Steph C.
Yelp
We went to Lion's Tale for after-dinner cocktails last month and had the loveliest time, thanks in large part to a baby bartender named Sandro.
The bar is relatively new, opened almost a year ago in the former Coast & Olive space. It's from the team behind The Good Lion, a place I've never quite loved, and it seems to be a much better bar. Lion's Tale is in the Montecito Inn, and it's an attractive spot, a lavishly designed hotel lobby bar with plush furniture, expensive wallpaper, and a relaxed but upscale atmosphere.
Matt B. and I walked in at 8:45 on a Saturday night and were told right off the bat that there was a wedding rent-out starting at 9:15. We sat down anyway, agreeing to the terms, and ordered a round from our bartender. Sandro was a friendly host. He engaged us in polite conversation, and we learned right away that he and my husband both went to Santa Barbara High School. He seemed genuinely curious when he asked Matt when he graduated. Matt said he was older than Sandro and had graduated in 2001, which is how we learned that Sandro was not yet alive at that time.
I am not sure, then, when he was able to become such a natural, skillful bartender. It seemed like he spent most of the next half hour chatting with us while also making drinks and dispensing them with apparent ease. I don't think he was idle for a single second, and yet he seemed totally relaxed. He's in school, of course, for something that isn't bartending, but he could have a long career slinging elaborate cocktails to millennials who developed their drinking habits in the PDT/Varnish/vest-wearing mixologist era.
We ordered three, a round plus one extra before the wedding party was due. They were all delicious, but I particularly loved the signature Lion's Tale, a richly flavorful drink made with Scotch whisky, chai, mango, aged rum, lemon, allspice, Averna, pineapple, and curry, which added a warm, savory note. The Manhattan was stellar, with rye whiskey, apple brandy, Bonal Gentiane-Quina, bitter orange, and Angostura. Likewise the Boulevardier, a nice variation on the classic with bourbon, house bitter blend, banana, macadamia, cacao, Italian vermouths, and Demerara rum. This one--and possibly the Manhattan, too--was available on draft.
We spend a lot of time in Montecito and are happy to have a bar that isn't the Manor Bar or Lucky's (perfectly fine places, but so Montecito that we, a middle-aged wigwag couple from Los Angeles, feel like the young, diverse customers in both joints). Lion's Tale is a welcome addition to Coast Village Road, and we hope to go back for more of those excellent craft cocktails.
