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Boathouse
2981 Cliff Dr, Santa Barbara
Phone: (805) 898-2628
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Reviews by the General Public
Good meal and great view, 5/5/2013
Reviewer: Steve Nelson
from Walnut Creek, CA
Friday late afternoon and already hopping with the drinking crowd. Five of us for dinner so we opted for a table inside instead of a wait for patio. Attentive server; friendly dude. Macadamia mahi mahi was very good, as was wife's salmon. Daughter's clam linguine was okay; son and his girlfriend liked their chicken. Blood orange margarita was just okay but regular margarita hit the spot. Loved the Mudd Pie. Atmosphere was perfectly hang loose beach bar so don't expect the King's English.
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FINALLY a very good meal and darn good service, 11/26/2012
Reviewer: Cindy
from Santa Barbara, CA
Have been here many times and our experience has been more miss than hit but decided to give it another try. Food was the best I've had here and service was really good (thanks Justin) Our party had the Ono, Blackened Salmon and White Sea Bass and each of us thoroughly enjoyed our meal. Nice surprise. Keep it up!!
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Off season dining: Fall, 11/2/2012
Reviewer: Henry
from Lexington, Ky
This was our first visit and we walked in without reservations and were seated at a great corner table by the ocean. It was cool that evening but plexiglass windbreakers and ample space heaters made it very pleasant. They were about 2/3 full and the service was prompt and courteous. I had the New England clam chowder which was creamy and full of seafood. I followed with lightly grilled ahi with lobster sauce on a bed of asparagus and mashed grilled potatoes.The ahi was perfectly seared and warm in the middle. With this we had a nice but inexpensive bottle of Santa Barbara Chardonnay. I am sure this place is packed in the Summer, but this night it was perfect.
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Reservations?, 10/18/2012
Reviewer: Carl
from Camarillo, CA
We made reservations on a Sunday evening and when the time past no one knew when we would be seated. There were no open tables and they had no idea how long we had to wait. Place was disorganized and crowded with people putting in their own food orders. We had a reservation for 10 and it was for a special occasion. Never again. Place also smelled bad from the surrounding dog area at the beach.
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Good food, AWFUL service, 7/25/2012
Reviewer: James
from Santa Barbara, CA
I never write these, but this was top 3 worst service I've ever had. They had no idea what they were doing. We waited, which is fine. Then, the hostess, whom we waited for for 2-3 minutes after we got buzzed, had the audacity to tell me that she was waiting for me and buzzed me several times...okay...whatever. Then, we stood there for no less than 5 minutes while they did not have our table ready. Nice. We sat, and waited for a while. Not a big deal so far. When we ran out of bread, we literally asked 3 times for more. Unacceptable. The waiters were goofing around inside. It was near closing time, and they had half the tables empty, and still they could not attend to us. We are not picky, needy, or angry customers usually. The food was good, but I will never go back there. I am embarrassed for the owners who have a good product but it is so mismanaged. Sadly disappointed.
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Don't go here - the WORST service, 7/21/2012
Reviewer: Suzanne
from Santa Barbara, CA
There are soooo many better restaurants/happy hours around Santa Barbara! This is the first time I've ever written a bad review about an establishment. The purpose of this review is to warn others not to waste their time and money here. Unfortunately, I doubt the restaurant actually cares; just go read the reviews on Yelp as it's chock full of bad experiences that describe exactly what me and my friends experienced, and clearly, nothing has changed because of them. I had a friend visiting from San Francisco and a small group of us wanted to meet for happy hour. Happy Hour is from 8pm until close on Fridays but you have to be seated in order to partake in the happy hour; there are 4 tables reserved for this - everything else is the restaurant menu. So we get put on the waitlist. If you order drinks while you wait, there's nowhere to stand - you'll just get shoved around and told not to stand there...or there...or there. Forty-five minutes later, we get taken inside the restaurant to be seated and we explain that we were on the waitlist for happy hour. So we get sent back outside to wait and get put on a list again. Waiting, waiting, starving, we were told multiple and differing reasons as to why we weren't being seated. There are now empty tables in the outside area, it's 9:47pm and we're told we're not allowed to be seated at the outdoor non-happy hour tables because, as the "manager" (not sure who this guy was) put it, "We don't seat people there who only want appetizers and drinks." Whaaa?? We've already explained that we don't need the happy hour prices, but we'd like to order apps and more drinks. I was so exasperated at this point that I said to my friends let's go. The "manager" overheard me and scuttled to improve the situation. He sat us down, ordered us an appetizer on the house; okay, wonderful we thought, now we can relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. But before we could even taste the appetizer, "manager" comes over, gets in my face and says threateningly, "You need to be nice to my girls." Whaaa?? He repeats, "You need to be nice to my girls." And proceeds to tell us that he's doing us a favor by seating us. When I explain all that has happened, he informs us that we should have talked to a manager much earlier. Hmmmm, so now it's our fault? As a final show, he stood near our table staring at us and we could only interpret this as an attempt at intimidation. I'll tell ya, it takes a lot to put a bee in my bonnet, and that was it. I put $13 on the table (the cost of the passive/aggressive "gift" appetizer) and we got up and left. We went up to the mesa to Alcazar where we dropped over $100 in apps and drinks. The service and food at Alcazar is awesome. The Boathouse is seriously lacking in service: The hostesses are clearly too young and inexperienced to be working at a place that is overcrowded and doesn't have a clear plan of action, nor is able to take care of it's hungry customers in a professional manner. And the "manager's" behavior came off as if he's the rooster in the hen house. But reading other reviews on Yelp, he's been rude to other people as well. I will never return here.
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apparently no management, 7/2/2012
Reviewer: Tim
from Phoenix, AZ
The food - I had the blackened sea bass - was well presented and delicious. However we got on the seating list at 7:30, told the wait would around 40 minutes, were seated at approximately 9:00. We were a group of seven crammed into a booth made for 4 while other more accomodating seating arrangements were available literally 5 minutes later. I informed the waitress we were moving to a more appropriate seatng arrangement. The food finally arrived just a few minutes 'till 10. By then we were totally disqusted by the terrible service, abundance of loud drunken clientel and apparent lack of any management oversight. The parking lot was almost empty when we left around 10:20. Not only was it an awful dining experience, our mood when we left can best be described as angry. This establishment is not recommended for people with young children!
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Why so negative?, 6/7/2012
Reviewer: Desirey
from Santa Barbara, CA
I LOVE almost every plate from the boathouse! Their Shrimp Quesadillas, their classic burger, clam chowder, seviche and their FISH AND CHIPS! I don't know why their is so many negative reviews about their fish and chips? The service was good... I think their bussers are more helpful then the waiters.
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Not a bad choice...
Reviewer: JR
from Santa Barbara, CA
My folks live out of town, and the Boathouse is a tradition for us when they come visit. Unfortunately, we have just gotten used to the fact that the service is below average. The hostesses are lovely, and the bar service is good (if you sit at the bar), but there always seems to be a ridiculous time-lag with the table servers. We enjoy the food, the crab cakes and cioppino being our favorite, and the view is amazing. Worth the trip(s), overall, but be prepared to wait for service.
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Great spot for Happy Hour!
Reviewer: amanda
from Santa Barbara, CA
My boyfriend and I were just driving around and decided to stop and get a drink and appetizer. Beautiful views, great happy hour prices and we had great service. Calamari was ok, not amazing, but will definitly go back for the beautiful ambience!
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Excellent overall
Reviewer: Liza S
from saratoga
We decided to eat last minute due to the location, beach view was awesome. We requested a table overlooking the ocean and the very friendly staff granted this after a reasonable wait. The food was excellent, the staff was knowledgeable about what to recommend. As we were finishing our dinner, we enjoyed it so much that we asked if they took reservations for my husband's bday the next day. They told us that they didnt accept reservations in a very friendly way, but if we called them ahead of time, they will do their best to give us a nice table. And then..they surprised us with a huge mud pie cake with a candle to celebrate my husband's bday. Would recommend them anytime.
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Whiskey Crab Chowda!!
Reviewer: Huyen
from Santa Barbara, CA
I'm not the hugest fan of the food at the Boathouse, but I love their sister restaurant - The Shellfish Co on Stearn's Whaf. However, I believe the Boathouse is the only restaurant that carries their award winning soup - Whiskey Crab Chowder!!! I was fortunate to have a few cups of it at the Chowder Fest at the Montecito Country club last year..I kept going back for more, hehee. I believe the soup won both awards..judges and peoples choice..soo bomb.
They don't have it every day - I wish they did, but be sure to ask because you don't want to miss out. It's perfection. They need to make it at Shellfish and Fishouse..WIN!!
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To the bad fish & chips...
Reviewer: Tracy
from Santa Barbara, CA
You are right about the fish & chips. I've asked the staff about their recommendations and this is not one of them. In fact, they suggest to NOT order them. I wanted to decide for myself and ordered them anyway. Both the fish and the fries were dry and fishy. We had to douse them in lemon. Aside from this plate, the other dishes have been good, the burger is a top choice.
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Took Wrong turn
Reviewer: john
from Santa Barbara, CA
Was on vacation with the family took wrong turn so I just kept driving.then we saw the Boat House.First every one was nice.The food was outstanding so was the service.I had the seafood pasta,kids had cheese burgers wife had house salad,everything was good the one thing that stood out was the shrimp very sweet.Right on the beach.Very nice place.
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BEST place in SB!
Reviewer: Lauren
from Santa Barbara, CA
The Boathouse is amazing! Great Food! Spectacular Quick service! Its got it all! The ocean is beautiful, and the lobster is very very good! If you don't know where to go, then go here! Breakfast, lunch and dinner its always GREAT!
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Whatever you do do not order the fish and chips....
Reviewer: Christine
from Santa Barbara, CA
So I have been coming to the boathouse ever since in opened and last week I went with a friend and ordered the fish and chips... I have had them over at the fish house and they were quite good, knowing its the same owner I thought they would be just as good. I was very mistaken. They looked like fish sticks you could buy at the grocery store and they tasted they had gone bad they were soo fishy smelling that I could not eat more than one. The waiter assured me that they were made fresh every day... maybe I just had a bad batch... but I have had other people complain to me that they had a bad experience as well with the fish and chips.... Think they need to take a cue from the fish house.... Think I am going to stick to the burgers from now on...
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Decent food - horrible service
Reviewer: Sam Tababa
from Santa Barbara, CA
I am unsure of why its so hard for Santa Barbara restaraunt managers to hire and or train their staff correctly. This place has such poor service its as if none of the wait staff have ever been trained on how to serve food. Whether its the utter lack of attention or the complete disregard for the customers special needs and or questions, each time I've eaten here I've been astounded by the poor service. Forgotten apps, no salad, empty wine glasses waiting for a refill... To top it off the bus people put their fingers in the water glass and reach across you to take your plate! Seriously? This is a priced like a fine dining establishment but acts like a fast food joint. That's why people go there for the happy hour only, where service is not important and the view makes up for the poor attention and mediocre food.
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