Aura

This restaurant is so good The reviews do not lie it is also good The service is really good The atmosphere is really nice and clean and comfy

I really love this place for the vibe and the great food. Excellent prices too.

portions generous, and staff warm and attentive. We left full and eager to return.

Family owned restaurant. Best customer service I’ve experienced in Santa Bárbara. Every time we come in we feel like VIP! There are several vegan options and the food is DELICIOUS!!! Highly recommend!

The food here was absolutely delicious! You could tell there was an excellent chef in the kitchen—this quality far exceeded my expectations for a restaurant like this. The dishes were served really fast, such a pleasant surprise! I will definitely dine here again.

Great food I came here for lunch. The seasoning was spot on, the flavors were delicious, and it had just the right amount of spice. I'll definitely be back. The service was excellent too keep up the good work!

xiaoyan wu

Old school style Chinese restaurant with mum & pop service. Great taste. Huge portions. Value for money! Loved it! Definitely coming back...

footspa cypressasia

Went back in for take out and got amazing service. The food and everything is still fantastic.

Afgv Svhg

The food here was absolutely delicious! You could tell there was an excellent chef in the kitchen—this quality far exceeded my expectations for a restaurant like this. The dishes were served really fast, such a pleasant surprise! I will definitely dine here again.

Catherine Larrignon

Delicious! I stumbled upon this Chinese restaurant. The staff are also warm and friendly.

楊心如

I had the garlic beef and it was really delicious. Service was good and the staff was very kind

Toun Smetana

My wife and I have been here several times (she is Chinese) and we love it! The food is very authentic (if you order off the traditional menu) and very well priced!

infor philco

Great food I came here for lunch. The seasoning was spot on, the flavors were delicious, and it had just the right amount of spice. I'll definitely be back. The service was excellent too keep up the good work!

Krishna Singh

This is the place! Very authentic Chinese food. Restaurant is clean. They have professional service. The food and the generosity make me feel that I’m in China.

Iibrahim Soulimetsi

The most delightful food I have ever eaten. It’s the most authentic Chinese restaurant if you’d like to try some genuine flavors.

Nuira Ocampo

The service is AMAZING. The food is delicious. It’s a 10 folks. Go there as quickly as possible.

b Isabella

This restaurant is so good The reviews do not lie it is also good The service is really good The atmosphere is really nice and clean and comfy

Gabriel Escudero

First, the service was very good. Our server was very nice seemed happy to have us there. Food was really good too. Their chow mein was flavorful and their szechuan dishes have a good amount of spice to it to make it pop. Overall, great new place for people to try! Gonna have to come back to try their dim sum dishes. I hope they get more and more business :)

The food here is fresh, clean, and delicious. The staff are very friendly. Although it's a bit far from my home, I still plan to come back occasionally for a meal.

Sachin Patil

The food here is fresh, clean, and delicious. The staff are very friendly. Although it's a bit far from my home, I still plan to come back occasionally for a meal.

First time here wanted to try the lunch specials. And we were pleasantly surprised how tasty everything was. The only reason I didn't finish our food. Was because after using thier restroom and saw the pile high cart of dirty dishes everywhere in the back. I wondered how clean this restaurant can be it was 11am in the morning they just opened. So we honestly didn't finish it. But the food was good. And make sure you pick fried rice when you place your order for lunch specials. They won't change your white rice order after its sent to the back. And there's a $1.99 for drinks and extra for iced teas.

Apparently this restaurant rebranded to start with a clean slate, since their previous name had collected some rough reviews. Based on my visit, I’m not convinced they’re off to the strongest start, and I suspect some of the early positive reviews are just review-padding to counterbalance the negatives. But it’s not all bad. Here’s how my experience went. When I arrived, I looked at the menu posted outside and told one of the managers I’d like the soft-shell crab roll. A moment later, I went back to ask about the spicy cumin lamb. About ten minutes later, a server approached me asking, “What did you order?” I told her not to worry—the manager already took it. She said, “Okay, but what’s your order? I don’t know your order.” I repeated that it was fine and that the manager could confirm it. The spicy cumin lamb eventually arrived, but the soft-shell crab roll didn’t. When I let the same server know that only half my order had been delivered, she again repeated, “I don’t know your order,” as if this were brand-new information. She even threw her hands up dramatically, frustrated at the idea of having to ask her coworker what I ordered—instead of simply checking the table number. The sushi finally came out afterward. Condiment confusion: The sushi arrived without wasabi or pickled ginger. By that point, I had already interacted with three different staff members—each well-meaning, but not communicating with each other. That can be efficient if the team is coordinated, but here it just created delays. I had to flag down yet another person just to get basic condiments. When I asked for wasabi and ginger, I was told that you have to specifically request them. That’s unusual anywhere you eat sushi, whether cheap or upscale. Their explanation was that some people don’t eat them. That’s easily solved: ask guests at the moment they order sushi whether they want wasabi and ginger. A simple yes/no question prevents all the unnecessary back-and-forth. Food impressions: The spicy cumin lamb had real heat—two types of chopped chiles gave it a strong kick. The seasoning was flavorful, though the lamb could have been a bit more tender. The soft-shell crab roll wasn’t made with traditional sushi rice, or at least wasn’t prepared traditionally, but surprisingly it still worked well for a hot roll. No real complaints there unless you’re strict about classical sushi techniques. Final Thoughts: Overall, this is a four-star restaurant with major room for improvement, especially in communication—both with guests and among the staff. They need a tighter system so servers aren’t re-taking orders that were already handled, and so customers don’t have to chase down condiments that are typically standard. The flavors were solid. The experience was inconsistent. With better coordination and more attention to diner expectations, Aura has the potential to live up to the “fresh start” implied by their rebrand. [took it down to 3 stars after restaurant used AI to give a general unrelated response instead of reading and responding to the concerns addressed]

Maria Jacquez

First time here wanted to try the lunch specials. And we were pleasantly surprised how tasty everything was. The only reason I didn't finish our food. Was because after using thier restroom and saw the pile high cart of dirty dishes everywhere in the back. I wondered how clean this restaurant can be it was 11am in the morning they just opened. So we honestly didn't finish it. But the food was good. And make sure you pick fried rice when you place your order for lunch specials. They won't change your white rice order after its sent to the back. And there's a $1.99 for drinks and extra for iced teas.

mountain scott

Apparently this restaurant rebranded to start with a clean slate, since their previous name had collected some rough reviews. Based on my visit, I’m not convinced they’re off to the strongest start, and I suspect some of the early positive reviews are just review-padding to counterbalance the negatives. But it’s not all bad. Here’s how my experience went. When I arrived, I looked at the menu posted outside and told one of the managers I’d like the soft-shell crab roll. A moment later, I went back to ask about the spicy cumin lamb. About ten minutes later, a server approached me asking, “What did you order?” I told her not to worry—the manager already took it. She said, “Okay, but what’s your order? I don’t know your order.” I repeated that it was fine and that the manager could confirm it. The spicy cumin lamb eventually arrived, but the soft-shell crab roll didn’t. When I let the same server know that only half my order had been delivered, she again repeated, “I don’t know your order,” as if this were brand-new information. She even threw her hands up dramatically, frustrated at the idea of having to ask her coworker what I ordered—instead of simply checking the table number. The sushi finally came out afterward. Condiment confusion: The sushi arrived without wasabi or pickled ginger. By that point, I had already interacted with three different staff members—each well-meaning, but not communicating with each other. That can be efficient if the team is coordinated, but here it just created delays. I had to flag down yet another person just to get basic condiments. When I asked for wasabi and ginger, I was told that you have to specifically request them. That’s unusual anywhere you eat sushi, whether cheap or upscale. Their explanation was that some people don’t eat them. That’s easily solved: ask guests at the moment they order sushi whether they want wasabi and ginger. A simple yes/no question prevents all the unnecessary back-and-forth. Food impressions: The spicy cumin lamb had real heat—two types of chopped chiles gave it a strong kick. The seasoning was flavorful, though the lamb could have been a bit more tender. The soft-shell crab roll wasn’t made with traditional sushi rice, or at least wasn’t prepared traditionally, but surprisingly it still worked well for a hot roll. No real complaints there unless you’re strict about classical sushi techniques. Final Thoughts: Overall, this is a four-star restaurant with major room for improvement, especially in communication—both with guests and among the staff. They need a tighter system so servers aren’t re-taking orders that were already handled, and so customers don’t have to chase down condiments that are typically standard. The flavors were solid. The experience was inconsistent. With better coordination and more attention to diner expectations, Aura has the potential to live up to the “fresh start” implied by their rebrand. [took it down to 3 stars after restaurant used AI to give a general unrelated response instead of reading and responding to the concerns addressed]

Alrighty. I work in the food business and I wasn’t trying to make a big deal. I went there around 5 P.M. with my girlfriend and the store was empty. The first thing we noticed is how empty and dreadful. If help there was no music whatsoever, and the store kind of looked dirty for just the worker to be on her phone. There was no real greeting. All we were told was to sit anywhere. Not welcoming whatsoever. I had to call out the waiter, so we could finally order our food. After finally getting it, the pork buns look like they were from Trader Joe’s. And I swear me and my girlfriend heard of microwave right before all the food was coming out. The Ramen looked colorless and tasted the same. We did not finish the meal after finding a fruit flight in one of our waters, and they were just all over the area. After the server finally called the owner or manager. She seemed to very confrontational, and trying to crew a point that they are not fruit flies, and just flies from outside. He had zero understanding, or remorse. The only thing we ended up eating was the salmon Nigri that tasted to fishy, not fresh. But that was before we found any of the flies. We did not touch any of our food after that. I’m not one to write a review. But I definitely would not want to come here again.

Summary: if it’s an empty restaurant in a busy restaurant district, just say no. We should know better than to go into an empty restaurant. Seated immediately with no other customers. Five minutes to take our order, fine. Five minutes for water, another ten for tea, during which another group came in. The other group ordered various dishes…and received several of them while I waited 20+ minutes for my cup of hot and sour soup. Then another 20 minutes (during which two door dash orders came and went) before my spouse went and asked about our food. Which elicited surprise, and about five minutes later my Mongolian Beef (requested at medium spice) arrived, followed a few minutes later by her Garlic Chicken Ramen. The only upside is that the hot and sour soup was above average. There were also a lot of noodles in the ramen. The Mongolian Beef had decent quality meat, but almost no flavor other than the dominant taste of too much cooking oil. But, hey, they comped our hot tea in apology for the ridiculous wait. So we have that going for us. And some very genuine apologies, almost enough to make me regret what I’d written while waiting…and then I looked at my watch and the plate of oily onions and beef congealing while I watched… In any other context I would have sent the Vegetable Oil Beef back, but by that point I just wanted to leave. Summary: if it’s an empty restaurant in a busy restaurant district, just say no.

Called the restaurant an hour before our reservation and was told they had already run out of food. This was on Christmas, with nowhere else open to eat. Not sure how a restaurant accepts reservations and then runs out of food. Would give zero stars if possible.

Gerry

Alrighty. I work in the food business and I wasn’t trying to make a big deal. I went there around 5 P.M. with my girlfriend and the store was empty. The first thing we noticed is how empty and dreadful. If help there was no music whatsoever, and the store kind of looked dirty for just the worker to be on her phone. There was no real greeting. All we were told was to sit anywhere. Not welcoming whatsoever. I had to call out the waiter, so we could finally order our food. After finally getting it, the pork buns look like they were from Trader Joe’s. And I swear me and my girlfriend heard of microwave right before all the food was coming out. The Ramen looked colorless and tasted the same. We did not finish the meal after finding a fruit flight in one of our waters, and they were just all over the area. After the server finally called the owner or manager. She seemed to very confrontational, and trying to crew a point that they are not fruit flies, and just flies from outside. He had zero understanding, or remorse. The only thing we ended up eating was the salmon Nigri that tasted to fishy, not fresh. But that was before we found any of the flies. We did not touch any of our food after that. I’m not one to write a review. But I definitely would not want to come here again.

Dave Wright

Summary: if it’s an empty restaurant in a busy restaurant district, just say no. We should know better than to go into an empty restaurant. Seated immediately with no other customers. Five minutes to take our order, fine. Five minutes for water, another ten for tea, during which another group came in. The other group ordered various dishes…and received several of them while I waited 20+ minutes for my cup of hot and sour soup. Then another 20 minutes (during which two door dash orders came and went) before my spouse went and asked about our food. Which elicited surprise, and about five minutes later my Mongolian Beef (requested at medium spice) arrived, followed a few minutes later by her Garlic Chicken Ramen. The only upside is that the hot and sour soup was above average. There were also a lot of noodles in the ramen. The Mongolian Beef had decent quality meat, but almost no flavor other than the dominant taste of too much cooking oil. But, hey, they comped our hot tea in apology for the ridiculous wait. So we have that going for us. And some very genuine apologies, almost enough to make me regret what I’d written while waiting…and then I looked at my watch and the plate of oily onions and beef congealing while I watched… In any other context I would have sent the Vegetable Oil Beef back, but by that point I just wanted to leave. Summary: if it’s an empty restaurant in a busy restaurant district, just say no.

Arash Shakouri

Called the restaurant an hour before our reservation and was told they had already run out of food. This was on Christmas, with nowhere else open to eat. Not sure how a restaurant accepts reservations and then runs out of food. Would give zero stars if possible.