Bree'Osh Bakery Café Santa Barbara — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

Updating my review from 3 stars to 4 stars. Really like their bread. Their menu item and sweets are expensive and parking can be tough. Some meals are very nice, others only so-so. I'll stop in once in awhile and try differnt selections. Looking for the magic.

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Am going against the grain here. The food is fresh and the coffee is good. My problem is their menu items. Last time I had an artichoke, goat cheese sandwich that was close to $15 once you add on tax. Felt like something from Trader Joe's with those big canned pieces of artichoke, some salty olives, not quite ripe sparing slices of tomato and a small quick dab of goat cheese. The bread was the best part, the rest not so much. For a side you get some lettuce with a bit which I tried to stuff inside the sandwich. The whole thing falls apart. You can order this as a salad but even then it would be dull, unimatative and lacking in any but an oily olive flavor.

At best I'd expect to pay $7 or $8 and more realistically $6 or less. It's so tart and hard to eat I'll not order this again.

I've had a few other menu items, certainly edible, better than what I just attempted but overall not up to par, leaving me unsatisfied and annoyed. Would be perhaps acceptable if not so expensive. The food needs more flourish, better and more ingredients and more artistry in the creation, better flavor control to be worth their price tags, otherwise another shop would be a better choice unless your going in to buy some bread and you're already there and don't mind the stiff prices for what you get or if you opt for something else which...

Mixed feelings.

Been a loyal fan of their montecito location for around 4 years.

Was hesitant to try this location since sequels are rarely as good as the original. However since they bake at this new location decided to try it.

Location/environment: 3 stars nice in theory to have one in sb. But it's off a noisy street with outdoor seating that's in the cold side of the building as the sun comes up.

Food: 5 stars for technique and pastry execution. 3 stars for breakfast food preparation and match with my palette (may be different for you).

Food details Menu selection is different. More sweet pastry options. No hummus pesto tartine (our absolute fave).

Instead ordered the avocado tartine which is basically their amazing buckwheat ciabatta (5 stars) but with a tiny layer of avocado, exactly 10 slices of radish and an untasteable sprinkle of chives. Glorified avo toast which is not worth $11 compared to the same priced hummus pesto tartine (1 star)

Mushroom cheese croissant sandwich still amazing (5 stars). However paid $2 for a side salad which had approximately 10 pieces of greens with sauce. Seriously? (1 star)

Finally tried the morning bun since everyone raves about it. Excellently executed. The croissant style of baking with the layers, airiness, and flakiness is their forte. For me though, not my thing. Too plain for my liking. 3 stars.

Saving grace, their almond croissant! Always on point. Beautifully light and airy despite being double baked, lots of almonds, excellent marzipan with lots of it. 5 stars...

We've followed this place since they first opened as a bakery only small shop. While we appreciate they are now open for lunch (as well as breakfast), they could make a few adjustments. I ordered the chicken Caesar salad and do not know what they did with the chicken. It was sort of rubbery and strange tasting. I am thinking they had it in some type of marinade which I may have missed on the menu. I found it a bit odd that as a bakery there was no bread at all with this dish (including no croutons), Also, the lox sandwich left a bit to be desired - not enough lox and would have been better if there was a few bits of lettuce/salad.

While it is nice there is outdoor seating - pick your spot carefully. It is not pleasant to sit on this busy corner area by the sidewalk when the garbage truck is at the red light. Suggest owners invest in a few very large potted bushes to help shield this issue.

I will go back again, but not order the above mentioned dishes. Overall, they're doing a good job and this...