Cielito Restaurant

Such an amazing spot! But what made the experience unforgettable was Olivia. She’s like a unicorn, wrapped in a rainbow, kissed by a dream. I suggest walking in a desert for a week before you go to build the appetite this place warrants. Question no more, you’ll want this as your last meal… ENJOY!

We had a private party. The service was excellent. Bartenders were great! The taco bar was tasty with 3 different kinds of meat, chicken, beef& pork, and a big condiment tray. Chips were fresh and thin and the salsa and guacamole tasted homemade! Would definitely come back!

This was an excellent choice for me and my family to spend a lunch celebrating my daughter’s graduation from UCSB. The food was great. Chips were made in house and came to our table nice and warm and salty.mmmmm. I had the farmers enchiladas and had some of the fajitas… both were very good. Service was excellent in spite if being a really busy afternoon… very happy coming here

Great food and drinks with an awesome atmosphere. The patio by the fountain was perfect for a warm night to sit outside and listen to live music. Also the bar inside is beautiful. A great place for grabbing happy hour before heading out for a night on the town. The brunch is also killer! Loved it

Ok. Here goes… *smile. I came here on a Saturday afternoon to have a late lunch with my husband. We were greeted and seated very quickly. Our server came over and asked for our drink order. We sent her away asking for more time. This was our first time heresies we needed a little more time. She came back and we ordered the chips and guac for $ 10. Gotta have chips right? $ 10 worth… Ok. Then we ordered soft drinks and I ordered the chicken fajitas and hubs had the tacos three ways. During our wait for our entrees, we did get more chips and drink refills. So we’re fairly happy right now. Then they bring the meal. Tacos looked good except for the colorless side of beans. I think they were white beans or great northern beans and tasteless. Did it come from a can? Anyway, on to my fajitas. It looked good but it was not served on a sizzling pan or even a warm pan. The chicken was a bit dry and the onions and peppers well done. I received a helping of the «canned» beans as well. As I was eating, «writing» caught my eye. It took me a second the realized that the slice of red pepper that was perfectly julienned then sautéed… STILL HAD A PRODUCE STICKER ON IT! Ok I’m done. Done done done. The server came over, I showed her the offensive sticker and she quickly whisked away all of my food. The check appeared within minutes and she apologized. They had graciously removed my meal from the check. I guess that’s acceptable. I don’t know. Maybe take more off the check to make up for it? I mean. That pepper had to be processed probably by two different employees. One to cut it up and another to cook it. And you didn’t notice the sticker on it??? By the way, there were two stickers on it, not just one. Soooo, I won’t be back needless to say. I think they need to rethink their standards so mistakes like this don’t actually make it onto a plate. Another one bites the dust!!!

I’ve had better. Service was very quick and helpful, but the food is way overpriced. Portion sizes are ridiculous, especially for the money spent.

Love it! The Craft Draft nitro coffee is awesome, and then lunch came and it was fantastic too. I highly recommend and will be back.

It was priced so high for what I bought. Two small tacos for over $ 13. The rice was dry and the beans did not taste well. I expected more. The venue is beautiful but their food is subpar.

New owner really turned this place around. The service improved 10fold and everything we ordered was unbelievable. The pork belly tacos were some of the best I have had. Sitting by the fountain makes you feel like you are sitting in a Mexican town square. Great job. Congrats to the new owner.

The food was good, the prices were moderate, and the service was a disaster.
We had to send one item back a couple of times to get it right. We also had to wait a good five minutes before being given a menu, at least another 5 for water. The staff was really disjointed overall, and should probably know the menu a bit better. We had three different people helping us, but nobody knew what the others were doing. In the end our food saved the experience more or less, but I doubt I’ll go back with so many other options nearby.

Not sure why their stars aren’t closer to 5 stars! Absolutely LOVED the atmosphere and décor; very Santa Barbara meets Mexican food. Also enjoyed our waiters, Thomas and Jeff. The gentleman, Cecilo serving the water was also on it! Very much appreciated! The guacamole was honestly the best I’ve ever had in SB. I really hope this places does something in the later evenings-​tables and bottle service upstairs with a DJ by the mirror wall, classy, Santa Barbarian, yet fun! Will be back sooner rather than later!

I have a special connection with this restaurant. When it first opened, I was working for the electrical contractor who wired the place. I am not from the area and stayed down the street from the restaurant when it was under construction. When we were putting on the finishing touches. We had a chance to sample the food. Ramon, the head chief at the time was an absolute genius with the dishes he created.
I recently, after many years returned to Santa Barbara with my wife with Cielito in mind. Although Ramon is no longer working their. His signiture dishes have remained untouched and as good as i remembered them. The only reason I did not give Cielito 5 Stars is there poor selection of IPA beer. I am a little shocked that in a trendy, hipster area like Santa Barbara they don’t have more IPA’s on tap…

The ambiance inside is nice, and so is the outdoor seating area next to the turtle pond. They had live music the day I was there, but it was loud enough that we opted for inside. However, there were a lot of loud crowds at the bar and tables on this Friday night that equalled the music in volume and spoiled the mood.
Service was poor. It took the waiter a while to come around, and the only time they showed significant attention was when they tried springing one of those «would you like some chips and special guac» tricks on us that would have costed us who-​knows-​what. The waiter never came back after they dropped off the food. We waited for so long that we ended up just paying at the front.
Speaking of the food, it’s overpriced for both the quality and quantity. There are much better Mexican options in Santa Barbara for less money. Unless you’re looking for a place that looks classy and is hospitable to a noisy group of friends or you simply must have a meal next to the turtle fountain, I wouldn’t recommend Cielito.

Having dined at Cielito’s Restaurant within the past, it’s probably not all that great a sign that I neglected to review it then…
Within our weekend excursion up shore this past weekend from LA (and OC) to SB, my boey’ and I elected to antiquate some sort of strategy within our forage for booze; stopping off for food –PRIOR– to wine consumption was alleged as being a source of recourse.
Imagine our disappointment to Unilocal this place from the 101, route our way over, park (and pay), and make the hike up State Street, …
— – ONLYYYY — –
… to walk up to Cielito and undergo the sudden realization; call it an epiphany if you may…, that we’d both eaten at this joint within the past. We both consented that neither of us were likely to suffer from insomnia from our decision to skip on doing such again and just as quickly as we’d entered — were we back out.
Word from the wise: This place is an absolute camarones wearing chilaquiles apparel!!!
#imposter-​alert!!!
While yes, the ambiance here is captivating —– from the front fascia… down to the overall chic and airy venue inclusive to a tranquil Spanish-​themed water feature. Take it for what it’s worth, fellow tapas lovers — the flare stops there.
* * * Should you fail to read this review or bypass it and proceed entry — upon walking in:
Anticipate being overlooked, if not blatantly ignored — further compelling you to seat yourself with NO SUCH SIGNAGE alleging doing such to be a dining prerequisite. Should this not serve as an auto-​deterrent, undoubtedly will you proceed on to the menu.
It is at this time I see fit to pay Google a special visit.
[…pause for momentary mouse click…]
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* TAPAS: taps/​ (noun) plural noun: tapas: small Spanish savory dishes, typically served with drinks at a bar.
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My deduction, from simple observation alone… would be that the term «savory» within the aforementioned definition, is what completely throws this place off.
The ambiance, once again — while alluring… hardly supersedes the cuisine here, which is substantially mediocre. To call any of it «satisfactory» and follow that with the terms «savory» and «tapas», would qualify as blatant misuse of 2 adjectives and 1 noun.
Two tacos and some canned frijoles can E-​A-​S-​I-​L-​Y deduct a whoppin’ $ 20 – 25.00 from one’s account and this, as I see it… is ABHORRENT. Add on a cocktail or two and you’re bound to depart w/​a sense of your having been violated all the while you’re just as void of satisfaction as you were at your time of entry.
What Cielito qualifies as being, …is an overpriced abomination preying upon the hunger pains of the weary and famished, and additionally… —THE VERY HOW COME— Taco Bell was brought into fruition.
Perhaps within the future, I’ll stumble upon my OWN Unilocal review while in pursuit of sustenance, thus generating a divine manifestation of nirvana as I reroute elsewhere.
In the interim, by all means, consider this assessment my formal plea for the City of Santa Barbara to approve the return of Acapulco’s.
(#uhm-​just-​sayin’)

This place has such a welcoming and aesthetically appealing vibe that people are going to try it out. You want to love it. You can’t imagine that the reviews could be right about the service and the mediocre food, but they are.
FOOD: Meh. That’s as much as I can say. It was all fine. The food overall seemed to lack flavor and life. The setting suggests some careful flavor profile – at least it did to me – but none was memorable or really delicious. This is food that will appease and keep tourists dropping by, but doesn’t represent the best of he city. There was a lack of spice and distinct flavors. The ceviche trio, for example, was rather muted. And please know that this is NOT a tapas place. I don’t understand how the label the «tapas» attached to Cielito, but someone needs to rethink that. People actually coming looking for tapas (in even the loosest sense) will be disappointed that the closest that they have to tapas is a number of appetizers that folks can share.
SERVICE: A multitude of sins can be forgiven (or at least ignored) when the service is spot on. Our waiter was friendly and helpful, but overall service was not responsive. There was no warning about the spicy sangria and unique appetizers were delivered with no explanation.
Overall, Cielito is a truly beautiful space with disappointingly mediocre food.

If $ 100 Mexican food is your thing, you will love Cielito. Sure the food is good but $ 16 for a few small tacos adds up and before you know it you’ve dropped $ 150+ on dinner for two.
Good, but not that good.
Go here if someone else is picking up the tab and you want a great, but expensive marg. Otherwise, head to any one of a dozen local Mexican places and save the $ for something else.

Cielito gets 5 stars for ambiance. Literally of the prettiest restaurant spaces in SB. It’s where Acapulco used to be, for those of you who’ve been around the area for a while.
It’s a tapas style place for dinner and they have a tacqueria for lunch. The food is really average though. It’s not bad, but definitely not comparable to the quality of food you get at Los Arroyos & Los Agaves. I’ve been here a few times now for both lunch and dinner and the dishes are a hit or miss. I’d say, stop by and give it a try since you might be surprised, and the patio area is beautiful to sit at on a nice day, but don’t have high expectations.

Cute spot for tapas! nice, clean and modern! Great ambiance! We ordered drinks and appetizers on happy hour I recommend he pork belly quesadilla! Quite delicious, drinks were great! Cute Latin vibe.

Am I the only one that doesn’t get this place? Why is this place a thing in SB?
Their tapas aren’t impressive and it looks like your basic «Mexican”/American small plates. Some plates are alright, some are terrible– it’s like «wow that’s what a $ 9 small plate looks like?» I tried their specials– the egg benny and then the steak dish. Egg benny = nothing special. Steak plate = decent but SMALL meat size. The guacamole on the other hand is surprisingly delicious.
I guess if you want to be boogie and have money to blow on decent-​to-​mediocre small plates, you can check it out here. If you want small plates for your money, check out Milk & Honey or Sama Sama.

Food was alright, cool spot and the chipotle cheddar toast was crazy good. The rest of the food was interesting, with the pork belly coming in second best then the duck tacos.
I do enjoy the atmosphere, good drinks and tapas style plates.
Service was pretty bad, they dropped the ball on the quesedilla but the wine director offered to take it off the bill. Didn’t really have a server which was odd, ordered from one, deliveres by another, and so on. Think thats where the problem came from, but all in all an interesting fun spot.
I would go back just for the chipotle cheddar toast and semifreddo dessert.