Wabi Sabi Santa Barbara

Every time I'm in Santa Barbara this is the one place I MUST eat at. The quality of the sushi here is hard to bet. The prices are very reasonable given the quality of the sushi and how it is prepared. Every time I eat here the quality is so consistent. I'm actually very shocked by the low rating of this place. I'm a huge sushi fan and have eaten at some of the best omakase meals and this is definitely up there in terms of quality, price, an ambiance.

Wabi Sabi is located in the public market amongst other food vendors. Was craving a teriyaki bowl and this place did not disappoint! Excellent tempura as well!! It’s a little on the pricier side, but definitely get what you pay for as the portions are generous, the food is fresh and delicious!

:( I usually love poke bowls, but for $21, it left much to be desired. My tuna bowl consisted of a few pieces of tuna atop a FULL bed of DRY spring mix. There were a few pickled vegetables included. I had to pick out the dry pieces of spring mix to make the bowl edible. :(

Don't Cry Roll, Crunchy Roll, and Blue Fin Tuna are amazing. They are fresh and full of flavors. The owner is very friendly and kind. The service is excellent too.

Absolutely never hit that place up again. Crap bowl with a fried chicken breast cut up with cabbage hiding a lot of white rice for $20. Bite me what a joke maybe put some effort into it ffs. With a tip and a can of coke it was $30!

After many years of resisting trying this place due to bad stories I gave in. It was surprisingly busy and I got a ramen bowl for around $22 after tax and tip. I was one of the first in my group to put in their order (everyone else ordered at different restaurants) and the last to receive their food by a good bit. How long can ramen take to make? Once I finally got my food the ramen smelled quite bad, the noodles were bland, and the pork belly was very overcooked and under-portioned. The miso egg was good, but how hard is it to mess up an egg?

Fish is fresh but the sushi rice is made poorly, having very little taste. Also, the portions are tiny. Three rolls and a canned soda for $45! Would not recommend coming here, but also being from the Bay Area, maybe my expectations are too high.

Food was bland, even the miso was watery. Service actually worse than the food. Too bad.

Inside the SB Public Market is Wabi Sabi and this is some of the best sushi that I've had in the 805. I am still shook and thinking about this meal and how quickly I can race back here. The fish quality was exceptional and melt in your mouth. I will forever be thrown off how some of the best sushi I've had is in a food market. The perfect example of "don't judge a book by its cover." Wabi Sabi is located on the right hand side of the market halfway down. The signage is easy to spot as is their cute decor and Tokyo like feels. You first order at the register and then you can sit at their sushi bar - high top tables. I know that might feel a little backwards as you usually sit at the bar first, but still holding true to the food hall vibes, you need to order your meal first. The two different gals that were working behind the counter were very friendly and accommodating, and answered all of my questions without issue. It was a little hard just reading the specials sign as it didn't show what was in the roles, but if you take a step back and look above the register there is a description of all of the different food items. Despite this, the ladies had no problem giving me some feedback on some of the more popular roles and helping me find something to my taste. After talking to them a little bit, I narrowed down my selection to sushi and a roll. I do get the other reviews that note this place is a little bit on the pricey side. For me, one order of premium two piece sushi and one fancy cut roll did run me close to $40 but I'm telling you the sushi was so quality, melt in your mouth and just very beautiful/delicate that I do think it is worth the price. They get the fish fresh regularly and even told me that some of the big $$$$ five star sushi restaurants in Monticeito and nearby use the same vendor as them. So in some ways you are getting the same quality and the fancy restaurant for a cheaper price and an easier to snag table. For sushi I had their special Chu Toro and omg was it Heavenly! So fresh and buttery. This didn't skimp on the cut and it was such a fabulous starter bite. I'm a big raw salmon lover so naturally when feeling overwhelmed with all of the options I went for their salmon lovers roll. You can't go wrong with fresh salmon, crab and avocado. A Perfect speciality cut roll. Loved the mashed avocado inside. Super tasty and light. Wabi Sabi is definitely a great starter option when you come to this food market. The fish is so fresh and honestly, I enjoyed starting with this food stall as it is very light and gives you the opportunity to go somewhere else after. Not too filling but super flavor and 5 star bites! Lovely staff, you need to come here.

Every time I come to the market, I always gravitate towards this place. My absolute favorite is the salmon teriyaki bowl. It is so filling with plenty of salmon, rice, and veggies. It also comes with miso soup. It is a bit expensive, but you definitely get what you pay for. The food is very fresh, filling, and delicious!

My friend reyna says she really loves this place so I wanted to give it a shot. It was slightly busy but not loud since it was a marketplace. I ended up ordering a katsu appetizer. They give you several different sauces to go with it. Food was pretty yummy I would definitely like to come here to try other things can't wait to come back.

Pretty good, $45 for two rolls with tip was pretty hefty. Customer service was wonderful and the place was clean. The rolls were fresh and yummy.

The rolls were so fresh and so delicious! Some of the best sushi I have had. The Cali roll has fresh crab and the tempura roll is not too heavy. Rolls were prepared quickly and they have all the sauces portioned to go as well just ask.

The people are friendly and the rainbow roll tastes good. However, it's extremely overpriced ($21+ tax + expected minimum 18% tip) and tiny. My wife was expecting to be filled up because it said 10 pieces. In reality it's more like 5 pieces and then cut in half. They also don't give you much sushi. There is more imitation crab and vegetables than fish. Highly disappointing experience.

Came here on a Monday for lunch and ordered a Tuna Poke Bowl ($22). All bowls come with complementary miso soup. The bowl looked pretty but the ratio of rice and salad was too big compared to fish. The tuna was not the best quality considering the price and the miso soup was really bland. I've had worse but I wouldn't come back considering the food options nearby.

Really solid spot in the Santa Barbara Public Market. I usually get the Chicken Katsu Bowl here. It comes on top of a bed of white rice with thinly chopped red and green cabbage, and Katsu sauce and wasabi on the side. It also comes with a miso soup! The staff is always really nice, and service is pretty quick. Regarding parking there's a paid lot at street level in the back and a lot underneath the public market as well. Plenty of seating inside too if you want to eat your food there.

The menu has a diverse amount of sushi and Japanese style food you can choose from. Along with a great customer service for when you're trying to figure what to order and get especially since I came here for the first time with my family. We ordered around 5 different rolls, chicken katsu, and poke bowls which were all equally delicious. The price is worth the food as we enjoyed each item ordered and the other restaurants to explore within this food court enhanced the experience.

Service is fast and food is amazing! Sushi at a fair premium price (public market is generally a little more $$ than outside of public market) Wabi Dani roll is so good and fresh tasting- love the salty roe on top. Blue fin roll is a great plain roll - to have if you love tuna. Chu toro is always. Must for every visit. Perfect and melts in your mouth delish. Yellow dragon roll - a good sized roll to order if you're feeling a lil hungry- the yellow tail is sweet and fresh... I could eat 3 of these rolls... maybe 4 :) Thank you for the great food and friendly service!

The sushi quality is fantastic here. This place is a little tucked away in the Santa Barbara Public Market but easy to find. The service is fine, nothing too special but the rolls were delicious. My only thing is how pricey it was. For a small sapporo and two rolls, it came out to over $40. They were good, but Wabi Sabi is not a stand alone restaurant so the pricing confused me a bit. If you don't mind spending a little bit for sushi, this is your place to go. I like the variety of rolls and prefer the quality over Arigato.

The quality of the sushi here is maybe just a little bit better than grocery store sushi. It was also a little pricey too for the very average quality. I got the Yum Salmon Skin Roll. It was a little spicier than expected and just alright tasting.

Food was great, service was fast. Honestly was impressed with the tuna poke bowl. Miso soup and salmon lovers roll were great.

4.5 stars for this place. Hubby and I went here for date night and enjoyed the crispy crab roll and chicken katsu bowl. The roll was fresh tasting and i appreciated the sauce being on the side so I could determine how much i wanted on my roll. The chicken was perfectly cooked and flavored. I would highly recommend both. The staff who took our order was friendly but didn't engage with us much. The Public Market was busy this night but we were able to snag a table. The wait for the food wasn't too bad.

Inside public market, which seemed to have multiple standout restaurants. You order at counter and they give you a buzzer. I had the salmon teriyaki bowl and it did not disappoint. It was well balanced with rice and side of cabbage and bok choi.

Located inside the Santa Barbara Public Market, this sushi spot was extremely underwhelming and overpriced. I love a good sushi spot and would expect the sushi to be super fresh along the ocean. However, this restaurant proved me wrong. I ordered the spicy salmon roll, chutoro sashimi, and uni sashimi. The spicy salmon roll is usually mixed in a spicy aioli sauce but this was just a layer of mayonnaise. It also felt deceiving the roll was advertised as 10 pieces but they're small so it wasn't much. The chutoro was fine but didn't have that "melting" feeling for this specific cut of fish. While that wasn't too bad, the uni did not seem fresh and was a very fishy. While I get that it should have a seafood flavor, fresh uni is usually really buttery. On the bright side, the food came out really quickly but that is the only positive I can really think of.

I was told by some friends that this place was one of the best places to eat in town so I met a friend for dinner last night. I wasn't too happy with the portion size on the rolls. Maybe it's Japanese traditional rolls, but they were very small, and to be honest, they weren't as flavorful. The chicken bowl was pretty good, but how can you mess up a chicken bowl? The place is very pricey, and in my opinion not a place where the value and flavor meets the price. I've had more flavorful sushi And larger portion sizes at other sushi places around town and for less cost. More cost doesn't always equate good food just as less cost doesn't always equate to less flavor or bad food. I honestly don't think that I will probably go back here just for that reason.

Located in the Public Market this a nice place to stop for lunch for a no-frills sushi or rice bowl. It is on the pricier side and portions are smaller, but being downtown and a sushi house it is expected. You can quickly order at the counter and food is ready within five to ten minutes. There are different roll options, the basic to specialty. Since it is in Public Market, you can sit anywhere and join friends who may have ordered from a different vendor. The eel roll and the avocado roll are good, I'd recommend them!

We had a great experience at wabi sabi! Loved the food and the girl Jazz was so sweet! Definitely will be coming back to this spot!!

Visiting Santa Barbara for the weekend, and decided to try Wabi Sabi in the SBPM for the first time. Quick service, delicious and fresh seafood, will definitely return!

We love Wabi Sabi. Best food. Best sushi. Best everything. Highly recommend it to our friends and family. The staff are super friendly and great service.

(Overall: 68% | D) - This is a poke bowl with not that much poke. Most of the bowl is unfortunately rice and onion and cucumber; additionally; the tuna needs to be seasoned much more aggressively. The one redeeming factor is that the crispy noodles have good texture and adds to the presentation. The service and ambience is not particularly great either; I was not met with warm hospitality.

Great food. Many choices. Nice ambiance. Helpful staff. Fabulous location in Santa Barbara Public Market.

Been to this place about once a week for about 2 months now and it's been consistently delish! Great proportions on their rolls, not too much rice and not too little.... I always get the tempura, however the dipping sauce is cold,,, I'm sure I could ask to heat it up next time but it's been so hot out lately, having something chilly is nice! Love supporting the local restaurant peeps!

This place is not good, do not recommend. I paid almost $19 for the don't cry roll, which is slightly above standard price. My biggest issue with the roll was the lack of taste. I do not understand how you can make sushi so bland even when mayonnaise is involved. The sushi rice is just plain white short grain rice. It clearly has no salt, vinegar, or even a tad of sugar to give it that standard sushi taste. The salmon was also not seasoned at all, and the aoili that comes with it was not even included in the roll. It was just slightly dropped on the bottom sides of the container and resembled a pool of grease. But somehow even the aoili managed to have no flavor. It was just bland, it's also a fried roll but even the tempura batter had no seasoning. I genuinely cannot comprehend how you can make unseasoned sushi!! Truly a talent! I understand now why it's called the don't cry roll, because the moment you bite into it, the tears of disappointment start flooding your face.

You can definitely skip coming here. The service is rude and the food is definitely better else where. We walk up to the counter and the women says "yea", like no ma'am you can say hello and greet and treat people correctly. We order a bowl and a roll ($35) and go find a table. I see a tray with food that looks like our order but our buzzer never went off. I see people get their food (not the trey I had been seeing on the counter for a while now) and return their buzzed. I assume that that must not be our order since it's been sitting there for over 10 min and our buzzer never went off. Well I was wrong, it WAS our food. The buzzer goes off and we ask for the bowl to be remade because it was cold and looked gross. The women and chef obviously look upset but it's not my fault they did not make the buzzer go off as soon as the food was set on the counter. The new bowl had significantly less food as well. As for the taste. The crunchy was rolled incredibly loose, small and for the price can taste much better, and at least be rolled correctly. (I forgot to take a picture sorry ) The chicken teriyaki bowl was 1/5 stars. The chicken was fine but the rice tasted like it was made with dirty water. The miso soup was terrible as well. Dirty water with onions. Ultimately it was bad experience all around. Save your money.

Wabi Sabi is located in the Santa Barbara Public Market. It's like a stall there, if you can call these large fully-equipped kitchens a "stall". So really there is no indoor dining for Wabi Sabi. There used to be a limited indoor dining space inside Santa Barbara Public Market, but all that is closed now too. Their Tuna Poke Bowl is pretty good and not super cheap. Seared Salmon Belly sushi is soooooooo good! Outdoor dining is available on the street in front of the Public Market which they closed.

Always delicious and fresh fish!!! The go green role is really good and don't cry as well. They seaweed salads always super delicious. Love everything they have.

Stopped into the Santa Barbara Public Market and decided to try this place on a whim. We got the Spicy Scallop roll: scallops were buttery Don't cry roll: great flavor and heat Sea urchin: first time trying it but overall good Extremely fresh seafood and taste was great on all 3 overall. Quick service and quality food!

As s self-admitted sushi snob, please excuse my initial skepticism for a sushi place in a food hall. But it was actually awesome. Got a bunch of nigiri, including fish, ikura, and uni, and it was all super fresh. Get the seared salmon belly, melts in your mouth! Will say it was a bit pricier than a usual sushi restaurant and you miss out on ambience of a sit down restaurant. But for quality sushi on the go, definitely a winner.

i like to trust yelp with my entire life, but I decided to ~risk it for the biscuit~ and get wabi Sabi even after scrolling through some dismal recent reviews. and I hate to cheat on you Yelp, but you kinda deserved it.... - I was immediately drawn to the poke bowl bc as a certified broke b**** I will not be paying for my own sushi because I need about 3 monster rolls to fill me up.... - the main complaint I saw for the poke bowl was there was not enough fish. that would be disasterous because I can cut vegetables and make rice at home (I won't but like I CAN) - this complaint was W R O N G. hefty amount of fish on this bad boy. hefty amount of everything actually!! - loved the cucumber salad and variation of toppings, ofc I wish there was an eel sauce or spicy mayo but this had great flavor - I feel like poké will always be expensive so I can't even use that as an argument but this was $20 which hurt the wallet however it did come with a bigggg miso soup and as I said they did not skimp around

Was there on a Tuesday night. Ordered the teriyaki bowl. It's a walk up order type of service. But order taker was new and knew nothing about nothing. No menu advice or portion size knowledge. Didn't even know what beer was available. His trainer was standing right next to him and she was new too. Food is ok, basic, but terribly expensive for what you get. They seemed tight with the hot sauce.

Not worth the money, 3 items came out to almost 70 bucks. You are really just paying for the location of the food at that point. The rainbow roll was ok, just normal, Salmon bowl was covered in so much teriyaki sauce. Pretty much every bite was super sweet, I tried grabbing more veggies to reduce the sweetness with every bites and that didn't help. The miso soup was flavorless and bland.

I am rarely as disappointed as I was when I went to Wabi Sabi. The woman at the counter was non responsive when I said it was my first time there and I wasn't sure how to proceed. I repeated myself and she handed me the menu and said order here: I said I'd never been here or had this type of food before and she just stared at me. Finally another employee, an Asian woman, explained what a bowl was and I ordered sashimi and rice and a glass of wine. I had to pay with the order and it included the request for a tip which I paid. The wine was good, Stolpman Sauvignon Blanc but the food was just so so, lots of rice, a little bit of sashimi, lukewarm miso soup. There were no other customers but they never checked on how I was doing. I will not go back.

The newest addition to the Public Market is Wabi Sabi, a fresh and jovial sushi bar for all. With a nice variety to choose from and with quality ingredients, I believe there is something here for everyone. Great place to stop for a quick bite. You can never go wrong with a miso soup before a meal. Beautifully presented with the perfect amount of greens inside. The rainbow roll was also pretty good. The ingredients and the fresh fish however, are what stole the show for me. I truly enjoyed the salmon. Easy to order and easier to enjoy. Can't wait to visit for more.

This place is located inside the Santa Barbara Public Market. Right now with Covid, there is only outdoor seating, so you order inside, find a seat outside, and the staff will bring out the food to your table. I was so impressed by the amount of eel and that it came with delicious veggies and miso soup. The eel tasted fresh and was very smooth. I was happy that each piece was quite large, and that the bowl came with five pieces. Definitely a great value for the quality and quantity (the bowl was ~$18).

Wabi sabi is delicious! We have been hesitant to try it as the prices are similar to a sit-down sushi service restaurant vs. order at the counter. During covid, we have been trying different places so we thought we would give it a whirl. The fish is fresh and flavorful. The rolls are creative. The carpaccio is amazing and has a delicious vinaigrette. We have tried a variety of rolls but we our favorites is the green dragon roll and eels up roll. You definitely get quality! I would love if they opened up a sit-down restaurant someday!

Just had the best poke bowl in my life. I added some spicy tuna on top (recommend) and it was just perfect. This is super filling for one person. Also comes with yummy miso soup! Seating is available indoor/outdoor. Parking lot is right outside. Highly recommend this delicious spot!

This is the 3rd time I've had Wabi Sabi and it has never disappointed. People gripe that it's not the cheapest sushi place in town, but I say you get what you pay for. Always tastes fresh and high quality. Nice sake selection as well.

I ordered the chicken katsu bowl and don't cry roll. The food was alright, but I was hoping for a better quality for the price. The chicken katsu was big. The chicken was crispy, sauce was great, but the batter portion was bigger than the meat portion. I personally prefer a juicier chicken katsu. The don't cry roll was a disappointment. It was tiny for the price. And the flavor was overwhelmed by the spicy tuna. The salmon felt more like a decoration in the roll . Would recommend the katsu bowl, but not really the sushi roll...

This the second time I come to this place, I was expecting something totally better. Was so expensive and por quality. Definitely not a place to come back. My salad was so salty and for the Dragon Sushi just feel the extra mayo flavor, this is not sushi at all. Any other place in the market would be better as this. Don't lose your money and taste here.

Maybe I came on a bad day, but I felt the sushi was not worth the price I paid. First, the premium yellowtail nigiri was great and the only item I would order again. The chutoro was not a good cut. The white part was a little sinewy and ruined the buttery texture of the chutoro. The snake roll was so tiny, only about an inch in diameter, while the eel on top was somehow dry instead of fatty and succulent like eels in most sushi places. The crispy crab roll was decent, but again, there was very little crab for the price.

Stopped to check out fairly new sushi place in Public Market. I will be back. Staff friendly and aim to please. They will try to honor your request according to your taste. I like a little spice in my rolls. They recommended "don't cry roll" and I was happy. A great snack for me They are waiting for their wine beer license bUt welcome you to bring from next door wine and beer to enjoy with their cuisine. Seating comfortable and really enjoyed our visit.

Great new addition to the public market. I really came on here to say, "don't miss the Crispy Kama!!" Yummmmm... Overall this is an authentic sushi place-- not a ton of crazy sauces, just beautiful, fresh fish. The Chu Toro and Bluefin Tuna were amazing. The Poke Tuna salad is bright and fresh. My favorite roll was the scampi tempura. You can't go wrong with seaweed salad, garlic shishito peppers, and carpaccio similar to Arigato's but with a variety of fish. But the Kama stole the show! Don't miss that one.

Wabi Sabi is without a doubt my new sushi spot in Santa Barbara. My friend and I were out running errands downtown and got serious urge for sushi. Unfortunately, none of our usually spots were open for dinner until 5pm and neither of us wanted to wait an hour for dinner. We noticed the Wabi Sabi was open and was conveniently nestled toward the back of the Public Market, so we decided to give it a try. The food we tried was SPECTACULAR! The three things we tried were Red Snapper sushi from the specials menu, the Scampi roll and the Don't Cry roll. As soon as the Red Snapper came out, we knew we were in for something special. The fish had a clean and bright flavor and the sushi rice was cooked and seasoned perfectly. The Scampi roll was somehow both light and satiating, a perfectly balanced roll. The Don't Cry roll was for sure the show stopper. It had unique flavors with Thai chili's and cilantro adding a fun twist to a traditional "spicy tuna" type roll. It rode right on the spice line for me, and was so flavorful I couldn't bare to dip into into soy sauce. Another note about the food is that my friend and I both noticed that the "spicy mayo" that seems to come with most spicy rolls now, had a much richer and nuanced flavor than most sushi restaurants in town. The pickled ginger and wasabi offered was also very bright and fresh tasting. On top of the awesome meal we had, the staff who served as were both friendly, fast, and accommodating. We were served by Buck, the owner, who offered suggestions and answered all our questions about fish on the menu we hadn't tried before. I am beyond thrilled that a quick bite turned into one of the best sushi experiences I have had in Santa Barbara and cannot wait to go back to try more.

Located in SB Public Market. Pros: +Amazingly fresh fish +Casual seating +good pricing for the quality of food Cons: none! Beyond thrilled that a local sushi spot opened that serves fresh hamachi. Fish that melts in your mouth. I tried both the Japanese Yellowtail and Premium Yellowtail. Difference is that premium yellowtail is $1 more as it's leaner. Rainbow roll has actual real crab meat. This will be my go-to sushi spot!

Owner thinks fish should be labeled "organic". She has no clue what she is talking about- it's either wild caught or farm raised. I asked her what they mean by organic and her answer was it's organic so it is farm raised. Uneducated and clueless about food. Or maybe she thinks the public is stupid and she can sell more by incorrectly labeling things as organic.

Wabi Sabi is a wonderful addition to the Public Market. I have gone here once a week at least since they have opened. Super fresh, melt in your mouth sushi. Great customer service as well as delicious food. My top Favorites are Seared Salmon belly, Uni, All tuna options, & Yellowtail. Favorite roll is the Please Don't cry special. Spicy and I'm obsessed with it & the Snake Roll. I've been probably 50 times and the quality & service have always been great. We also get it to go sometimes and that's been awesome as well.

Ginge Eats - favorite dish: shrimp tempura roll Pros -Fresh fish, correct amount of rice on rolls! -Good, quick service Cons -Pricey sushi pieces Great for lunch, very helpful and attentive staff. Love this addition to the Public Market!