The James Joyce

Stylish place with great atmosphere. I was here on Saturday, for jazz session and people dancing swing to it. Worth it!

James Joyce is a Santa Barbara landmark. They have the pool, the darts, music is always good. A lot of good rock n' roll. They have a nice stage in the front and most often some great musicians playing, they hold open mic nights as well for the not so great musicians out ththere. The bar is complete and the bartenders are efficient. I'm glad this place exists right there on State st, it is an alternative to the club scene that dominates the night life.

The James Joyce rocks! Even at 11 am in the morning when you wander in trying find some WiFi, you will be transported into the world of cool drinks and cooler Santa Barbara souls! Special cheers to Katy, Rusty and Laura! We will be back!

They have peanuts, but no food. Great atmosphere and people though. Probably one of the top 5 places you could hang out at in Santa Barbara.

One of my favorite places in town!! The people that own it are super nice and treat you like family. Drinks are great, and the music/bands they book are always very good quality

I have been going here for over20 years and love this place! Matt is an awesome bartender! My wife and I will be going here until we cannot any more. See you guys in 2 weeks!

Great atmosphere and fantastic staff.

Wanna go Irish ? Go James Joyce ! A real Irish pub, especialy those nights with a live band are memorable. And an excellent Guinness ofcourse ! There are plenty of bars along State Street but for n endless night with music and great atmoshere: this is the place to be.

This is just an all-around GREAT bar on State Street, Santa Barbara. A MUST if you are visiting and want to have drinks and listen to live music at a chill yet lively place. It's got a dose of dive bar to it with peanut shells littering the floor, and its casual atmosphere which makes it all the better in my opinion. Check this place out!

the best cider in the USA. Very nice staff! Good prices for ea alcohol. Cool atmosphere.

For years, we come her Tuesdays, whenever we‘re in town! Meet with good old friends, have a Guiness and enjoy live and company! CU next Tuesday???

John Quist

Great atmosphere and fantastic staff.

Walter Somers

Wanna go Irish ? Go James Joyce ! A real Irish pub, especialy those nights with a live band are memorable. And an excellent Guinness ofcourse ! There are plenty of bars along State Street but for n endless night with music and great atmoshere: this is the place to be.

Dayne Gradone

This is just an all-around GREAT bar on State Street, Santa Barbara. A MUST if you are visiting and want to have drinks and listen to live music at a chill yet lively place. It's got a dose of dive bar to it with peanut shells littering the floor, and its casual atmosphere which makes it all the better in my opinion. Check this place out!

Elena L

the best cider in the USA. Very nice staff! Good prices for ea alcohol. Cool atmosphere.

Achim Wixforth

For years, we come her Tuesdays, whenever we‘re in town! Meet with good old friends, have a Guiness and enjoy live and company! CU next Tuesday???

A fun bar to play pool or darts with friends. I like the vibes here, always a diverse group of people in the bar which is nice. This place gets really packed on Friday nights and Saturday nights though, and it's not very big. I always get Irish coffee here because of the 2 for 1 access deal.

Stayed in Santa Barbara for the weekend and ran into this place had the best time it was a Sunday night not over-the-top busy pool table darts and karaoke staff was friendly and so were the patrons. Also famous to karaoke is a man name too tall sweetest gentle giant I've ever met.

It was quiet for a sunday but the bartender was kind enough to put the laker game on for us and we played pool.

I loved coming here with my boyfriend, we had a great time and I even sang karaoke twice and I loved it! We had such a great time!

This is my favorite Irish pub in Santa Barbara. The Irish coffee is the bomb and they use homemade whipped cream to top it off. The music is so lively and incredible. I keep going back for more.

We desperately needed an Irish Coffee, and not only did James Joyce deliver, we've already gone back for seconds and plan to make this a frequent stop! Would highly recommend! Friendly bartender, security, and easily one of the best Irish Coffees in Santa Barbara.

Vanessa Maciel

I loved coming here with my boyfriend, we had a great time and I even sang karaoke twice and I loved it! We had such a great time!

Nasha H

This is my favorite Irish pub in Santa Barbara. The Irish coffee is the bomb and they use homemade whipped cream to top it off. The music is so lively and incredible. I keep going back for more.

Troy Reppas

We desperately needed an Irish Coffee, and not only did James Joyce deliver, we've already gone back for seconds and plan to make this a frequent stop! Would highly recommend! Friendly bartender, security, and easily one of the best Irish Coffees in Santa Barbara.

Rhonda W.

Stayed in Santa Barbara for the weekend and ran into this place had the best time it was a Sunday night not over-the-top busy pool table darts and karaoke staff was friendly and so were the patrons. Also famous to karaoke is a man name too tall sweetest gentle giant I've ever met.

Lauren Cassis

A fun bar to play pool or darts with friends. I like the vibes here, always a diverse group of people in the bar which is nice. This place gets really packed on Friday nights and Saturday nights though, and it's not very big. I always get Irish coffee here because of the 2 for 1 access deal.

Great hole in the wall with great service. Definitely a Karaoke spot on Monday's. A all pool table and two dart boards. Great location on state street.

Ignore James Colbert reviews, always whining playing the victim. My only complaint about this place is the lazy karaoke guy. Thinks he's Elvis, 1970, playing Vegas. Walked up to tip him, on his stage, the ego maniac acted like Red West, one of Elvis's bodyguards, damn near threw a fit He only plays his buddies songs, the stiff prick. Trust me on this one, thinks he's the King.

Good local dive bar with pool table and darts. Karaoke night Wednesday's and live music weekends.

Very comfortable environment, good drink selection. But your like me and get the munchies, the only food item they have here is peanuts.

Awesome pub with loads of friendly people, nice music and where you can challenge each others at quizzes, dart and snooker! At this pub you'll also find a barrel full of complimentary peanuts which explains the amount of shells scattered all over the floor. It's pretty neat. I'm quite confused about the exposed toilet right next to the urinal though. No doors or walls so not a lot of privacy if you need to take a dump...

Fun place to grab a drink, cozy fireplace, and spacious. Took one star off because the bartender was socializing with her friends and on her phone too much to at least holler at us when our beers were sitting on the counter. She was nice, albeit the small annoyance.

This is my kind of place. I visit Santa Barbara a few times a year and always make a point to grab a few drinks here. Good vive, good people, great bar tenders, and when live music is playing it always makes for a good time. Only drawback, can get a bit overcrowded. Also, if you take an out of state ID bring a debit card or something else with you r name on it.

This Irish Pup has a dive bar feel to it. It wasn't busy at all but I was told at night it gets pretty packed. I enjoyed the vibes. The bartenders were locals so they gave us a lil run down on what's what. My bartender was pretty nice. I'd go back again🍻

Authentic-looking pub with a dash of dive bar mixed in. Live music on the weekends. Locals, tourists, and students mix freely and effortlessly, the Guinness is good and there's a pool table. The pool and darts room feels a bit confined, but this only adds to the authentic vibe. Most Irish/English pubs I have visited barely have enough room for you to stand, much less play games. There's a bar in the front and back of the house and a small dance floor. Noisy, bustling, not a great first date place, but fun venue to hit with friends.

This place doesn't have food but it has great karaoke! Awesome place to come to if you're looking for a nice vibe and kind people. The bartenders are excellent and the drinks are excellent as well.

We enjoyed the games and drinks! Bar tender was personable and attentive! Great time!

Diane

We enjoyed the games and drinks! Bar tender was personable and attentive! Great time!

Jocelyn Turner

This place doesn't have food but it has great karaoke! Awesome place to come to if you're looking for a nice vibe and kind people. The bartenders are excellent and the drinks are excellent as well.

Be Ray

This Irish Pup has a dive bar feel to it. It wasn't busy at all but I was told at night it gets pretty packed. I enjoyed the vibes. The bartenders were locals so they gave us a lil run down on what's what. My bartender was pretty nice. I'd go back again🍻

Tammy De Leeuw

Authentic-looking pub with a dash of dive bar mixed in. Live music on the weekends. Locals, tourists, and students mix freely and effortlessly, the Guinness is good and there's a pool table. The pool and darts room feels a bit confined, but this only adds to the authentic vibe. Most Irish/English pubs I have visited barely have enough room for you to stand, much less play games. There's a bar in the front and back of the house and a small dance floor. Noisy, bustling, not a great first date place, but fun venue to hit with friends.

Oliver Bogren

Awesome pub with loads of friendly people, nice music and where you can challenge each others at quizzes, dart and snooker! At this pub you'll also find a barrel full of complimentary peanuts which explains the amount of shells scattered all over the floor. It's pretty neat. I'm quite confused about the exposed toilet right next to the urinal though. No doors or walls so not a lot of privacy if you need to take a dump...

Live music was nice. Its swing music. Drinks were modestly priced and well mixed. My company was the best and most beautiful woman I know. My Aunty!!!!

I agree with a customer that has been a patron of the James Joyce bar a few times and had problems with staff that are unfriendly and have big egos and enjoy drama for no reason. This guy can still go back to the James Joyce I am kicked out for no reason it happened a year ago in 2015,when a bartender alleged that they're were complaints against me and had so called had got back to the owner and told me to grab my stuff and that I could never come back. I let a few months go by and came to the bar complaining to one of the owners realitives who is the bars manager about what happened to me, all she said was talk to the guy that had kicked me out,I asked could I speak to the owner about trying to get back in and she said the owners never around.I always had fun loved to do karaoke and would buy drinks when I could afford to buy them and tip sometimes if I could afford to.I would usually atleast by a soda because I am not a heavy drinker.However one thing I would notice when I was trying to order a soda or drink I would stand at the bar waiting and waiting for service and would be ignored and would see others getting served before me even new customers coming off the streets and the staff had there favorites they would ignore me or somebody that wasn't there friends and go to the back bar and totally ignore me or somebody else at the bar waiting for service. Also I have noticed only black males continue to be kicked out for no reason me included. This is not fair or right and it needs to stop. This bartender who is doing it thinks he's all tha.t.and is allowed to get away with this he needs to be stopped or fired.Because this is no way to treat people at all.If Tommy the owner payed more attention to what's going on in his bar this wouldn't be happening. Fire these mean racist bartenders,bouncers whoever is 86 ing people out of this bar for nothing. I encourage people to stand up and make complaints to the city of Santa Barbara and or file a discrimination lawsuit.

It's not a pub, or at least, it doesn't have food, so I would call that a bar. Really an insult to the memory of James Joyce, I didn't see anything referencing Joyce inside. The only Irish beer they had on tap was Guiness, nor even Harp let alone Murphys or Beamish (lol). The Guiness was terrible, and since I was in Dublin last week the memory of great Guiness was at the top of my memory. A drunk Steelers fan legit tried to start a fight with my girlfriend who is all of 5'4" 110 pounds. I'm in my 40s, my boo is from Boston and we've been to rough bars all over the world and never had a dude try to pick a fight with my GIRLFRIEND. The bartender knew the dude too and was giving him free shots. I'm not butt hurt about any of it but seriously. They should rename this place "the dumb mick."

Scott Pactor

It's not a pub, or at least, it doesn't have food, so I would call that a bar. Really an insult to the memory of James Joyce, I didn't see anything referencing Joyce inside. The only Irish beer they had on tap was Guiness, nor even Harp let alone Murphys or Beamish (lol). The Guiness was terrible, and since I was in Dublin last week the memory of great Guiness was at the top of my memory. A drunk Steelers fan legit tried to start a fight with my girlfriend who is all of 5'4" 110 pounds. I'm in my 40s, my boo is from Boston and we've been to rough bars all over the world and never had a dude try to pick a fight with my GIRLFRIEND. The bartender knew the dude too and was giving him free shots. I'm not butt hurt about any of it but seriously. They should rename this place "the dumb mick."

They don't like Latin people and this f guy don't let you sing in spanish.

The bouncer (bald, bearded) would not let me into the establishment even though he admitted my ID was valid, because he didn’t recognize my friends state Id. Clearly he was on a power trip and didn’t even let me in alone.

Did a carbomb here last night. When the shot glass hit the bottom of the pint glass, the pint glass broke and a part of the bottom came off. I apologized profusely but the bartender insisted I had done it on purpose. I tried multiple times to make amends but the bartender wouldn't have it. It was the pudgy one with glasses. Maybe he felt tough working with the tattooed one as the tattooed one has drunkenly tried to pick a fight with me in the past. It seems like every time I go in here something stupid like this happens. I'm sure I'll wander in here again at some point, but in the future I'll avoid the staff as much as possible.

We had planned on ending our vacation evening in Santa Barbara with a few hours of fun with Karaoke at the James Joyce. The Karaoke owner ruined the night by having rules that permitted him and his regular customers to take over almost all singing for the night giving outsiders basically a lucky draw to even sing once. When confronted with this he basically argued and was belligerent regarding anything that challenged his favoritism. The manager Nick said that many people had complained in past weeks but the owner had not addressed it yet. The other company they used never had complaints he said. It ended with him asking security to remove our table with no explanation. Never again for you James Joyce.

This bar was absolutely awful. It was infested with rodents, who were visibly running around the floor. The tweaked out staff was incredibly rude, and to top it off the beer I ordered was flat. Definitely avoid this place if possible!

DANGER!!! Do not enter this bar if you have a peanut allergy. There is peanut dust all over the floor and in the air, and there is no signage on the entrance door or the front windows to make that clear to unsuspecting visitors. 20 minutes after entering the bar, we had to rush my son to the hospital where he was given oxygen and intravenous drugs to save his life. And when I talked to the manager the next day about it, his only response was I’m sorry but we’ve been running this place for 30 years that way, so maybe you shouldn’t come in. My next step will be to contact the local health department to see how they can allow this place to operate that way in this day and age.

Steve Porter

DANGER!!! Do not enter this bar if you have a peanut allergy. There is peanut dust all over the floor and in the air, and there is no signage on the entrance door or the front windows to make that clear to unsuspecting visitors. 20 minutes after entering the bar, we had to rush my son to the hospital where he was given oxygen and intravenous drugs to save his life. And when I talked to the manager the next day about it, his only response was I’m sorry but we’ve been running this place for 30 years that way, so maybe you shouldn’t come in. My next step will be to contact the local health department to see how they can allow this place to operate that way in this day and age.

UNSAFE! We are tourists to the area, and turned up to enjoy karaoke, but our night ended in the emergency room. My brother is allergic to nuts and there was ZERO SIGNAGE leading into the bar that nuts were all over the floor and in the air. There needs to be practical health and safety preventing this. The hospital said that this has happened before and is a known issue. Please do better James Joyce! You clearly don’t know what it’s like to not be able to breath, because after one incident you wouldn’t let this happen again.

Homophobic bouncer kicked me out for dancing to Nicki Minaj's super bass sang by Karaoke. said something to the effect of "you need to understand some people don't want to see that kind of thing". He was bald and short, and very very unfriendly. kinda looked like joe rogen.

Utterly disappointed and appalled. I had an unpleasant encounter with a male staff member (bald, long beard) here, and though I had previously assumed that he was just another drunken person at the bar, upon reading other reviews, it turns out that he is in fact a staff member at the James Joyce and also a repeat offender. Do not waste your time and money going to a bar that allows its staff to show partiality and drunkenly mistreat customers for no apparent reason. Upon reading the other reviews it seems like this bar also regularly mistreats and shows bias against their poc patrons. It is shameful to even call yourself an Irish pub if this is the behavior you exhibit! Do better.

Kelsey Porter

UNSAFE! We are tourists to the area, and turned up to enjoy karaoke, but our night ended in the emergency room. My brother is allergic to nuts and there was ZERO SIGNAGE leading into the bar that nuts were all over the floor and in the air. There needs to be practical health and safety preventing this. The hospital said that this has happened before and is a known issue. Please do better James Joyce! You clearly don’t know what it’s like to not be able to breath, because after one incident you wouldn’t let this happen again.

Mark Janavel

Homophobic bouncer kicked me out for dancing to Nicki Minaj's super bass sang by Karaoke. said something to the effect of "you need to understand some people don't want to see that kind of thing". He was bald and short, and very very unfriendly. kinda looked like joe rogen.

Auri

Utterly disappointed and appalled. I had an unpleasant encounter with a male staff member (bald, long beard) here, and though I had previously assumed that he was just another drunken person at the bar, upon reading other reviews, it turns out that he is in fact a staff member at the James Joyce and also a repeat offender. Do not waste your time and money going to a bar that allows its staff to show partiality and drunkenly mistreat customers for no apparent reason. Upon reading the other reviews it seems like this bar also regularly mistreats and shows bias against their poc patrons. It is shameful to even call yourself an Irish pub if this is the behavior you exhibit! Do better.