The Palace Grill — Restaurant in Santa Barbara

I love love love this place. I don't know if I've been happier in a restaurant. I'm from NorCal and come to SB visiting friends every so often. We go here every time i visit and it's been amazing every time.

Let's talk food. The muffins they bring out to start are tasty, interesting, and fresh The last time I was here I had a half and half of the oysters, which I liked. I always get the Cajun Margarita, which I basically spicy vodka. Kind of punishing and not for everyone, but I like it. I used to get the stuffed pork chop, which was amazing, but they don't serve it any more. A blessing in disguise, really, because I got the seafood etouffe, which was arguably better. Fresh seafood and veggies bits in a spicy, delicious Cajun sauce was oh so tasty. Haven't had anything like it before so I can't speak to the authenticity, but it was so good. For dessert, the bread pudding. Make sure you order it at the beginning of dinner - you won't be disappointed! I like the regular one better than the chocolate, but to each their own.

Let's talk ambience. Normally, not important to me - food is king. But it's so nice! Very relaxed atmosphere, though a bit loud. Also, every so often they put on What A Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong and the whole restaurant sings as the restaurant staff come through and do cheers with everyone. I don't know how they keep up the enthusiasm after years of doing it but I love it - it makes me feel so happy and welcome.

Let's talk service. The last time I came, we had an issue that, under normal circumstances, would have prevented us from being seated. We were bummed - I had come 300 miles (to see my friends) and was looking forward to dinner with them here. As we were looking for alternatives, one of the staff came out and said they could make an exception for us that day. We had a wonderful evening, and he even came by later to thank us for coming in. Our waitress was also nice and cheerful - everyone here really treats you like they care. It's wonderful.

Sorry for ranting, but I really do love this place. The only warning I'll give is that the line tends to be pretty long and they don't do reservations on the weekend. Come right as they open or be prepared to wait. Definitely...

All I can say is... WOW! This place is fantastic. I knew from the reviews and the fact that it was recently saved from permanent closure that it would be good, but I wasn't expecting it to be as good as it was.

I am no NOLA native, but I have been, and swore I would never order gumbo anywhere else on earth, but I am glad I ordered the gumbo here. My mom and I agreed that it was phenomenal. We devoured it so quickly that I didn't even get a chance to take a picture. The gumbo comes with a hearty serving of rice, and since we wanted to save room for dinner, we did not eat all of it, but as I write this review, I wish we did.

My mom got the blackened redfish and really enjoyed it. It was perfectly cooked, but she noted it could use a bit more salt. The dish did come with a small cup of a garlicky dressing/sauce on the side and that made all the difference and made up for the lack of salt in the dry rub.

I got the crawfish pasta lafitte, and because I am greedy, I added shrimp to it. ;) They do NOT skimp on portions here, even the seafood! Next time I come back, I know not to ask for the shrimp because there is plentyyy of crawfish. The pasta itself was so rich, creamy and flavorful. I could not finish the entire plate. You should plan to bring leftovers home with you, or share it amongst the table.

We ended our meal with the bread pudding because it is so highly recommended. My mom did not love it because it wasn't a traditional bread pudding (which they do not claim it to be). I think it had amazing flavor and can see why people love it so much, but after the filling meal we had, we could not eat much of it. Next time, I will try the key lime pie!

I would make a trip up to SB from SD just to visit this restaurant, and I am so glad it ended up staying open. If you were on the fence about dining here,...

My best friend and I drove all the way to Santa Barbara from San Diego. We were biking around town on Friday, and rode across this cute little New Orleans style restaurant. The next day we drove all the way to Big Sur and we’re exhausted, after that…we kept thinking about this restaurant, after we saw the menu we knew we HAD to go. And oh my goodness, are we glad we did. We RAN to the restaurant since they closed at 9pm and we were running at a tight 8:10. When we got there, the server was super kind and sweet, we don’t remember her name but she was great!:) we ordered the Cajun popcorn…it was my time trying crawfish and I can’t even begin to tell you how delicious this place was. They gave us muffins too! By the time our entree had arrived, we were STUFFED. But let me tell you that my best friend and I spent a whole day driving back to San Diego and could not WAIT to finish our entrees when we got home. I got some pasta, but I swear to you that never had I ever pasta that good in this whole wide world. My best friend said her Jambalya was the most amazing pasta too!!! We were SO FULL, but this place was amazing. Great vibes, good music, cards stuck on the ceiling, Mardi gras theme, jazz icons…everything was just right. Our only regret was not being able to try their bread pudding. Hoping they add beignets on the menu some time soon so we can stop by ;)

Overall 10/10 Service, food, vibes, drinks,...