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Wabi Sabi
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Wabi Sabi
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Wabi Sabi

Japanese · Santa Barbara

3.5 · 56 reviews Google
www.wabisabisb.com

About Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi is a Sushi restaurant located in Santa Barbara, CA. Rated 3.5 out of 5 by guests. Known for: Fast service. Popular for lunch, dinner, solo dining. The menu features healthy options, small plates, vegetarian options. Offers dine-in, takeout. Casual atmosphere.

What Customers Say About Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi receives mixed reviews. Many customers praise the fresh sushi, especially the Green Dragon and Don't Cry rolls, and friendly service. However, others complain about high prices, small portions, rude service, and subpar quality, particularly in the poke bowls and rice.

Popular Dishes

Green Dragon roll Don't Cry Roll Crunchy Roll Blue Fin Tuna teriyaki bowl tempura seared salmon belly

Best For

Quick Bite Casual Locals Tourists

Tip: If you go, try the Green Dragon roll. Be aware that portions may be small and prices high for what you get.

Features

📶 WiFi Accessible 🍽️ Lunch 🌙 Dinner 🥗 Vegetarian
🎯 Casual

What to see nearby

Louise Lowry Davis Recreation Center
A 160m

Louise Lowry Davis Recreation Center

parque

View details
Spencer Adams Park
A 226m

Spencer Adams Park

parque

View details
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Santa Barbara
A 248m

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Santa Barbara

biblioteca

View details
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums
A 248m

Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums

biblioteca

View details
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores
A 317m

Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores

iglesia

View details
Iglesia Episcopal de la Trinidad
A 339m

Iglesia Episcopal de la Trinidad

iglesia

View details

Data from Wikidata

Explore the area around Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi is located in Santa Barbara, surrounded by cultural and historical points of interest. Here are some of the most notable places nearby.

Museums

  • Casa Dolores (A 561m) — art museum in Santa Barbara, California

Religious Buildings

  • Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores (A 317m) — Iglesia en Santa Barbara, California, Estados Unidos
  • Iglesia Episcopal de la Trinidad (A 339m) — iglesia en Santa Bárbara, California

Parks & Gardens

  • Louise Lowry Davis Recreation Center (A 160m) — park in the United States of America
  • Spencer Adams Park (A 226m) — park in Santa Barbara County, California, United States of America
  • Alice Keck Memorial Park (A 491m) — park in Santa Barbara County, California, United States of America
  • Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens (A 530m) — park in California, United States of America
  • Alameda Plaza (A 531m) — park in Santa Barbara County, California, United States of America

Other Points of Interest

  • Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Santa Barbara (A 248m) — California branch of the Karpeles Museum
  • Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums (A 248m) — Private collection of manuscripts and documents in the United States, dispersed in many museums across the US

Data from Wikidata

Frequently asked questions about Wabi Sabi

Wabi Sabi is located at 38 W Victoria St #119, Santa Barbara, CA 93101, Santa Barbara.
Near Wabi Sabi you can find points of interest such as Louise Lowry Davis Recreation Center, Spencer Adams Park, Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Santa Barbara, Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums.
Wabi Sabi offers japanese cuisine.
Wabi Sabi has regular opening hours. Check their profile for updated schedules.
Wabi Sabi offers the following services: dine-in, takeaway.
The most recommended dishes at Wabi Sabi based on customer reviews are: Green Dragon roll, Don't Cry Roll, Crunchy Roll, Blue Fin Tuna, teriyaki bowl.
Wabi Sabi is ideal for quick bites, casual dining, locals, tourists.
Wabi Sabi receives mixed reviews. Many customers praise the fresh sushi, especially the Green Dragon and Don't Cry rolls, and friendly service. However, others complain about high prices, small portions, rude service, and subpar quality, particularly in the poke bowls and rice.
If you go, try the Green Dragon roll. Be aware that portions may be small and prices high for what you get.
56
Reviews

Wabi Sabi Santa Barbara Reviews

3.5
56
5★
54%
4★
7%
3★
2%
2★
13%
1★
25%
Reviews (40)
D
Davin Mantell

This place is great! SB local and been everywhere around the world… zero understanding why they don’t have 5 stars. The seared salmon belly is one of the best pieces of nigiri anywhere.. the seared tai amazing, the don’t cry roll is really good. Overall great and really nice people too.

C
Charles Vong

Every time I'm in Santa Barbara this is the one place I MUST eat at. The quality of the sushi here is hard to bet. The prices are very reasonable given the quality of the sushi and how it is prepared. Every time I eat here the quality is so consistent. I'm actually very shocked by the low rating of this place. I'm a huge sushi fan and have eaten at some of the best omakase meals and this is definitely up there in terms of quality, price, an ambiance.

A
Amy “FabulousFoodie”

Wabi Sabi is located in the public market amongst other food vendors. Was craving a teriyaki bowl and this place did not disappoint! Excellent tempura as well!! It’s a little on the pricier side, but definitely get what you pay for as the portions are generous, the food is fresh and delicious!

S
Shawn Gong

Don't Cry Roll, Crunchy Roll, and Blue Fin Tuna are amazing. They are fresh and full of flavors. The owner is very friendly and kind. The service is excellent too.

Davin Mantell
Davin Mantell

This place is great! SB local and been everywhere around the world… zero understanding why they don’t have 5 stars. The seared salmon belly is one of the best pieces of nigiri anywhere.. the seared tai amazing, the don’t cry roll is really good. Overall great and really nice people too.

Charles Vong
Charles Vong

Every time I'm in Santa Barbara this is the one place I MUST eat at. The quality of the sushi here is hard to bet. The prices are very reasonable given the quality of the sushi and how it is prepared. Every time I eat here the quality is so consistent. I'm actually very shocked by the low rating of this place. I'm a huge sushi fan and have eaten at some of the best omakase meals and this is definitely up there in terms of quality, price, an ambiance.

Amy “FabulousFoodie”
Amy “FabulousFoodie”

Wabi Sabi is located in the public market amongst other food vendors. Was craving a teriyaki bowl and this place did not disappoint! Excellent tempura as well!! It’s a little on the pricier side, but definitely get what you pay for as the portions are generous, the food is fresh and delicious!

Shawn Gong
Shawn Gong

Don't Cry Roll, Crunchy Roll, and Blue Fin Tuna are amazing. They are fresh and full of flavors. The owner is very friendly and kind. The service is excellent too.

y
yoshionem 2077

Great sushi and comes out fast. Great for a quick lunch bite. The rolls are smaller than most but they give many rolls per order. Great taste, greate miso soup.

T
Travis Twining

Very extremely fresh food and absolutely delicious. Buck and his team do a great job. Don’t be fooled that it is served on plastic, that’s the only option for the Public Market, this is one of the best sushi restaurants in Santa Barbara!

A
Abel Santos

Love the sushi here . If you go try the green dragon roll it’s the best sushi I’ve had in SB. Staff was also very nice and friendly.

Travis Twining
Travis Twining

Very extremely fresh food and absolutely delicious. Buck and his team do a great job. Don’t be fooled that it is served on plastic, that’s the only option for the Public Market, this is one of the best sushi restaurants in Santa Barbara!

Abel Santos
Abel Santos

Love the sushi here . If you go try the green dragon roll it’s the best sushi I’ve had in SB. Staff was also very nice and friendly.

yoshionem 2077
yoshionem 2077

Great sushi and comes out fast. Great for a quick lunch bite. The rolls are smaller than most but they give many rolls per order. Great taste, greate miso soup.

M
Monique Myers

Very nice sushi and bowl but not enough chicken teriyaki for the 18 dollars that they charge. Decent restaurant in the public market. Will come back

Monique Myers
Monique Myers

Very nice sushi and bowl but not enough chicken teriyaki for the 18 dollars that they charge. Decent restaurant in the public market. Will come back

K
Kevin Bradley

The rice bowl was OK and price for that was tolerable. The sushi on the other hand was honestly terrible at best. I’ve never not finished a spicy tuna roll until trying it here. Not sure why they put cilantro in it to begin with but it made the roll inedible. Incredibly expensive rolls too, much better sushi in SB. Public Market is a cool place though so that’s why I give it two stars.

M
Malia Bella

One of the worst Poke bowls I’ve ever had. The tuna was not fresh. The bowl was dry and flavorless, no sauces or seasonings. The miso soup was lukewarm. The worst part was the aftertaste that has lasted in my mouth all day long! It’s this weird metallic after taste, maybe from the seaweed salad or tuna. Not worth $20+ at all.

P
Peggy Borgonia

Large tempura bowl came with only 2 small shrimps but tons of veggies and rice. Miso soup was watery. Quality was not bad but not exceptional either. Definitely less value for the money.

E
Eli Krahenbuhl

Five star prices, 3 star sushi, so I’ll call it 2 stars overall. The sushi is maybe a step up from supermarket sushi, just tasted a bit off. Definitely far better sushi at similar prices within blocks of here. The public market mark up is not worth it here, I’d much rather go to other places in the market.

A
A1 Lele

Fish is fresh but the sushi rice is made poorly, having very little taste. Also, the portions are tiny. Three rolls and a canned soda for $45! Would not recommend coming here, but also being from the Bay Area, maybe my expectations are too high.

A1 Lele
A1 Lele

Fish is fresh but the sushi rice is made poorly, having very little taste. Also, the portions are tiny. Three rolls and a canned soda for $45! Would not recommend coming here, but also being from the Bay Area, maybe my expectations are too high.

Kevin Bradley
Kevin Bradley

The rice bowl was OK and price for that was tolerable. The sushi on the other hand was honestly terrible at best. I’ve never not finished a spicy tuna roll until trying it here. Not sure why they put cilantro in it to begin with but it made the roll inedible. Incredibly expensive rolls too, much better sushi in SB. Public Market is a cool place though so that’s why I give it two stars.

Peggy Borgonia
Peggy Borgonia

Large tempura bowl came with only 2 small shrimps but tons of veggies and rice. Miso soup was watery. Quality was not bad but not exceptional either. Definitely less value for the money.

Malia Bella
Malia Bella

One of the worst Poke bowls I’ve ever had. The tuna was not fresh. The bowl was dry and flavorless, no sauces or seasonings. The miso soup was lukewarm. The worst part was the aftertaste that has lasted in my mouth all day long! It’s this weird metallic after taste, maybe from the seaweed salad or tuna. Not worth $20+ at all.

Eli Krahenbuhl
Eli Krahenbuhl

Five star prices, 3 star sushi, so I’ll call it 2 stars overall. The sushi is maybe a step up from supermarket sushi, just tasted a bit off. Definitely far better sushi at similar prices within blocks of here. The public market mark up is not worth it here, I’d much rather go to other places in the market.

P
Princess

:( I usually love poke bowls, but for $21, it left much to be desired. My tuna bowl consisted of a few pieces of tuna atop a FULL bed of DRY spring mix. There were a few pickled vegetables included. I had to pick out the dry pieces of spring mix to make the bowl edible. :(

Princess
Princess

:( I usually love poke bowls, but for $21, it left much to be desired. My tuna bowl consisted of a few pieces of tuna atop a FULL bed of DRY spring mix. There were a few pickled vegetables included. I had to pick out the dry pieces of spring mix to make the bowl edible. :(

M
Marisa Pasquini

Food was bland, even the miso was watery. Service actually worse than the food. Too bad.

J
Jennifer Shen

Wow where do I start? 1. Horrible service. Very rude 2. Expensive price. 3. Wow airport quality sushi for all the rolls I ordered. Double white roll, crab roll and dragon roll. All the rolls are the worst sushi I have ever tasted. 4. Edamames were so bad. How can you mess it up? Ya my SB experience is definitely ruined. I hope there are good restaurant here. Otherwise I am seriously doubting the whole Santa Barbara people’s Japanese food taste with 4.6 ranking on this restaurant. Seriously Santa Barbara has one of the best sea food in the country and you make horrible food. No excuse. Definitely do not come.

J
Jorrit Van Der Kooi

Very dissapointing. We went there today and ordered Salmon rolls. The rolls are very small, certainly not enough for a lunch portion. Way smaller than the other Suhsi places in SB, but more expensive. The quality was ok but nothing special. We had to ask for wasabi and ginger, and these portions are also very small. I complained to the manager about the very small size of the roll, but he didn't seem to care much unfortunately.

B
Barbara Nguyen-Willeford

Extremely rude service. Was a regular customer until we could no longer tolerate the hostility from the staff taking orders. Asked a straightforward question about the salmon bowl and the woman taking the order became visibility upset and responded extremely unprofessionally. Completely unprovoked rudeness.

J
Jordan Mash

After many years of resisting trying this place due to bad stories I gave in. It was surprisingly busy and I got a ramen bowl for around $22 after tax and tip. I was one of the first in my group to put in their order (everyone else ordered at different restaurants) and the last to receive their food by a good bit. How long can ramen take to make? Once I finally got my food the ramen smelled quite bad, the noodles were bland, and the pork belly was very overcooked and under-portioned. The miso egg was good, but how hard is it to mess up an egg?

T
Thomas Conti

Absolutely never hit that place up again. Crap bowl with a fried chicken breast cut up with cabbage hiding a lot of white rice for $20. Bite me what a joke maybe put some effort into it ffs. With a tip and a can of coke it was $30!

Marisa Pasquini
Marisa Pasquini

Food was bland, even the miso was watery. Service actually worse than the food. Too bad.

Thomas Conti
Thomas Conti

Absolutely never hit that place up again. Crap bowl with a fried chicken breast cut up with cabbage hiding a lot of white rice for $20. Bite me what a joke maybe put some effort into it ffs. With a tip and a can of coke it was $30!

Jordan Mash
Jordan Mash

After many years of resisting trying this place due to bad stories I gave in. It was surprisingly busy and I got a ramen bowl for around $22 after tax and tip. I was one of the first in my group to put in their order (everyone else ordered at different restaurants) and the last to receive their food by a good bit. How long can ramen take to make? Once I finally got my food the ramen smelled quite bad, the noodles were bland, and the pork belly was very overcooked and under-portioned. The miso egg was good, but how hard is it to mess up an egg?

Barbara Nguyen-Willeford
Barbara Nguyen-Willeford

Extremely rude service. Was a regular customer until we could no longer tolerate the hostility from the staff taking orders. Asked a straightforward question about the salmon bowl and the woman taking the order became visibility upset and responded extremely unprofessionally. Completely unprovoked rudeness.

Jennifer Shen
Jennifer Shen

Wow where do I start? 1. Horrible service. Very rude 2. Expensive price. 3. Wow airport quality sushi for all the rolls I ordered. Double white roll, crab roll and dragon roll. All the rolls are the worst sushi I have ever tasted. 4. Edamames were so bad. How can you mess it up? Ya my SB experience is definitely ruined. I hope there are good restaurant here. Otherwise I am seriously doubting the whole Santa Barbara people’s Japanese food taste with 4.6 ranking on this restaurant. Seriously Santa Barbara has one of the best sea food in the country and you make horrible food. No excuse. Definitely do not come.

Jorrit Van Der Kooi
Jorrit Van Der Kooi

Very dissapointing. We went there today and ordered Salmon rolls. The rolls are very small, certainly not enough for a lunch portion. Way smaller than the other Suhsi places in SB, but more expensive. The quality was ok but nothing special. We had to ask for wasabi and ginger, and these portions are also very small. I complained to the manager about the very small size of the roll, but he didn't seem to care much unfortunately.

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About Wabi Sabi

How to get there

38 W Victoria St #119, Santa Barbara, CA 93101

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Highlights

💬
Well Reviewed
56 reviews
👨‍🍳
japanese
Cuisine type

Services

🍽️ Lunch
🍾 Dinner
🥗 Vegetarian Options
🥡 Takeout
🍴 Dine-in

Dining Options

🍽️ Dine In
🥡 Takeout

Restaurant Info

Status
Verified by owner
🕐 Hours Today
11AM-8:30PM
Rating
3.5/5
💬 Reviews
56
📞 Phone
+1 805-770-5300
🌐 Website
www.wabisabisb.com
📋 Menu
View Menu

Amenities

📶 Free WiFi
Wheelchair Accessible
🚻 Restroom
💳 Credit Cards
📱 Mobile Payments
🏘️

The Neighborhood

Louise Lowry Davis Recreation Center

park in the United States of America

A 160m
Spencer Adams Park

park in Santa Barbara County, California, United States of America

A 226m
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museum, Santa Barbara

California branch of the Karpeles Museum

A 248m
Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums

Private collection of manuscripts and documents in the United States, dispersed in many museums across the US

A 248m
Iglesia de Nuestra Señora de los Dolores

Iglesia en Santa Barbara, California, Estados Unidos

A 317m
Iglesia Episcopal de la Trinidad

iglesia en Santa Bárbara, California

A 339m
Alice Keck Memorial Park

park in Santa Barbara County, California, United States of America

A 491m
Alice Keck Park Memorial Gardens

park in California, United States of America

A 530m
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