Sandbar Cocina y Tequila — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

I recently had the unfortunate experience of dining at Sandbar in Santa Barbara, and I must say, it was nothing short of disappointing. From the moment I walked in, I was greeted with a vibrant atmosphere and beautiful beachy decor, which initially gave me high hopes for a pleasant evening. However, my excitement quickly turned to disappointment as I sampled the food.

The menu offered a variety of options, and I decided to go for a dish that sounded unique and delicious. Unfortunately, my choice turned out to be a huge mistake. The food was unbelievably spicy – and not in a good way. I've always enjoyed a bit of heat in my meals, but the level of spiciness here was completely over the top. It felt as if the chef had liberally poured a bottle of hot sauce onto my plate without any regard for flavor balance.

The sheer intensity of the spiciness overshadowed any other flavors that might have been present in the dish. I couldn't taste the freshness of the ingredients or appreciate the supposed subtleties of the recipe. It was all about the heat, which completely overwhelmed my palate. The dining experience quickly turned into a painful ordeal rather than an enjoyable meal.

To their credit, the servers seemed sympathetic to my discomfort, and didn't charge me for my entrée. When I mentioned the excessive spiciness of the dish, they apologized and offered for me to order something else, but ilat that point i couldn't eat.

I left Sandbar feeling disappointed and unsatisfied. While the ambiance and beachy vibes were undoubtedly appealing, the subpar food and lackluster service overshadowed any positives. I believe that a restaurant experience should be a harmonious blend of flavors, presentation, and service, and unfortunately, Sandbar fell short on all counts during my visit.

My dining experience at Sandbar in Santa Barbara was far from enjoyable due to the excessively spicy food and the lack of attention to customer feedback. I cannot in good conscience recommend this establishment to anyone who values a well-balanced and satisfying dining experience. It's a shame that such a beautiful location is marred by the disappointing execution of its...

TLDR: racist/prejudice bartender We came one 8/3 at 7:30p and the atmosphere, service, and drinks were great. We got our drinks in a timely manner and everyone was friendly. We got multiple rounds and we liked it so much that we decided to come back on 8/5. Both times we sat at the bar and on 8/5 the bartender refused to acknowledge us. Several other parties came and were acknowledged but we were ignored. I’m Caucasian but my fiance is person of color and it’s hard to ignore that is why he wasn’t served. He walked away and I was served IMMEDIATELY. Eventually he walked away from the bar and we sat in a different part of the restaurant. When it came time to pay, he went to the bar by himself and the bartender refused to acknowledge him. He stood up there for several minutes and came back to our table. I went up to the bar and was acknowledged almost immediately by the same bartender ignoring him. Then I was served the wrong tab, after flagging down the bartender, I told her it was the wrong tab and she corrected the issue but with severe attitude. I paid and waited for her to come back to me so I could address this issue in person, but after she served me the bill, she refused to come back to where I was sitting. It’s crazy to think that such a progressive place such as SB still supports blatant racism. The bar was far more busy the first time we went and was nearly empty the second time. It completely ruined the end of our time into town. The female bartender refused to tell me her name, but the server she was working under was named Luis. I’m not sure her name but hopefully with this review and when I call the restaurant this issue can...

We were a party of 6 with a young kid and a baby and they could not get us a seat even after waiting for over an hour. The lady at the front asked us to wait for a table in the front since the only table available at the time were high tables that are not suitable for kids.

After 20 mins of waiting a dude in blue shirt and a baseball cap popped up from no where and told us we cannot be seated outside, first he said there isn’t enough space on the table, when we said we can squeeze, he said servers won’t be able to serve?! When pressed harder he said its a fire hazard?!! He just kelt on making excuses for us to be not seated. When I pushed more, he said we are understaffed so we won’t be serving outside, when already 2 tables are being actively served…! We tried cutting him some slack and gave him some benefit of doubt since he appeared overwhelmed. He kept on pushing us to take a high tables and we just kept on explaining how kids and babies cant sit there especially on an unstrapped booster.

After circling endlessly we finally told him that we would split into two separate tables of 2 and 4, and plenty were available at the time, he asked us to wait. We waited another 30 mins during which ateast 5 other parties of different sizes were seated. At this point we figured the guy has no intention of getting us a seat so we left after telling him how bad our experience has been but, to our surprise he looked completely unperturbed and unapologetic.

This was easily the worst experience we have had In...