Santa Barbara Cigar & Tobacco

Terrible customer service. The owner is a jackass who does not appreciate the art of serving. I live closely and WILL drive further solely for the purpose of better experience.

This is a friendly place with a decent cigar selection. I plan to make this a regular stop when I am in Houston. The humidor is not huge, but they have plenty of variety. On the other hand they devote a great deal of space to the lounge. The lounge and the people in it are worth the visit. The lounge is deep enough to support kicking back and watching the game or sitting around shooting the bull.

Have been coming here for a few years now and can’t say enough good things about the staff. The selection of cigars is great and just a really nice atmosphere to sit back and enjoy a stogie.

Very rude staff. My mom came in and asked if they sold tobacco products because she was looking for some cigarettes that are natural and do not contain chemical additives and the salesman told her sarcastically «I don’t know go look in Randall’s» well geeze asshole why didn’t we think of that?

I was looking for a place to watch basketball, have a beer, and smoke a cigar while on business in Houston and this place had good reviews.
I was pleasantly surprised by this gem that is basically in a strip mall. We arrived around 8:00 and I picked out a few smokes for us while my co-​worker went to get us a six-​pack of beer. They had a great selection and the woman working the counter was helpful, although I can’t attest for her knowledge as I knew what I was looking for. Prices were around average, but I also don’t price shop much… I only notice when they are VERY high or VERY low.
I asked about the lounge and she said it was free (some places charge) and there were a few people back there watching the game already. The game was Michigan State vs. Kentucky… I’m a Spartan and there was guy in there from Kentucky, plus various people from Ohio and Texas.
We were able to sit down, talk smack (which is sometimes even better than a cigar), and have a few drinks while watching my beloved Spartans crush Kentucky.
The game started at 8:00 so wouldn’t be done until after 10:00 and because the woman knew we all had a stake in the game, she stayed open until well after the game was over, allowing people to finish their drinks and smokes.
Sometimes the ambiance makes the experience, sometimes it’s the product. In this case it was the service. I can’t say enough about the staff.

The guy looked awful. Poor service with stale cigars. The cigar vault is better.

Very friendly staff and super clean. I don’t know much about cigars and pipe tobacco, I was buying a gift, they were super helpful and didn’t roll their eyes at all my questions. I thought the prices were very reasonable.

Great selection of cigars. Staff and owner are very knowledgeable and friendly (minus one who is no longer on the team).
Newly remodeled. Big walk in humidor. Great bunch of regulars. A must visit if you enjoy good cigars.

I just had to get on here after reading Shaina’s review. Unfortunately what she said is totally accurate about the guy that Ken had working there on Sunday afternoons.
If she had gone in any other day of the week she would have been greeted by Kenny, a Philly gentleman and a true tobacconist. This is by far my favorite tobacco shop in the Westchase area… a great selection of high quality, boutique brands and a friendly atmosphere.
Kenny dumped the guy that worked there on Sundays and re-​decorated the place just a couple weeks after Shaina was there, probably after hearing stories like hers (good employees are hard to find sometimes). I know I avoided the place on Sundays for a while.
But now there’s a new walk-​in humidor, wood floors, more seating and more cigars. And there is a super cool girl who knows her stuff that works on Sundays now.
Stop in.

This is one of my favorite cigar stores near my office and I frequently recommend them to coworkers.
Shaina…I understand taste is subjective, but I doubt your experience was as bad as you make it out to be when you say a Padron (more than likely it was a 3000 to a 5000 line cigar) which is held in VERY high regard among critics and cigar smokers alike, I doubt it tasted worse than a «5 dollar fatty».
Also, anyone who is a bit knowledgeable in the world of cigars knows that the salesmen at Downing Street are average at best (see my review of DS)
I have had nothing but great experiences here and their selection of ultra premium smokes is great. Some of the highlights that they carried the last time I was in were.
Padron 64, 26, 45 & 80
Highend Pepins & Tatuaje
Davidoffs Winston Churchhill
Highend Fuentes Ashton ESG, VSG; God of Fire; Diamond Crown; Don Carlos
The owner here is very friendly and welcoming, the cigar lounge in the back is nice as well. I have had the fortune to talk the cigar biz with the owner many times in the past and look forward to it in the future.

Met colleagues and friends on a Friday afternoon for a friendly smoke. We also brought our own wine to boot. When I got there (Westheimer and Royal Oaks area), the door was open because the a/​c was on the fritz. Nonetheless, the proprietor was friendly and welcoming. The walls are blood orange and the floors a nice light pergo. Comfy leather chairs and HD TV allowed us to keep up with the Ryder Cup. The humidor was full of great choices. Not huge but plenty of choices for everyone at reasonable prices. Cigar shops are probably what barber shops use to be. A place where you can relax, shoot the bull with friends and stranger alike and get away from the hustle bustle of work, family and other responsibilities. Downing Street, this place is not, but of course they never said they were. Great place to smoke em if you got em. And if you dont, you can certainly get em here.

So this place was originally going to get the winner of a coin toss for 3 – 4 stars, BUT the incompetent cigar salesman brought them down to a 2 star rating.
Anytime you come stumbling out of the back… that is a problem. This man that looked like he had never touched or been touched by a woman came flopping from behind a door that appeared to be a living room-​esque setup, with a TV and a McDonald’s cup… Now what was in that cup is up to speculation but we will get to that in a second.
He was in some regular denim jeans and a faded black tee and tennis shoes… ok, ill let you slide on that, this isn’t downing street pub or anything… and Gio asked him for a great tasting cigar for an affordable price. He guided us to padron line of cigars. but the only thing he could say about it was that it was SOOO good, and that’s his fallback cigar when he cant afford what he wants.
So i probe him… i’m not going to buy something no one can sell me on…
«what kind of flavor would you say it has?»
«well…it’s really good.»
«ok…well can u tell me more? is it sweet, spicy, leathery, earthy?»
«um.cedar tones to it… it’s just really good»
i proceeded to get it ONLY because i do majority of my cigar smoking at downing street, when the wild hair rears it head to do so. and it was $ 4.80 per cigar at this place so i bought us 2.
Now we go to the register, and the salesman trips over the flat carpet? idk but he stumbles and i look at G like wtf? lol he proceeds to take my card and swipes it… and i put it back in my wallet… we wait…
and wait…
and wait…
Then he asked for it again, saying that the transaction was cancelled. i waited until he showed me the slip that stated that before handing him my card again… now anyone that has ever worked retail knows you only can cancel a trans if YOU hit CANCEL. He was punching a bunch of buttons and i at this point knew he was drunk… his mannerisms dictated that.
Reluctantly, i had him my card again… he swipes, and swipes… turns the card the other direction and swipes again…
then he DROPS the card, and struggles to get it and then get back up.
He punches in the amount, which he only put $ 4.80. Gio having a momentary blonde moment asks «is this for 2 cigars? wow thats a good price!» i proceed to shoot her a look from hell like shut up woman lol.
No tax, and he didnt even realize that he only charged us for 1 cigar instead of 2. so i paid for it and we left.
Good thing it was a two-​fer cause the cigar tasted like crap. the 5 dollar fatty that my other friend had bought from specs was smoother. so that says alot
word to the wise… make sure ur sales guy isnt drunk when he sells u a cigar. and if you are relatively new to the art of cigars like we are go to downing street. The staff is so knowledgeable about tobacco.
this cigar shop had a great selection just incompetent workers…

There is an urban legend (designated by Snopes as false) that reads as follows:
A contestant on Groucho Marx’s 1950s TV quiz show tells him that she has 10 children, and Marx asks why she has so many. The woman answers, «Because I love children … and I love my husband.» Marx replies: «I love my cigar, too, but I take it out of my mouth once in a while.»
Ref:
Unlike Groucho, I suspect I’ll never have to worry about a misattributed remark from my lips becoming an urban legend. I do want to set a few things straight here to preclude against that possibility. Please know that the guilty pleasure I receive from keeping a cigar in my mouth doesn’t come close to the not-​so-​guilty pleasure of not taking other things out of other places. In addition, I have an easy and effective remedy for the inevitable consequences of leaving that other thing in another place (please see my rave review of Dr. David Mobley).
Ref:
I am a cigar enthusiast, not a cigar aficionado. Between visits to Downing Street Pub and evenings smoking a cigar in friends’ backyards whilst sipping a good single malt, I consume between one and two cigars a month. As a recent birthday present, my cigar smoking buddies gave me a very nice and large cigar ashtray. Reading between the lines I understood this to mean, «Okay, Dolph. You’ve been mooching cigars off of us for long enough. It’s time for you to step up to the plate and supply your own.» Because I’m not yet an aficionado, I needed some help in outfitting myself with the cigar essentials. I asked my friends where I should seek it. Without hesitating, they recommended Santa Barbara.
I visited and understand why they were so enthusiastic.
I had to find it first, however. Don’t try to travel to it using the street address unless you have a GPS navigation device. It’s not visible from Westheimer. You just have to remember it’s hidden behind P.F. Chang’s.
When you walk through the door, you’ll be warmly greeted by Ken Jacobs who runs the place. It will also become immediately apparent that he is a font of information when it comes to the genteel art of smoking fine tobacco. I told him I lacked experience but really enjoyed Dominican Cohibos and I’d like to use that as a starting point. We browsed his wall of cigars from one end to the other and I received a mini-​course on the virtues of Connecticut, Broadleaf Maduro and Cameroon wrappers.
After about ½ hour which he devoted almost solely to me, I walked out of the store with 10 cigars ranging from a Tatuaje Regio to an Oliva O Toro to an Ashton Magnum in a new traveling humidor along with a Xikar cutter and a dual flame lighter. He also threw in a butane container and showed me how to refill the lighter. If you purchase 10 cigars (of any variety) you get a discount. You get a further discount if your cigar count totals 20.
I would have happily paid a premium for all this because of all the help I received but when I got home, a quick check of cigar deals on the Internet showed me that Santa Barbara’s prices were very competitive. I’m sold and at the rate I’m enjoying my new cigars, I may have to modify my average monthly intake upwards.