La Playa Azul Cafe — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

9/19/23 Update I continue to go to this restaurant because I love the atmosphere on the patio. The margaritas are good, and the shrimp enchilada ranchera I had today was excellent. Unfortunately, the chicken piccado was not edible. The chicken tasted like it was a few days old that they heated up and chopped into chunks, tough and tasteless. The manager said they have a new chicken distributor which doesn't account for this. The dish was replaced with the shrimp tacos, which had exactly two shrimp per taco for $20. Much better, but the shrimp was rather bland compared to my shrimp in the enchilada. And nobody bothered to check back with us until after the meal was over. But we'll continue to go back, for the atmosphere if nothing else, just keep in mind that it's going to be a 50/50 shot whether your dish is good.

This used to be one of my favorites. Good service, friendly staff, nice outdoor area, good food. We had high expectations for the "server favorite" Camarones Borrachos. It was fairly bland. And $22 for 5 shrimp? $17 for a tostada wasn't the bargain of the day either. Their $10 house margaritas were small but tasty, even though they use mystery tequila. A $70 light lunch ought to be better.

Update 9/7/21: 4 star day today. Shrimp enchiladas were excellent and salsa is spicy and tasty. They've changed house tequilas more times than I can count. It used to be a respectable 1800 brand tequila and now it's bottom of the line Montezuma. $12 premium margaritas with Sauza were drinkable but not great either. But I'll be back. Great ambience on their...

Wonderful Happy Hour indoors, although most activity was focused outside. We were there for Happy Hour Saturday early evening and had a wonderful House Margarita , at HH prices! and with a real kick!! Delish! Ordered the HH Halibut tacos and the chili Relleno a la cart, and one veggie quesadilla. Served with complimentary chips and salsa! Fresh and just a perfect heat blend! Yum! The indoor service was a little slow for our small table of 2; they were very attentive to a table of 8 who came after us. Nonetheless, the kitchen made up for the inattention. The halibut taco was bursting with huge pieces of perfectly grilled fish with fresh cabbage, seasonings and sauces. OH, MY MY!! Really a lot of food! But I also tried the Chile rellone; a bit less puffy on the outside and sauce was a little more tomatoey than I like, but fresh and yummy. My friend's veggie quesadilla made me drool when it came! Grilled mushrooms and onion and other flavors were fab!!! HIGHLY recommend Plaza Azule anytime, but was delighted with a Happy hour pricing!! Reliable! Street parking and a great vibe!! Missed picturing the Margarita...def had...

BEWARE!! HOT HOT serrano peppers in the regular pollo asada burrito. My partner and I shared a chicken burrito. It was not marked spicy or hot, and I confirmed with our waitress that it was not marked spicy on the menu, in case I missed something. I took one bite and was in AGONY for 20 minutes, my mouth was on fire, had terrible stomach pains, got home and threw up. I think the cook put a spicier serrano pepper in by mistake. Yikes! It was definitely not a regular salsa pepper. The smaller the Serrano pepper, the hotter it is. This one was very small and thin. These cooks have no idea. Awful experience. Be careful with their burritos. This was the worst experience to have while on vacation. It ruined half a day of our trip, instead of walking around town I was stuck in bed miserable. I do not...