A review of Tony's at Santa Barbara.com

Tony's
699 Linden Ave, Carpinteria
Phone: (805) 684-3413

Category: Italian, Pizza, Seafood
Hours: Mon-Thu 11:30am-8:30pm, Fri 11:30am-9pm, Sat Noon-9pm, Sun Noon-8:30pm
Price: < $10
Serving: Lunch, & Dinner
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Reviews by the General Public

A Classic, 8/7/2009
Reviewer: Amanda from Santa Barbara, CA
I LOVE Tony's! Lucy is probably the sweetest person you'll ever meet and, given that she and her family are the servers, the service is fantastic as well. If you want to try something different, give the Southwest Style Chicken Pizza a try! Spicy and absolutely DELICIOUS!! The Tony Burger, 1/2 spaghetti & 1/2 ravioli dinner and home made meat and marinera sauces are to die for too.

Incredible Food with a Friendly atmosphere, 8/6/2009
Reviewer: Julia from Santa Barbara, CA
Being a first timer to Tonys I was pleasantly surprised at the wide variety of food held inside this shabby little building. The menu had something that appealed to everyone in my family which was a great plus! While some of the items on the menu are a little to austentaious for my palate the basics were incredible. I've never tasted a better marinara sauce! My husbands ribs were excellent, although Id reccomend getting spaghetti in place of the beans. Also, the PIZZA, it was wonderful, from the crust to the toppings it was a great choice! Besides the food, the service wasnt too bad, they were incredibly busy so we understood the few waits we had to endure, but the waitress was so charming and friendly that it made up for it. Being a family owned business the staff truly clicked and seemed happy to be there. I would reccomend this resturaunt to families looking for a great dining experience. This place is a definite diamond in the rough, with a little fixing up, you would need reservations just to walk in the door!

We love it every time. , 7/28/2009
Reviewer: Cindy Ferguson from Ventura, CA
We have been going to this restaurant for over 25 years and consistantly receive great service and enjoy our meals. When in the mood for good Italian food this is the place to go. It has gotten a "little" pricey but still have not ever had a bad experience. Lucy is the best. She makes you feel at home and gives you great service. Their Italian salad, Salami sandwich, Tony Burger among many other items are delicious!

pasta disaster, 6/11/2009
Reviewer: pat cavanaugh from el cerrito, ca
disaster - ribs were burned. pasta was overcooked, had MASSIVE amts of garlic & was swimming in oil, almost soup-like. WORST was the server who d/n care that food was inedible. "that's the way the pasta always comes out". this was our 2nd visit but we were so offended by the servers attitude that we w/n return. i hv worked in restaurants 4 15 yrs & know how the customer s/b treated. this wasn't even close.

Mushy Fish & Greasy Chips, 6/9/2009
Reviewer: George from Carpinteria, CA
We live in Carpinteria and had tried Tony's several years ago and didn't have a good experience. We decided to give it another shot to see if it had improved over the years. It has not. First off, this is not a cheap restaurant despite its folksie appearance. When paying $15 to $20 for entrees I don't expect amazing cuisine but I do expect good food. First, they put us in this incredibly noisy, hot, humid room without a wisp of fresh air. When the food came, my wife's fish and chips were horrible. The fish was mushy as if it had been in a freezer too long and the fries were greasy and equally inedible. She loves fries but her comment was, "I can't wait to get home and brush my teeth." My Chicken and pasta were OK nothing special. The salad bar looked just plain dirty. There was stuff spilled all over it and looked like it needed a thorough cleaning. The server was attentive and was the only bright spot in the evening. There are many better restaurants in Carpinteria, I suggest giving this one a pass.

Below average food and way too expensive!, 5/29/2009
Reviewer: Amie from Santa Barbara, CA
The last time we went to Tony's will be our last. Too bad, because it's in a great location. The prices have increased so much in the last 2 years and the quality of food has decreased. The pizza is good, but the pasta dishes are greasy. If you want to add a side salad to your meal it will cost you $6.99 and if you want a one trip salad bar with your meal that will cost $8.99. The service is okay at times. Depends on who you get.

TERRIBLE SERVICE AND FOOD, 5/8/2009
Reviewer: George from Santa Barbara, CA
Overall my experience at Tony's was horrible! The food has to much grease, the service was slow and not prompt. 10$ for a dry burger? def. not my idea of a family friendly atmosphere. Believe it or not they served me a flat beer! Honestly after my experience at tony's I felt as though I may as well just eat Mcdonalds. The one good thing is there was plenty of parking, not sure if that was because of the lack of patrons.

Too Expensive, 5/4/2009
Reviewer: Beverley from Santa Barbara, CA
Went there Saturday night - found the food to be extremely expensive eg. $6.99 portion of fries of $6.99 portion of garlic bread. For the food prices would expect a classier restaurant and more ambience, but it looked more like a fast-food restaurant. Not an experience to be repeated.

Great Crust!, 1/25/2009
Reviewer: Elizabeth from Santa Barbara, CA
We stumbled upon Tony's late Sunday night and, boy, were we in for a treat. The pizza crust is the best. Steer away from the fangle versions of pizza and go for the more traditional ones. Spaghetti & meatballs were delicious-very savory. The caesar salad was okay-overdressed but at least there were real croutons (next time ask for the dressing on the side). Leave room for dessert 'cuz their homemade pies are delicious.

Good food and pleasent surroundings
Reviewer: Daniel from Corona, Ca
We were a party of 6 and were seated fairly quickly. The food was a little pricy, but the portions were big. The drink prices were very high. My kids milk was $3, which I could have purchased a gallon at the store. We were taken good care of. And got out of there just over $100 with most of us drinking water. Still it wasnt to bad.

Great location, ok. food & service
Reviewer: Elizabeth from Fresno
Tony's has the perfect location, and so much potential but I will never go back (Unless they improve). Too much on the menu. They should cut their menu by 1/3 and only serve their best dishes. The place was empty. The food took a long time to arrive. There were bums who came to talk to us out on the patio, and asked if they could hold my 3 month old. I wished the owner could have asked them to leave. We ended up leaving without finishing our food. The homeless woman ended up eating what we left. (She asked if she could and we said yes) What a way to ruin your appetite...

i should have listened to these bad reviews!
Reviewer: Bryan Robbins from Carpinteria, Ca
Went on a Friday night around 7:00pm. Was not very busy but we still waited about 15 mins for a table. Took another 10 mins for any drinks or waiter service. This place is lacking bus help. No one comes around to ask if you need refills or another beer. You have to make a strong effort to get their attention. Ordered the Chicken Parmesan. I don't eat red meat. When I got my meal, the chicken was covered in MEAT sauce. No where on the menu does it say "meat sauce". My g/f's pasta was chewy like rubber. The waitress was nice enough to cut the bill in half. But this place should just close down. I will never go here again. Not even if I had a comped meal.

Service, service, service!!!
Reviewer: cheryl from santa Barbara, Ca
Food, really good thanks. The order was wrong, but still really good, so I ate it. I hate having to ask for drink refills over and over and I don't like having 3 waiters ask me the same questions over and over because the 1st and second waiters are busy somewhere else. So, we'll go back, but we won't bring anyone or recommend the place since it was so annoying to get service.

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