The Nugget

So disappointing. I come here every 5 years thinking it has changed or evolved. it truly is a roadside diner with really mediocre food. They still burn fish and burger meat and the fries are hideous. If you are a foodie or want quality then look elsewhere.
I will give it another try in 5 years to see if they have evolved or if new owners have taken over and made it better!

LOCAL, friendly, colorful, inviting.
We are making a lifestyle change and are going «healthy»…boring, but health REALITY.
We opted for the Turkey Burger, Salmon Salad and Belvedere Martini. SALMON SALAD is a damn good choice, great portions; really nicely done greens and healthy piece of fish.
YUM and made us feel HEALTHY!
The Nugget… you can’t beat the ambiance (Jack and Miles would be there trying to scout for babe’s).

For an average American sports bar type of place, it was okay! I liked the potato skins — I also tried the BLT and fries and both were nice and average. If you’re looking to watch sports and eat standard American food, you’ll probably like this place. However, I found the 20 animal heads on the wall staring at me & the musty scent all kind of disconcerting…

Always a good meal and lively diners!!!

Came here for the famous bloody caesar, and I was not disappointed! I thought I had a tolerance to drinking but this delicious cocktail proved me otherwise haha must try!!!

Power out in Montecito. Coast village road is a blackout. It was nuts in here. The staff handled it like pros. They sat people, fed people and kept it going. The cooks didn’t notice. They just kept pushing food out. Everything was good. I love this place. It’s the last frontier of old school family joints. Thank you.

First off, I went here because I read an article saying that this place has one of the 10 best burgers in the Santa Barbara area. It was around 8pm on a Sunday, so it was my only non-​fast food option anyway.
When you first walk in, you notice its distinct atmosphere. It has a very southern feel and looks like a well-​kept saloon of sorts. The bar area was full, and my party was the only one at a table for food.
I asked the waiter – who was very friendly – which burger was better between the Bacon Blue Cheese Burger and the Crunch Burger. He said he didn’t like blue cheese, but that burger was a popular item. I got the blue cheese burger and it came out quick. The burger itself wasn’t bad by any means – it was actually fairly good. There was a special blue cheese sauce that they used. But the only thing was that it wasn’t very blue-​cheesy. I love blue cheese, and could hardly taste it, even though it looked like there was a lot on it. I got the burger cooked medium, which, in hindsight, should’ve ordered medium rare – but that’s my fault. The bun was very middle-​of-​the-​road and looked just like the ones you get in the store. And the patty was ¹⁄₃ lb according to the menu.
But here’s the kicker: the burger was around $ 12.50 – $ 14 including tax. And then you throw in a tip and you’re looking at a $ 16 burger. Granted, it came with a very salad, but it was served in a very small cereal bowl.
I would go back to this place, but only to try the Crunch Burger – which is less expensive and served on an English muffin bun. If my burger was less than $ 10 I wouldn’t be complaining. But for now, I’d rather spend less money on a bigger and better burger anywhere else.

All I can say is we keep going back for the food & cocktails.
Their customer service SUCKS!!!
Train your employees!
Unfriendly, never came back to ask how it was, didn’t ask if we want another drink etc…(the waiter acted like we were bothering him & he seemed pissed off)
The owners are lucky that The Nugget has been around so long they must think it’s just status quo. Well it’s not!
Clean up you act all the way around!
Stop catering to the polo & Montecito crowd :-/

I eat lunch at The Nugget about once per month. I meet a colleague there for a meeting. Rick always greets us with two ice teas and gives us time to talk. He knows our favorite menu items and asks us if we want our usual lunch. I always have the Summerland Salad, and I look forward to it every month: it’s delicious!
The atmosphere is a little dark, but charming with the photos of Ronald Reagan eating there when he was visiting his Western White House in Santa Barbara County.

This place is great!!! You can pull up to find ample parking, sit at the bar or a comfy booth and choose between fresh seafood, burgers, steak, pasta, salad, and many options of appetizers. All are good. While you’re eating you have visual stimulation of many multicolored twinkle lights, old photos of SB from horse and buggy days, photos of Bill Clinton, RONALD REAGAN, lots of taxidermy, saxophones, and more. It’s rarely easy to find a seat at the bar because the atmosphere is so lively and fun and the the drinks are always poured well and tasty! I recommend the Bloody Caesar especially if it’s made by the bartender named Jacqueline! We love to go in and get served by her. She is always excited to see us, keeps things entertaining, and never leaves you with an empty drink… Unless you ask her to of course :) Highly recommended!

If you think you might give this establishment any business and have any respect for Military Veterans just keep driving… after having an appetizer and a few beers with my Marine buddy, I was waiting for a coffee,(no problem with our lady bartender– and she gave no indication there was any problem with us either) some how our laughter between ourselves offend one of the employees and he came up and literally took our remaing drinks out from our hands… I can only assume that if you look like a bad ass Marine/​Iraqi combat Vet, you might not fit in… so sorry an occasional F bomb intimidated the local hair stylist from France… NOT A GOOD VIBE

This is a restaurant we frequent often because we live nearby. My husband likes to come here because they have great prices on their wine and they have football.
I highly recommend the salmon salad and a steak salad. The sliders are very good too. If you order the nachos tell him to put them through the fire twice. It makes the chips crispy and the cheese very melted.
I usually order the chicken wings or the fresh vegetables and dip. This was my first time trying the pasta Primavera. It was pretty good, had a nice flavor, the pasta was cooked perfectly, and the vegetables were not overcooked.
Tonight «Ruffino» was our waiter. He was exceptional. He was very attentive gave excellent recommendations for our dinner.
One of our favorite neighborhood spots.

Good food, better staff… Must come in. Ryan, Jackie and crew are the best, my bad. Keep it on the down low…

Food is great service is just how I like, not over the top just friendly and to the point. I recommend the crunch burger with fries. Simple classic and done right.

Really cool place! Atmosphere is really nice, seems to be a lot of locals. Probably bc it’s the only restaurant in summerland. My only complaint is that there is no AC! It was a little hard to enjoy the food when it’s that hot in there, and this was 6:30pm. The pork chop and applesauce was great. I would definitely recommend the apple pie and ice cream for dessert.

Dang it! I’ve loved the Nugget for years. But… I am upset about their keg management. The last two times I have been there, the Figueroa Mountain Hoppy Poppy IPA keg has blown… in the middle of lunch. Should be no problem, right? Grab another keg and keep it flowing. Unfortunately, they store their kegs outside. Its 80 degrees outside today. There has to be room in the coolers for kegs. If not, they shouldn’t have expanded to a 5 (or 6) tree tap system. With Fig Mtn Pilsner, Rincon Mac Brown, Firestone 805 and DBA on tap, there is no other IPA or even a Pale Ale to choose from. The brewers can’t be happy about how their product is being stored either.

Friendly service, cozy, cabin-​like atmosphere. Not a bad selection of brews, and surprisingly great buffalo wings!
Perfectly crispy and fried, moist interior, spicy sauce. Yum!

If you’re deciding between here and the Summerland Café, choose the latter. Had to request napkins and utensils. When they came, they were thrown on the middle of the table.
Décor is borderline tacky… kind of interesting, for sure. However, don’t let the décor deter you from the food.
The food is not disappointing, but it’s not outstanding either. Again, for the price, Summerland Café is worth the price. In particular, we ordered onion rings in both locations and the ones here were just not freshly made.
Not a bad place, but not necessarily a place in dying to go back to.

If you imagine that you’d enjoy eating greasy food in a western saloon with a heavily Botoxed/​facelifted clientele, then get yourself to the Nugget. This restaurant was recommended by my 95-​year-​old grandmother. My family and I took her advice and did not regret it. We slumped into a corner booth and shoveled in nachos, burgers, and fries. Totally kitschy and totally worth it!

Summerland exist!!! :D
At first, we did want to go to the Summerland Beach Café, however, line was long as heck!
Note to self: should have woken up earlier
A few of our friends suggested to go to The Nugget, which was less than couple of blocks down. If you missed it, it looks like this!
Doesn’t this remind you of Wild Wild West? because it did to me! Hehe Don’t be afraid when you walk in. There are ONLY 10 moose looking at you funny. Well decorated.
Got in, got a table, and got our Mimosas going. They do not have brunch specials, where you order something on the lunch menu and you get the Mimosas a diff price. Mimosas are about $ 4-​$ 5 a mini bottle and a splash of OJ. Not quite worth it, but what the hay, if it’s your first time, course you’ll at least get one. Exactly what we did. :)
Friendly service. Pretty detailed when we asked about the food. Great attitude when we wanted to substitute our sides and such.
Food:
Ahi Tuna Salad — delicious! Fat pieces of tuna, which was seared in both sides and sliced in pieces and it was topped with vinaigrette. Comes with blue cheese, however, not a big fan of it so I told them to take it out.
Crush Burger — Tastes alright. Nothing too special about it.
Next time, I want to come back and try their own signature Bloody Mary. Welp, I guess I’ll need another visit to Summerland soon. :)