Bar Lou

Creative food menu with generous portions. The "small" plates are not small at all and everything we had was delicious. We didn't share any large plates, but the prices felt reasonable for the small plates and snacks. What impressed me the most was that I have an (unfortunate) avocado allergy. While there isn't a ton on the menu, they do use avocado oil in the kitchen. The staff was so attentive and flexible with me, offering us great suggestions and alternatives. I did not feel like my allergy was an inconvenience at all and I appreciated the level of care. Only thing stopping me from hitting 5 stars is that I wish the wine prices were a bit more approachable. Great selection including many unique local options and imports, but hard to justify the cost of a second glass. All and all though, would recommend especially for a group outing.

Had a wonderful dinner in the outdoor patio at Bar Lou Sunday night that was wonderful. Beautiful setting, excellent service, and we all really enjoyed the food, particularly all the "small" plates we shared. Had a few salads that were outstanding, such as the Lardo salad and the salad that accompanied the lamb Kafka dish. The only disappointment were the "greens" which were not hot and somewhat tough. We ended the meal with the apple fritters and whip cream which I couldn't stop eating. Somewhat pricey, but feel we got our money's worth. Will definitely return.

New Year’s Eve early dinner for the 2 of us,first time here.Had zucchini flowers which were a bit greasy, not much flavor. Also shared a beef patties with a salad; patties were tough and salad was pretty but bland, needed salt or something. Crab cakes were very soft instead of crispy crust, way too much dressing. Good service, sweet atmosphere. Seems to need more attentive chef. We would rather eat at L’ Petit Valentin for great French food.

We are TOTAL foodies! the look on Michele's face when she took a bite of the chicken gyro was" this is one of the best things i've ever eaten!" Well.... the competition got a lot stiffer once we tasted the King Mushroom dish from heaven! The flavor profile is unique, perfectly prepared, and served with style and grace. Metropolitan, classy, and destined to be a Montecito favorite. And the fact that Drew, the owner of Satellite, loved it, sealed its place on the top 10 list. Dr. Jeff/ Dr. Michele

I thought after trying and being disappointed in this new restaurant when it first opened that I would give it another try hoping that they would fixed all of the problems. The menu has very few options and it’s uninviting and frankly the food is less than mediocre. All except the $10. half a baguette. Bar Lou was empty on a Friday night when every other eatery in Montecito is packed. That should tell Bar Lou everything….

Austin made me a special drink and it was amazing. He was the best bartender I’ve ever had. He really made me feel welcome. I also ate, I got the chicken and mushrooms it was delicious. Amazing experience. I will definitely be back.

Best restaurant in montecito. Their menu is fresh and sets itself apart from any other cuisines in the area. The decor and ambiance make you feel warm and welcome and the staff is friendly and attentive. Highly recommend. We keep returning every chance we get.

This is your new favorite restaurant—warm, cozy & convivial atmosphere. Thoughtful dishes for sharing or not. Can’t miss with the roasted carrots, grilled beets or halibut almondine. This is the kind of food you wish you could eat everyday but also feels like a special occasion. What a welcome addition to Montecito.

So we tried the Crab Cakes (excellent), the chickpea toast, and for our mains we bad the Cast Iron Seared Fish Provincial w/ Ratatouille and the Beef Bourgeois w/ Pappardelle pasta. Everything was cooked to perfection. My husband is the best French and Italian chef I've ever had (and he's Taiwanese). He has ruined restaurant after restaurant for us for 15 years, leaving us very few options for date night, until tonight. This place is truly the real deal. Will be back for everything else on the menu. The service was perfection as well. Thank you for giving date night back to us!

Let's start with the good news first. The atmosphere and service are excellent. Our server was friendly, answered all our questions and was quick to point out portion size and that we may have over ordered for the table. That was greatly appreciated. One pet peeve was that our server pretty much insisted that we order everything at once, at the same time. We were starving and would have liked to order a couple quick appetizers first while deciding on the rest of our dinner, but we opted to take her advice and order everything at the same time. Give the Kitchen credit for their spacing and timing of the dishes as they arrived at our table. There was time between courses, but not too much time. We looked at the wine list and then asked if there was another Wine list. There was not. What we read was fairly disappointing. There was no Cabernet. No Pinot Noirs. No Chablis, no Sancerre, Just a bunch of unrecognizable, natural wines and as one of our guest at our table pointed out almost none of the wines would go with the food. As for the food itself, we were very disappointed. The spice cashews were fine but there were only a few for $13. The marinated olives were fine. Again just a handful for $11. The roasted carrots read well on the menu but came out cold and for $21 we were served two carrots cut in half. The charcoal beets were dry and shriveled. The only highlight was the almondine cod. The fish was cooked to perfection however almondine denotes a fish that is coated with almonds then cooked this dish just had almonds thrown over the top of the fish with some overdressed string beans. We would like to go back and give this place a second chance, but we'll wait a month or two and probably bring our own wine next time

We had reservations last night at 6pm and when we arrived they wanted to seat us outside even though it was raining???? No cover on the patio, I guess they thought we liked eating rain soaked food while we were getting soaked? When I asked to talk with the manager, he said, "Oh, I was about to call you to tell you it was raining"......Really? We walked across the street and got a table at Ca'Dario and had a lovely (dry) meal.

Nice vibe. Barbara behind the bar provided warm, authentic service. I'd say the food was just ok.

Looking forward to going again! I've been three times, and enjoyed it each time. I especially enjoy sitting outside on the patio. The food is divine! I loved the beets, the smoked fish on whole-grain bread, the Uni pasta, the Branzino, the steak frites, just about everything I've tried! Service was excellent. The ambience was excellent, looking forward to the next time.

Finally a restaurant in Santa Barbara that moved away from the stark, cold, glaring white, industrial trend! My friend and I went to check it out and the ambiance was like that of an traditional established brown bar/restaurant in Europe. We had waiter Graham who was super nice, people behind the bar were friendly, and aspiring waiter Miguel was great as well. No stuffiness here! We had crabcakes as an appetizer and swordfish provencal and both dishes were delicious. We tried a Pinot Noir and another red wine and both complimented our dishes perfectly. The only thing we could ask for is that they would have salmon on the menu, which is our favorite fish. We can't wait for weather to get better so we can sip on a cocktail in the beautiful patio area. Thanks to the owners for this wonderful gem!

I went here for cocktails with my mom and her friends visiting from out of town. We were looking to burn some time while waiting on other friends to meet us for dinner across the street. They sat us in a semi-private patio area surrounding a fireplace in the center. We thought the drinks were tremendous, I had a bourbon cocktail that was very dynamic. The host and waitress were courteous and playful, the service overall was great! I would definitely recommend the Affogato as well as the Apple and Ricotta Fritters for dessert. I can't wait to find a reason to go back!

Went for V-day with my wife. Overall experience was slightly better than okay; not great, definitely not bad...just a little above okay. For what I spent ($300), would rather go to Clarks down the street. Ambience: 10/10 Stunning restaurant decor, very warm, unique, and beautifully designed. Would love to come here simply for a drink because both the outside and inside areas are beautiful. Food: 6/10 Everything needed more salt. Crab cakes: pretty good, not great Smashed chickpea toast: definitely not what we were expecting. Was the equivalent of a large heaping of cold chicken salad (with chick peas) on toast. Felt more of like a sandwich you'd eat on a picnic than an app at a French restaurant. Nothing about it was a smashed spred Chicken au jus with chanterelles: good not great, once I asked for salt and seasoned it more it was much better Steak frites: good not great. Fries were very good (needed more salt), steak was cooked nicely but the sauce felt a little too heavy. The steak at bouchon is much better IMO Wine: we were wanting champagne or brut to start, but they didn't offer any...got a cab franc rose that was okay. For dinner we got a Bordeaux and it was also okay. Seemed more like natural wine selections then what we were looking for Would definitely give this place another shot because there's a lot of potential. But for the price, meh...

The restaurant is so loud in the front room better to sit in the dining on the side. Food was good not amazing. Service was good. Takes a long time to clear dirty dishes. I had to ask them when there was like seven dirty plates sitting on our table. Other than that we had an enjoyable meal. The fish was the best dish we ordered.

Had a great burger and Manhattan last evening with friends. Cara is a great server. She was not our server last night but stopped by the table to say hello. Attentive service, warm atmosphere.

Fabulous night at Bar Lou from cocktails to coffee! The Steak Au Poivre was excellent, the ambience romantic and the apple fritters were out of this world!

I ate at Bar Lou last night with my boyfriend, and unfortunately, it was an experience I wouldn't recommend. We ordered the steak frites, the crab cake and beet salad, and had two margaritas each. The total came out to around $215, which, while steep, wasn't the real issue--the service and overall attitude were. By the end of the meal, we felt completely robbed of what should have been a great night. From the moment we walked in, we were met with an unwelcoming and condescending attitude from the host. He didn't greet us, instead offering an exasperated look before saying, "Ahhh, let me check these other people in first," and motioned us to wait off to the side. Less than a minute later, he returned and begrudgingly offered us seating options with a tone that made it clear we weren't going to be accommodated where we wanted. It set the tone for the entire evening. The attitude problem wasn't isolated to just the host; it seemed to be a running theme among the staff. There was an air of pretentiousness that was impossible to ignore. I've lived in this town my entire life--my entire family has, too--and I've been coming to this location since it was Peabody's. I was genuinely excited for Bar Lou to open, but after last night's experience, I won't be returning and certainly won't be recommending it to others. Montecito has its fair share of entitled personalities, but working in Montecito doesn't give you the right to treat paying customers with arrogance. The restaurant might want to reconsider their approach--overpriced food is one thing, but bad service is what truly ruins an experience.

We tried Bar Lou last night and expected some of the usual growing pains of a new restaurant, but there were none. The food was amazing, the service great, and the atmosphere beautiful. The only minor issue was that it was far more pricey than I would expect, but not enough to take away a perfect night. We'll definitely be back!

We went to Bar Lou with friends for the first time last night. The charming patio entrance is so pretty with lovely lighting everywhere, and the interior bistro decor is beautiful and inviting. We enjoyed every selection ordered on the menu. Although the restaurant was very busy, our service was excellent. So thrilled to know of a wonderful new dining choice in Montecito!

My friends & I tried the new Bar Lou in Montecito yesterday, it used to be Peabodys & Oliver after that. First the good news: the atmosphere & service was fantastic!! The food, menu & wine list were very disappointing however. The outside patio is beautiful and the menu & food needs to match or they will be gone too soon. The wine list was underwhelming- with only 4 reds by the glass ( $18-$21!) no Cabernets, no Pinots, very unrecognizable wines & not local. The food was overpriced & a very strange menu. Bread was $12 for a small baquette with fancy sounding butter. The only thing that we all thought was good was the crab cake. It was 1 crab cake for $28 served on a huge plate with some sauce. Appetizer portion for entree price. Our many servers were the highlight. We didn't lack for anything assuming because it was not very busy. I can't recommend this restaurant until they seriously change the menu & wine list.

Amazing new hot spot with incredible food and vibe. Can't wait to go back. Highly recommend the steak au poivre with fries and loved the beets.

Had a great dinner with family last night. Great ambiance and food. From the start over the phone the host was so friendly. Once we got there he greeted us with the same warmth and was very accommodating. Wish I could remember his name he was lovely! We were gonna be seated in the patio but when asked for a table inside we were seated in a booth after a very short wait. Our server was very knowledgeable, friendly and attentive. Loved seeing such young staff be so on point; offering great customer service. The food was delicious. Yes, a bit pricey for the portions (mainly the starters) but still very tasty. Main dishes portions were okay. We ordered olives, baguette, crab cake, mushroom skewers and chickpea toast to start. Then we had the halibut, steak and frites and a salad as main. Cuddos to the chef! It is not a traditional menu but everything was delicious. Pleasantly surprised to have such a lovely experience knowing they just opened. Keep up the good work. We'll definitely be back.

Went there for anniversary dinner. Had our 12 month old with us. When I made our reservation, I requested a high chair. When we got there it Took them 15 minutes to get us a high chair. The host said they had kids pasta but our server said they didn't. After the waitress went to the kitchen, after another 15 minutes they told us they did have kids pasta. The food was ok. My husband and I kind of felt sick after. Wanted the caviar, they were out. We wanted another dish, they were out as well. We brought a bottle of wine and when we asked if it could be put on ice, the host told us the corkage fee instead of being accommodating. The manager was the only highlight of the night and was very nice. I wanted to like this place because I've been going since it was Peabodys, then Oliver's but I don't think we will go back.

Had a wonderful dinner in the outdoor patio at Bar Lou Sunday night that was wonderful. Beautiful setting, excellent service, and we all really enjoyed the food, particularly all the "small" plates we shared. Had a few salads that were outstanding, such as the Lardo salad and the salad that accompanied the lamb Kafka dish. The only disappointment were the "greens" which were not hot and somewhat tough. We ended the meal with the apple fritters and whip cream which I couldn't stop eating. Somewhat pricey, but feel we got our money's worth. Will definitely return.

fabulous meal. top to bottom excellence with really attentive service. sweet ambiance - great lighting. will be back soon! perfect for a date or any special occasion but also casual!

Amazing food and vibe! Love the addition to Santa Barbara. Stand outs were the Chicken Gyro, Steak Frites and the Chicorie salad. Only complaint is our party of 6 was served the bill and not told tip was included. Very misleading and we almost tipped twice. Caused confusion when splitting bill. We drank several bottle of wine and cocktails and ordered tons of food. Tip was very generous already. Left feeling like we were being taken advantage of. Please tell customers when you bring the bill if it is included.

All in all the food was great. Price point is definitely a little higher than I feel like it should be. $68 for a 6 oz steak and some fries is truly absurd, even by Montecito prices. Not sure if we'll be back but nothing we had was bad.