Dutch Garden Restaurant — Restaurant in Goleta

Service was great, and the vibe was local and familiar. Heavy on friendly. Felt like everyone there (we sat at the counter) was a long-time customer. Patio was full and lively for lunch, too. This place lends itself to being this way, possibly due to the fact that it's of the beaten path.

So the food now.... This is German fair all the way. We ordered a cup of soup, braughts, and liverwurst. The soup was lamb barley. I'd say just ok. The bratwurst (said to be made in house) was terrific. The sides of simple potatoes and wonderful saurekraut were perfect complements. Speaking of complements, the mustards and horseradish were at the ready on the table.

The liverwurst is something not usually found on the menu. If you like it, this would be a great choice. We opted for it with rye bread. All the flavors came through. We added red onions on top. Perfect. (The other bread choice was sourdough. Think that would have been just fine, too.)

We washed this all down with some fine beer choices. Forgive me, not being a beer drinker, and only on occasion, I don't recall what we got. Find Belgians and the like. Some on tap....

Dutch Garden does not want your business. After announcing that he had added an automatic 20% gratuity to our bill, our waiter had the audacity to lecture us on their policy against groups larger than 10 (which he waited until after we had eaten and received our bills to deliver by the way; we were about 15 people). He blamed us for the fact that two of their reservations had canceled because they couldn't find parking. This made no sense because some of their tables were empty and we had carpooled - meaning that if several smaller groups had come, occupying the same table space but likely with more cars, the parking problem would have been even worse. Clearly, the problem is a lack of parking spaces relative to the size of the restaurant, not our group size. Credit where credit is due - the food was decent. But it was not good enough to overcome the rudeness of the waiter. The same could be said for the ambiance. Consequently, I (and I suspect much of the rest of our group of 15 people) will be taking our large amount of business elsewhere...

When I was in the hospital and recovering friends would bring food from here. It's so good. I finally had the chance to join them and go to the restaurant. There were four of us and we each ordered something different and shared with each other. Every dish was perfect! We had Schnitzel, Liverwurst sandwich, salad with fennel and strawberries and another sandwich that I can't remember. We shared a slice of cheesecake too. The portions are large, we all took something home. The beer is great! We were able to have a taste of the 3 beers on tap. It was hard to choose. They were all so good. We ended up with the blond and the dark. The atmosphere is perfect. Their outside area is very comfortable and attractive. The inside makes you feel like you've been transported to a pub in Europe. It's beautiful. The service is outstanding. Prices are reasonable. Parking right out front. I cannot wait...