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About
Farm-to-table gem in the heart of downtown Santa Barbara's Theater District. The Original California bouchon, menu features local produce and wines. Charming rustic ambiance with hardwood floors, open kitchen and covered, heated patio. Service is warm, friendly and informed. Wine Spectator award-winning local wine list. Farmers Market & Tours available on Tuesdays & Saturdays
PRICE RANGE
$26 - $42
Special Diets
Vegetarian Friendly, Vegan Options, Gluten Free Options
Meals
Dinner
CUISINES
French, European
FEATURES
Reservations, Outdoor Seating, Private Dining, Seating, Wheelchair Accessible, Accepts Credit Cards, Table Service, Wine and Beer, Non-smoking restaurants, Gift Cards Available
Reviews (1,105)
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Traveler rating
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All reviews duck onion soup scallops crab cakes rose petals wine list farmers market fine dining entrees trio pinot sb cuisine foodie hostess santa patio
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Reviewed 1 week ago via mobile

Booked this place on a Monday evening for later Monday night. Managed to get in but I’d say it’s busy towards weekend. Extremely nice setting. A variety of inside and outside seating. Attentive and professional staff throughout. Food excellent, good choices and nicely presented dishes....Service great. Good wine and drinks choices.More

Date of visit: March 2023
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Reviewed December 27, 2022 via mobile

Great service from the hostess, our server was very nice, knowledgeable. We’ve been to different restaurants by the same owner including the bouchon in Napa. In general we liked our meal but was very disappointed with the onion soup. I ordered it because it is...one of my favorite and it is featured on their page. It looked burned, where is the cheese? The soup tasted watered down and no flavor. This looks like the frozen onion soup I get from trader Joe, even that has better flavor. The scallops trio was very good, the duck and venison were good to, definitely recommend these other dishes.More

Date of visit: December 2022
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Reviewed December 11, 2022 via mobile

Starting with the positives, lovely ambiance, nice service & beautiful cutlery. Rarely give an ave. review but the meal was underwhelming & expensive for what was served. Ordered crab cakes, butternut squash soup, mushroom appetizer, two lamb entrees & the brussel spout side. Nothing food...wise stood out or warranted the price, definitely not the crab cakes. Entrees took a long time, more than 30 min, after finishing appetizers. Most of the reviews are fabulous & wanted to try - not sure what happened.More

Date of visit: December 2022
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Reviewed November 8, 2022 via mobile

Great food, service and atmosphere. I had the duck which was superb. Others had the pork venison and lamb all equally delicious. Did not disappoint

Date of visit: November 2022
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Reviewed October 28, 2022

Do not bother making a reservation at Bouchon. We did and were sorely disappointed. My husband and I traveled to Santa Barbara to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary. About one month in advance, we made reservations for dinner on a Sunday at Bouchon using Open...Table. We noted that we were celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary and would appreciate a special table. We reconfirmed our reservation through Open Table two times as the date neared. We arrived 5 minutes prior to our reservation time of 7PM. There was one couple at the hostess stand in front of us. They did not have a reservation and were given the option of inside or out. They chose inside. When we checked in next the only place they could seat us was outside in one of those make-shift wooden patios sitting on top of the asphalt street directly next to the road. When we mentioned our anniversary, how far in advance we made the reservation, and that we asked for a nice table we were told we didn’t request inside so there was nothing they could do for us. Open Table did not offer inside or outside so it appears Bouchon can’t communicate well with their booking app either. This is the worst customer service we have ever received from a restaurant. Had this restaurant been managed properly, they would never have given our table away to walk-up guests. Further, they did nothing to get us to stay. They didn’t say how long we would have to wait for an inside table, they did not offer for us to sit at the bar to wait for a table (and certainly no offer of a free drink for their screw-up). When we asked for a recommendation as to where we could go, they told us to go next door. We did go next door to Olio e Limone where we had a great dinner, great service and a terrific bottle of Flying Goat 2014 Pinot! We explained what happened at Bouchon and they were more than happy to accommodate us. This recommendation was the only thing Bouchon got right that night. I would definitely return to Olio e Limone but would never consider Bouchon based on their rude and cocky attitude. Clearly, they don’t care about their patrons. There are lots of great places to eat in Santa Barbara. Choose any one of them but here.More

Date of visit: October 2022
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Reviewed October 26, 2022

Absolutely outstanding in quality and service. Their wine list will make any connoisseur happy. This is my top choice for special occasions.

Date of visit: September 2022
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Reviewed October 14, 2022 via mobile

Great looking place for a date night, service was pleasant. Food honestly average, came out lukewarm, and it took about 45 minutes after apps for entrees to come out. We were just about to ask for the check and cancel the rest of the order,...but I was starving. No apologies, just big plastic grins and placating “it will be right up”. We didn’t make an issue of it, but great places we frequent will offer a dessert or whatever as a gesture and I usually just add it to the tip, but this place just smiles and offers insincere canned replies when we did check on our dinner. Not horrible, but I’m going to assume there are better optionsMore

Date of visit: October 2022
Helpful?1  
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Reviewed September 9, 2022

My husband and I took my mom to Bouchon for her 82nd Birthday and it was absolutely fantastic! The manager and waiter made her feel like a queen, they sprinkled the table with yellow rose petals, gave her a card and brought dessert with a...candle. Our meal was excellent and service exceptional! I would highly recommend Bouchon for any special event or just a wonderful night out!!More

Date of visit: September 2022
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Reviewed August 31, 2022 via mobile

When I hear 'French food' I shudder to think I'm getting weird sauces and strange animal parts ... well, not here at Bouchon Santa Barbara. The food is recognizable to all Americans - crab cakes, onion soup, wagyu steak and yummy salads. All delicious, all...fresh and all delightful. This place is a must, you will not be disappointed!More

Date of visit: August 2022
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Reviewed August 30, 2022 via mobile

Oh my goodness. Where do I begin? We have been to Bouchon many times over the last twenty years and have always viewed it as our number one favorite in Santa Barbara. This was the first time we were able to do the Foodie Stroll...and just loved it! Chef Nathan Van Etten meet us at the farmers market and led us on a marvelous tour as he purchased all his produce needs for the next few days. We were introduced to some amazing produce we didn’t know. We then went to the restaurant an hour later and had an amazing dinner based on the purchases made. Phenomenal. If you get a chance don’t pass this up.More

Date of visit: August 2022
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Reviewed June 19, 2022 via mobile

We stop at Santa Bárbara for our 1st night celebrating our 22 anniversary, and we decide to try this French restaurant and it was really Delicious!!! The ambiance is was perfect they sep up a romantic outdoor table and the service it was impeccable; the...food is fresh and has those French bold flavors is really a SB Gem!!!More

Date of visit: June 2022
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Reviewed April 24, 2022

It was our 26th anniversary so we wanted to really do it up. Bouchon is fantastic, just a truly incredible place to dine. Our server, Morgan, was outstanding. Super professional, very knowledgeable about the menu and wines, and just an all-around good dude. I had...the duck and it was fall-off-the-bone delicious, just amazing. My wife had pork and it was also unbelievably good. Everything we tried was outstanding. French food is very rich, so make sure you take that into account when you order. It's a great space with great ambiance, excellent food and wine choices, nice outdoor dining area, and fantastic service. It made for a truly memorable anniversary dinner and next time we're in SB we will make this our first stop. It is fantastic. A+More

Date of visit: April 2022
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Reviewed April 17, 2022

Just love this restaurant. Such a delightful fine dining experience. The waiter was particularly professional, reflecting well on the whole establishment.

Date of visit: April 2022
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Reviewed March 30, 2022

This was a unique experience. Chef Nate , who has been promoted the chef de cuisine a few months ago, took us with him as he bought fruits, vegetables , and herbs for the restaurant at the mazing Santa Barbara farmers market. He then showed...us the menu and asked what we wished him to prepare for us using the fresh items. We had a great salad to start with fresh peas , frisee and a little burrata plus a warm pecan and goat cheese tart. The crust was as good as we have had anywhere. Then we split a rib eye from the famous Snake River farms and a rack of lamb. All were accompanied by a wine tasting. We were told that Bouchon has a great wine list with local wines, and these wines came from that. And if that weren t enough, we had a sticky toffee pecan date cake plus a warm lemon berry cake with local ice cream. The take away is that we cannot get this level of fresh food anywhere in the New York area no matter how fine a restaurant or shop we visit. Truly a memorable experience.. Kudos to Chef Nate.. Also, the service was greatMore

Date of visit: March 2022
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Reviewed March 6, 2022 via mobile

We had herbed chicken, short ribs, & confit duck all fabulous. English pea salad we all enjoyed very much. Berry dessert polenta($) & berry ice cream, was fabulous, “staff favorite”. Dylan was our server, outstanding as well. Only disappointment is that they have no liquor...service, only wine & beer, so no cocktails,fyi. However wine list was great, we had 2 bottles of Rusack, reasonably priced. $65 ish.More

Date of visit: March 2022
Helpful?1  
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
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Questions & Answers
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issabellel
June 11, 2017|
AnswerShow all 3 answers
Response from ahdiii | Reviewed this property |
Call the restaraunt !!!
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hanseldavid
April 15, 2017|
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Response from SBFoodWine | Property representative |
No, mine is an independent restaurant est. in 1998 (for more info check out our website at OriginalCaliforniaBouchon). Further, I think you might mean (just guessing) 'is this a Thomas Keller' restaurant, as he has 3... More
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P6382RZmonicas
April 18, 2016|
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Response from markj4golf | Reviewed this property |
Not that I remember seeing on the menu... maybe by request
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BOUCHON, Santa Barbara - Menu, Prices & Restaurant Reviews - Tripadvisor

Frequently Asked Questions about Bouchon

Bouchon is rated accordingly in the following categories by Tripadvisor travelers:
  • Food: 4.5
  • Service: 4.5
  • Value: 4
  • Atmosphere: 4.5