Corazón Comedor — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

My wife and I had dinner at Corazon Comedor Thursday 2/27/25. This was our second visit to Santa Barbara and this restaurant in a year. We are not from CA. Our first visit was so impressive and we had such an excellent meal we purposely planned to return for dinner on this trip.

When we arrived the restaurant was more than 2/3 empty. The gentleman who greeted us asked if we had reservations - which we did not - and then asked that we wait while he see "if" they had a table which was almost laughable. The place is sizable, has 2 sizable rooms and was mostly empty.

After being seated a lovely woman by the name of Charlotte came to our table said she would be taking care of us and took our order for guacamole to start. When she returned to our table inquired about the entrée we had on our first visit and she did not know anything about it. Another server heard our conversation and identified the dish and said it was not on the current menu.

Before ordering we asked some questions about some entrees and it became clear she was either new or did not know some of the ingredient in all of the dishes. As we talked about the different entrees we made it very clear that we were on the very low end of the hot spicy scale. This type of discussion is common in many Mexican and Thai restaurants and usually the server notes this for the chef/kitchen so that patrons get a meal that fits their pallet. In fact, out of caution I ordered chicken tamales with the sauce on the side.

Our entrees were served my the man who had seated us. My wife ordered fish tacos and when she took the first bite she turned beat red and immediately downed her water and mine and told me it was one of the two most spicy dishes she had ever had. She said that her mouth and lips were on fire and burning.

We summoned Charlotte and told her the issue and she responded very nicely apologized and said she would take the meal and get my wife something else. She also noticed that my meal (tamales) had sauce on them not on the side and asked if I wanted the kitchen to remake them. I told her not to bother. I was focused on my wives meal burning her mouth and being inedible and could live with the sauce on my meal. We asked for a clean plate so I could share my entrée with my wife and Charlotte suggested my wife take the side items off the plate with the tacos to eat since they were not covered in the spice. At the end of this exchange I ordered a drink before Charlotte departed to "talk to the manager."

We decided not to order anything else. The drink I ordered never came. My wife was uncomfortable and simply wanted to leave after we finished eating my meal.

Our check was brought to the table by the same man who had seated us and served our entrees and it included the meal my wife could not eat. We stopped another staff member and asked that they send Charlotte back to the table to address the bill with her.

The same man, who we learned was the manager, then came back to our table and said he had spoken with Charlotte and he had taken the meal off the bill BUT billed us $9.50 for the 2 side items black beans and plantains. He also charged us for $3.50 each for 3 very small pieces of plantains that Charlotte had told us were one of the side items available and included with our meals. Nothing was said regarding additional cost. The drink I had ordered which never came was not on the bill.

The manager then hovered over us and handed me a mobile device to pay our bill and stood there. When I indicated I wanted a moment to digest the bill and determine how to deal with a tip he just stood there.

Under pressure, I paid the bill and even left a tip for Charlotte who clearly was not getting the support or training she needed to do her job well.

We will never return and will not recommend this restaurant. I have taken down my original review as a result of this experience.

Santa Barbara is filled with excellent restaurants operated by people who value their patrons and reputations. We urge you ro pick...

I had a pleasant experience at Corazon Comedor. Gonzalo was very attentive and gave us excellent service. He suggested us to take our cafecito after our meals just to make sure we wouldn't over power the spiciness in our palate. The food overall was flavorful. The green chicken tamale I would say is my favorite. It brought back beautiful memories of when I go to Mexico for the posadas and the señoras take out the first tamale to check to see if they're ready. My husband and I also tried the Pa' probar option. This option gives you the freedom to choose from the list of guisos they are currently serving. We chose cochinita pibil, chicharrón, camarones en morita, and champiñones en chipotle. My favorite from this list is the champiñones en chipotle and chicharrón. The cochinita pibil could have a little more flavor, but don't take my word for it because my palate is not the same as yours. You would need to try it yourself. I also had a champurrado that I fully enjoyed. It's a drink made out of corn flour dough and mixed with chocolate and cinnamon. It was perfect for this cold weather. Ramon, the owner, was kind enough to approach us and share his idea of building this restaurant to make it feel homey. His idea is to be able to present a place where anyone can come in and feel welcomed to his home; from the decorations to what is being served. I can definitely agree with what he has presented so far.

I can't wait to see what else he will be presenting...

Mediocre food with ok ambiance and good enough service. Not quite sure why this place has such high ratings. Presentation of everything is very nice, but that's about it. The food tastes like average mexican food, on par with Los Agaves, but for a lot more $ and less quantity. The mole was very good, I will say that. The tasting salsas were very bland, and one was was exceptionally limey. Shrimp enchiladas were $25 (twenty-five) but were very small and only came with a tablespoon of beans. For this price you should get a couple measly slices of avocado, but no, none. I get this is SB and you can get away with it, but it's unconsionable. Even worse, the guacamole appetizer was listed as Market Price. I've never seen anything so ridiculous in my life. Didn't even bother asking the MP for the day. There's halibut tacos on the menu for $29 (twenty-nine), but how does something like halibut have a price but guacamole does not? Also, didn't appreciate the minimum recommended tip setting of 20%. I can't recommend this spot over Los Agaves, or the better ambiance and portions...