Masala Spice Indian Cuisine

One of the best restaurant in whole Santa Barbara County I live in San Luis County San Luis County is not that great for food we have 3 indian restaurant in slo County the food I'd trash and bland they use same curry in the foods and no one knows about indian food Also But this restaurants masala spice in goltea middle of nowhere they do good Job I order goat curry And fish curry the curried are sperate taste They really do gob job for cooking indian food and south indian food And Naan is really gud quality also This restaurant has one of the best indian and south indian food out there And better than San Luis County fake indian restaurant

Stopped by for lunch. I had the Malai Chicken Tikka with garlic naan along with a masala chai. Both the chicken dish and the naan looked beautiful and tasted great.

The best Indian buffet I’ve ever had for the price. Incredibly tasty with delicious varieties. One of the best deals in the area — if not THE best.

We were 12 people, at closing time. They served excellent Jain (no onion and no garlic) and vegetarian gravies. Their all options such as Paneer Makhana, Dal makhni, etc. are super delicious, rich and truly authentic Indian. We ordered all different breads and they all were hot, delicious and outstanding.

best Indian in santa barbara. flavorful dishes, attentive staff, and an overall elevated experience. highly recommend!

The restaurant staff were so genuine and humble to interact with, their service was top-notch! Really made us feel so welcome..Food was fresh and tasty. Definitely recommend

They always make mistakes in portion sizes food is great but those small details matter too the green chutney I ordered there was barely a spoon full of chutney in there and no it’s was not spilled in the bag too please see the stuff before keeping it in the bag ☹️

This place is a hidden gem (across the street from Nikka Ramen and TJs) for excellent Indian food. The lunch buffet on Sunday is amazing even with a dosa station. They even have their signature Sri Lankan fish curry as part of today’s buffet that’s worth our 50+ mile each way drive from Camarillo. The place is clean and nicely decorated too!

I had an amazing meal at Masala, the food is great and the service is top notch. Chef Rajesh is hands down the best, I met him and could instantly tell the passion he has for cooking authentic Indian food. If you are in Goleta or on your way to Santa Barbara, this place is worth stopping by.

Unfortunately, I can’t offer a tip, but hopefully, a review will suffice. I love this place, and it’s been around for quite some time. I love Indian food, and I know others from the area who do, too, and we all agree this is a great place. The lunch buffet is a great treat, and all of the staff are helpful, accommodating, and nice. Food is always delicious.

They have the best variety of Naan bread: from goat to cheese to even mushroom. We always need to order 3 Naans at least. This restaurant has high quality food and the presentation is always so pretty. We loved our meal and savored every bite of it. There was only one occasion where I came with a group and when we almost finished eating, one employee kept coming to see if we had paid the check.. but we were still eating. Also, their lassi is quite good too!

Love the unique variety of their menu. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience. Each dish was artfully prepared with layers of complex flavor and texture. Truly a culinary delight.

Looking for HALAL food at Goleta, California? No worries, come over to this restaurant. You can have a prawn curry with steam basmati rice or Prawn Beryani. You must try the parata as well. Delicious food and the staff really helpful. I'm enjoying the Mexican Coke here.

This restaurant is insanely delicious! The Korma was exceptionally delicious! Everything cooked and seasoned beautifully. I can’t wait to discover the rest of the menu 🙌

Tasty Indian Food. Staffs are nice and kind. My favorite are ghee dosa, buffet menus and spicy cauliflower fry. Weekened live dosa stall is a new addition to the restaurant and I strongly recommend dosa lovers to use this opportunity.

Really good indian food here! Everyone here is happy and positive. Great service. Probably some of the best naan I've had. Their vindaloo dish is amazing. Robust in flavor and nothing too overpowering. Very well balanced. They also have great vegetarian dishes. Photos show the garlic and mushroom cheese naans, saag paneer, and spicy chicken vindaloo.

Best indian food buffet in Santa Barbara by far

Go here if you are in SB and craving for north Indian or south Indian food. We tried malai kofta, onion masala dosa and Gulaabjamun. Everything was good 😊 they should write next to gulaabjamun - "One of the Best in the US". Try for sure - Hot, soft and perfectly cooked 😋😋😋

Ralphlegrand HT

I had an amazing meal at Masala, the food is great and the service is top notch. Chef Rajesh is hands down the best, I met him and could instantly tell the passion he has for cooking authentic Indian food. If you are in Goleta or on your way to Santa Barbara, this place is worth stopping by.

Nicholas Peralez

Unfortunately, I can’t offer a tip, but hopefully, a review will suffice. I love this place, and it’s been around for quite some time. I love Indian food, and I know others from the area who do, too, and we all agree this is a great place. The lunch buffet is a great treat, and all of the staff are helpful, accommodating, and nice. Food is always delicious.

Genezaret Cardoso

They have the best variety of Naan bread: from goat to cheese to even mushroom. We always need to order 3 Naans at least. This restaurant has high quality food and the presentation is always so pretty. We loved our meal and savored every bite of it. There was only one occasion where I came with a group and when we almost finished eating, one employee kept coming to see if we had paid the check.. but we were still eating. Also, their lassi is quite good too!

NutbellypizzaCarpinteria,Ca

This restaurant is insanely delicious! The Korma was exceptionally delicious! Everything cooked and seasoned beautifully. I can’t wait to discover the rest of the menu 🙌

Harold Ritter

Best indian food buffet in Santa Barbara by far

Andrew

Love the unique variety of their menu. We thoroughly enjoyed our dining experience. Each dish was artfully prepared with layers of complex flavor and texture. Truly a culinary delight.

Mad Rizal Abu Bakar

Looking for HALAL food at Goleta, California? No worries, come over to this restaurant. You can have a prawn curry with steam basmati rice or Prawn Beryani. You must try the parata as well. Delicious food and the staff really helpful. I'm enjoying the Mexican Coke here.

Arun Nambi

Tasty Indian Food. Staffs are nice and kind. My favorite are ghee dosa, buffet menus and spicy cauliflower fry. Weekened live dosa stall is a new addition to the restaurant and I strongly recommend dosa lovers to use this opportunity.

S S

Really good indian food here! Everyone here is happy and positive. Great service. Probably some of the best naan I've had. Their vindaloo dish is amazing. Robust in flavor and nothing too overpowering. Very well balanced. They also have great vegetarian dishes. Photos show the garlic and mushroom cheese naans, saag paneer, and spicy chicken vindaloo.

It felt like we discovered a little gem especially after ordering their pani puri. We dined in but also ordered some takeout and the plates they gave for carry out was also appealing.

Subhash Kommuru

It felt like we discovered a little gem especially after ordering their pani puri. We dined in but also ordered some takeout and the plates they gave for carry out was also appealing.

Food was little above the average. Staff was nice. Very good service. Atmosphere was nice too.

Had food from here a couple of times. Chicken biriyani was fine. Veg biriyani was below average. Tried Salmon tikka and it was great. Masala Tea and Pakoda was also good.

One less star because I have a typical Indian Palate and the food was by default for non indian customers. I had to request for customization, which the manager accomodated smilingly. The quality of food was decent and worth the value. I wouldnt hesitate going back and trying it out. The ambience was decent, no frills.

We were pleasantly surprised by this eatery in this area. We ordered chicken only as that’s the only item HALAL on the menu. Chicken Malai Boti was so tender, Creamy and flavorful. Loved it. Tandoori Chicken came in a sizzler plate and was very tender and delicious. The naan is thin and really good to eat. A bit pricey (that’s why 4 stars) but the food is good.

Really good Indian food at excellent prices. This is my new go-to for Indian. I've only eaten the lunch buffet, but it has always been excellent. My only complaint is that they've never yet offered rice pudding for dessert, although the carrot pudding is quite good. Recommended.

We went for the buffet lunch and were glad we did. They offer up a reasonable selection of items. And everything we tried had good flavor. The offerings were not crazy fancy, but they were well prepared and filling. The service feels personal, like this is a family operation, or at least the whole staff is really bought in to thoughtful customer service. The dining area is thoughtfully decorated but a touch cramped. We will return!

I recently visited Masala Spice with my family, and overall, it was a delightful dining experience. Here's a breakdown of our meal: - **Veg Biryani and Raita**: Absolutely delicious! The biryani was perfectly spiced and flavorful, and the raita complemented it beautifully. - **Malai Kofta and Pesto Naan**: Both dishes were excellent. The malai kofta was rich and creamy, while the pesto naan added a unique and tasty twist to the meal. - **Lemon and Pepper Naan**: This naan was good, but it tasted quite similar to a regular butter naan. We were expecting a bit more distinction in flavor. - **Idli with Chutney and Sambar**: The idlis were soft but could have used a bit more salt. The chutney, while decent, could benefit from some flavor enhancements. In terms of service, the staff were friendly and attentive, making us feel very welcome. The ambience of the restaurant was pleasant and added to the overall enjoyable experience. Masala Spice is definitely a place I would recommend for a good family meal with a mix of traditional and creative dishes. We'll certainly be back!

I have never had Eastern Indian food before. My friend grew up eating these foods, and shared the experience with me at the Masala Spice Indian Restaurant in the Fairview Shopping Center, YUM!! Located next to Carl's Jr., in Goleta, CA. The service was good, although I wish the server had more experience describing the differences in the dishes. As a newbie, I had questions. Fortunately, my friend was there. If she hadn't been, I would have been lost. Loved the cauliflower appetizers. If you haven't tried the food, try it soon.

This is a nice to get a little more authentic Indian flavor. Most restaurants have a creamy curry that they use in all their dishes but masala spice has a different curry for each. The food was definitely tasty and flavorful. Kadai paneer is 100% recommended. Would come back!

Manish Jain

I recently visited Masala Spice with my family, and overall, it was a delightful dining experience. Here's a breakdown of our meal: - **Veg Biryani and Raita**: Absolutely delicious! The biryani was perfectly spiced and flavorful, and the raita complemented it beautifully. - **Malai Kofta and Pesto Naan**: Both dishes were excellent. The malai kofta was rich and creamy, while the pesto naan added a unique and tasty twist to the meal. - **Lemon and Pepper Naan**: This naan was good, but it tasted quite similar to a regular butter naan. We were expecting a bit more distinction in flavor. - **Idli with Chutney and Sambar**: The idlis were soft but could have used a bit more salt. The chutney, while decent, could benefit from some flavor enhancements. In terms of service, the staff were friendly and attentive, making us feel very welcome. The ambience of the restaurant was pleasant and added to the overall enjoyable experience. Masala Spice is definitely a place I would recommend for a good family meal with a mix of traditional and creative dishes. We'll certainly be back!

Sabrina M.

I have never had Eastern Indian food before. My friend grew up eating these foods, and shared the experience with me at the Masala Spice Indian Restaurant in the Fairview Shopping Center, YUM!! Located next to Carl's Jr., in Goleta, CA. The service was good, although I wish the server had more experience describing the differences in the dishes. As a newbie, I had questions. Fortunately, my friend was there. If she hadn't been, I would have been lost. Loved the cauliflower appetizers. If you haven't tried the food, try it soon.

Malay Patel

This is a nice to get a little more authentic Indian flavor. Most restaurants have a creamy curry that they use in all their dishes but masala spice has a different curry for each. The food was definitely tasty and flavorful. Kadai paneer is 100% recommended. Would come back!

Good Indian food incredible service waitstaff was ready to help with everything.

Went on Sunday May 28th @ 1:30 or so Lot of crowd due to long weekend Restaurant ran out of Dahi wada ..... lot of other items were running LOW Buffet is $20 +Tax Had a Dosa Counter during our visit If you are a Vegetarian - there are other options / better value for your spend

I ordered takeout. The food was fabulous as always. But this has to be the smallest portion I've ever received. Two small pieces of Naan. And the portion of rice, etc. Not even close to when you're dining in. But paying the same price. Normally, it would be 5 stars. But I feel as if getting take out is a major to off. At least it was a few nights ago

The service is certainly good, the ambience was good, restrooms clean. But the food was underwhelming. Tried few different items like Momos, Haryali Chicken, Butter Chicken, Baingan Bhartha, Raita, and garlic naan. I would only give Baingan Bhartha and Raita thumbs up. Everything else was mid.

We ordered samosas, chicken malai kofta, mysore masala dosa, masala dosa and chicken chettinad with garlic naan. Overall food was above average but nothing stood out except dosas. Dosas were well cooked and crispy. Adding to that sambar was not good and the chutneys were okay. Chicken chettinad tasted good and was flavorful but missed the spicy notes. When they served water, one of our glasses had a lipstick mark (clearly unwashed glass) and when we returned that glass, they just replaced it lightly like "it happens". That doesn't give you confidence about their sanitary process especially in pandemic. Overall an okay place to dine at. Seems like a place with potential and can do better.

Good place if you are looking for south Indian or seafood. However it wasn't spicy enough for me. It was expensive like buffet is $21. I think Santa Barbara is expensive in general. I was told they only had halal goat and lamb and not chicken.

Bobby Singh

The service is certainly good, the ambience was good, restrooms clean. But the food was underwhelming. Tried few different items like Momos, Haryali Chicken, Butter Chicken, Baingan Bhartha, Raita, and garlic naan. I would only give Baingan Bhartha and Raita thumbs up. Everything else was mid.

Saurabh Bhatt

We ordered samosas, chicken malai kofta, mysore masala dosa, masala dosa and chicken chettinad with garlic naan. Overall food was above average but nothing stood out except dosas. Dosas were well cooked and crispy. Adding to that sambar was not good and the chutneys were okay. Chicken chettinad tasted good and was flavorful but missed the spicy notes. When they served water, one of our glasses had a lipstick mark (clearly unwashed glass) and when we returned that glass, they just replaced it lightly like "it happens". That doesn't give you confidence about their sanitary process especially in pandemic. Overall an okay place to dine at. Seems like a place with potential and can do better.

MS thesmart

Good place if you are looking for south Indian or seafood. However it wasn't spicy enough for me. It was expensive like buffet is $21. I think Santa Barbara is expensive in general. I was told they only had halal goat and lamb and not chicken.

We went in for the overpriced $13.45 lunch buffet and were disappointed in some illogical policies and the heaviness of the offerings which included: spiced French fries, basmati rice, daal (lentil stew), eggplant curry, two chicken curries, and chicken tandoori and gulab jamun dessert. One masked person at a time may enter the buffet area where a server will spoon your selections from the covered buffet dishes onto a plate. This made sense from a hygiene perspective. What didn’t make sense were their positions on salad and water, believe it or not! When I asked if salad was available the server explained that, due to Covid (??) salad is no longer offered in the buffet. When I said I don’t understand he said it is because they can only put out small amounts of salad and would have to repeatedly cut up more salad as it got depleted in the buffet. That made absolutely no sense, as every buffet item would have to be replenished as it got eaten up by diners. Maybe they’re too lazy to take five minutes to chop up salad ingredients? We were literally two diners of the approximately five people eating there during the hour we spent at Masala Spice. Probably the five of us could have eaten no more than a head of romaine, one cucumber and one tomato. They wouldn’t have had to replenish at all in the hour we were there. Naan bread is included with buffet but took forever to come out. Ice water is NOT provided (again the server mumbled some Covid nonsense as an excuse) so if you become thirsty, you must buy a beverage. No other business that I’ve eaten at during Covid has had such inane policies regarding water and salad, whether sit down table service, or fast food. We ended up paying $40 before tip for two lunches that left much to be desired. I will not return because the value was poor and their rationale for lack of iced water and salad is incomprehensible.

Horrible horrible food. One of the crappiest restaurants in Goleta. Food served here is not authentic and its old and flavorless. Not sure how they allow to serve days old food. Save your money and go somewhere else

It’s OK restaurant. Good location. Tried DOSA which was very good, but just the Dosa not the chutney or Sambar. Actually I think they serve dal fry as Sambar. And chutney wasn’t fresh. Next day I tried Veg Pakora which was pathetic half cooked and the important thing is the person who served knew why it and then also served it. Although he offered something different against that order as I had to return it. Veg biryani was another disaster. It’s neither a Pulao nor a biryani. So people at least don’t try these items. I was upset with the thing that you are serving the half cooked food even when you knew it, that’s not Indian culture.

Disappointed with the service. The server was quite rude. I took my friends out for a treat, and in the middle of our meal, she asked us to pay for the food — something I’ve never experienced before. It felt very unprofessional. Despite this, we still left her a good tip.

Pruthvish Patel

Disappointed with the service. The server was quite rude. I took my friends out for a treat, and in the middle of our meal, she asked us to pay for the food — something I’ve never experienced before. It felt very unprofessional. Despite this, we still left her a good tip.

Worst Indian restaurant I've ever been too. Buffet is literally one dish and 3 other sides which consist of food that's been sitting out for days. They dont refilll the trays with new food even when its busy. I've never seen this at any Indian restaurant before. Meals take long and also taste terrible. Service is ok . But the food is terrible. Dried flavorless meat. And its not cheap. Who ever says this place is 5 stars has never had delicious Indian food before

I’d come here a bit of times and the food used to be good. I came back in December 2025. The food was alright. They sell papdi chat but it’s actually dahi puri not really the best. Please don’t base it off what is written on the menu. Some of the server do not even know what they’re serving :/

Priya S.

I’d come here a bit of times and the food used to be good. I came back in December 2025. The food was alright. They sell papdi chat but it’s actually dahi puri not really the best. Please don’t base it off what is written on the menu. Some of the server do not even know what they’re serving :/

Dan T

Worst Indian restaurant I've ever been too. Buffet is literally one dish and 3 other sides which consist of food that's been sitting out for days. They dont refilll the trays with new food even when its busy. I've never seen this at any Indian restaurant before. Meals take long and also taste terrible. Service is ok . But the food is terrible. Dried flavorless meat. And its not cheap. Who ever says this place is 5 stars has never had delicious Indian food before

Samir Patankar

It’s OK restaurant. Good location. Tried DOSA which was very good, but just the Dosa not the chutney or Sambar. Actually I think they serve dal fry as Sambar. And chutney wasn’t fresh. Next day I tried Veg Pakora which was pathetic half cooked and the important thing is the person who served knew why it and then also served it. Although he offered something different against that order as I had to return it. Veg biryani was another disaster. It’s neither a Pulao nor a biryani. So people at least don’t try these items. I was upset with the thing that you are serving the half cooked food even when you knew it, that’s not Indian culture.