John M.
Yelp
There's a bit to be desired here at The Finch, especially for us hotel guests.
After a 3-hour drive, arriving at 3 PM and starving, it was disappointing that the only food options available were snacks that I would associate with a vending machine that I could only purchase by the front desk and nothing from the restaurant. With no other options, we had to find a bite elsewhere. This issue seems to stem from poor management rather than the staff.
Thankfully, the place finally opened up. Kayla did a great job behind the bar and took orders for us lounge seated guests, not just those on bar stools. Since we had already eaten, we only wanted a few oysters and maybe a side dish.
It's hard to mess up oysters unless they're off or someone doesn't know how to shuck them. However, a decent mushroom dish that's grilled? I'm 100% in! Sadly, the mushrooms were super slimy, and no amount of tarragon miso yogurt could save them. I love a great mushroom dish so much that I constantly ask my wife to try a bite (she's not a mushroom fan). This time, when she willingly wanted to try a bit, I had to advise her against it.
The following morning, I thought it would be nice to start our day with a couple of screwdrivers. Jaime was aces at the bar. Despite the limited drink options available in the morning, which is odd given the breakfast cocktail menu in the room service menu, Jaime took care of us with chilled, laid-back, but customer-focused attention.
The following day around 11 AM (the start of a local holiday called Fiesta), I wanted to order two screwdrivers, but there was no one at the bar. I sat there for a few minutes, watching multiple employees ignore me. When I finally asked someone by the host podium if I could order a beverage, I was told the bar was closed. This was confusing because if the bar is closed, how can I order cocktails for breakfast on the room service menu? I was told, "Well, it's 11:00 AM, so we're getting ready for lunch." I then asked if I could get a beverage for lunch, to which I was informed, "We don't have a bartender on Fridays." Completely confused, we went back and forth, and the host finally replied, "Let me get Jaime; he stepped out."
A simple, "The bartender stepped out; someone will be right with you," would have sufficed. This really shouldn't be so complicated, but again, Jaime came to the rescue, sensing the silliness of the situation.
Since we spent so much time out, our only chance to order food was this morning before checking out. We ordered room service: eggs benedict for me, and two poached eggs with bacon and toast for my wife. Both dishes came with smashed potatoes.
While I enjoy smashed potatoes, these were so undercooked, bitter, and starchy that we both had to spit them out. The taste was akin to sandpaper and I literally could not swallow it. My ham on the benedict was so overcooked and dry it could have been used as flying discs at the beach. The muffins were cold and not toasted, and my wife's poached eggs were cold with toast so stale she asked if they toast their bread the day before.
This was one of the worst room service breakfasts we've had in a long time, and I expected much more from The Finch, as my wife proclaimed that she had better breakfasts at Denny's.
Lastly, on the menu, there's a disclaimer: "A 1% culinary service charge will be added to each guest check. This culinary service charge is distributed 100% to the culinary staff, including cooks, dishwashers, and hourly culinary supervisors to ensure competitive industry compensation for all of our valued culinary team members." My first thought was that this was incredibly tacky. Nothing says we can't afford to pay our employees like posting something like this instead of just raising prices a bit to address industry challenges here in California.
However, after the meals we experienced, it's going to take a lot more than "competitive industry compensation" to make that food decent anytime soon.
Thank you, Kayla and Jaime, you were the best part of our visits to the restaurant and the only reason I bumped this review to 2 stars. I hope your leadership takes a serious look at Kayla's no-nonsense approach coupled with Jaime's subtle yet attentive focus on detail and elevates both of their standings within The Finch and Fork.
The management and leadership need to step up significantly to ensure the standards of The Finch to call it "a favorite amongst Santa Barbara restaurants" as this claim seems highly dubious. The issues we faced were clearly a result of poor management decisions and lack of adequate support rather than the fault of the employees whom the majority seem to not have any clear supervision.
