Savoy Cafe & Deli — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

Pros Good, fresh food with lots of vegan and vegetarian options You can try before you buy Yummy Family owned Great aesthetic Yummy matcha latte

Cons A little on the pricier side but I don’t mind that Parking They keep messing up my order. (Details below)

The first time was with a group of friends and they forgot to bring out my order. Thankfully I had my receipt to prove I had in fact paid for it and they rectified the situation speedily.

During that visit I fell in love with a side of the Blueberry Kale salad. I placed and paid for a bulk order for a few days later. It wasn’t ready when I went in on my lunch break so I had to wait for them to prepare 6 individual salads. That wouldn’t have been so bad, but instead of 6 salads they made me one giant one. So I had to wait some more for them to get the order right. I was late, hungry, and excited to eat it, but unfortunately it was disgusting. They doused it a different dressing from the one they normally pair with the Blueberry Kale Salad. It was inedible. I was super disappointed... forced myself to eat two and ended up tossing the rest.

Today, I went in for another to go meal. I bought two vegan burritos with Ranchero salsa on the side. I left happy, got to my car... then realized the salsa was missing. I went back and was peeved because instead of telling me they were out they had just neglected to put it in the bag after charging me extra for it. After I asked, I was refunded the cost of the two sides.

Normally I wouldn’t care but these visits have been incredibly frustrating. Basically... Savoy... you are making it hard for me...

Disclaimer: I have celiac disease and am very sensitive to even minute amounts of gluten. for those like me, I recommend that you go to Lilac instead or, if you must eat here, stick to the salad bar. The salmon there is usually very good, and at the salad bar pricing, quite a good deal. Avoid the beets and sweet potatoes, as they are hard, leathery and undercooked. I wouldn’t dare eat prepared foods here. They make their “gluten-free” things on the same equipment as gluten-containing things. The sandwich bar was scary. I watched them hold wheat bread over the sandwich fixings, spread stuff on with the knife that lives in the spread, pile the toppings on with crumbs dropping down. Yikes. I peeked into the kitchen and it looked every bit as scary. There was a quiche on the work area I saw with crumbs every which way. Flatware sits bowl, blade and tines down in a mini bucket on the table that has crumbs in the bottom. Definitely no consciousness here about sensitive celiacs. Savoy's "gluten-free" offerings are for those for whom the gluten-free lifestyle is a choice. I know someone with a mild wheat allergy who isn't sensitive at all. She usually has to actually eat something made with wheat to get sick. She was massively ill after eating a Savoy deli sandwich and a corn muffin made in Savoy's kitchen. They also use bread from our daily bread (last time I checked) which is made in the same facility as all their...

NOT KID FRIENDLY - RUDE AND DISRESPECTFUL OWNER

I grew up in Santa Barbara and always loved their food and the quality of their food. The staff never seemed to be super friendly but that never kept me from returning.

Today I had a very unfortunate experience where I was dining outside in the back patio, 8 months pregnant, with my toddler and my friend and her toddler and baby. Our children were playing like all kids do, next to the fountain and moved a couple chairs, nothing extreme or very disruptive. There were only 2 other diners in the area and we were keeping an eye on them to make sure they didn't get out of hand, as we always do. The owner walked in and in a very disrespectful and condescending way and started telling us off that we had to watch our children and that they weren't allowed to do x, y z...I would understand if our children were out of control but they were not at all. To be honest I would expect a little more empathy from another human being. Understanding that yea, kids are not ideal for everyone, but sometimes moms want to get out too and we can't tie up our children. So bottom line, I don't support restaurants that have rude and disrespectful staff and owners and it makes me sad that people can't have sympathy for mothers who are doing some of the hardest jobs...