Great food, big wine selection

My husband and I recently returned from a visit to the Santa Barbara area and had the opportunity of visiting the town of Los Olivos. If you are planning to visit some wine tasting rooms then Los Olivos is the place to go. We had read some reviews on the Los Olivos Cafe on the website and although some of the reviews were mixed we decided to give it a try. We are SO GLAD that we did. We went there for lunch and were promptly greeted and seated. We each ordered a meatball sub which was extremely good. However, had we known how large the portions were we would have definitely split the meal. We had a wonderful visit to the Los Olivos Cafe and look forward to the next time we can go.

My wife and I spent a few days in Los Olivos. On the first day we ate at the cafe because of the movie. The meal was okay; nothing special. The service was all business, not the usual at home friendliness you find in other restauants in the area. We ate here again a few days later and were unhappy with our decision. The food was fair at best, but the service was slow and not attentive. The wine list is great. The wine shop is the best.

My husband & I have dined at the Los Olivos Cafe on at least three prior occasions and have always found it to be enjoyable, if not four star dining. However, last Saturday's dinner there left us in a different frame of mind. We sat at the bar and were served by Ian (who did a very nice job despite being quite busy with other guests), ordering wine, two small plates and an entree to share.

Two of the three things we ordered were fine - not outstanding, a little pasty and obvious on the tomato-based sauces, but really unobjectionable. The third, however (a lamb "riblets" dish), was inedible. It was incredibly gamey (obviously an inferior cut of meat), and was bizarrely and underseasoned. Very strange. We sent our concerns to the chef via Ian who returned with this from the chef "it's lamb, it's supposed to be gamey". Needless to say, we found this response to be insulting and grossly unprofessional. There was no substitution or improvement offered, nor was the offending dish removed from our bill. We'll certainly think twice before returning.