The 25 Best Restaurants & Bars In Santa Barbara
"Located on Santa Barbara's mostly residential west side, Mesa Verde feels like a clubhouse for vegans who actually like the taste of vegetables. The dining room is shaded by palm trees and covered in dark wood finishes, and the fresh and filling plant-based menu works well for a casual lunch or weeknight dinner. We recommend starting with the flaky grilled flatbread served with a side of creamy hummus and moving on to the jackfruit chorizo street tacos topped with blueberry chipotle salsa. This walk-in-only spot can get packed on weekends, but if you’re traveling with a vegetarian or vegan, consider this stop mandatory.
" - brant cox, nikko duren, sylvio martins, garrett snyder
"From the first bite of a mushroom umami burger with crisp lettuce and superb heirloom tomatoes, it's abundantly clear that these ingredients arrive fresh from the farm. Be sure to sample their Latin-style dishes like gluten-free picadillos tacos or empanadas. Polenta fries with jalapeños and caramelized onions are a hands-down favorite; while the sweet cashew cheesecake decked out with strawberries and an almond crust is a signature for good reason." - The MICHELIN Guide
Mesa Verde - Review - Santa Barbara - Los Angeles - The Infatuation
"Located on Santa Barbara's mostly residential west side, Mesa Verde feels like a clubhouse for vegans who actually like the taste of vegetables. The dining room is shaded by palm trees and covered in dark wood finishes, and the fresh and filling plant-based menu works well for a casual lunch or weeknight dinner. We recommend starting with the flaky grilled flatbread served with a side of creamy hummus and moving on to the jackfruit chorizo street tacos topped with blueberry chipotle salsa. This walk-in only spot can get packed on weekends, but if you’re traveling with a vegetarian or vegan, consider this stop mandatory." - Nikko Duren
"Mesa Verde, Santa Barbara by Amanda Proudfit. A vegetarian restaurant, but don’t let that deter you if you aren’t a full time vegetarian. Their menu is full of aspirational plant-based dishes, is 100% organic, and the restaurant itself is casual and welcoming with a very friendly staff. There are dishes on the menu influenced by the cuisines from Spain, Sicily, North Africa and the Middle East, and each dish is beautifully presented, tasting just as good as it looks. I recommend the Rajas Tacos, made with grilled poblano and spanish onion, black beans, smoked vegetables, butternut nacho cheese, pickled carrot, cilantro, radish and avocado, Or the Falafel sandwich, made with hummus, mixed greens, cucumber, mint, red onion, pickled beet and tahini. Yum!"
"Don’t let the less-than-swanky location fool you into thinking that this is anything less than an excellent vegan restaurant. Besides, once inside it feels more like a house with a lovely garden terrace, wood décor and wide-open kitchen. This is the kind of food that even meat-eaters can instantly love. From the first bite of a mushroom umami burger with crisp lettuce and superb heirloom tomatoes, it is abundantly clear that these ingredients arrive fresh from the farm. Be sure to sample their Latin-style dishes like gluten-free picadillos tacos or empanadas. Polenta fries with jalapeños and caramelized onions are a hands-down favorite; while the sweet cashew cheesecake decked out with strawberries and an almond crust is a signature for good reason." - The MICHELIN Guide
Amazing vegan location. So much variety with dishes and drinks. Just sad I haven't try each item yet. Staff is super friendly and food is something Amazing! Love the location easy parking in front and earth inspired chill interior design worth it for the trip alone. Cute dog prints along the floor as a cute bonus. 🐕🐾
Whitney Yost
Google
Whether you're a vegan or not, you're going to love this place! My boyfriend and I spent two and a half hours enjoying every morsel of food, and I can't stop thinking about it.
The food here is truly some of the best I've ever had. Every dish was zesty and mouthwatering, making it hard to choose a favorite. The atmosphere is bright yet private with natural light pouring in through the big windows and plenty of space throughout the dining area.
Also, I highly recommend ordering tea. It comes in an individual-sized teapot with honey and milk on the side. I had the chai, and my boyfriend had the herbal coffee. Both were so delightful! The tea alone is worth the visit.
Mesa Verde has a real homecooked meal feel as everything is made in-house, including the tea! Service was excellent, and the food came out surprisingly fast. Don't skip dessert; trust me, you won't regret it.
To top it all off, I just found out they have a Michelin star too! That makes so much sense. This place is a gem and definitely worth a visit. Highly recommend! I seriously can’t get enough of it.
Balaji G.
Google
This is a really good vegan restaurant in Santa Barbara. The place is slightly high and in terms of cost. The average cost of an entree is 23 USD. All dishes are plant-based. We had the polenta fries, empanadas, fried mushroom and brussel sprout tacos, street tacos, baklava and spice tea. The food in general was really good and the hostess was kind and professional. I really liked the polenta fries and the empanadas. They were mildly spiced and really flavorful. The fried mushroom tacos were really oily and greasy which made it difficult to eat. The jackfruit based street tacos were tasty as well. The baklava was decent although the pomegranate and lemon syrup based sauce was bit over-tangy. Also the hostess did not mention that a 20% gratuity was automatically charged and this was not mentioned in the menu either.
David Fleck
Google
Mesa Verde nails it at all levels. Great food that makes you want to take the next bite! I kept asking myself “Is this really Vegan?” because it was just too good. The flat bread with the hummus was killer. The chocolate cake dessert was excellent. Presentation on all the food was excellent. Service was perfect. The outdoor dining area was nice. A must visit for Santa Barbara.
Maxwell Kennedy
Google
Absolutely incredible!
Nothing I write can accurately relay how remarkable the food is, or how magical my experience was. The food is the most elevated vegan dishes I've ever experienced. I'm from the east coast so this includes places in Boston and NYC. I was passing through, and lucky enough, found Mesa Verde randomly via Google. I was extremely pleasantly surprised. I'm fairly certain if I brought my non-vegan friends they would be blown away as well!
What really made the encounter so magical was my waiter. Edgar was the type of person who created a container for my experience to organically evolve. He's a huge fan of the artistry involved with each dish, which made for an authentic connection. His genuine and down-to-earth interactions made this one of the most memorable dinner's I've had. Bravo to the rest of the staff, too; my water cup never reached empty. 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
I cannot wait to return. I will visit, and/or go out of my way to experience this gem again. (Thank you, so very much!)
Robin Elliott
Google
The service is nice, but not the most attentive. The food is great! It’s all plant based, so don’t expect it to taste like the animal version of things. They are very creative with their ingredients.
My favorite thing is the quesadilla.
Daniella W
Google
Huge disappointment. I was really looking forward to dining here after reading the reviews and seeing that they even have a Michelin star. We sat down at lunch time and the prices were VERY high given the fact that we were looking at pretty basic sandwiches, bowls and tacos. But the hype was real. We ordered the Fried mushrooms sandwich ($27) and polenta fries ($20). The fries were absolutely tasteless and dry! But we were hungry, and they were at least edible. They were served with beans and zucchini on top that just did not make any sense and also tasted spoiled. I’m sorry to say that the mushroom sandwich was horrendous. It had some brown sauce in it that tasted very bitter. It came with a side of plain roasted potatoes. Maybe the chef or someone was having a bad day but I will never be returning. I’m from LA where there’s plenty of upscale/fine dining vegan restaurants with justifiable prices and excellent taste.
Allyse Kwong
Google
I always appreciate a vegan restaurant with various options. That being said this was some really underwhelming food. My burrito was $27 and somehow managed to be spicy and bland at the same time while swimming in soup. This burrito is a larger size, but at MOST cost $17. And this is coming from someone used to LA prices. They also brought out the wrong meal for my partner and said it would be a 3-5 minute wait. It was at least 10. No real apology or discount. If it wasn't for the insane pricing on some items I'd say sure whatever, but it's not worth it and with the shared gas station parking lot ambiance.