Manifattura

Avid fan of Aperativo, I couldn’t wait to try this new restaurant. Their online reservation system is not active so be sure to call to make reservations. First, I will say that the service, food and staff is top notch here. I expected thatxx vs as their sister restaurant Aperativo, is the same. We were greeted immediately and brought drinks while we perused the menu. We ordered the Burrata Pugliese with housemaid focaccia. It was swerved with top quality olive oil and was absolutely delicious. We also ordered the Fiori div Zucca Friti (fried zucchini flowers) as a starter. Let me tell you that these zucchini flowers literally brought me to tears. Better than some that I have had in Italy! Incredible and a dish that will have me longing to return and eat again! Next, we ordered the meatballs, gnudi and tagliatelle. The Pulpette dei Bollito (Meatballs with fresh green sauce) was good but the Tagliatelle was just a delicious fresh pasta with homemade meat sauce. The noodles were thinner than I expected but it was still a solid dish. Lastly, the Gnudi al Pesto Vibrante was one of my favorite mains. It is not a pasta yet just perfection and the pesto is incredible! I will be returning to this restaurant every time I get a chance to spend an evening in Santa Barbara.

We’ve always loved Aperitivo for our date nights, so we were really excited to try its sister restaurant, Maniffatura! it did not disappoint! The atmosphere and design are beautiful, the service was on point, and the food was delicious. We enjoyed every dish; the caccio e peppe was a touch on the salty side, but overall everything was excellent. A great new addition to Santa Barbara’s dining scene!

One of the few places in Santa Barbara that truly understands European food. From the simplicity of the burrata to the refreshing notes of the cicoria salad, we had a phenomenal dinner. The service was excellent, ensuring the food came out at the right times and avoiding any gaps or a rushed flow throughout the evening. The drink options are also excellent, with the Dolomiti beer being my favorite. I highly recommend this place to anyone seeking a truly authentic European dining experience. Bravo!

Manifattura is a newer restaurant that just opened in November, and I recently went for a holiday, intimate dinner with friends. It already feels like a special neighborhood spot. The space has a warm, mid-century modern atmosphere that’s cozy, relaxed, and thoughtfully designed. They focus on handmade pasta made fresh in-house and offer an all-Italian wine list. We started the evening with a brut rosé, and later enjoyed a hugo spritz, which was light, refreshing, and a perfect mid-meal drink. Our server was knowledgeable and gave us great recommendations throughout the night. To start, we shared the pizza bianca, a house-made focaccia Romana with olive oil and a perfect sprinkle of sea salt. Simple, comforting, and very well executed. The buratta pugliese, was incredibly creamy and paired beautifully with the focaccia. The cicoria e mele was a standout. I love a good radicchio salad, and this one with local granny smith apples, pecorino, walnuts, and date vinaigrette was perfectly balanced. We also ordered the zucchini blossoms, filled with ricotta cheese, light and crisp. For pasta, we shared dishes and appreciated the generous portions. The pasta del pizzaiolo (on the spicier side) and the tagliatelle were both excellent and clearly made with care. We didn’t get to dessert since we were full and even had leftovers to take home. Service was attentive without being overbearing, and the owner stopped by our table a few times to check on us, which added a personal and welcoming touch. Overall, Manifattura is an ideal choice for a special dinner or an intimate night out with friends. Open Tuesday through Saturday from 5 to 9 pm and absolutely worth checking out. Reservations are a must. For parking, I recommend the nearby city paid lots. Lot #11 on Haley Street or Lot #12 on Gutierrez Street are both convenient options.

Absolutely incredible pasta!! Hands down the best Italian food I’ve had in the U.S. You can taste the quality and freshness in every bite. Came to find out they purchase a lot of ingredients from the local farmers market!

Easily the best Italian food I’ve had in a loooooong time. You know when you’re craving Italian food and you want something special to scratch that itch? This is it. I had the Caccio e Pepe… but we shared 3 pasta dishes at our table. The pasta was cooked so perfectly I keep thinking about it days later, so fresh and hearty. Every dish seemed right down the middle, great portions, and also had a little twist or a story or something special / thoughtful that made it extra amazing. Will be back regularly without a doubt.

Food expectations were met properly! Food and atmosphere were amazing. But.. The only downside was that we felt pretty rushed during our reservation. Understandably they close at 9, but our reservation was for 8:15. We asked if we should order everything at once or if we should order our appetizers then entrees later. We were told it would be coursed accordingly and to order all at once, great! But, it was too bad our entrees came out before we were even close to done with our first bites and was in turn getting cold :(. Then asked for boxes while we were still very much enjoying our food. We were able to finish up within an hour - so all is well, but hopefully next time we get to enjoy a little bit more of our evening there. Regardless still want to commend them on the flavor and quality of everything just wished the timing was better for our meal. Looking forward to trying again! Just maybe with an earlier reservation?

Went to their opening night last night and it was amazing! Food was incredible! My favorites were the focaccia bread, meatballs and tagliatelle. The vibe was perfect, exactly what we were missing in SB. I felt transported to a New York Italian spot and it was very cozy. Service was great! Everyone was helpful and excited to be open. Can’t wait to go back!

This place is definitely a treat especially mid week. The atmosphere is nicely decorated and the staff friendly and attentive. We were able to nab a reservation to try this new spot located on lower state. It was full and they were turning away walkins. They have wine and spritzes on the menu. Minimal options to buy wine by the glass, most you would have to buy the bottle. The Negroni is pretty strong and the Hugo spritz is light and refreshing. The pizza Bianca is a must have, some of the best focaccia bread that I have tasted. The burrata comes drizzled with olive oil that pairs well with the bread. The cacio e Pepe pasta was okay, felt that the noodles were undercooked. The patate croccanti is perfect for sharing and comes with an aioli. The must have dish there is the pesto vibrante. These are gnocchi dumplings smothered in the freshest basil sauce that you will taste. Overall, will be returning to try other items on the menu.

Wonderful dinner! I recommend it if you are in the mood for Italian food. I absolutely love the team behind Manifattura and Aperitivo. Truly just amazing humans. I'm giving 4/5 stars because I do think there is some room for improvement. I wish I could give 4.5 stars. We went as a group of 6, they were so kind to accommodate us. We loved the space, the decor is so moody and feels very New York. They sat us right away and the service was really impressive (the owner cares so much and was checking in on us himself!). The starters were all so so so good. I was blown away by the olives and cheese and charcuterie and crackers and focaccia and meatballs. Everything was delicious, most amazing flavor and the olive oil was such good quality. Now for the pasta...we purposefully avoided one of the pastas because our friends recommended we skip it. We did two of the bolognese and two more pasta dishes. The bolognese was SPECTACULAR. I love the ratio of meat to pasta. The saltiness. It was the dish of the night. The cacio e pepe was borderline too salty - I personally couldn't eat it honestly. The pesto dish was fine. The dessert could use some love. The Affogato was tasty. We all loved it. But the cookies were not good - I'm sorry but the cookies stuck to my teeth and none of us liked them. The baba al rum but very strange - we were not into it at all. We all were disappointed by it sadly. I'd recommend skipping dessert all together. It is worth saying that when we left we went to aperitivo for a glass of wine because we wanted a good bottle of wine before calling it a night, they delivered!! I took photos but they are all half eaten so I'm only including decent pics.

Manifattura is the latest hot spot and sister restaurant to Aperitivo. It's a small space, so just be aware the seating is not very spacious. Despite that, it doesn't mean you'll have a bad experience here. This place is warm, intimate and inviting. I especially love the paper lantern lighting here. I felt transported to another place once I walked in. Erica was my waitress for the evening and she did a great job at explaining the menu. I started with the Hugo Spritzer. It was a little too sweet for me, but still a refreshing drink. They also offer a wine menu. For food, I ordered the house-made focaccia Romana. The bread was so good! It's topped with olive oil and sea salt. I loved how crusty it was, yet still remained soft and light. I chose to pair this with the Melanzane in Agrodolce, which is eggplant, sweet & sour tomatoes, ricotta salata and pine nuts. My only complaint about this dish is that it was too salty for me. The flavor was delicious, but could use less salt. I know when eggplant is prepared it's usually salted first to bring out the extra water. Aside from that, this dish was still flavorful and delicious! I love eggplant and would still order it again. For my main, I opted for the Tagliatelle Degli Umarelles. I can honestly say this pasta is hands down the best pasta I've ever had! It's full of comforting flavors that make you feel as if it was made by your Italian grandmother! No lie. I've never had a pasta dish like this one. The serving size is enough to share for two, or three. I was happy to take leftovers home. Overall, this is a great addition to downtown and it's good to see Aperitivo expand their restaurant.

If you're craving authentic Italian pasta in Santa Barbara, Manifattura is absolutely worth a visit but be sure to make a reservation as they are typically booked out about a week in advance! First off the vibe and aesthetic create a great balance of classy and cozy which make it a great option for both casual weeknight dinners or weekend date nights. As for the food, the menu is on the smaller side but does not disappoint in flavor. We went with a group of four andid family style which gave us the opportunity to try 75% of the menu. We started with the "pizza" Bianca which was an incredibly flavorful focaccia which had a crispy crust and perfectly salted top. We also ordered the Vitello tonnato which was a unique dish with thin sliced veal and a tangy sauce. No one on our table had tried anything like it but it was definitely one of our favorite dishes of the night. And lastly we had the cicoria e mele which was a refreshing salad of radicchio and apples which provided a freshness to our meal. As for the pasta, we all couldn't stop raving about the pasta del pizzaiolo. The tomato sauce was tangy, spicy, and just overall a 10/10. This was definitely our favorite pasta of the night. The tagliatelle degli was also delicious with its perfectly al dente pasta tossed in a well seasoned meat sauce topped with freshly shaved parm. The gnudi al pesto vibrante had the most pillowy and light ricotta dumplings with a fresh pesto sauce. Our least favorite dish of the night was the tonnarelli cacio e pepe. The sauce was somewhat lacking in flavor and was quite gritty. However, we had heard that it was a customer favorite so it's possible that this was just an unfortunate case of a sauce that had split. TLDR: Manifattura is a beautiful addition to downtown SB and a must try for your next night out

Absolutely loved this place! The burrata was amazing and the Cacio de Pepe was perfect. The noodles were perfectly al dente and I'd honestly be happy to be smothered in that sauce any day. The restaurant itself is super aesthetic, cozy, and gave me total NY vibes. Service was not intrusive and she had everything timed well. Perfect spot for a date! The menu was simple but felt really well curated - you just know everything on it would be good. Ended the night with an affogato and have no complaints. This gave state street a much needed tasteful and sophisticated new spot to land for dinner.

Amazing addition for Aperitivo fans! We had the meatballs, cacio e pepe, and gnudi for dinner, as well as the rum cake for dessert. We loved everything we tried. The cacio e pepe noodles were so bouncy and the sauce was fabulous. The gnudi was literally like biting into a cloud and the pesto was delicious. We walked in around 6:30 to put our names down. We were able to see our place in line in the Toast App and were seated in about 45 minutes - super easy! Overall vibes were amazing - ambiance and decor was very classy, service was super friendly, and lots of excitement around the new opening. Can't wait to come back!

Wonderful Italian food, great ambiance, lively but you can hear yourself talk, great service with staggered entree serving which we loved because we like to share. Tried all of the pasta dishes- all delicious. One of our party was a somm and said the wine list was very respectable. The espressos and coffee were very good. I do not know if the menu changes, but I posted pics of the current menu. We ordered focaccia, antipasti, entrees for each of us, dessert, wine, bottled water and coffee (pretty much everything on menu) and our bill was less than $200 per couple. We are locals and that is amazing for fine dining in Santa Barbara.

Food was absolutely amazing. We tried all the appetizers. Service and atmosphere great. Highly recommend.

They lied about seating us - literally kept us waiting for an hour and a half then shooed us away

Loved the focaccia and the burrata! The Cicoria E Mele salad was fantastic. I wouldn't get the meatballs again. We got all of the pastas- our favs were the Cacio e Pepe and the Tagliatelle. The Pasta del Pizzaiolo was also unique and tasty. And you definitely have to get the limoncello gelato!

Hands down the best restaurant in Santa Barbara. The staff and owners make you feel like family and the food is even better than anything I had on a two week excursion through Italy. Highly recommend!