Benchmark Eatery — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

Overall pretty good food and nice atmosphere. Have had some mixed experiences here though. First experience was perfect, great food and service. For a pre-order snack they serve fried garbanzo beans which are deliciously addictive! They're not crisp and the texture is very unique, but they are seasoned to perfection and once you start nibbling, you won't be able to stop! The smoked hot wings ($11.95) were good, but prepare to get a little messy if you want to make the most out of them. The fish tacos ($5.75 for 1, $11.25 for 2) are awesome as well, I recommend.

Second experience had some hitches. We had a couple appetizers, the garlic baked clams ($14.25) and New York bites ($10.25). Mixed reactions to both (though no one though either was bad... the clams might be salty to some, the bites are a bit sweet to some), but we all agreed that the potato wedges that came with the bites were amazing.

This time our table ordered the pulled pork sandwich ($12.95), chicken piccata ($19.95), and fish tacos. Pulled pork was very BBQ-saucy which wasn't the best. Chicken piccata was not good, no one really liked it. When we ordered the fish taco, our server mistook the order for a fish taco dinner for a single fish taco appetizer, which is fine, simple mistake (be sure if you want to fish taco plate to make it clear!)...

...but, it took a long while to get that sorted out. We had to wait well into our meal for the rest of the fish taco dish to be ready. At the very least, they let us keep the fish taco appetizer at the table, so the orderer didn't have to wait for the whole dish to be remade while the other two diners ate their meals. I don't quite understand why the serving that evening was so jumbled. We had at least 3 different servers at our table of three which made for confusion when ordering, correcting the wrong order, and getting the check. The servers themselves were very friendly and polite, apologetic when mistakes were made, but the whole system seemed confused and disorganized. First experience here we had one server the whole time so that went smoothly.

Overall, I would say the quality of food is good with some real stand-out dishes like the fish taco, those garbanzo beans, and the potato wedges. Really fantastic and I definitely would come back for more of those. This is a place where you can definitely find some great stuff on the menu, but some of the selection is not up to par with the rest and as a result, is way overpriced for the quality. After my experiences here, I think I'll stick to the less expensive items on the menu when I try something new here. $20 for subpar dinner isn't what I'd call a good time. Servers are always great, but service may be jumbled.

There is both indoor and outdoor seating, sometimes with live music outdoors (it can be a little loud, but hey! there's always the indoor option). The location on State Street is nice for a good stroll after dinner. Indoor is a little dark in the evening but generally the vibe is lively and fun.

First experience here was definitely 5 star, second was a 2~3 star experience. That being said, I still recommend this place, but order with some caution, perhaps ask servers for recommendations. I'll definitely be coming back here...

Service as others described below is horrible. Also the prices reflected on their website is inaccurate to the menu at the restaurant. This place is nothing less than a high end Burger King. You order at the bar and the food is brought to you. Anywhere from the management to the cashiers lack basic customer service skills and initiative. 3 cashiers who also sub as a bartender stand in front of the iPad just staring at you and wait for YOU to approach them so they can tap on the screen and take your order. No greeting, no smile and wave or hey, I’m open over here and directs you to come forward and place your order. One would rather have the iPad face the customers and customers place their own order to have to endure a blank face cashier. Asian female Management rang me up today and no wonder why the other cashiers can care less about customer service bc the very same demeanor comes from leadership. She literally rang me up and not a smile or eye contact in sight, all the while talking to a coworker. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Unfortunately, I come here often since I work in the area and no what to expect as far as service. They also never get a tip from me bc they do nothing more than provide subpar standards. BEWARE OF THE PRICES ON THE WEBSITE COMPARED TO IN PERSON....

I give 2stars just because the first time I eat here was a very good experience and the waiter was very nice the two times I have been at benchmark. We had a terrible experience with the cashier Ivan, he had a agresiva tone since the begin when I ask him to double checking that he had my order right he said “ you can see on the screen” Than I ask for 2 cokes and 1 sprite he said , “so you want 3 cokes. I said no I want 2 cokes and one sprite. It turn out that my daughter had order one coke as well and when I told him he got upset and turn around and started talking to the people at the bar about it he said it loud enough so we can hear him “ so I was right! There 3 cokes and this lady here screaming at me” that’s when my daughter got so upset that she let him know how unprofessional he was by talking to other customers about the issues he was having with other customers even when the customers are still there. He just stared laughing and the visto We he was talking to told my daughter that she didn’t had to be a B!!!!!! about it, luckily my daughter ignored her. Another man came to help and finished the order I ssume he was the manager but he did nothing about it he just said “ I hope everything works out” HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE! not...