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Endless Summer Bar Cafe
113 Harbor Way, Santa Barbara
Phone: (805) 564-4666
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Reviews by the General Public
Mai Tai Heaven, 9/9/2009
Reviewer: Dave J
from Santa Barbara, CA
I love Mai Tais. Nobody makes a better one in town (apologies to the uptown Chuck's). I don't even have to order. When I walk through the door, Mike, Adam, Corey or Brandon are on it in a flash. The lobster bisque, prawn cocktail and Steve's quick fix are all my favorites. What a view! Great service and great food!
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Best Lobster Bisque, cocktails, fun atmosphere, 9/9/2009
Reviewer: Jill Avery
from Santa Barbara, CA
Ok the Lobster Bisque is delicious. This is a "must try" item for all locals who haven't yet.I had it for the first time last night and I had to have a 2nd round!!!
Great cocktails too, quite powerful! Perfect!
I like the surf theme atmosphere, and of course everyone enjoyed the guitarist Big Chris who played all requests and had everyone singing along to our favorite rock ballads, it was a lot of fun.
The staff is very friendly and attentive.
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which is better? The food or the service?, 9/9/2009
Reviewer: Marilyn
from Santa Barbara, CA
Been here many times and consider myself a regular. I actually felt like a regular the first time I went as the staff welcomed me like they knew me. The wait staff are friendly, courteous and attentive as soon as you walk in the door. John, the manger, walks around and talks with the customers and makes sure we are happy. The food is delicious no matter what I have ordered. the menu is extensive. Something for everyone. My favorites are the fish tacos. You have a variety of fish choices from lobster to halibut and beyond. The ceasar salads are barnone the best. They have their special jalapeno-yogurt sauces that go on the taco and their scrumptous nachos. Now to the bar selection. In addition to the extensive, very afforable wine and bar list, they have a martini list of the exotic nature. Desserts? Mudpie with caramel sauce, death by chocolate cake and other gourmet yummies. They also have a program which entitles you to special discounts and monthly coupons in the mails to save you money which are good at anytime. Also after you spend a certain amount at the establishment, you get an extra $10.00 coupon in the mail. Again, good at any time. In this economy, where can you go and get A+ food and services and get money back in the mail?? Try it and you will become a regular too.
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Found the Perfect Surf Bar!, 9/8/2009
Reviewer: Bill
from Paso Robles, CA
Every summer we hop abourd our yacht and cruise up and down the California coast, stopping at our favorite harbors, one of which is Santa Barbara. Upon arrival our first shore excursion is, of course, straight to the Endless Summer Bar and Grill. We are not in the door for more than 2 minutes, without being greeted with a smiling face and a table waiting and what appears to be a bottomless ice tea glass. When you see the gorgeous surf boards coupled with the outstanding views, you can see why the Beach Boys would be proud that it is named Endless Summer. My favorite is the Rincon Burger with fries. Always consistently delicious and medium rare is ALWAYS medium rare. My wife loves the Salmon Tacos with the jalapeno/yougurt. There is also a variety of fantastic salads and starters (lobster bisque is a MUST). Thanks for making years of summer dining pleasures endless.
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Great time - all the time!, 9/8/2009
Reviewer: Vickie Prezelin
from Santa Barbara, CA
This is my second review because I love the Endless! I eat there at least once a week, and the food is great... especially the desserts; oh that mud pie Yum! The hostess always greats me with a smile and I'm always taken care of right away!
But not only do I come for the food, and the setting (it doesn't get any better than sitting down and looking out at the beautiful harbor!), I also come to listen to the music. The music is what sets the whole ambience! Chris plays solo guitar every night but Thursdays and he draws in the crowds! People hear him from downstairs and instead of going to Brophy's they come to the Endless!
So, come on in and I'll see ya there!
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Our favorite spot at the Harbor!, 9/8/2009
Reviewer: Patty
from Santa Barbara, CA
Since we had such beautiful weather this labor day week-end my husband and I decided to get lunch at The Endless Summer. As usual, I had the Rincon burger which was spectacular! My husband had the steak sandwich, which he said was perfect once again. The grade of beef they serve must be prime because the flavor is just wonderful. From the hostess to the waitress to the busboy you couldn't have asked for faster or friendlier service.
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Overpriced, poor food, total tourist trap, 9/2/2009
Reviewer: Doug
from Santa Barbara, CA
I visited this restaurant many years ago, and remembered not being very impressed with the quality of the food. Tonight, we happened to be walking by and decided to try it again. Big mistake. Again, totally disappointed.
The service was amazingly slow. It took awhile for our server to take our food order, and since we were pretty hungry, we ask for some bread to munch on. That took 20 minutes, crazy...oh and they charge for bread? Real classy. Food arrived another 20 minutes later, and was very poor quality. $12 hamburger was greasy and really plain, calamari was tiny breaded bits...nothing special. Again way overpriced for what it was.
After living in SB for 15+ years, I should have known better and just gone next door to Brophy's....
Avoid this overpriced tourist trap.
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Management?, 7/31/2009
Reviewer: Melissa
from Santa Barbara, CA
I've visited this restaurant a few times, mostly for its' beautiful views of the harbors, mountains, and SB in all its glory. It's the type of place you'd like to bring visitors to Santa Barbara to, if only the food and service matched that quality. The drinks are delicious, though expensive. Definitely a good place to go for happy hour + free popcorn. Unfortunately, within my last few visits, I've been really disappointed. The food is overpriced. They have that great location on the harbor, yet I'm pretty sure none of their food is locally caught. Getting local fish would taste so much fresher and would encourage more visitors from the town. At times, service has been less than satisfactory. Last time I visited, my children, husband, and I heard a manager loudly refer to a server by a derogatory name. And often, if you're there after 8 PM and come for food, the service will rush you and meanwhile spend more time at the bar. As much as I have tried to give this fun, surfing inspired restaurant a chance, for myself and my family, we will go to Brophy's in the future. For their sake, I will say that I have gone to the restaurant when it was run very professionally and received outstanding service, it just seems to gone downhill as of late.
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Great location, only reason to eat here is the view, 7/7/2009
Reviewer: Mindy
from Santa Barbara, CA
We've eaten here a bunch of times, but honestly, the food is really not good. We tend to go at an odd hour, like between lunch or dinner, so we usually get a window seat with a view of the harbor and the ocean breeze. On a clear day, the best view imaginable. But the food is SUCH a disappointment. Last time we were there, we got fish and chips. The fish was hot, but it tasted frozen (complete with freezer taste and a bit watery when chewed.) The fries were okay, but greasy and lank. The only good thing was the glass of Stella Artois we had. The staff were friendly enough, as usual, but the place was a bit ratty and dirty looking and our table clearly needed a deep cleaning. Who wants to put their hands down and stick to the surface they are going to be served food on top of? Yuck! Our waitress was attentive, but also very busy yelling at all her young college underlings, so that was not very nice to hear with our relaxing view. I'd take a visitor here, or maybe go back if someone else really wanted to go there. But I'm pretty much done.
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DELICIOUS!, 6/5/2009
Reviewer: Mike
from Santa Barbara, CA
I love this place. The fish tacos are delicious. The margaritas are delicious. The Bloody Mary's are delicious. Mike makes the most delicious ones and Adam makes delicious ones, too. All said and done, Endless Summer in one word is -> delicious.
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It's the entertainment at Endless Summer!, 5/26/2009
Reviewer: Vickie Prezelin
from Santa Barbara, CA
Besides the great food and ambiance, the Friday night and Sunday night entertainment is awesome. Chris Manning plays solo guitar like you've never heard. You have to come visit this place and sit for a spell!
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Great Bar Good Food Great People, 1/13/2009
Reviewer: Brandon
from Santa Barbara, CA
I am a manager at a local hotel. I go to the endless summer on a weekly basis and reccommend many guests to check it out. We very very rarely get any negative feedback. Most guests absolutely love it and it is the highlight of their trip. It is a bar and grill so it can get busy, but it wouldnt be fun if the place was empty. Good live music most days of the week and with Mike and Adam mixing drinks behind the bar you cant go wrong. I dont know what locals some people have been talking too, but all the locals I know frequent the ES numerous times a week. Get a birddog, watch a surf flick, and stare at the ocean, cant be too bad!
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Great Lobster Salad at the Harbor Festival
Reviewer: Corey
from Santa Barbara, CA
My girlfriend and I wondered into Endless Summer during the harbor festival. It was very busy but the hostess was nice and got a seat in a few minutes. The server was very busy but made a point of getting to us on time being funny and nice and getting us our food quickly. I had the Local lobster spinach salad on the recommendation of the server and it was fantastic my girlfriend had the Ahi spinach salad and the was really good as well. Overall everything was good and I will be coming back here again and would recommend it do anyone.
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Epic Food and Drinks
Reviewer: Fernet
from Santa Barbara, CA
I come here regularly and I'm surprised to see any negative reviews. This is a great place with good food and drinks, surf flicks and sports on three big flatscreens, literally a museum of surfboards on the ceiling and walls, and a killer view of the harbor and ocean. They have hands down the best mai tais in town and they use this rad crushed ice that somehow makes them even better. I like their chowder better than the famous Brophys restaurant next door, and this is the only place I EVER order seared ahi. That crust they use is all time and it's available as an entree or on top of some of their salads. The halibut tacos are sooooooo good and OMG, the nachos are easily the BEST in town, surprisingly so since there are so many Mexican restaurants in the area. It's a HUGE plate of nachos and the chips are insane. The service has always been great. All the girls are rad and the guys are cool. I've never had a problem with slow or bad service at Endless and I've been there like, WAY over 100 times sine they opened.
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Endless Summer Bar Cafe
Reviewer: Spencer
from Santa Barbara
Endless Summer is usually either very busy or quite slow. It's rare that it is in between. They do a good job and the employees, all of them, are nice people that go out of their way for you. Sometimes they get slammed for a short while on any given night and the wait at the bar increases. It's a HUGE bar. Deal with it. You waited longer for a seat at Brophy's and wouldn't have found a seat at the bar there anyway, so Endless Summer was actually faster service than your intended destination. I enjoy the Endless Summer immensely and it is one of my favorite places to grab lunch or a happy hour mai tai (best in town). You should have eaten dinner at Endless and talked story with the drunken fisherman. Try the nachos, fish tacos, and the Chuck's steaks. yummy!
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HORRIBlE service
Reviewer: C. Redmond
from Montecito, CA
Wow, this is the Worst service on earth. I think my husband and I had to wait at least 1/2 hour to get a drink at the bar. I can understand when a restaurant is busy (who knows why) but the bartenders completely ignored us. I never felt so invisible in all my life. At a good restaurant they would at least tell you they would be by in 5, 10, etc. minutes and acknowledge your existence on some level, but they wouldn't dare even make eye contact. It was a seriously long effort to finally order a drink. I felt like I should have gotten a reward for my persistence. By the time we got our drinks, our buzzer went off for dinner next door. During this time a completely wasted fisherman sat next to us and wanted to chat it up but this is another story. I live in town and I have to guess the only reason this restaurant does well and gets along with such atrocious service is because the location and hotels probably recommend it. Plus, ignorant people like us stop by for a drink on our way somewhere else. I would love to have some quality places close to the shore in SB and this place is a waste of great space. People just need to stop going here. It is awful.
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Laid back dining
Reviewer: Betsy
from Duarte, CA
After a long day of walking the town, along with way too many other people, I was looking for someplace to have a late lunch that was laid back and friendly. That is exactly what I found at the Endless Summer. I had never been there before, but looking at it from the outside it was exactly what a beach town bar cafe should be. The man who greeted me was really sweet, my waitress was amazing. She was friendly and ever present asking about my lunch and filling my glass. The food, well it wasn't the Ritz, but that's not what I wanted. The food was great...exceptional outdoor bar food. I would easily go back. The only negative thing I have is that the bus boys all looked lost...friendly once you talked to them, but not outgoing like my waitress...who was a joy!
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We got tired of waiting for basic service and left!
Reviewer: Dave
from Santa Barbara
Call me a glutton for punishment, but a couple of weeks ago, when the wait was an hour at Brophy's, we opted to give Endless Summer another chance after two meals there in the past year in which the food was OK but the service horrible. We never got to the food part this time. The hostess parked us at a table directly across from the (loud) prep kitchen. After waiting 10 minutes for a waitperson to wait on us, we took it upon ourselves to move to a table closer to the bar. The bartender eventually came over to take our drink order and we asked for water. That was the last time we saw her. We waited another 10-15 minutes and finally walked out without ever having ordered. I learned my lesson. I will never be back.
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Just barely mediocre
Reviewer: Foodie Dan
from Santa Barbara
What to say???My wife and I went there because we had a gift certificate. It took forever to get the bottle of wine we ordered. The busboy had a look on his face as if his dog died. The staff was trying but didn't have enough servers. My wife ordered the flat iron steak, medium, and it came well done. There was never anyone around to request it redone so she ate the sides. I had "jims quick fix" and it was pretty good. The steak came med rare, as I requested, and the blue cheese sauce was tasty. When our server came to get our plates, the first time we saw him since he dropped off our food, we told him that my wifes steak was overdone. The management did take her steak off the bill. The mud pie was very good. Overall, I wouldn't return, unless I recieve another gift certificate.
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Just ok, but I won't come back.
Reviewer: Tammi
from Santa Barbara
With all the great restaurants in SB, I'd never return to such a mediocre one. Like many other people, we chose this place because there was an hour wait at Brophy's. With two small children, this just isn't an option. Service was just ok. They gave us a table right away, but took awhile to take our drink order. My husband ordered a $9 margarita which came in a water glass (a total rip off). I ordered lemonade for both my kids and they were served in GLASS glasses so I had to hold the bottom of my 2-year-old's drink the whole time so she wouldn't spill it. Most places can pitch in a little for some plastic cups with lids for little kids. Our food, also, was just ok. I ordered fish and chips, and it was just 3 pieces of fish on a bed of fries for $14. My husband ordered the fish tacos and also thought they were ok. (Also $14) He tasted one of my fries and said that the fry had more flavor than his entire meal. Oh, and their kids meals are totally overpriced. All in all, disappointing to spend over $50 for a family of 4 to have such a mediocre lunch. Yes, the view is amazing, and my son liked the surf boards hung all over the place, but that was about all the pros of this place. Oh, and leaving the windows and doors open for the view is nice, but it lets in all the flies. Totally unappealing.
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Live music, great experience
Reviewer: Susan Wright
from Houston, Tx
I was told about this place from a friend who had visited Santa Barbara before and had a good experience here. I'm sure glad I listened to them! We were greeted promptly by a hostess and sat at a table near the bar. The waitress that greeted us was polite and had all the answers to our questions. The drinks came promptly and the food was exactly to specification. The only problem whe had was that the clam chowder seemed a little bit watery. Other than that everything was great and the burger was AMAZING! I would be a regular customer if I lived closer, but I'll be sure to come back if I visit Santa Barbara again.
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Delicious food, slow service
Reviewer: Rory
from Santa Barbara, CA
I haven't been to this restaurant in years, was always just so-so food, but went for the usual reason, Brophy's was packed. The sign says "find yourself a seat", but then the hostess took us to a place outside which was nice. I see that the last time someone wrote about this place was 9 months ago. Maybe something happened after Chuck's took over? The service was odd, everyone was nice, but although the soda came immediately, the wine took a full 15 minutes to get here. As I read in previous reviews, the wait staff apologized and said the exact same thing as that review, "we are slammed". But they weren't slammed by any means. The waiter was nice but seemed very nervous, and the meal took a full 40 minutes to arrive. Another waiter apologized and said he had no idea why it was taking so long, but they were nice about it, not rude. There didn't seem to be any excuse for the long wait. BUT, the food was great. The blackened salmon was one of the best pieces of salmon I have ever had, and a huge piece that would cost a lot more elsewhere, and it was very reasonably priced. The salads are top notch too. Good food, not expensive, they need to get their act together for timing or else they will just be seen as a bar.
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