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.

Located inside of Santa Barbara Public Market, Empty Bowl is located towards the center of the…read moremarket. They offer Thai dishes including noodle bowls, small plates, and handmade dumplings. We got the Northern Thailand Curry Noodles "Khao Soi" and the Tom Yum Noodles. The Khao Soi had egg noodles and chicken in a curry base broth with coconut milk, fish sauce, pickled mustard greens, cilantro, green onions, and housemade chili oil. They also give you crispy egg noodles to put on top. I appreciated that they wrapped this separately in foil, so they didn't get soggy right away! The chicken pieces were quite large, but overall the broth was tasty! I enjoyed the Tom Yum Noodles! For these, they use flat wheat noodles with Thai chili paste, bunashimeji mushrooms, white button mushrooms, fish sauce, red jalapeño, galangal herb, makrut lime leaves, lemongrass, cherry tomatoes, and cilantro. I chose chicken for my protein. The tom yum flavor really came through! They also give a pretty big portion! Since they are located in a food hall, you can sit at any of the tables. Empty Bowl will give you a pager, so you know when to return to the counter to pick up your food.

We were exploring Santa Barbara for the day, and by 9 PM we finally got hungry. We were looking for…read morea Thai restaurant, but by then they were no longer taking dine-in orders, so we couldn't eat there. Luckily, we found this ramen place nearby. It was the perfect meal for a quite windy night. The portions were generous, and the staff were very friendly! We're so glad we decided to eat at Craft Ramen. I would definitely recommend everyone to give it a try.

I'm just going to sum this up in two words: Not bad…read more I came on 4th of July. The whole downtown area was packed, especially on a weekend night. I came here for a late night dinner. They seated me and my party including my doggie. I got the black garlic ramen with an addition of a soft boiled egg. The broth was tasty and I found the egg to be creamy. I feel that this ramen was filling since I didn't finish it.

Omg where do I begin??! Hands down one of my favorites restaurants in Santa Barbara. I got the…read moreSangria cocktail which was so fruity and delicious! Then I also ordered the KFC and the pork belly bao, both had a delicious flavor and balance of savory and sweet. We also ordered the cucumber peach salad, which was delicious with pieces of Basil in it. So fresh! We got the crab rangoon, and I believe the scallop and prawn dumplings. All had such a lovely flavor and we're just so good. You can't go wrong here with anything you order! Great service and great food.

Secret Bao was an okay experience overall. The food was decent, but nothing really stood out enough…read moreto make me want to come back specifically for it. We tried the garlic noodles, spicy beef noodles, popcorn chicken, and corn dumplings. The garlic noodles were creamy and the spicy noodles had good flavor, but the dishes overall felt a bit underwhelming. The popcorn chicken was soggy (but probably cause I had it to go), though it wasn't particularly memorable, and the corn dumpling were fine but didn't leave a lasting impression. The service was friendly and our food came out in a reasonable amount of time, which we appreciated. The restaurant had a relaxed, casual atmosphere that made it a comfortable place to grab a meal, but was super packed for a weekday. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience, but it also wasn't anything special. I might give it another try in the future and order some of their more popular items before making a final judgment.

After a long absence from Shang Hai, my family returned and was incredibly pleased to find that…read moretheir quality of service and their vegetarian offerings were the same. The lemon soybean chicken, soybean beef with broccoli, orange soybean chicken, and sweet-and-sour soybean chicken did not suffer the fate of new, "improved" recipes that other restaurants have succumbed to in our past. Again, the service was friendly, attentive, and everything came to our table very soon after ordering. We really appreciate the quiet, relaxed atmosphere. I also love that they have a Lunch Special - for a family of four, it makes for an economical, while still delicious and satisfying, afternoon out. Thanks for being a reliable restaurant, Shang Hai!

We were in town for a show at the SB bowl and came across this spot. The owner greeted us and…read moreseated us walking in. She was super friendly and welcoming. We ordered some green tea and one peached flavored. It was so refreshing on a warm day. Beef and broccoli, Kung pao chicken, sautéed, fresh and hot. We also had a bowl of steamed rice. Everything tasted great, it really hit the spot. We will definitely be back!

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

They use cabbage instead bean sprouts and just a few small basil leaf…read more Sriracha and hoisin sauce bottles aren't clean.

the food is amazing, but they have found new and creative ways to get my food wrong every single…read moretime I have been there. definitely don't order for pickup because the order WILL be wrong.

We could hear live Blues playing down the street which meant there was life. We had just left the…read moreSanta Barbara Bowl and wanted something to eat after the show ended at 9pm. Not much was open which is how we ended up here. The place was super hot so we decided to order our food to go and there was a super annoying drunk guy ahead of us in line. I felt bad for the 17 yo employee stuck interacting with them. We ordered a sandwich with shrimp in it. L said it was good but the title shouldn't mention shrimp as they were super teeny tiny and basically non existent. I got the gluten free fried rice bowl with chicken spicy. It was not spicy at all, and the chicken was a bit dry, however I could taste the flavor of the chicken and the meal was bland enough that I knew I would be okay. Earlier in the day before the bowl we went to a winery and I had a headache, so this food for me last night worked especially since we picked it up to go and had it at our Air BnB.

Every things from food to service are perfect sure will come back next time in town we were really…read moreenjoyed

Went to this place because of the good reviews however left feeling a bit underwhelmed and…read moredisappointed. The vegetable tempura and it was crispy however I've never had bell pepper in tempura so that really threw me off. We also go the spicy edamame which was a bit too sweet and saucy. The udon noodles were cooked well but also the stir fry was heavy in sauce. We also got a shrimp tempura rice bowl, which again tempura was great but the ratio with rice was way off. Overall food was okay. Service was great but not sure we would be returning.

After work, I decided to stop by Nikka Ramen for some lunch. It was a weekday around 1:30pm so it…read morewasn't too busy and I was seated right away. I knew I wanted a rice bowl but wasn't sure what I wanted on top. When I saw the half and half option with tuna and salmon, it was the perfect combination! The order only took a few minutes before coming out. It was delicious and very filling. There was a good combination of textures and flavors that made it a well rounded bowl. I had an efficient but delicious lunch experience at Nikka Ramen. I'd definitely come back!

Cute place. I loved the California Roll, the crab salad in…read morethe roll was delicious. I got Veggie Ramen. It was good. Very creamy. Tofu was nice . Husband got spicy ramen. He liked the ramen but he also like the tofu more than the chicken. It was very busy and they had tons of delivery pick ups. I didn't get a dessert but they had trendy desserts like the peach ice cream. All if the servers were very helpful and nice.