JING WANG

WOW, just WOW 🤩✨ This place is a whole vibe! The moment you walk in, you’re hit with that chill-but-romantic atmosphere—whether you’re inside or outside, it just feels like the perfect escape. 💫🌿 The wine bar? Absolutely irresistible. 🍷✨ Sitting there with a glass in hand, chatting away and nibbling on some small plates = pure happiness. 🥂🧀 Honestly, it’s the kind of spot where time just slips away. And let me tell you about the pre-meal BBQ popcorn… 🤯🍿🔥 IT. IS. EVERYTHING. Totally addictive—I couldn’t stop eating it! Even the neighborhood kitty wandered over, sniffing around like, “hey, share some with me!” 🐱💖 The oysters were on the “fun-size” side 🦪—like, blink and they’re gone—but everything else was fresh, tasty, and totally worth it 👌. Already plotting my next visit! 🙌💯

+5

GregxPerez

The Lark was outstanding from the start and easily one of the most memorable meals I’ve had in Santa Barbara. The complimentary chili-lime pickled popcorn was surprisingly addictive, even for someone who doesn’t usually like pickled flavors. The skillet cornbread was rich, decadent, and one of the best I’ve ever had. We also tried the fried chicken, seasonal pappardelle, and coconut sorbet for dessert. The chicken dish had incredible flavor and texture, while the sorbet was a refreshing and unexpected standout at the end of the meal. The pasta was good, very tomato-forward, though I’d probably try a different option next time. Drinks were solid. My mocktail was refreshing but small in size, and the wine pairing was well chosen with help from the staff. The service was friendly, knowledgeable, and patient, which made the experience even better. The restaurant itself has a lively, welcoming vibe in a shared dining district, making it perfect for a date night or a special stop on a day trip. Prices reflect the shareable, elevated plates, but the quality and creativity of the food make it worth it. If you’re visiting Santa Barbara, The Lark is a must-stop for a memorable dining experience.

+3

Bonnie-Love Douglas

Super cute spot. Food was delicious. That popcorn - chef’s kiss. Would definitely recommend the Parpadelle pasta and crispy Brussels sprouts. Old fashioned was delicious as well.

Ira “Professor Ira” Lovitch

Chef Jason and his amazing team always delivers a unique gourmet dining experience that must be enjoyed to truly understand it. This may seem like hyperbole, but take it from us, world travelers to over 70 international destinations at least once who have sampled some great cuisine worldwide, including some with those coveted “stars”, there is absolutely no place like The Lark. We’ve been dining here almost since they opened, and this time actually flew to California from
Florida with having a celebratory meal here top of mind. As we have written before in previous reviews, if you live in L.A. or somewhere within even a few hours away, it would be worth the drive to sample the cuisine at The Lark.

Kelley Johns

Such a wonderful experience! They start you out with dill pickle popcorn! I didn't try it i don't le pickles. My husband enjoyed it. My husband and I had an appetizer and chose three dishes to share. Our appetizer was Citrus Marinated Castelvetrano Olives. I love love love olives! These were so flavorful. We had an eggplant dish which was very good. Hand Cut Pappardelle Pasta so flavorful. And The California Fisherman's Catch the fish of the day was Sea Bass. The fish was cooked to perfection. The dinner experience lasted about 2 hours. Reservations recommended. I had 2 glasses of wine with dinner.

+1

Pilar Johnson

Celebrated an anniversary here w early dinner. Atmosphere and server were great. The table next to us gave her so many compliments - they love her voice, her skin, her deamenaor and all things true. Duck was the best, beet salad great, I loved our JP Paloma cocktail and the mocktail we got. Oysters 10/10 I didn’t like the brussel sprouts at all really. For 2 people, it was too much. I guess I didn’t like the flavor - very BBQ/smoke/oil strong. 2 good bites was enough for me but I appreciate how they’re good like the crispness but yeah just didn’t like the flavor after the second bite. Dill, sugar, onion, garlic, turmeric popcorn given to every table. - cute

+3

Eric Plourde

Loved it. Seating was fast. The atmosphere was fantastic. Service was friendly and great. All 3 dishes we had were fantastic. Fresh was fresh, chicken was divine, pasta was perfect. We didn't finish our dishes and took some home. All we still delicious the next day. This place is definitely worth a visit. Great for couples or a small group of friends.

+3

Emiliano D.

The atmosphere was warm and inviting, made even better by our server, Danae, who was incredibly attentive throughout the evening. It was our first visit to The Lark, and it turned out to be the perfect cozy and delicious way to end our day. The fried chicken was bursting with flavor—easily some of the best I’ve ever had. The Fisherman’s Catch featured beautifully seared salmon that paired perfectly with the risotto and Ojai pixies. Also don't be shy get the desserts too, specifically the New School Banana split. Without a doubt, we’ll be returning whenever we’re in the Santa Barbara area—this place has quickly become a new favorite!

Will Heo

I'd been meaning to come here, and I finally did. Loved the atmosphere and the service. The weather was nice and it didn't feel cold even with all the doors fully open. Unfortunately, the food wasn't on par with our expectations. The fried chicken was very good, and the garnish went very well with it. The pasta and the shrimp toast, however, could be improved. For example, it was difficult to understand what they were going for with the shrimp toast, and each component wasn't extraordinary to make up for the loss. As for the hand-pulled pasta, the pasta was well cooked, but the acidity didn't really elevate the dish. Maybe others like this tarty acidity, but it didn't work for me.

+2

Alan Ritchie

The atmosphere at The Lark is fantastic and we had good service here. For food, we started off with the pimento cheese. We then got the ribs and shrimp toast. All of the food was great but the shrimp toast was the real star of the show. Both the pimento cheese and ribs were good but I felt that I have had better in Texas for much cheaper prices. That being said, I still had a great time here and would recommend it to people coming to Santa Barbara.

+1

Yasemin Karbassian

Be prepared to wait for your food or have it arrive too soon before the next course. We sat down and it took a while for our server to greet us because she was really busy. Then because she had so many tables it took around 30 minutes to get our drink orders in and for the complimentary popcorn to arrive. From the moment we sat down to the time we got our appetizers it was at least 1 hour. The servers were kind but they were slammed which caused our food to be delayed. The apps we ordered were the olives and the cornbread. Both were good but took way too long to arrive, even after our server said she’d check for our apps multiple times. For our main dish we ordered the salad (pictured) and the salmon which was the catch of the day. I don’t think the salmon paired well with the cauliflower puree, but the salad was really tasty. The drinks were also good.

We went here for the first time last night - it was my wife’s birthday and she wanted to go somewhere really special. Unfortunately it didn’t quite turn out that way. While two of the three dishes were ordered were excellent, the poor service we received overshadowed the food and made the whole experience disappointing. Our waitress completely ghosted us! It was truly bizarre - she would zip past our table and completely avoid eye contact. Literally NO ONE ever came by to ask how our food was or if we needed anything! She had a “trainee” shadowing her so I thought we’d get great service, but it was the exact opposite. We had ordered appetizers and we would have ordered more food, but we never had the opportunity. I had to flag down some guy just to get a check. We were never even asked if we wanted to order dessert - so we left a little hungry and without singing “Happy Birthday” to my wife. Inconsistent FOOD: The Brussels Sprouts were DELICIOUS! Crispy and savory with just the right amount of surprising sweet, chewy dates. The line caught crudo was very good, too. Fresh, delicate, subtle flavors, visually appealing. The problem dish was the beet salad. We think they forgot to season it! It was so bland - I flagged down a bus-person to ask for some salt and pepper which she kindly brought in two little ramekins. Apparently they are SO confident in their cuisine there are no salt and pepper shakers on the table, no one offers fresh ground pepper for the salad, and it seems they don’t even have salt or pepper grinders available. Back to the beet salad - it was VERY disappointing. My wife absolutely LOVES beet salads (I think that’s largely why she chose this restaurant) and unfortunately it fell short in almost every aspect. It was truly clumsy; the beets were in large chunks, the pistachios weren’t toasted, seasoned or chopped, the thin slices of raw striped beet were basically inedible, and the strawberries weren’t particularly sweet or juicy. They didn’t really add anything to the dish. I liked the mild, creamy cheese and my wife liked the nasturtium flowers - but when your favorite part of a dish is basically the garnish, that’s a problem.

Alexander Cohen

The food here was aggressively okay. It’s massively overpriced and considerably underperforming. The pimento was good, but the crackers were lacking on both substance and taste. The wedge was okay, but again, mostly lettuce and lacking on the things that actually make it good (lardons, dressing, etc.). The crudo was seriously disappointing; we’ve had better damn near everywhere else. And the two mains we ordered, ribs and fried chicken, were shades of mediocrity. The ribs were actually actively bad; they were horrendously overseasoned and not well cooked. The fried chicken for me was the star of the meal, and for nearly $50 you could get about four dozen pieces of Popeyes, which each piece would be almost as good. For the price this is worse than Taco Bell. If you take price out of the equation, this is fine… okay… maybe worth going to if everything else in the city is booked. Just skip it.

+1