Olio e Limone Ristorante — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

We booked here recently for a birthday/special occasion (I even had that noted in my reservation) and were seated past 7:45, about 7:50 pm for a 7:30 dinner reservation…

We also got there ahead of a party or parties who were sat before us despite us arriving before them.

And again for a special occasion like a birthday this was a real bummer, on top of the host lying to us that the other parties had an earlier reservation time but we heard them all check in after us and had the same or later than our reservation period, yet again still were seated ahead of us… real unfortunate experience for a finer dining restaurant and establishment. When I called all that out back to the host, he stopped responding and walked away…

The waiter also never came to our table, instead he tried to sit another party in front of us. Then the host just took over our table for the night since the appointed waiter he said would come to our table - never did. The host had said the waiter would come to read the special’s then after he took over reading them - he still never came to our table once.

The waiter seemed frustrated that we were going to sit at a table despite waiting for it longer than we should have - that he/the waiter promised to another group he knew… but the host interrupted him since I had spoke up about the situation prior (luckily).

There is also no where to wait, so we stood at the front of the restaurant door with approximately 3-5 groups at a time in the way and shuffling for workers and other people entering and leaving… it was something you would not expect at a “higher rated” business. It was such a cold/frigid night as well so no one wanted to wait outside and we instead just overflowed onto the restaurant’s dining floor - for all those reasons combined,...

4 stars-could have been higher. We chose this on a whim from a menu view strolling around downtown Santa Barbara. Wifey loves Italian. Will say up front service was exemplary, friendly, not too obtrusive, and responsive. Outdoor dining to comply with Covid restrictions. Meal began with delicious fresh crusty bread with olive oil and balsamic. Should have asked if they baked on site. Starter to split of Caprese salad.Three tomato slices topped with Buffalo mozzarella, atop large fresh basil leaves and drizzled with olive oil. The cheese was delicious but the tomatoes were quite hard and low on flavor. Unfortunate. My wife chose a dish with tubular pasta with bolognese sauce, her favorite. The dish looked and smelled great but the pasta, to our taste, was too al dente. Quite hard IMO. Now I will say that I think the kitchen would have replaced it if we had asked but time did not allow. Again, unfortunate. I base my comment about the kitchen on the way they accommodated my menu choice. The menu listed a warm seafood salad of mussels, clams, calamari, shrimp, and scallops with a lemon white wine sauce. Sounded great. I asked the waiter about the size and he explained it was not entree size. He suggested they could make a double size. As I thought about it, he then told me the kitchen could convert this dish into a pasta dish, say with fettuccine. Perfect. And that’s what it was, perfect. Delicious plentiful seafood, pasta cooked just right, and a very complimentary sauce held the whole dish together. I did not leave a speck in the bowl(bread sopped up that sauce nicely). Too full for dessert we left happy but wishing for just a bit better results....

Fine authentic Italian restaurant in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara. Santa Barbara is just a beautiful little city. The city already has a holiday Christmas feel. The lights and decor are up, giving the city a beautiful romantic holiday hallmark feel. The restaurant has al fresco dinning and is set up nicely. They have heat lamps out, as its winter in California. This only means its below 70 but the heat lamps give it a cozy feeling sitting outdoors. The food was good. My wife got the duck stuffed ravioli with a cream sauce. She really enjoyed it. She believes it's the best ravioli shes had, and she states that on her Italian heritage and having ravioli's in Italy. It was so good, she had to break some bread to finish the sauce with it. She left a clean plate. I had the rack of lambs with sauteed potatoes and Brussels sprouts. I enjoyed it, it wasn't the best, but it was good. It had good flavor and was tender. I also got a side of thier polenta. It was grilled and covered in mazzola cheese. It had a weird flavor. Can't say I enjoyed it. I mainly got it to try out and I'm going say wasn't enjoyable. For desert we got the raspberry creme brulee and lemon tart. The creme brulee was fresh creamy with the sweet crunch, it was good. The lemon tart, tasted store bought and old. The crust was dry and did not taste fresh. It was tart, but tasted as if it was sitting out for days. So, the location is a big plus. Very romantic, great date night location. The food, I would have to say, stick to the pastas as its something they do great. I would try this...