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Sly's
686 Linden Ave, Carpinteria
Phone: (805) 684-6666
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Sly's writes: James and Annie Sly and crew spent months remodeling the charming structure located at 686 Linden Avenue in Carpinteria, making the historic 90-year old yellow brick building into one of the Central Coast's finest restaurants.
The menu features a wide selection of fishes and seafood, aged, USDA Prime hand-cut steaks, a la carte vegetables, and more than just a little bit of Chef James Sly's forty years of experience in kitchens around the world. From the crusty bread at the beginning of the meal to finely crafted desserts at the end, your food is made right at Sly's.
Sly's features old-fashioned cuisine - James likes to say he specializes in "tired old favorites" - prepared in the traditional way by an experienced kitchen crew - and served by a professional and enthusiastic service staff.
From the iced seafood towers and oysters to the steamed mussels or clams, there are some real seafood treats. Dover sole, grilled or meuniére, challenges Local Sand Dabs for the title of "most popular".
In addition to the impeccable seafood, char-grilled steaks, and daily specials like fresh local abalone and oysters Rockefeller, Sly's features some fascinating pastas - Spaghettini "Caruso" with Marsala and chicken livers, an extremely popular Spaghettini Carbonara, with chunks of bacon, onions, cream, eggs and Parmesan cheese, Linguini with fresh clams, and an ethereal Fettucine "Alfredo" made the traditional way, without a trace of cream.
Desserts are notable, and homemade, too - from the warm, tart apple crisp to the shortcake featuring fresh local berries, you're bound to find a favorite. Of course, James' famous sundae is here - "That" sundae with caramelized pecans from his aunt's recipe, homemade caramel sauce, and chocolate sauce made with Santa Barbara Chocolate Company's incomparable chocolate. In season you might be fortunate enough to find a warm Raspberry Cobbler.
Sly's offers a choice of comfortable dining areas, with the shiny varnished Douglas Fir of the bar contrasting to the exposed yellow brick & glassed-in wine cellar of the dining rooms white table cloth covered tables.
One of the most striking things about the decor at Sly's is the collection of photographer Jesse Alexander's photos on display. This artists eye and lens captured the European racing scene in the 50's and 60's. The images that fill the walls of the dining rooms at Sly's are a timeless glance at a far different world of racing.
Ann and James, and the team at Sly's look forward to your trying our cuisine, cocktails, & wine list at Sly's, and an opportunity to experience the ambiance that has made Sly's an instant classic.
- Specials: Sly's is all about specials, with two tiers of specials - our daily specials and our rotating regional French fixed price menu. The daily specials include seasonal fresh fish specials, a daily pasta special, and wonderful USDA prime steak specials. Typically, the daily specials feature 8 or 10 local vegetables and one or two of Sly's wonderful homemade desserts. (In winter, the Brioche Bread Pudding with Caramel sauce is one example). The French Menu offers 3 courses at $35. per person, with 3 choices for each course. Specialties are chosen to represent a particular region of France, right down to a cheese choice from the experts at C'est Cheese. Also available with French wines at $55. A great value and interesting selections make this a favorite with regulars and visitors alike.
- Happy Hour: We think that the best thing about a Happy Hour is when you leave happy. At Sly's, happy hour is from 4 to 6 pm each day. We feature some interesting Local and French wines at $6 a glass, a cocktail special of the day at $8, and an interesting selection of small plates from $5 to $8, including oysters on the half shell, steamed mussels, those amazing onion rings, and an absolutely delicious French Hot Dog with Gruyere. You will leave happy!
- Brunch: Saturdays & Sundays Sly's adds a Brunch Menu from 9 am to 3 pm with a wide selection of traditional brunch specialties. From waffles and Dutch Baby pancakes to Huevos Rancheros, classic Eggs Benedict, and even Abalone and Eggs, Sly's has your brunch covered. Particularly favored is our Seafood omelette in Lobster sauce. The full lunch menu is also available, so there is no shortage of great choices.
- Private Room: The Monaco Room at Sly's, so named because of the 8-foot print of the famous Jesse Alexander photograph of the start of the 1962 Monaco Grand Prix, is available for small groups up to 30 people. It is semiprivate, but affords you the opportunity to hold your group celebration with Sly's extraordinary food and service. Please contact us for more information.
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Reviews by the General Public
Superb!, 2/4/2013
Reviewer: Dana
from Santa Barbara, CA
One of the best meals my wife and I have had. We ordered the Porterhouse steak and were both astounded -- never eaten anything so good! The service was superb (thanks Izzy). Loved the cocktails. Minor complaint: the chocolate souffle was a bit dry. Expensive, yes, but we were celebrating and prepared for that.
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Over priced and over rated.
Reviewer: Rose
from Santa Barbara, CA
Great drinks, but the food is over rated. Have tried this restaurant three times - won't go again. Raw pancetta/bacon in the carbonara dish (which when pointed out to the waitress her reponse was "that's how it always is"). Fourteen dollar steamed artichoke that was too tough to eat. Miniscule size abalone. Dry salmon. Stick with a bowl of clam chowder and the fresh bread (with a Bloody Mary). Disappointed.
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Horrible experience!
Reviewer: Charlotte
from Goleta
My family and I usually enjoy Sly's very much, but last Sunday afternoon our dining experience was Horrible! First of all there was our absentee waiter (all he did was take our order, he had the untrained busboy take over, whole he busied himself setting up the other room for dinner service.??? We asked repeatedly for bread, finally 4 whole pieces of cold, dry bread arrives with 4 tiny balls of butter for four people...wow! You shouldn't have! Then our food arrives and I had to tell the busboy/runner to clear the tiny table BEFORE serving us our meals, which there was no room on the table for. Then the guy slams my son's head when he attempted to serve him!! Good thing the kid has a hard head!! I still can't believe it! And then he serves me spilled clam chowder, which was not to my liking either. Still no waiter!! I had to ask the bartender for the check and when I complained about our experience to him, he was totally flippant about everything! The place was empty (with the exception of a photo shoot going on right next to us???) What the hell kind of place is this? We felt invisible! Where was everyone?? In retrospect, we should have just left!
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we're so lucky it's in town...
Reviewer: Theresa and Tom
from Carpinteria, Ca
We used to drive to Monticeto to get what we thought was a delicious meal....but
no more. We feel so lucky to be able to drive five minutes into town and sit down
to an excellent meal and be served by a very professional and personable staff. We have eaten almost every bit of food offered on the menu (and tried most of their
cocktails) and have never been disappointed nor have our guests. We have friends
who can"t wait to come back to visit knowing that we will enjoy a meal at Sly's. We look forward to our weekly visit....our hats off to chef Sly, wife Annie and their fantastic
staff.
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Gave them another chance - still disappointed!
Reviewer: Joy Anders
from Carpinteria, CA
My husband and I went to lunch at Sly's / Carpinteria this past week and were very disappointed in the food. We had been there once before, were disappointed, I wrote them a personal note of how they may want to improve their service and food - they never even acknowledged the letter. Then a friend gave us a gift card for Sly's. We went there hungry with a positive attitude. My husband's BLT: bacon was just short of being turned into charcoal and the bread was way too crusty for a BLT....then there was me, I had the Mac n' Cheese with Greens - well I think Kraft mac n' cheese is better than this was - it was dry and it was "crusty" on the top from sitting some where too long and the "greens" - we're talking about just a bit of greens and the croutons were like Melba toast chopped. We were surprised their lunch pricing is the same as their dinner pricing. On the positive, the staff was very friendly but had to ask for water. For those of you wanting to not get a lot for your money and you settle for less than great food, then go for it and go to Sly's!
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Added $5 because we shared a plate
Reviewer: Shelby Sim
from Goleta, CA
Went Saturday morning with my wife and kids. We took the train from Goleta. Ordered for everyone. Since my kids don't finish thier plates, my wife and I were going to share an eggs benedict. I specifically told the waitress not to split the plate. It came as two plates. I reminded her and she said they were going to charge me $5 regardless. The Manager showed where it states on the menu there is a charge to share. Our bill was already $45. But they added $5 for.......what? Bad call. That $5 cost you a lifetime of family business.
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WAY OVERPRICED
Reviewer: Jaun Castro
from Santa Barbara, CA
Wouldn't go back way overpriced, wanted to buy a meal not the whole market of food!!!!!!!! Food was good BUT NOT WORTH THE PRICE!
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Best Happy Hour Hot Dog Ever!
Reviewer: Monique
from Santa Barbara, CA
I've eaten at Sly's many times- but only yesterday happened to stop by after a walk on the beach---and it was Happy Hour (on SATURDAY)...Annie Sly (the owner's wife) suggested the Happy Hour Hot Dog....and let me tell you....it was the most delicious French Hot Dog (2 of them, really) sitting atop a gruyere and mustard toast! It was so delicious that I'm telling you about it at 7:52 AM on a Sunday.....YUM....Perfection on a plate...and the price was very fair ($6-7 I think)....wonderful.
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Very Enjoyable Dinner
Reviewer: Steve
from Santa Barbara, CA
After reading some of these reviews we were a little skeptical of celebrating our anniversary here but the menu looked too good to pass up. We were seated promptly without a reservation(6:00 Sat) and our waiter(Chris) was extremely attentive and knowledgable. Everything we ordered arrived very quickly and tasted exceptional. The Oysters Rockefeller were the best we've ever tasted in S.B. Their wine by the glass prices were a little high so we'd get a bottle next time. Highly recommend Sly's.
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Overpriced and Overrated
Reviewer: Kristin Walker
from Santa Barbara, CA
I can't understand how this restaurant stays in business. Every entree comes with nothing else, and the side dishes are about $10 each. This would be fine if they picked high quality meats, spiced them right, and actually presented the food nicely on the plate. This is not the case. We ordered Seabass ($26) and got a piece of purplish fish (undercooked with no spices) and a lemon wedge plopped on a long plate. The meat looked and tasted very low quality, and the side of veggies were no great shakes. The service, however, is even worse than the food. We had a female with a nose earring who (when we rarely saw her) would yell at us in a shrill voice. She had no clue what she was doing. Someone who couldn't speak English finally brought our food, but it was the wrong food. When we told him it wasn't ours, he acted like he didn't believe us. (He picked up the dishes, then sat them back down.) We had to tell him 3 times it wasn't ours and he walked off shaking his head (like we were to blame.) They really need to train their staff. I gave the food 2 stars, because they have a decent burger (although overpriced) and a good fried Calamari appetizer. Stay away from the pricey entrees though, (especially the fish!), as they will disappoint.
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Totally mismanaged no leadership
Reviewer: Mitchell
from Santa Barbara, CA
I traveled from Montecito as a friend of mine said the food is excellent.The problem is the service.It was the worst service I ever expierenced.I waited an average of 20 minutes between courses with finished plates on my table the entire time.I ordered Bloodly Marys and the glass smelled so bad I couldnt even drink the cocktail.It either was a dirty glass or the ice cubes were dirty.I also was charge for two coffee's instead of one.The waiter had sweat coming down off his forehead throughout the entire meal and I couldnt wait to get out of there.It was terrible.I even had to get out of my chair to find someone to let them know I wanted my check.
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Good Place
Reviewer: Trisha
from Santa Barbara, CA
I've eaten here about 3 times and sat in the bar several times. The food has always been good. I wish the menu had a little more to choose from. The food is very fresh. I had an issue with some chicken on the fettuccini dish and the server was very polite and comp'd the dish. It was cool because they didn't make a huge deal about it. The desserts are SO good, the coconut cake is delicious and light. The bartender is very knowledgeble and friendly. They have a big screen so you can watch games. Great and fun.
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