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bouchon
9 W. Victoria St, Santa Barbara
Phone: (805) 730-1160
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Reviews by the General Public
Joyfull Night, 4/9/2013
Reviewer: Willie
from Santa Barbara, CA
I found Bouchon after searching Google for "top restaurants in Santa Barbara". Based on the excellent reviews, I called three days before my visit to make a reservation. I spoke with Mitch who asked me if I would be celebrating anything that evening. I told him it was my First Anniversary and I was looking for a sexy evening. We were greeted my manager Eric and server Steven who described the history of the restaurant and the story of how the meat and produce are local and freshly picked. Our table was the only one with a candle, was covered in rose petals and adorned with a full bouquet of red roses. He suggested the Duck and Lamb Shank. It was exquisite. The service was attentive but never intrusive. This was the perfect evening. Bouchon deserves every perfect review I read. The best!
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A very classy place, 2/25/2013
Reviewer: Leslie T
from Santa Barbara, CA
My boyfriend & I went to Bouchon for a week-late Valentine's dinner. We were treated like royalty, starting with the red rose petals on the table & the Goat Bubbles sparkling wine. Service was attentive but not intrusive, & our server Hunter & runner Joaquin were friendly & helpful with food choices. Unlike the reviewer below, I did not feel that anyone was being phony, moreover the Black Cod was fabulous. The Mushroom appetizer was beautifully split for us, retaining its visual appeal & certainly its rich flavor. And the Beet Salad was delicious. All in all, a wonderful meal & experience. We will be back, sooner rather than later.
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Very Disappointing, 11/19/2012
Reviewer: Barbara Davis
from Santa Barbara, CA
We had been looking forward to dining at Bouchon for a long time. Service started out real fine but disappeared about 1/2 way through our stay. The food was beautifully served but had absolutely no taste. A little seasoning was desperately needed. I got the feeling I was being teased or cheated. I can't think of the term to use here. The talk from the waiter and greeter was friendly but now I feel it was phony as was the high praise they were giving their food. There's excellent choices of food, just not executed properly. Even the French Onion Soup had very little taste while the crouton on top was a mushy piece of bread rather than a crunchy toast. Pork shank and black cod were the 2 entrees we had on the Sun., 11/18 menu.
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Best meal of my life!, 7/6/2012
Reviewer: Heather
from Yuma, AZ
We were driving through Santa Barbara and looked online for the best resatraunt and Bouchon came up. We thought we would give it a try and were not disappointed. Our waiter, Steven was very helpful with recommendations and information. The scallop trio appetizer was fabulous. I hate onions and the onion soup was amazing. The south pacific corvina (sea bass) was fantastic as was the venison. We couldnt stop talking a out how great the meal was! The owner, Mitchell, even paid our table a visit and he was a wonderful man. Thanks for an evening we will not soon forget!
Chris and Heather
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From begining to end I felt like a princess
Reviewer: Teena
from Santa Barbara, CA
Truly the best dining experience I have had in over 25 years! Our waiter TONY was SPECTACULAR .. Best waiter I have experienced anywhere. From knowledge of wines to the food not only was he an expert he was so pleasant to listen to and extremely attentive and genuinely listened to every single word each guest had to say (or not say, even picked up on body language)He made each of us feel special and cared for in every way.
The food and wines were AMAZING! This is not a place I would recommend if you are in a hurry, don't care much about pairing your food with AMAZING wine selections, or are on a tight budget. This is a special dining experience, to linger and enjoy!! I highly recommend the venison with the brussel sprout melody (was out of this world) and perfectly paired with the New Zealand Venison, The duck was really yummy (duck is not my favorite but the con fee was to die for!) the wild mushroom with pureed spinach was heaven, and desert I recommend the iced wine and cheese platter or the sweet desert beers too!
We went Saturday night 6:30 PM, sat in the patio during the film festival I think .. groups were coming in as we were finishing up, so we parted before Tony could say good by ... He ran outside down the sidewalk to say good by! AMAZING!!
I feel like a princess. So perfectly satisfied with a cherry on top! I did not see the bill as this was a treat from my daughters amazing boyfriend whom he and my daughter call Bouchon their favorite restaurant in Santa Barbara .. and trust me they are true foodies!!
Thank you Bouchon and special thank you to Tony for such a perfect evening.
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First class from start to finish
Reviewer: Patti Mauck
from Ventura, CA
A perfect evening to celebrate a birthday celebration with class and style starting with a friendly hostess to greet us, a sincere welcome from the manager, attentive service from our server, to a fine meal presented in a beautiful fashion. Except for a distracting wobbly table due to the uneveness of the antique flooring, the evening was enjoyable. The lighting was perfect, the mood and music was a delight.
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Truely outstanding
Reviewer: James
from Santa Barbara, CA
Bouchon is in a class all by itself in Santa Barbara. Amazing food, amazing service and world-class management. Congrats Mitchell on winning Best Overall Restaurant in 2012!
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Don't Waste Your Money
Reviewer: Bradley
from Santa Barbara, CA
There's absolutely nothing special about Bouchon in Santa Barbara. In fact, the decor, service, and food are all below average. And, it's exceptionally overpriced.
We were there on a quiet Tuesday night, with very few other customers in the small restaurant. Yet, it took well over an hour for our entrees to be served. My sister's salmon was first delivered very overcooked. The re-do took more than 30 minutes, then it was served nearly uncooked. Completely inedible. My steak was so overcooked, it was like eating leather. All six of us ordered different entrees, and we were all disappointed with our food preparation.
Not recommended! Go almost anywhere else instead. You'll save money and have a better dining experience.
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F
Reviewer: Jack Richards
from Santa Barbara, CA
If someone wants to gripe about a bad experience, let them. We can all read between the lines and make up our own mind if the complaint is logical or not. I like to hear good and bad experiences and frankly don't appreciate the chilling effect, Alison, of having you lambast people you don't know about a bad experience you weren't apart of and can only wonder Why Do You Care, Alison?
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Shouldn't all restaurateurs be part of the scene?
Reviewer: Kathy
from Santa Barbara, CA
Lovely meal on Saturday night - the place was buzzing, the food was great. We had two market specials: heirloom tomatoes and mushroom saute. Wonderful. All the entrees were beautifully prepared and presented, but the short rib was outstanding. Our waiter recommended a well priced pinot that was a perfect pairing with our diverse entrees of chicken, fish, beef and venison. It was impressive to watch Mitchell overseeing everything, smiling and so attentive. I love this place.
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Gina: 20 minutes late is inconsiderate
Reviewer: Alison
from Santa Barbara, CA
bouchon is a very busy restaurant. I know because I also eat there to celebrate special occasions (birthdays, anniversaries etc). It's also not a huge restaurant. If I were part of a group showing up that late for a 4-person reservation on a (presumably) busy night (without notifying the restaurant), I would be relieved that they even held my table. If celebrating your anniversaries with a nice dinner was so important to you, perhaps you should have tried showing up on time? I imagine you would be similarly outraged if you had shown up on time for your special evening only to be told you would have to wait 20 minutes for your table because the group before you showed up late.
For the record, I have never had to wait for a table I've reserved at bouchon. And both the service and food have always been outstanding.
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Horrible Service for a High Price
Reviewer: Gina T
from Newport Coast, CA
If you're a tourist and hoping for a nice upscale dinner at an upscale restaurant, this is NOT the place. I was absolutely horrified by the service we received.
My huz and I, along with another couple, went here to celebrate both our anniversaries. After a long wine tasting tour during the day, we arrived for our reservation 20 mins late (6:20pm). Upon checking in with the manager, the only thing he said to us was "We need the table back at 8:00." No hello, happy anniversary, nothing. Okaaaeeee...so we thought we eat fast, we should be fine. Took us about 10 mins to look over the menu and decide on appetizers and main entrees. Took the restaurant 20 mins to bring out the appetizers. Then another 30 mins to bring out our main entrees. After eating our cold entrees (could they not have served it on hot plates??), we asked for a cup of coffee for our long drive back to Orange County and the dessert menu.
The waiter looked at us and said "I was informed you had the table until 8pm. I have to ask the manager." It was exactly 7:55 p.m. WOOOWwww. Wow. Wow. Seriously???? YES. We told the waiter, don't bother get us the check.
The restaurant could not have spared 15 mins to bring us coffee and dessert for 2 couples CELEBRATING their anniversaries. Given the fact that dinner took us 1 1/2 hr because it took them 1 hr just to get us the food. Oh, and there were other patrons that came BEFORE us who were still eating away without any waiter or manager telling them they had a time limit!
DON'T GO HERE.
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SL, Lee et al.
Reviewer: Tom
from Santa Barbara, CA
It's nice that you have special bottles of wine you want to enjoy with dinner out.
But don't forget,and I know you haven't because it was mentioned in your reviews, bouchon offers a full wine list for you to choose from. They've put that wine list together in hopes they might be able to sell you something from it, because when they do they make money. How silly of them to try to make a profit off of their customers.
Granted, some restaurant's wine lists suck. And those restaurants generally have a low corkage. Think about it this way - when a restaurant has a high corkage fee they are directing their customer's attention to the wine list because it has been specifically tailored to compliment the food they serve. And everything that goes into putting that wine list together and maintaining it costs money. Money they expect to recoup, and then some, by selling that wine to the customers that dine at their tables.
The next time you decide to bring a bottle of wine into a restaurant I suggest you bring a bottle so special that you don't mind the corkage fee. Otherwise give the restaurant's efforts some respect and choose from their list.
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$40 Corkage is Insulting
Reviewer: SL
from Santa Barbara, CA
I think Bouchon has some of the consistently best food in SB. I've had some very memorable dinners there, however I refuse to eat there now. The $40 corkage is completely absurd and insulting. With their $40 corkage they are basically forcing most people into buying off their wine list which has many excellent choices but is also extremely overpriced when compared to other places around town on the same level as Bouchon. Policies like that you may not bring in bottles that are on the list and limits on how many bottles you may bring in are far more reasonable. When you are spending this type of $$$ the diner should have the option to bring in their own special bottles. We often bring our own wine when dining out and usually end up ordering a bottle(s) from the restaurant’s wine list as well. Often times other places will waive the corkage in a situation like that; I never expect it, but it's a nice gesture and something we remember when deciding if and how often we will return. The Bouchon corkage thing really leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
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Corkage
Reviewer: Audrey
from Santa Barbara, CA
It would be prudent for the restaurant to waive corkage on a one for one basis (of wine purchased from their list).
Otherwise the corkage should be equal to the lowest priced wine on their list.
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Is $40 an appropriate corkage fee?
Reviewer: Lee
from Santa Barbara, CA
A party of six dined at Bouchon. We brought one of our coveted bottles of wine from Italy with us. We were suprised when told that the corkage fee would be $40. $25 or perhaps I'll even stretch to $30 is the most I've experienced. After appetizers, main courses, dessert, and two more bottles of Bouchon's wine, we faced a $540 dinner bill. We have no complaints about Bouchon's food or service. Both are exceptional. But does the restaurant really think a $40 corkage fee is appropriate especially with consideration to what we ordered?
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