CAYA Restaurant — Restaurant in Goleta

The food is creative without being bizarre. For example, the crispy chicken wings were light, tangy, and delectable, unlike any others I've ever had. The caramelized sweet potato was succulent and richly flavored without being overly sweet. On the whole the menu is fascinating and original. I would give this place five stars but for three quibbles. First, the way the menu is written gives no indication of what items are appetizers, or meant to share, or entrees. Second, the bread is a side order rather than complimentary, but is not distinctive or special in any way. Third, and most annoying, the hostess was brusque, stiff, sarcastic, and unhelpful to the point of being just plain rude. I'll give it another try, however, because the food was just that good. Second visit: Different hostess, who was much nicer. Had the guacamole, which was outstanding, although the chips that came with it were a bit too thin to stand up to dipping in something so thick. Had the "Summer Session" cocktail, delightfully concocted and very refreshing. Ordered a Pellegrino, but the only size they had was huge. They definitely need to offer smaller sizes of their bottled waters. Creeping towards five stars. Third visit: ordered the lamb burger, which was tastily adorned with harissa yogurt and watercress. Again, the bread seemed to be left over morning toast, and very disappointing, especially since you have to buy it! So many restaurants in this town provide complimentary fresh bread in a variety of styles; I am baffled why this one makes customers pay for bread that isn't even any good. I have now been served by three different waiters, Kade, Cameron, and Melanie, and they were all personable, friendly, and hard working. I don't understand, though, why it always takes so long for the...

Update: March 2023 We were a party of 4 and ate here before. We ordered spring rolls for appetizers to share. The spring rolls for $18 was pathetic. It was only 2 small pieces cut in 4 pieces and the server did not even give us small plates to put our food on. The menu did not have the pork chops that I enjoyed the last time which was disappointing. The most disappointing experience was when our food orders came from another server & my order was wrong. It took a while for our first server to come back & apologized to say that the kitchen staff got the orders mixed up. I ordered roasted seabass which I thought should not have taken time to make. Everyone finished their meals when my order finally came and it was another person who we thought was the manager who delivered it. By that time, I was STARVING and very annoyed. The restaurant does not provide bread nor was there an offer of compensation like a free appetizer or discount on the meal. I rarely give a 1 star rating but they need to get the message that this service for how expensive the meals are is unacceptable.

Review 7 months ago when I gave them a 5 star We were a party of 7 and we wanted to take my mother-in-law out for dinner. This was my first time eating here. The ambiance of the hotel and restaurant was very nice. There was a singer playing guitar and he was good. Our server was attentive. We enjoyed our delicious dinners including the Brussels sprouts appetizers & dessert. My mother-in-law was very satisfied with her fish tacos,...

I had high hopes for this place based on Yelp and Google reviews, but I left disappointed. The atmosphere is beautiful—it’s located in a hotel, and we were seated quickly outside near the pool. Unfortunately, the service didn’t live up to the setting.

We arrived at 8:00 PM and didn’t get our food until 8:55 PM. There were only six customers total, yet it took 15 minutes to see our waitress. She seemed a bit out of it, but we didn’t think much of it—until we waited another 15 minutes just for the appetizer (the hummus was okay)

When the waitress finally came back, she asked, “Are you guys done?” then immediately put her hands on her face and said, “Oh just kidding, you guys ordered food, right?” before walking off without waiting for our answer.

After another 10 minutes, the hostess stopped by, and I told her we were still waiting. She said she’d check on it, but another 15 minutes went by with no response. I finally got up and asked the waitress, who told me, “We got hit with a large pick-up order,” and then asked, “Wait, what did you order again?”

At this point, nearly 50 minutes had passed. I spoke to the hostess again and explained how long we’d been waiting. I said, “Not trying to sound like a Karen, but it’s been nearly 50 minutes…” and she responded, “Do you want to leave then?” I said, “No, I just want our food.” She replied, *“Well...