Best Contemporary American Restaurants in Santa Barbara

Dined here while on vacation from LA. What an experience! Is this place pricey? Yes. But that doesn’t mean it wasn’t worth it. To start, we were seated at the upper terrace. It had such a wonderful atmosphere there. There isn’t much lighting, but there are oil lamps at each table as well as a mini light for looking at the menu. A nice touch. The wine and drink menu is very extensive. I ended up with a glass of wine while my wife had a mocktail that was served smoked with pear wood. Presentation was A+. For starters, we had the tuna tartare and the strawberry gazpacho. The tuna was delicate and served with seaweed chips. My wife was raving about the gazpacho as well. For entrees, my wife had the black cod and I had the duck a l’orange. The sauce was flambéd table side. While the duck was excellent, the black cod was better, in my opinion. We also shared two sides: the mashed potatoes and the broccolini. I’m not sure how they made the potatoes so creamy. They were very, very good. The broccolini wasn’t too bad either, but wasn’t as good as the rest. The char flavor was a bit much at times. For desert, we shared the lemon tart. They use house grown Meyer lemons. It was excellent as well. Overall, the food was excellent, the service was superb, and the atmosphere was charming and romantic for the two of us. While the pricing would prevent us from coming here often, I’d 100% recommend Stonehouse for special occasions. We’ll definitely be coming back next time we’re in the area.

I have Christmas lunch with my dear sister & our 95 dear Mom every year…..we had a great experience at the Finch & Fork this year. Wonderful attentive server, Jamey & most delicious food. Thank you!

The highlight of our meal was the lamb Al pastor with fermented corn flatbread. Flavors on point. Staff was friendly and knowledgeable in food and beverage. Very attentive to our table. Excellent atmosphere! Will be back!

I have always loved Roy restaurant as my family has been going there for many years. You know the food has to be good as the restaurant is still going since 1993. Roy gets his produce from the farmers market and prepares them so well. I bet his restaurant has lasted so long because he is there cooking in the kitchen. He provides a good variety of food from steak to seafood to Italian dishes. I love the potato cakes, he makes great purée soups, and yummy deserts. I went there for Thanksgiving dinner the place was full, the waitress was personable and we had a great meal and Roy made incredible cranberries. You can’t go wrong with whatever you order.

We've eaten here a few times, and the service and food are always good. Yes, it's a casual place and the menu is somewhat limited, but everything is fresh, well prepared and the staff makes sure everything is exactly right I had the chicken salad which had EVERYTHING in it and my wife had the turkey sandwich which was piled high with meat and vegies. The wine selection was good and fairly priced. I would recommend the goat tree for lunch or a casual dinner. (yes, they have heaters if it gets cold and you're seating outside)