodles and lots of green and pork. The idea is a little weird but works? Would get if it was I wanted something on the lighter side