Angel Oak — Restaurant in Goleta

The whole experience terrible.

We had a dinner reservation for 6:30p.m.

No liners for the bathrooms were stocked. That was the first fail. Second, our order took an hour and a half to come out, which really wasn’t an issue, but when I told our waiter we would be back in 5 to take picture on the patio, we ended up coming back from outside to all of our champagne and plates being gone, we were maybe gone 8 minutes. We told our waiter and he was very kind and said that there is a new bus boy helping out and that that was not okay and that he’d get us more champagne because ours had been taken along with all of our silverware and plates.

So by this time we still don’t have our food and I’m starting to get annoyed. I’m waiting on 2 $42 salmons and a $40-something pasta dish for my friends and and once it comes out IT’S COLD.

This tells me A, our food was forgotten on the line, or B it was pre-made and reheated in a microwave! Which one is it?

I tell Kevin and he apologizes and removes 2 of the 3 dishes and the broccolini app to be reheated. My friend was so hungry that she decided to eat her salmon cold, that is why only two of the three dishes were taken.

When the dishes come back the pasta was fine and reheated however they do that, but my salmon had a thick burnt layer of crust. Not only that but my salmon was piping hot and my vegetables and sauce were still cold. Apparently my salmon was just slapped on a grill for reheating OR a microwave which wouldn’t surprise me at all.

To make things more comical, the broccolini was charred with the parm cheese completely burned and the florets burnt also.

The manager ended up coming out and taking the dishes off and giving us 2 cheesecakes.

He was professional and kind, but it was a total waste of our night. I did not get the experience I thought I was paying for.

To bring this story full circle we leave at about 8:30 to which there’s still no liners in the washrooms.

This was not a restaurant at the Ritz from my experience. I came here one, because I was a guest at the hotel and two, because of the positive reviews.

At the end I was charged $96 for French fried and Mac and cheese and two champagnes, LOL.

One additional thing: we bought bottled, still water and a server’s assistant ended up pouring pitcher, tap water into our glasses that had bottled water.

Again, not luxury, 5...

If you don't wanna read full review - this is short version: Disappointed and super overpriced. Don't waste money and time and expectations.

Long review:

Me and my wife was excited to try this place. We make reservation, available time was only 8:30pm and they seat us in front of the window with has no view because it's dark outside. I didn't get the idea. Score goes down.

First meal they bring super fast, but my octopus was kind of cold. Grilled pineapple was amazing. I love pineapples.

But Score goes down.

Pumpkin soup was good.

Second course: Salmon steak was just okay. Regular salmon. Caviar on top doesn't make any difference. Score goes down.

But cauliflower with salmon was amazing. And this is sad part, when vegetable outshine the main food.

My wife got white truffle pasta with mushrooms and lobster. Lobster was good Truffles we didn't feel at all. It was regular mushroom taste pasta. But we expect white truffles. And I didn't find them on plate and pasta didn't taste like truffles at all. Score goes down.

Deserts was okay. Waitress offered us coffee. It is surprised me. I don't think anyone wanna drink coffee at 9:30pm. They didn't offer us any tea. And no tea or coffee on menu. We arrived last one and left the first one. It's mean experience is not good. You don't wanna stay there and enjoy. It's nothing to enjoy. Me and my wife enjoying each other staying in our Bacara room way more.

We are not drinking alcohol. But just in case: Alcohol is not include in course menu. So be ready to pay extra, on top of $105 per person.

Nothing "hit the spot".

For course of 2 meal and desert, we paid $258 include tax and tips for both. And it's not worth it.

Not good experience, not good vibe, not good service, not good food.

Or it was only my...

I was staying at Bacara for MLK holiday weekend, so was very excited to try Angel Oak being that I had heard many great things about it. Living in Los Angeles I don’t hear about it often but when I do, it’s always positive. Being that it’s located in the resort, it truly has beautiful surroundings. Inside is very modern and upscale even though a lot of people seem to underdress being that it’s in California. They don’t have self parking so it will be valet as you’re only option. Service was also fantastic, our waiter Alan did a wonderful job and really added to the experience.

Overall, our dinner was fantastic although dessert could’ve been better. I started off with the Beef Tartare, and it was rich and really satisfying. The mustard seed added a great spice element to it. A bit small in portion size but still really good. For my entrée , I chose the California Steelhead and it was absolutely fantastic. The sauce on top was addicting and I enjoyed every bite of it. The fish was also cooked perfectly, which is one of my favorite things to eat in Santa Barbara being that the town is known for their great seafood. We finished up with the Baked Alaska and I wasn’t the biggest fan of it. They poured a lot of liquor on top and it didn’t burn away when they torched it so it basically was sitting in liquid alcohol at the bottom of the dish. Also, the inside was lemon so I found it a bit more sour than I was hoping for, but the marshmallow part was good.

I would recommend to anyone staying at Bacara or visiting Santa Barbara because it’ll be a great dinner. I feel the pricing is fair, especially compared to some other restaurants in town, so it really is an easy suggestion especially if you’re staying...