Convivo

We were there for a small wedding dinner after the ceremony.The food and food presentation were great, the location is amazing the atmosphere in the outside with the ocean in the background was beyond beautiful. Its an upscale restaurant with really good quality food. Everything we ate was delicious from the bread with olive oil and garlic to the very yummy dessert. I am not sure if the dishes we had are on the menu since it was a private event, but it gave us an idea how great the chef is. Must try when you are around Santa Barbara !!

We had an amazing experience at Convivo! The food was incredible! We had the flat bread as an appetizer, the Bucatini, and the Lemon seafood ravioli. All were delicious! It was our honeymoon, and they brought us a dessert too! My one small complaint is the service was a little slow even though they weren't overly busy.

We had a rehearsal dinner here with family and it was a great experience. The service was friendly and helpful and the food was delicious. It was a lovely atmosphere as well. If you have an opportunity to dine here I would definitely recommend it.

Overall, we had a great experience at Convivo. The staff was really kind and sweet. Our food was incredibly tasty. Their house market salad was the underdog of the night that won our hearts - the peaches, tomatoes, apples, and greens were all fresh and the champagne vinaigrette took it all to the next level. The crudo was a great starter. I don’t think you can really go wrong with anything you order. Drinks were great. I will be trying to recreate the Mrs. Jones when I get back to Seattle - it was heaven! And valet is complimentary!

Held a wedding reception here. The place is beautiful and we sat outside and had a wonderful view. I ordered the Bucatini Pasta, which was so good I ate it so fast I forgot to take a picture of it. I also had the Chocolate Carmel bar for dessert which was very rich, but very good.

Great service with professional staff working and they always appear to be very happy and smiling. Our waiter Jaime kept the wonderful coffee flowing and was constantly asking us if we needed anything. Connected to their guest wifi as my T-Mobile Internet connection from phone is not available in the area. My only recommendation would be to stabilize the blue seating back part of the seats so they don't move around from other tables sitting back. You can feel the others sitting back and pushing you forward. I recommend eating outside until they remedy the problem. It's quite annoying, but not enough to complain. The food is really good. We had multiple dishes and shared with each other. There is free parking a few blocks away at the soccer fields and they also have valet.

WOW!! We had a wonderfully delicious dinner at Convivo. The service was excellent, Angel the manager was extremely welcoming and personable, on top of absolutely amazing food. Home made pasta, fresh seafood, wonderful wine and perfect ambiance for date night, highly recommend! We will be coming back next time we are in Santa Barbara!

Fantastic all around experience, and they have made some great additions to their cocktail menu! In 2023, we could not find any cocktails here that were balanced or even on the slightly sweet side. And that negatively impacted our enjoyment of Convivo. However, in 2024, with the addition of the Mojo JoJo, the Tres Caballeros, and the Mamma Mia on the cocktail menu, life is sweet at Convivo in 2024! The food highlights were: The Carrots The Brussels The Asparagus The Charcoal Avocado The Chorizo Sausage Flatbread The Panna Cotta and The Chocolate-Caramel Bar All 5/5 delicious!! The only slight miss were The Lamb Meatballs - they were delicious but dry. Fantastic service, fantastic views on their outdoor patio. We can't wait to come back!

Another gem of a restaurant on Cabrillo and across the oceanfront, serving Italian cuisine. The view of the lawn outside lined with the palm trees is amazing, especially on a sunny day. The food and service are also excellent.

Can’t believe it took us almost two years to get to Convivo! One of the best restaurants in Santa Barbara. Great location, food, and we had an excellent server.

Lovely spot to share some dishes on the patio while the sun sets. I especially loved the Atunno; the rich butternut puree and burrata were complemented by the fruit. The kimchi in the condimenti was vegan and paired so well with the Seaweed Malfadine- the acid from the ferment balanced out the butter in the pasta.

Great place for lunch/dinner. Friendly staff.

This is probably one of my favorite restaurants in town for date night with my partner. The atmosphere and service are good and the included valet parking provides convenience. Everything in the menu is delicious, it’s always prepared well and flavorful. My favorites include the pork ribs and the lamb meatballs.

We had a lovely Labor Day lunch outside on the patio and it was a delight!! Beautiful weather and setting complimented the menu that tempted on many levels! Our server was very pleasant and helpful; but they did seem quite busy as we waited quite a while for water, drinks, etc. The Spicy Mary was delicious, not too spicy; but sadly, the Blue Cheese olives had not one with blue cheese in them. One of our party had the Fig Appetizer plate that was a work of art!! I tasted a few parts and they were amazing! Our other friend had the Ahi Tuna Niçoise salad that was simply stunning; perfectly cooked soft boiled egg, shaved, pickled fennel and other goodies! Only issue was that the tuna had a quite a bit of gristle in it. I had the Lemon Ricotta Cappellacci, filled with crab meat. A beautiful plate with just amazing taste!! I'd order again! The atmosphere and the creative selection of dishes makes this a 'must go' for anyone in Santa Barbara for whatever reason, The location across from East Beach can't be beat!

Loved EVERYTHING about this place! Enjoyed a beautiful dinner on the patio overlooking the beach…cocktails were excellent and I highly recommend the Convivo Sour, which is their take on a traditional Pisco sour. Next up was the delicious seasonal fig salad that we paired with their house made focaccia…followed by our entree’s…the Santa Barbara halibut and split roasted chicken. Everything and I truly mean everything was ON POINT and delicious! You can tell they focus on high quality, seasonal ingredients and it shows in every dish! Highly recommend this place and will definitely be back!! PS: this restaurant is located in the Santa Barbara Inn and they have free valet parking for restaurant guests!

We spent the last day of 2022 here. I love the vibes here. It could be a little bit too loud to sit inside tho. We sat outside and it was so warm and nice. We ordered persimmons as an appetizer, Ribeye and Seaweed Mafaldine as main dishes. Seaweed Mafaldine is the house-made pasta with mushrooms, broccoli di ciccio, miso butter, garlic, furikake V. It tasted amazing. I definitely give 11/10 and you should try it. We had Affogato and Gelato as desserts. They give you two scoops of gelato so it’s enough to share with your partner. Affogato tasted good too, though both are super sweet. Overall, everything was so perfect. Nice place to go on a special occasion. There is a parking lot at the building and street parking is also allowed. I’ll come back again when I visit Santa Barbara.

This place is amazing food was excellent kudos ro the manager and Julian for making this place so great

Lovely dining experience in Santa Barbara. Extensive wine list focused on local regional wines. Menu with purpose providing options for everyone but not tedious to make a decision. Friendly and attentive staff.

One of the best restaurants in SB with an Ocean view. Not only the views are amazing from here, the food is also amazing.

Visiting town from Los Angeles for the memorial day weekend, so we wanted to choose somewhere special for our single night in town. We chose Convivo, based on its reputation, the reviews, and its location. I am definitely happy that we chose to dine here because we had a wonderful dinner. It’s located on the ground floor of the Santa Barbara Inn and faces toward the Pacific Ocean. We were staying at another hotel close by so we chose to walk to dinner tonight. We were seated right after arriving, and the restaurant is bright and open, and they did a good job spacing out the tables. Our server was very polite and did a great job, however, the speed time of the items arriving was pretty slow. It took quite a while for us to receive our first appetizer and shareable item, as well as our drinks, but the wait was worth it. I started off with the Beef Carpaccio and thought it was terrific. It’s a dish that I order often and have been for many years and I can say this is one of the better ones that I’ve had in a while. For my entrée, I chose the Cappellacci and thought it was delicious, however the portion size was quite small. It’s not the sort of entrée that will fill you up but it has some really great flavors. We also ordered the Za’atar Flatbread for the table and all really enjoyed it. It comes with three different dips and it can be a great addition to whatever you’re eating. Overall a really great dinner, with fair pricing, and although a bit slow, the servers were very polite, and the items that arrived were worth the wait. I would recommend and would come back next time I’m in town.

Juan was exceptional! Enjoyed the Soppressata pizza and Carmel dessert bar! Highly recommend this restaurant. Enjoy an ocean view on the patio.

I feel fortunate to have walked by this lovely place while finishing up my walk. I quickly made reservations and was seated 15 minutes later. The menu filled with so many dishes and I settled on the Fattoush flatbread. What an amazing meal. So fresh, so flavourful, so delicious 😋. I can't wait to come back when duties call me back to Santa Barbara. Don't forget to try the Ginger's Juice.

Hosted our wedding dinner at Convivo after our Courthouse ceremony, for 25 guests, and it was an absolute dream! Kristina was very organized and thorough in the planning process, making the day of seamelss. The menu was amazing- even our pickiest guests loved it. Get the stracatto, lamb meatballs, jamon and polenta! The service team were fantastic- maybe run just a bit thin. Or, perhaps it was the bar- drink service took quite a while (even ordinary soft drinks took a while). But overall, it was an incredible experience- you can’t beat the atmosphere or food!

Very authentic Italian restaurant. Don’t expect to find Alfredo sauce or cheese pasta here. Food & service are nearly fine dining quality with more generous portion. For us, the funghi pizza was a bomb, super delicious. Above all the location is very nice and their outdoor seating has a nice view

Wonderful outdoor dining spot near the beach. We watched the moon rise over the ocean on a perfect Santa Barbara evening. The food was tasty. I would highly recommend the summer corn salad. Our waiter was friendly and attentive. He suggested a good bottle of wine that was perfect with our food choices.

This time around tried breakfast and wasn’t disappointed. Nice and easy atmosphere. Good decent food.

Went for a corporate event at Convivo and love that my company booked the best. Held on the patio which was dog friendly, the view was gorgeous. The food was astonishing. Then the drinks (see pics). The Asian banquet bartender Nelson was blazingly fast and spot on, remembering my drink in a crowd of 100+. Highly suggest you book early to get preferred date!

This restaurant is a hidden GEM 💎 The food quality and flavor profiles are masterful and the cocktails are beautiful and they have a great selection of wines. The team there is what truly makes them stand apart from any other restaurant in the city. The level of attention and professionalism their team members have really sets them above the rest. We loved speaking with the manager, Brooke, she was fantastic. Such a great and very hard working employee. So kind and courteous, and insightful about menu items. We can’t wait to go back again and again!

Great location right on the beach. Outdoor seating had a beautiful view of the ocean. Service was wonderful and the drinks were good but not consistent. The food was just ok. Ribs were dry but the chicken wasn't bad. The bar tender recommended we eat somewhere else because the food was sub par and he wasn't wrong.

Amazing Italian restaurant with tasty seafood options and a huge wine selection at the Santa Barbara Inn! I ordered the marinated olives, the focaccia (which was covered in pesto, cheese and grilled onions), and the roasted seafood plate. I’ll say the focaccia was killer. It was good to begin with but the pesto and cheese baked into it made it that much better. The atmosphere was amazing and the staff were great. The outdoor patio is great and you can see the water from your seat. You may need a reservation if you’re coming on the weekend.

Had brunch here and found the new truth. Crispy pork belly, lettuce, and tomato sandwich is so much better than with bacon. The basil aioli added a much enjoyed extra bit of flavor.

We held our Wedding in the Montecito Room of Convivo. Our guests LOVED the family feast styled food and the room was the perfect size for 55 guests + a DJ. The drinks were a delight and the staff were very professional. The coordinator Kristina did work with me continuously to arrange the menu and layout of the dance floor. It was nice to customize the layout. I did have some mishaps happen on the day of the wedding that I wanted to mention here and to Convivo banquet/restaurant staff. 1) Two of our vendors did not receive meals although I emailed Kristina to add them in. I sent two emails regarding vendor meals & their dietary restrictions. On the day of the wedding, the lead catering manager was reluctant to whip up two extra meals for my vendors who had been working for 6 hours straight that day. Even with my approval to bill us for their meals, they were shut down and not accommodated to. 2) Typically, in the wedding industry the vendors eat right after the Bride/ Groom in order to become fully available for the next events in the timeline.... for example, speeches & first dances. When the vendors eat too late close to the end of dinner service they are forced to miss their meal entirely or eat it in less than 10 minutes as they have to be up and ready to photograph/ DJ the next events in the timeline. I did personally ask the head staff to feed my hard working vendors as soon as possible but they still were fed towards the end of dinner. This delay in serving the vendors not only hurts the timeline/ logistics of the wedding event but creates a safety concern as my photographers/coordination team have been documenting the day since the morning, doing bridal prep, ceremony, bride and groom photos, setting up the reception and by the time they reach the venue, it's important for them to take a break, eat and hydrate before the speeches. Having to wait an extra 75 minutes after a 6 - 7 hour day is not ideal and not industry standard. Please, for whoever is reading my review and has control over this. PLEASE - I beg you to be flexible and feed the wedding vendors sooner in the dinner service for logistical and safety reasons. I understand Convivo is primarily a restaurant who occasionally holds wedding banquets but being in the wedding industry myself... It is industry standard to feed the vendors right after the Bride & groom have been served. That is the only thing I wanted to emphasize and provide insight on. Aside from that, we really loved having our intimate wedding reception there. Till this day, our guests are continuously complimenting us on the food. It was very memorable. Thank you Convivo staff & Kristina, the Banquet Manager! -Natalie & Pedro

Nice place to eat in Santa Barbara. If you eat outdoors you can see the view of the ocean. The service was great. The waitress made sure we were taken care of. I ordered the pesto focaccia. It was delicious. I did ask for balsamic vinegar to add some more flavor. I also ordered a mushroom pizza. It was amazing. Very filling and I could have shared it. My husband ordered two vegan options. The charred avocado salad which was refreshing and a vegan flatbread. The flatbread had mint which was a little overpowering and the vegetables were huge. Would have been better a bit smaller but overall was good. When they bring you the check they give you little mini cookies. If your dining with someone who needs vegan options this is a good place to go to.

Food looks fancy and tastes good at the same time, and dishes were ready fairly quickly for an Italian restaurant. Location is great right next to the ocean, with amazing view if you sit outdoors. Interior design is good too. Only issue was the service which varied across staff. The server who took care of our table (next to kitchen area) had a weird attitude and seemed like he didn’t want to talk to us.

Convivo is a really nice place! The outdoor seating is lovely and the inside is very clean and big. I came here because the reviews were good and for the most part it was. Service was good and attentive. To the point where the server noticed I wasn’t happy with my dinner. He asked if I wanted to send it back which I declined. I pushed through a bit but unfortunately could not continue eating it. When the check came, it was not on it. I never asked for that but it was greatly appreciated. I made sure I showed that on the tip. The Beef Carpaccio was so good! It was fresh and light, thinly cut to perfection. The flavors exploded in your mouth! The Focaccia tasted good but was a bit stale. The Guinzaglio was cooked to perfection but sadly lacked seasoning. I don’t even think salt went into the pasta water. It broke my heart. It looked so good and and even felt good while I ate it but needed salt. The lightest touch of salt would have changed it all around. So disappointing. Overall the place is great. Willing to bet if I went today the bolognese would taste better.

Overall it was a nice family dining location. But here are my two comments: Summer peach pizza had too much serrano ham inside that it was hard to enjoy the taste of other ingredients. Mojo Jojo cocktail tasted like coconut water as if there was no passion fruit inside.

We’ve always considered Convivo among the finest restaurants in Santa Barbara. Have left many rave reviews. Went there for Thanksgiving dinner tonight. Three course meal began great. Appetizers were world class, followed by an extraordinary pasta course. Served fast and absolutely perfect. We all ordered the turkey main course. Probably waited 15+ minutes for that course. Waiter didn’t come by between. All plates finally came out cold. After tracking down the waiter, asked for new plates. Second plates came out cold again. Not only cold, but presentation was reminiscent of airline food. Asked to have everything boxed up and left. As a mea culpa, the manager provided desert, which just topped the doggy bag. This entire experience was miles below what we’ve come to expect from Convivo. Clearly understaffed, with inferior food prep. We’ve known the chef to be exceptional. It seems management needs a refresher on service, delivery and followthrough. Needless to say, very disappointed with the experience. Gonna be a while until we return.

We had a dinner reservation for Thanksgiving & the valets were welcoming. The bartenders were amazing. They deserve 5 stars, along with the server who brought us our bottle of wine. They only had a pricey prefix menu which was not listed when I made the reservation, but the ambience outside is so nice, we were okay with it. BUT, there’s a big BUT. It was more than $400 for two of us. Some of the items were good, crab cakes okay but am extra $10, server entered our order wrong so first we received the wrong things, then the first 2 courses came out too fast, then way too slow in between. I ordered halibut and it was over cooked & SUPER DRY. For the price I’d expect much more. I don’t eat much meat, and all the other options were meat oriented. I didn’t enjoy or eat my halibut,, which was the very expensive main course.The solution from the manager was to send us a piece of pumpkin pie, although we were supposed to be getting other desserts with our pre-fix meal. Neither of us like pumpkin pie AT ALL. We told the server that but he said, “it’s already on the way,” so there it came wanted or not. It was wasted. We had to ask multiple times for water. The woman that served us our wine was nice. The server seemed overwhelmed. For $200+ per person (with wine & a tip) it was very disappointing. Based on that, I’d never recommend. We won’t be going back and had hoped this would be a lovely spot to come to, once we saw the beautiful outdoor patio area.. Disappointed as I wanted to treat my daughter to a nice dinner, while visiting her. So many amazing places to go in Southern Cali, but this is not one of them! Food is rich and full of lots of seasonings and spices, so if that’s your thing and you don’t mind paying a high price for location, you might like it. I imagine it’s a great view at the right table, outside during daylight.

Zafferano | saffron risotto, SB uni butter, mussels, clams & prawns GF I had a truly disappointing experience at this restaurant. The food was absolutely awful — the flavors were overwhelmingly bitter, to the point where it was difficult to even finish the meal. Hours later, I still have a disgusting aftertaste lingering in my mouth, which says a lot about the quality of the ingredients or preparation. The risotto, in particular, was a disaster: instead of being creamy and flavorful, it was completely drenched in oil, making it heavy, greasy, and unappetizing. Unfortunately, the poor experience didn’t end with the food. The service was just as bad, if not worse. The waitstaff were cold and unwelcoming — there was no smile, no courtesy, no sense of hospitality. When bringing dishes to the table, they practically slammed them down in front of us without a word, making us feel more like a burden than valued guests. With that kind of attitude, it’s baffling that they would expect any kind of tip. Overall, I would not recommend this place to anyone. Between the horrible food and the rude service, it was one of the worst dining experiences I’ve had in a long time.

Found this place after reading a few online recommendations, food did not meet the expectations, make you wonder if those articles were paid by the restaurant. For example, the pizza crust looked good in photos but was doughy and too greasy if their aim is the Italian wood fired version. The white sauce was almost nonexistent, so just cheese on dough, topped with mushrooms. Putting shiitake on there can be called “fusion”, but the flavor profile just doesn’t match. However, the roasted chicken dish was superb! Food aside, what’s really troubling about the whole dining experience is the service. First, it’s extremely slow, after being asked and offered water 3 times, we finally got it, that’s about 20 min.s after we sat down. Then when we were done with our food, had to ask the check 4 times, the last time, one of the waiters yelled at me ‘do not discriminate against me, especially when I’m trying to help you out’. First of all, yelling and not helping with anything is not helping a guest out. Secondly, there’s no discrimination, not verbally, not attitude wise, nothing. I was saying to him ‘we would like our check please, we’ve asked 3 times for it already, we have somewhere to be after this’. Not to mention, I share the same ethnicity as him. That sentence he said was extremely rude, unprofessional and accusational. I had to calm him down and ask for the check again. There’s no apology from him nor the restaurant. When the check was brought, the merchant copy where you sigh for tips was no where to be found, neither were a pen, nor a waiter to ask. A tiny jar of mini choco chip cookies was brought along, they were stale already, like left out for days. If by any chance this is the way the restaurant apologizes, it needs to do significantly better. Now I also have to keep an eye out on any unauthorized charges on my card too since I never saw the merchant copy of my bill. This was one of the most bizarre and unpleasant dining experiences.