Loquita Santa Barbara — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

Very disappointing and lackluster tapas experience. To be very honest, confused as to why this restaurant is so highly praised.

I wanted to bring an old friend from out of town to a nice meal in Santa Barbara. Having recently moved to the area, I heard nothing but praise for Loquita. I am a big fan of tapas and always appreciate the attention to detail in presentation and food quality that tapas restaurants put into their dishes. I managed to book a Saturday night reservation for this popular restaurant weeks in advance.

Upon seating, my friend and I agreed that the interior design is BEAUTIFUL. I was a big fan of the lighting and open kitchen concept. Service was polite, but rushed and a little inattentive. It's ok, it's a Saturday night! My friend did not want paella, so we ordered 2 bocaditos and 3 tapas that were recommended by our server. While I know paella is the main star of any tapas restaurant, the dishes we ordered are still representative and commonly popular items. With the pricepoint and prestige of Loquita, I trusted that we could have a good meal regardless of anything we ordered on the menu.

Appetizer 1 - Pan con Tomate - A laughable portion for $9. For the price, I really thought it would be more than a SPLIT, half loaf of bread with tomato sauce. Please see the photo attached. I was disappointed by a taste that felt more like a quick snack a kid would make at home after school. Appetizer 2 - Croqueta de Seta - Everyone likes fried food! Definitely better than the first appetizer. The filling surprisingly reminded me of bitterballen (thick gravy and viscous). The crust was thick and well-fried, and I enjoyed the truffle taste. The crispy potato nest was fun to snack on as well. Tapa #1 - Crema De Calabaza Con Bogavante - Lukewarm soup served on flat dishware. Easy and fun to share. Very strong citrus taste from the syrups(?) drizzled on top. Tapa #2 - Borrego A La Brasa - Well cooked but VERY salty. The sauce was mediocre and just made the lamp chops too salty. I opted to eat them plain. Tapa #3 - Pulpo A La Gallega - Pleasantly soft interior, but the exterior was overly charred. No flavor from the sauce, so it really felt like a plain chewing experience. I read a few other reviews that agreed the octopus is commonly overcooked.

When dining at tapas restaurants, I do give grace and understanding that statistically, it is difficult for them to perfect every single dish on a vast menu. However, I always favor tapas as an incredibly joyful and unique, social experience where friends openly appreciate and share good quality food and multiple flavors they would never be able to try when dining alone. I was embarrassed to bring my friend to such a lackluster experience after I had been so excited to plan and share about this restaurant in the weeks leading up to their trip.

I would visit Loquita again to try the patatas bravas, paella, and ibiza chuleta. However, I hesitate to recommend this restaurant to others, much less bring my friends from out of town. I am not a fan of dining out to give one restaurant multiple chances, when there are already so many other options to try in Santa Barbara. If I want to dine at a restaurant with the branding, pricing, and prestige such as Loquita, I would want at least a satisfactory...

OVERALL EXPERIENCE: Some of the dishes were a hit or miss for us. Unfortunately, not enough for me to need to come back.

DOGS ALLOWED: Yes! Patio seating available.

AMBIANCE: We were seated on the patio, which was nice for a summer night. They had umbrellas but some areas still had some debris from the tree falling on the table (and in our food and water).

ORDERED: [5/5] Crudo with passionfruit and citrus: MUST ORDER!!! This was the best thing we ordered!! [1/5] Carpaccio de carne: the cut was chewy and the flavors of the truffle manchego did not pair well. [3/5] Patatas bravas: you would think you can't go wrong with potatoes... there was too much going on with the three different sauces. [2/5] Broccolini: maybe it was just the pieces we got? but they were very tough! a bit difficult to eat. [3/5] Chorizo y pollo paella: the chicken was tender and moist, the shishito peppers were tasty, the bean was a disappoint (as I was really excited thinking it was a roasted garlic), and the rice was not bursting with enough flavor (some areas tasted like the rice was either overcooked or undercooked). I was also a bit disappointed that the crispy rice at the bottom was not as crispy. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed by this dish.

They are known for the gin! So we opted for: [3/5] Costa Blanca: was hoping the blood orange flavor would be more prominent, but this drink disappointed. there was a strong taste of medicinal herb, and it was not good... [5/5] Maravilloso: refreshing! and the apricot rosemary foam was a nice touch!

SERVICE: Service was great! Staff were very friendly and attentive.

PRICE: ~ $50+pp

PARKING: Not certain about structure parking, but there is plenty of street parking. We walked from out hotel, which was convenient.

Food: 3/5 stars Service: 5/5...

The atmosphere on a weekend evening was spectacular! The patio areas are divided into subsections each of them very intimate, well lit with fire pits and overhanging lights, and well heated with plenty of space heaters. There must be 75 tables spread across these multiple locations and it seemed every one was packed. The bar area was also completely full making it almost impossible to get out of the restaurant when we were done at 9:00. It is tapas style so you have to order five or six dishes for a group of four. Obviously they vary in tastiness, but our favorites were the broccolini with garlic and the mushrooms. Both were well cooked and very well seasoned. The shrimp was also good. The golden potatoes were tasty. It's important to remember that at a restaurant like this especially when it's busy, dishes come whenever they're ready in the kitchen. So you may get dishes in a very strange order. Our potatoes were the last thing to be served. We had a little mix up on the wine so beware. Some of the wines are listed as a "poron," which is basically a half a bottle. I think when we were asked what wine we wanted the answer was a bottle. We thought the price listed of $34 was for a bottle. So when the bill arrived and it was $68 we were surprised. They quickly and graciously gave us the lower price even though we got the full bottle. But this can be confusing and can cause misunderstanding. We also found that because the place was full our waiter did not come by that often. So occasionally we made requests to some of the servers and assumed they would pass it along which didn't always happen. So the pacing of the courses and the sequence and potential for confusion and the communication were a little sketchy at times. But on balance it was a beautiful evening and it certainly...