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East
1208 State St, Santa Barbara
Phone: (805) 568-1172

  • Category: Japanese, Thai
  • Hours: Tue-Fri 11am-2pm, 5:30pm-10pm, Sat-Sun Noon-3pm, 5:30pm-10pm, Mon Closed
  • Price: $10 - $20
  • Serving: Lunch, & Dinner
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Reviews by the General Public

Best kept lunch secret!!!, 10/22/2009
Reviewer: Arlene from Santa Barbara, CA
I've been coming here for lunch for several years. The bento box is a wonderful lunch deal and the service is excellent. Quiet, relazing and good!!
Our favorite sushi in SB, 6/21/2009
Reviewer: Kip from Santa Barbara, CA
We've been coming here since it was named Maeda Sushi (same name) and were very pleased to discover their excellent Thai food addition under East. Ryoji's sushi is first rate and he always picks quality fish (important to our family health-wise). Don't miss the Ono! Most importantly, East is a place where we always feel welcome and are treated well. Beni (sp?) is a gem. We love being able to eat great sushi without having to deal with the sushi "scene."
Pretty Good, 3/14/2009
Reviewer: jared antonson from Santa Barbara, CA
Tasty but inconsistent. Not as bad as you would think since usually empty. When lines at other sushi places are too long, check this place out. Usually good with some minor tweaks would be really good. I like their soups and noodle dishes the most. Reasonably priced. Worth checking out.

Okay sushi, really bad service, 3/4/2009
Reviewer: Antonio from Santa Barbara, CA
Only the owner knew anything about the food, everybody else was just a server. Since the restaurant was packed, it took forever for her to come around and take the order. And then she was really impatient as we were making our order. Then when they brought out the sushi, they didn't bring any trays for soy sauce or any soy sauce at all. When we asked for soy sauce, they brought out low sodium junk. And the sake we ordered didn't match the sake pictured on the menu. A very poorly run location.
Our favorite sushi in SB for many years!, 2/17/2009
Reviewer: Laurie from Santa Barbara, CA
I'm almost reluctant to rate this place because I'm afraid it will get overrun, and my husband and I won't get a table anymore. I look across the street at the crowds waiting around outside Arigato's and think....boy, they don't know what they are missing! The fish at East has always been very fresh, and the pieces are amply-sized. Everyone who works there has always been extraordinarily friendly and engaging. We've now moved a ways out of town, but we'll definitely be making the extra trip into downtown SB just to go to East whenever we can!!
Worst sushi ever, 2/9/2009
Reviewer: Jen from Santa Barbara, CA
I hope that the reason that the sushi we ordered was so horrible was due to the fact that we came in pretty late on a Wednesday after seeing a movie, so maybe they were in a rush closing up and thats why our order was botched. I dont know though, because the tuna and mackeral sashimi peices we got seriously tasted like theyd been sitting out for a couple days. We couldn't finish them. The woman who served us was very nice, but seriously it was the worst sushi Ive ever tried to eat.

Still fantastic after all these years, 2/3/2009
Reviewer: Kristen from Santa Barbara, CA
We enjoyed a fabulous meal tonight at East and have been coming here for years. Our group enjoyed the #2 chef's choice nigiri and sat at the bar. The fish portions are generous and delicious and the price is great ($18 for 9 pieces of nigiri, a salad and a bowl of miso soup). I also recommend the Sushi Nugget, which is a disc of sushi rice that is fried with avocado and spicy tuna on top. The service was great and we saw Ryoichi (the owner/head sushi chef) for the first time in months - he fell and has been healing slowly. I'm sure this locally owned business could use more of our support right now. As for the person who claims they charged $18 for a roll, they obviously made a mistake. That's $10 over any roll there.
New to Sushi, 1/11/2009
Reviewer: Shawna from Springfield, MN
We accidently came across this resturant late tonight. There was no one there, so no wait. We are fairly new to the sushi world and the waiter did an excellent job helping us decide our meal. The food was great and had wonderful flavor. Would love to revisit on our next trip tp Santa Barbara.
My favorite sushi restaurant in SB
Reviewer: Kay from Santa Barbara, CA
East is my fave place to get delicious sushi in SB! The rolls are unique and generous, the service is great and nothing beats sitting outside on their delightful patio.I have noticed that business has been slow and I wish they would offer a sushi happy hour, all you can eat sushi or some other specials so more people eat there. I don't want it to close!! I highly recommend this SB gem.

Great for vegetarians
Reviewer: Jen from Santa Barbara, CA
The owner told us that all the broths are vegetable-based, not fish-based, so almost any dish can be made veg by replacing the meat with tofu. The curries are wonderful and the staff is helpful and attentive. Five Stars!
No complaints here
Reviewer: Chris K from Santa Barbara
Before heading out to eat I decided to look up a place that was befitting of the occasion. I was taking my to be mother in law and my fiancee to a place that the three of us could enjoy. My fiancee is Chinese/Thai and wanted Sushi but her mother doesn't eat raw food so we came to the idea of trying east for the first time since it was Maeda. The food was great and the service was very friendly. I can understand the idea that some may think that the service was slow but this is because its a family style meal that has the server conversing with you and discussing anything from culture to language. Our conversation tended to stay around the Thai lifestyle and the food. The Chicken sate was very good. I read the review below about it being to greesy but that is how its meant to be, go to Thailand, its oil and curry grilled onto the meat. The sushi was good, and the Papaya salad as well as the beef Nam Tok are favorites of mine that were made perfectly. Very filling meal and the three of us got out of there for $80 (three Thai appetizers, 2 sushi rolls, 1 octopus sushi, and a curry entree) but probably could have done with a few fewer dishes. All in all the meal was perfect and left us all very satisfied. We will be back soon.
Not worth it!
Reviewer: Rachael from Santa Barbara, CA
After reading the previous reviews, I thought this restaurant would be good and decently priced. The sushi was pretty good, I'll give it that. But the prices and portions were not! The reviewers said the sushi chef was fairly good at improvising and creating something you'd like, so I told our server I simply wanted a roll with salmon and tuna. I was given a roll with tuna on top of a salmon roll - priced at $18.95! NOT worth it! The "side salad" that came with the sushi dinner was literally, not kidding, 9 pieces of field greens with dressing. The chicken satay was so greasy I absolutely had to blot it on the napkin - I know, gross! Definitely will not be back to this place.
Great Affordable Sushi
Reviewer: Brian from Goleta, CA
I have been hooked on this place for nearly a year now. The Sushi is fresh and affordable with prices for Nigri and Sashimi around $3-4.00 a pair and the cut of meat is always generous. The staff is friendly and always helpful. Every single one of my friends I have brought here have come away happy and always wanting to come back. It is true that when it gets busy the service can be a little slow, so don't plan on coming here if you are in a hurry. I recommend sitting at the sushi bar and talking with the chef and selecting sushi that way. The lunch specials are also very reasonable.
I am hungry for East...
Reviewer: T.R. from Ventura, CA
I have been eating here and loving it since it was Maeda Sushi. Now that it is East and they have included Thai on the menu I love it even more. And I have turned my co-workers on to it and now they love it too (see my co-worker Stacey's review of 11/2). The Bento box lunch is the best ever, so tasty, fresh, and filling. The thai dishes I have ordered are great also. I give the service a 4.5 b/c they encourage special orders and I love that. I had Tom Yum Vegie, my way, no tofu, extra vegies...YUM! Thanks East.
A Perennial Favorite
Reviewer: Eric L. from Goleta, CA
This place has been a perennial favorite for my friends and I for a few years now. The reason we keep coming back? Good fish and the personal touch from the owner and head chef (I can never spell his name correctly so I'm not going to try). He personally drives to LA 3 to 4 times a week to hand select the fish he serves. In my opinon, he's at his best with the nigiri and hand rolls. The pieces of fish are large in comparison to many sushi restaurants in town, prices are reasonable, and their Thai food is pretty good too.. not the best in town, but excellent if you're looking to switch it up a bit or going out with someone that doesn't like raw fish. Recently I discovered the term "Omakase" (meaning "to protect" or loosely translated.. "chef's choice"). He'll make you pretty much anything you can think of (on or off the menu), but if you're not that imaginative and you're looking for something new and original the head chef never fails to deliver. A word of caution, concerning the chef's choice however... Some items are not for the faint of heart. I won't go into detail, but it can lean towards the extreme if he knows thats the kind of thing that you're into. I'd highly recommend the fatty tuna belly if he has it. All in all, its great place thats still relatively unspoiled. If the restaurant is full (East seems to be getting more popular lately), the service does tend to be on the slow side, so I'd recommend going on a Tuesday or Thursday when the crowds are low, the fish is the freshest, and you can grab a spot at the bar.
Very Nice ... Definitely Recommended!
Reviewer: Colin from Summerland, CA
We paid our first visit to East with our friends last night and had a really good dinner. With the exception of some shrimp tempura as an appetizer, we all chose Thai food to share. Everything was perfectly prepared and unlike many USA based restaurants who tone things down to cater to western palettes, it all tasted like good authentic Thai food. We chose papaya salad, beef salad, green and yellow curry, chicken with garlic and pepper and a very tasty spicy beef in basil dish. All was delicious and the portions were generous, but somehow we still managed to find room to share the fried banana with mango ice cream! Service was very friendly and efficient. Prices were a little higher than we expected, but it was quality and definitely worth the slight premium. It was Saturday night and the place wasn't very busy. Based on our experience, East deserved to have all their tables taken. Perhaps taking the lights down a touch, lifting the music slightly and putting some candles around the place would help to make East a more inviting place to dine. We'll certainly be back and probably pretty soon!

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