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Square One
14 E. Cota St, Santa Barbara
Phone: (805) 965-4565
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Reviews by the General Public
Birthday (belated) Dinner at Square One, 10/30/2009
Reviewer: Meridith Moore
from Santa Barbara, CA
A friend asked me to a belated dinner for my birthday and I got to pick the restaurant. I picked Square One and am 100% glad I did. The service was just right, the decor clean and simple with uniquely attractive lighting. The place is spotlessly clean including the restroom. Pomelo Sauvignon Blanc by the glass, so good! All the food we ate was delicous, tweaked just enough to be unique, and very affordable! I highly recommend Square One for casual to special event dining!
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Tickled Pink, 10/20/2009
Reviewer: Joshua Jones
from Santa Barbara, CA
I can't really explain quite how much we enjoyed our evening at Square One. We went with quite a few friends last Saturday. Every one of us (10+) had nothing but great things to say about our meals. I had the short ribs and was floored. It's easy to not expect much from a celery root puree, but really...how the heck was it that good? The atmosphere is simple and elegant, like the food. We found Chef Pink at her last restaurant. We didn't think she could impress us any more than she already has, but the lady never fails to amaze us with her culinary expertise. She uses simple ingredients - all fresh from the local farmer's markets - and creates mind-blowing flavors. We love it and will follow her wherever she goes.
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Disappointed, 8/19/2009
Reviewer: Joan
from Santa Barbara, CA
I dined at Square One last night and I am so very sad to say that I was extremely disappointed. The server was fine if having a bit of a flat personality. The cheese plate was delicious. Best thing about the enire meal. Glass of wine was nice (Chenin Blanc/Viognier blend). I got the salmon with a crispy zucchini blossom. Salmon was cooked well on a bed of stewed onion/garlic/red pepper. The blossom was in a VERY BLAND tempurah batter. It truly tasted like tempurah batter flour. Not nice. My dining companion had the burger. Great bun, meat was fine...again, pretty boring flavor. Onion rings were good...because onions are flavorful...came with a side of plain mayo (yes, plain mayo) and ketchup. The grilled asparagus was grilled nicely with a side of...yup! Plain mayo. No spices, nothing. Weird. The side of chili spinach had hardly any chili and WAY too much butter/oil/water. I had to pour it out halfway through the side as the spinach was drowning in it.
For the money, not what I expected at all. Not horrible, but not good either. The decor is gorgeous...I just hope the food can rise to the occasion.
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Housemade charcuterie FTW!!, 4/18/2009
Reviewer: lemonjelly
from santa barbara, ca
Poking my head into Square One on a whim always provides a treat. This time the menu's been changed up, prices are dropped, the food remains an excellent quality. I've been there twice now in as many days, once for the cheese plate of three California cheeses, and once to sample their housemade charcuterie and pasta. I had the foie gras torchon, country-style rabbit pate, duck prosciutto and pancetta. Served with cornichon and capers, wholegrain mustard, a small nibble of frissee and fennel salad and crostini, the charcuterie selections are just $5 each!! And there was a larger list to choose from. Of course this means I have to go back.
The pasta was also housemade, and I had the duck egg tagliatelle with short ribs and pecorino, $12. Then chocolate pot de creme with pistachio cream and warm biscotti for dessert. SO GOOD. Square One is committed to using organically grown and sustainably raised ingredients, too. I'm super pleased with everything they do.
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Artful dessert
Reviewer: lemonjelly
from santa barbara, ca
Anyone who wants to experience a slice of Square One can do so at the paltry cost of $8. Seriously. I walked in late evening on a whim, sat at the bar, and dined on a beautiful dessert, a special of the evening. Local butternut squash rolled in a crisp pastry, sliced, topped with pecans and served warm with fig coulis and pecan ice cream. Warm, cold, crunchy, smooth, gently sweet - a perfect dessert for the cusp between seasons.
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stab me and twist the blade, why don't you
Reviewer: lemonjelly
from santa barbara, ca
Why I thought I'd died and gone to heaven: the dessert menu this week read foie gras profiteroles. Foie gras ice cream! In choux pastries! Like, two addictions rolled into one. But why I totally got pwnd on it: they were out. And maybe it's not coming back, ever. I never should have peeked at that menu!
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Square One in Key West is Good but
Reviewer: Scott & Delores
from Key West
Going to Santa Barbara on business, my wife and I fell in love with Square One. Key West has a Square One and its wonderful but not on the same scale as Square One in SB. The food is outstanding and the service is over the top. When I travel to SB I plan on making Square One everytime. WE (my wife and I) can not say enough about our experience. Outstanding.
FIVE STARS all the way. Cheers.
Scott and Delores
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Disappointing
Reviewer: Barbra
from Santa Barbara, CA
5 of us foodies looked forward to a nice dinner at Square One Friday night. The amuse bouche was nice. The communication & timing between the waitress & kitchen was WAY off. 4 of us were served, and sat there for 15 minutes for one of the ladies dinner to arrive; by then all of ours was cold. The one we were waiting on was supposedly seared fish; by the time they got it served it was well done fish. One gentleman requested nothing raw fish-wise, and was served almost raw scallops. 2 people got the undercooked scallops (nicely seared but totally raw inside) on an icky cold jelly... good old fashioned rice or potatoes or greens would have been more tasty. 1 diner requested the burger med/rare with no cheese. Came well done with cheese. The waitress seemed clueless. We were so disappointed as love the ambiance, thought of organic foods etc. Surprising lack of caring, despite only 3 tables being occupied. It's one thing if you get bad service/food at a truck stop, but not an upscale restaurant.
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Masterful
Reviewer: Jonathan Tennenbaum
from San Francisco, CA
This is easily one of the best restaurants I have ever experienced. I live in San Francisco and this tops the best SF has to offer. I dined alone at the bar, and told the chef and head server to bring out whatever they would like. I had six or seven courses, with wine pairings, for a FRACTION of the cost of many of California's top restaurants. Make no mistake, this is not an inexpensive restaurant. But for this quality and creativity, and compared to a lot of other places on this level, it is a great value. Each dish was very thoughtful, with delicate but definite flavors. There were bold menu choices incorporating some unusual flavor combinations. But everything seemed to fit, and I couldn't wait to see what they would bring out next! I cannot wait to come back to Santa Barbara just for this. I also appreciated that as a single diner, I garnered the same attention as the larger tables. Nicely executed both front and back of house. Kudos!
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Culinary Explosion
Reviewer: Melissa
from Santa Barbara
The setting is simple, elegant and straight forward, similar to their name
and motto of "seasonal basics". Our waiter was educated on
the menu, friendly and on top of things. Because I only have 200 words I wont’ get into everything we order but let me say, from the, Local Halibut Wrapped Kumamoto Oysters with a vegetable
brunoise and tangerine agridulce to the Red Wine
Braised Short Ribs with Pancetta, Brussels Sprouts, Crispy Paprika Onions
and Red Wine Jus, which is prefect for a cold blustery winter night, the food was flawlessly executed and wonderfuly presented. It was a trueculinary explison for your taste buds and an art show for your eyes. Dinner for three with two appetizers ($8-18), four glasses of wine ($9-11) three entrees ($16-35) and
two desserts ($8) without tip was $200.00. I can't say this about every
place I eat at in Santa Barbara, but Square One was worth every penny and I
look forward to my next amazing. flawlessly presented meal. If you’re a foodie then this is the place you need to be.
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Really top notch - chef and head waitress owned
Reviewer: lemonjelly
from santa barbara, ca
There's been one other restaurant where I felt that each course, and the little appetizers inbetween, were creative, amazing, and really expressed the passion of the chef and the people serving the food. But that place is up in the Napa area. Here in Santa Barbara, we have Square One.
The owners fiercely try to source their food as locally as possible, growing it themselves if necessary. My companions and I all ordered the prix fixe menu, which states four courses, but there were tiny morsels served inbetween. We also got the foie gras plate that serves up three variations of the goose liver, all delicious, and a special of the night - duck egg with greens and truffle. We got a warm baby beet salad with melted brie on top, raw halibut served in oyster shells (one of the favorites of the night), a main dish of scallops and young pea shoots, and a dessert of poached pear with tamarind sorbet and a little finger of walnut bread. Somewhere in there was also dense chocolate truffle, bread, and seafood pate morsel. The head waitress recommended a wine that we were very pleased to drink, called Aqua Pumpkin (no actual pumpkin involved), it was a light red wine that went well with the seafood theme and was great with the chocolate truffle. For me, the portions were good, considering all the courses we had. Service was perfect, everyone knew the food and brought our plates at just the right moments.
I really like this place and want to keep giving them business. The price to eat here is not cheap, but you also don't get cheap food. It's amazing. I wish I could afford this more often.
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Best in town.
Reviewer: JC
from Santa Barbara
There are so many restaurants in Santa Barbara & Montecito that have great reputations and are supposed to be so wonderful. But in all actuality I would say that these restaurants have been on the downfall for a while. The chef's have moved on, other owners have come in, bla bla bla. I can think of several right now, but I won't name them. Square One is owned an operated by the head chef and head waitress. The food is always the best I have ever had. Steak, fish, anything, it doesn't matter. It is my favorite place in town and I would highly recommend going there and getting away from the old "top places" in town.
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nothing short of heaven!
Reviewer: Jennifer
from Santa Barbara
This place is amazing!! I have been to Square One many times and every time my husband and i go it is nothing short of heaven. Not only is the service amazing but the servers are beyond delightful. The food is amazing this is my faviort place in all of Santa Barbara and if you havent been to Square one yet you havent been to the best place here.
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